How long before full power?

Greg,
I came from a US M3. For the first 30k-40k miles, the car just kept getting better- I might have been breaking in also- getting really used to the car, but it seemed that the engine got smoother, the shifter that had a little notchiness became like butter, and the car was like slipping on an old pair of shoes. Did the M3 get faster/stronger- I dont know. With only 1800 miles, I sense a similar thing with the M5. Only time will tell, but it looks to be a lot of fun!

ME

When we measured 6 M5 at Kelleners the most powerful was the Avusblue, delivered in March '99 and the one we raced on track. It had at the time 40 000 km on it and was by far the oldest of the cars. All the 2000 models (the avusblue was a '99) had around 15-25 hp less.

Alpywhite - YES! I'm beginning to get that "burble" too, and I share your excitement!

Ahhh, exhaust notes. One of the great elements of a car's character. My 1st car was a '63 VW - already old when I got it, and I restored it completely - except for the headers and glass-pak exhaust, the "glass" of which had all burned away long ago. Now I can't say VW exhaust notes are the most desireable, but this car had that quality some MG's used to have where it was actually louder on deceleration than acceleration - a run up through the gears was waaaaaaAA-RRRAAAAAGHGHGH, waaaaaaAA-RRRAAAAAGHGHGH - etc. Loved it - and I can still hear it in my head.

And of course a muscle-car-era V8 with a cam and large pipes has that wonderful low beat...

I'm enjoying hearing the M5 note more. I may not go for the aftermarket exhaust after all...

I hear ya...I decided very recently that I'll keep my car completely stock (for as long as I can resist). All I may do next weekend is go for a K40 system if I have enough faith in my local installer's mounting and wiring finesse.

Alps

I'm waiting for my beast (Dec. build), but I can share w/ you that my current car (325I w/ 45K miles) has gotten better and better with every mile. The most noticeable improvement came in the transmission (5spd manual). In the first 15K miles it would definitely stick between 1st and 2nd while the synchros did their thing. Now it goes smooth as silk. I could list other examples (e.g. leather interior).

I think one of the hallmarks of a great car like the BMW is this tendency to improve as it gets older. That's a RARE quality.