Hopefully, they will make it more of a driver's car than the last one. E39 had poor steering feel with recirculating ball, too much understeer and not enough anti-roll. I agree with Fred on not buying the first model year, especially with a new engine.

I had a 1989 535 5-speed and LOVED the car.
Especially at 151 mph.
When I see one on the road now it doesn't look NEARLY as good as it used to.
MAYBE the new one will grow on me but I CAN'T imagine the side profile will ever look THIS good to me:

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Ciao

I almost bought an M5 before my Porsche 996. The old M5 is a great car and performs as good as a NA carrera but if you go on shear sexiness, Porsche wins... same for the new M5.

The bangle styling is too much... boxiness or bulginess or something, it's just too refined. The old 5 series was strong and simple. The performance numbers on the new M5 are quite impressive, plus when you consider the $90K price tag... holy crap!

I love BMWs but as been said on this forum many times before, it's all about style. It's not so much how fast you get to 200KPH, but how good you look doing it. Give me my Carrera and I will see you at 200KPH in what... 15-16 sec? Just see how many head turn along the way.

I think I'll wait until the new one comes out and then buy an 03 m5, hopefully a little discounted. The current m5 is sweet because you can barely tell that it's different from the normal 5 series. That's what I like about it. It's so understated. Only real car guys know what it can do. my .02

Can't wait for the M6!

Don't fall into the same trap as the folks in the WRX vs. Carrera thread or other similar threads.

It DOES NOT perform as well. It only does accelerating in a pretty straight line. It's braking is horrid and the ultimate brake fade is horrid. Through in some turns, and bye-bye M5.

Now, this new one may around a track because it has so much power, but that we'll have to wait and see.

I saw pictures of the new 4 series and it looks great. They went back to the traditional design and got rid of that silly trunk!

Ill definatly be buying one of those, I think it looks really really good. Not to mention those specs, V10?? umm

Here's my minor modifications to the new M5. Larger wheels, maybe even 20s in the rear 19s in the front... different rear end, more tail-like, more slanted roof and hood, more groud effects for rockers and front spoiler... I like this a bit better. More agressive.

More reminiscent of a Aston Martin DB9 Vantage.

Except on the rear modification, I like Greyghosts's rendition/redesign of the profile BEST! Hey BMW why don't you hire Greyghost to replace Bangle? I'm sure he could add more flavor and style (profit$$$) to future "evolutions" based on forum feedback as well.

It should be out by august '04, my dealer told me I am in the december '04 time slot...

Boy, 12/04 would be realy fast. I will bet a coke you don;t see aything until 6/05.

When I plunkeed my deposit down on me E55 back in 10/02 (got a car in 2/04), the new M5 was just rumor. I had a 3 year old Lexus GS400 and couldn't wait for the new M5. It sounds like the performance will be awesome. Looks, pretty weak. I am happy with my E55 now but I might be ready for the mid model like tweak on the M5 in around '07-'08.

The E60 M5 design is alot better looking than the regular ones. I'm excited to see how this car runs.

I didnt like the 04 5 series when BMW unveiled it, but to me just like any new car, it takes time to sink in. As far as the new m5 goes, I LIKE IT AH LUT, cant wait to see it in person.