[F30Andy]

For those of you that are interested I thought I would share my experience of the differences between the M5 and the M5 CP and the road to how I got there.

For some months I had been thinking of getting rid of my M5 due to a combination of factors including it not making sense to have that much cash tied up in a depreciating asset.
Also a £10k bill to change brakes was on the horizon and I didn't fancy forking out.

After much mulling over I decided to get rid of it.
I took an expected loss on it, but one that was not as bad as I thought it would be.

I decided I was going lease a car through the business on a 24/36 month deal.
After looking at what was available there was literally nothing out there (for a reasonable price) that I wanted which met my needs.

We have a 530d on the fleet which I was half contemplating using as an interim daily drive.
I thought a 540i might be a good shout and test drove one.
I know this is a conversation for another day, but I really dont know why some bother with that engine. Yes the power delivery is nice and different to the 530d and yes it is more refined, but there is little in performance between them.
I'd have a specced up 530d over a 540i any day of the week, but like I said that is another conversation.

As we have a fair few cars on the fleet financed by Alphabet and we coincidentally had a members of staff 120d coming to the end of lease we were entitled to some serious discounts.
I got a dealer contribution towards the car plus a loyalty discount for ordering another BMW to replace the 120d plus what they call a garage discount as we have more than a certain number of vehicles financed with them.
With the deals already out there on F90's plus the further discounts I could get it only made sense to get another one. There was literally nothing else I wanted to replace it with.


The car I initially ordered was a stock vehicle, non CP but with a decent spec.
I tried all the man maths in the world to justify getting a CP and convinced myself I didn't want it as the main difference is the suspension and having the CP is more a bragging rights thing than anything else.
I persuaded myself that I could just "sort" the suspension myself and everything would be happy days.
I started looking into how much it would cost to modify the suspension and then had the lightbulb moment where I realised it would be cheaper to just get the Comp Pack car.

I called the dealer and told him I wanted to change the order to a Comp Pack and he found me a semi decent spec car.
I was happy to pull the trigger.
He then called me back literally 30 mins after I had done the paperwork and informed me that there was a cancelled order car he had just been made aware of in group stock which was very heavily specced and I could have it for £25 a month more.

I took the car.
I didn't want a white car but the deal was too good to turn down. I also added the MP body kit to it as the dealer did it for me for £3200 supplied and installed.

Spec is:

Alpine White
Full black Merino
Comfort Pack
M Drivers pack
HK Sound
Sun protection glass
Rear window sunblinds
Carbon Engine Cover
Steering Wheel Heating
Display Key
Ambient Air
Front and Rear Seat Heating
Ventilated Seats (Which are crap by the way)
Massage seats
Active cruise control
Powered bootlid




The Differences Between Them:

Brakes:
No longer does applying light pressure to the brakes in slow traffic make me suddenly stop and nearly smash my face into the steering wheel.
No longer do I have to worry about allowing massive stopping distances before properly warming up the brakes first thing every morning.
No longer do I have to panic that a set of pads and disks are going to cost me the same price as a E46 M3.

The normal brakes have more than enough bite to them and are very very capable brakes.
I am sure there will come a point where they will fade when under very heavy prolonged use, but I am also sure I will rarely push the car to this point.

Unless you are doing 3 or more track days a year, there is no justification for ceramic brakes on this car.


Power:
The weird thing is, at this moment in time my CP car actually feels less powerful than my old non CP.
You could probably put this down to the car not being worn in and run in service not being done.
I am sure once she is opened up a bit she will feel better.
Now I have driven a CP that is worn in and to be honest you would have to be looking very hard to find the additional 23bhp.
It is very negligible throughout the entire rev range.


Speed Limiter
155mph is bollocks.
My old non CP would get to 163mph before the limiter would kick in and would then slowly creep up to 170mph but never any further.
This kind of gives you the feeling that you are never really exploring the top end of the engine and are being cock teased by the upper mid range before the nanny device kicks in.
This one is not limited so it will be interesting to see what it is actually capable of and what the top end really feels like after 160mph.


Weight
Although this is being picky, I have to say that the car is more nose heavy without the ceramic brakes.
Its not a problem and does not seem to change the handling dynamics of the car, but is noticeable.

Suspension:
Let me start by saying there is nothing wrong with the suspension on a non CP car.
Some might say the CP has "better" suspension. I say it has different suspension.
It really boils down to your driving style and what you want out of the car.
The difference in ride height is 7mm but personally I don't think it is very visually noticeable.
It is not night and day in normal driving situations but is definitely firmer on the CP.
Where it is night and day is on the twisties if you drive the car in the manner that it was designed for on these roads. There is way less roll on the CP and the CP seems to keep its poise better when pushed hard.


Anyway, here are some photos and If you are considering getting an M5 I hope this helps you to make up your mind about which one you want:

[225]

I would love to be in that position!
Very nice mate.

[Broncho]

Amazing car, I might be biased as white is my favourite car colour but I wouldn’t have any other colour with all of that contrasting black.

Just to add though there’s some serious man maths and justifying going on in that post

[mikeoz]

Very nice write up thank you...

I have heard this about the carbon brakes on various performance car reviews...all seem to have the same conclusion..

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by Broncho

Amazing car, I might be biased as white is my favourite car colour but I wouldn’t have any other colour with all of that contrasting black.

Just to add though there’s some serious man maths and justifying going on in that post

White really isn’t my colour - probably because my first ever car was white.... never again! Plus I wanted it to look discrete, so if you can’t really pick it out from a 530d MSport that suits me...

Lots of man maths to justify a car this expensive - or a F*ck it, YOLO...

As for CP v non CP, it was easy for me - it was at my budget limit as non CP so job done... but I am happy trading the last tenth of cornering for a slightly more compliant ride, given I get the ride all the time but the handling is an occasional treat...

[MashinBenzin]

Great write up and another awesome M5 on the forum

[teaston]

Great write up Andy! White does look great on the G30/F90, and I love most of the MP kit, just really not sure about those front splitters still though tbh.

It definitely sounds like you’re better off with the iron brakes, I really don’t see the point of ceramics unless you’re very rich, or using the car for motorsport.

[TodmordenLad]

Lovely car, you lucky b*gger
Those alloys look particularly good

[Broncho]

Originally Posted by isleaiw1

White really isn’t my colour - probably because my first ever car was white.... never again! Plus I wanted it to look discrete, so if you can’t really pick it out from a 530d MSport that suits me...

Lots of man maths to justify a car this expensive - or a F*ck it, YOLO...

As for CP v non CP, it was easy for me - it was at my budget limit as non CP so job done... but I am happy trading the last tenth of cornering for a slightly more compliant ride, given I get the ride all the time but the handling is an occasional treat...

My second favourite is black, BMW sapphire is particularly pleasant.

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by Broncho

My second favourite is black, BMW sapphire is particularly pleasant.

Funnily enough after a black Mini, I won’t have another one of those!

I like silver...

[Broncho]

Originally Posted by isleaiw1

Funnily enough after a black Mini, I won’t have another one of those!

I like silver...

When I worked at VAG I had a new car every 3 months and pretty much every single one was silver for resale.

Jaffa cakes are nice but if you ate them every day you'd be off them for life.

[isleaiw1]

Originally Posted by Broncho

When I worked at VAG I had a new car every 3 months and pretty much every single one was silver for resale.

Jaffa cakes are nice but if you ate them every day you'd be off them for life.

What do you mean if, doesn’t every one eat Jaffa cakes every day?

I can’t remember having the same model car twice in a row, same colour only if I was buying secondhand.... I generally pick colours that look decent more of the time rather than great or shit - which black and white tend to.

I did have a yellow Nova SR once...

[Broncho]

Originally Posted by isleaiw1

What do you mean if, doesn’t every one eat Jaffa cakes every day?

I can’t remember having the same model car twice in a row, same colour only if I was buying secondhand.... I generally pick colours that look decent more of the time rather than great or shit - which black and white tend to.

I did have a yellow Nova SR once...

Grey is good if you can't be arsed getting it washed