[Ianhp1]

On my way back from a meeting near Coventry on Friday I ended up following an '06 M3 all the way down the A14. There were a few cars and lorries around, so only being two lanes, we had about 10 good 'burns' from either lorry speed (50 leptons) or car speed (80 leptons) until we reached the next 'slow' traffic. A great comparison of straight line speed. Here's the result:

From 50 to 80 leptons the M3 put about 3-4 car lengths on me every time, and then from 80 to 110 leptons I clawed it all back. When we started at 80 leptons we were inseperable. On one or two occasions, the gaps in the traffic were long enough to get more speed up and the cars were inseperable.

I'm not a BMW afficionado, so I don't know which version of M3 or what engine is in that one, but we seemed pretty much matched for grunt. I'd summise that because he could pull away from me 50-80 that he has better power to weight or even more HP, but at higher speeds when wind resistance becomes the dominant factor, the torque of the S5 made up for this (or possibly the car is just more aerodynamic).

We maintained safe distances between ourselves and other cars with no tailgating or silly closing speeds and shared a respectful wave when we went seperate ways, so this driver was in no way the kind of 'cock' one would have been led to believe would be driving an M3.

I enjoyed the rest of the sunny drive home at a steady pace listening to that V8 and wondering why on earth they even put a stereo in the S5!!

Happy days

 

[Blade]

On my way back from a meeting near Coventry on Friday I ended up following an '06 M3 all the way down the A14. There were a few cars and lorries around, so only being two lanes, we had about 10 good 'burns' from either lorry speed (50 leptons) or car speed (80 leptons) until we reached the next 'slow' traffic. A great comparison of straight line speed. Here's the result:

From 50 to 80 leptons the M3 put about 3-4 car lengths on me every time, and then from 80 to 110 leptons I clawed it all back. When we started at 80 leptons we were inseperable. On one or two occasions, the gaps in the traffic were long enough to get more speed up and the cars were inseperable.

I'm not a BMW afficionado, so I don't know which version of M3 or what engine is in that one, but we seemed pretty much matched for grunt. I'd summise that because he could pull away from me 50-80 that he has better power to weight or even more HP, but at higher speeds when wind resistance becomes the dominant factor, the torque of the S5 made up for this (or possibly the car is just more aerodynamic).

We maintained safe distances between ourselves and other cars with no tailgating or silly closing speeds and shared a respectful wave when we went seperate ways, so this driver was in no way the kind of 'cock' one would have been led to believe would be driving an M3.

I enjoyed the rest of the sunny drive home at a steady pace listening to that V8 and wondering why on earth they even put a stereo in the S5!!

Happy days

Sounds like an E46 M3 Ian, around 343 PS/365 NM or might have been slightly more powerful CSL model, 360 PS/370 NM.

 

[Ebaines]

Leptons? It's hard keeping up with British slang

I hadn't heard of leptons as a measurement of speed before. Is that like warp factor?

 

[Arvin]

Sounds like a fun time! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Stavros]

nice

way to go Ian...I am on patrol tomorrow.
S.

 

[gsshin23]

Went up against a E92 a couple of days ago on a service road next to the 1-495 and I can say this. Performance wise, the S5 is not quite up to par as is the M3 (although I could tell the guy didn't even know how to use his SMG well). It was close until we saw a highway patrol hiding behind a tree.

 

[alwin]

You should eat E46 M3s for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. He must have done at least a handful of things under the hood.

E92 M3s will murder an S5. I've raced a handful of them, and been trounced every time.

E92 335s stock/as is are easy pickings. Raced one with a chip + exhaust too and no sweat there either.

Raced a C63 too, boy did that thing haul ass. I felt like I was driving a Prius.

 

[SupraBlur]

I hadn't heard of leptons as a measurement of speed before. Is that like warp factor?

Lol I'm guessing this as plausible deniability in case the police monitor the forums. "But sir, 80 leptons is only 5 mph"

-Ray

 

[Ianhp1]

Lol I'm guessing this as plausible deniability in case the police monitor the forums. "But sir, 80 leptons is only 5 mph"

-Ray

'
Indeed

Although 80 Leptons actually = 20mph

 

[gsshin23]

You should eat E46 M3s for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. He must have done at least a handful of things under the hood.

E92 M3s will murder an S5. I've raced a handful of them, and been trounced every time.

E92 335s stock/as is are easy pickings. Raced one with a chip + exhaust too and no sweat there either.

Raced a C63 too, boy did that thing haul ass. I felt like I was driving a Prius.

Seriously that E92's no joke (and neither are E46s). Surprised about the C63. never thought Mercedes' were any good performance-wise. I'd pick the S5 over any Mercedes any day. And the S5 absolutely kills the E92 in terms of aesthetics and design, no question.

 

[SupraBlur]

Seriously that E92's no joke (and neither are E46s). Surprised about the C63. never thought Mercedes' were any good performance-wise. I'd pick the S5 over any Mercedes any day. And the S5 absolutely kills the E92 in terms of aesthetics and design, no question.

I agree, the S5 is a better package overall (looks, interior, etc), but when it comes to performance, according to AWE tuning, a stock S5 will dyno about 258 hp (272hp after their cat-back exhaust, if it's any consequence). Most C63 AMG's are dynoing about 380hp completely stock. While in the genre, a Lexus IS-F dyno's about 370hp. Either of those cars will completely destroy an S5 in a drag race.

My 16 year old Toyota dyno'd 300hp (and over 300 ft-lbs of torque) when it had just a full exhaust and the stock turbo jacked up to 14psi. My friend's Chevy Camaro dynod 330hp (and almost 400 ft-lbs of torque) with just a full exhaust with headers.

The S5 is a fast car in the GT genre, but when you put it against the big dogs, it's probably bottom of the pile. It's a good thing we didn't buy them for pure performance, right? (if so, you may have bought the wrong car!)

-Ray

 

[Rezox]

I'm quite happy with the performance of the S5. It's not fair to compare cars of a different category let alone price range. The S5 is not far behind the new M3 at all.

never thought Mercedes' were any good performance-wise. I'd pick the S5 over any Mercedes any day.

Have you been in an S65, C65, or SLR Mclaren before?

 

[gsshin23]

I'm quite happy with the performance of the S5. It's not fair to compare cars of a different category let alone price range. The S5 is not far behind the new M3 at all.



Have you been in an S65, C65, or SLR Mclaren before?

Have you? Do you really think it's necessary to have been in or even driven a car just to make a decision of whether you want it or not? For me, the decision is very simple just by my knowledge of the cars themselves, unless I'm forced to make a very hard decision based on what I see on paper. That's when I start to test drive them. The SLR McLaren was a total supercar failure, with slow sales, overproduction and ending the partnership between McLaren and Mercedes. And The S65 and (What kind of car is a C65?) is not worth the $190,000+, I'd much rather buy a Bentley Flying Spur whose top speed is not limited to 155MPH (not that I'll ever go that fast, but that's what I call fast for a sedan or any car). And anyway, I think the S65 (and the rest of the W221 line) is pretty damn ugly, and the fact that Mercedes does not offer a manual with clutch in its performance cars is a big turndown for me. All these are reasons that I would have an S5 rather than any Mercedes even before having driven either. Don't get me wrong, I'm no Mercedes hater. I also own a W164 ML 500 for other purposes (large items, long road trips, etc.) and I can say that it is a fairly decent SUV, good for it's value and pretty fast.

As for the S5 and M3 question, the latter is obviously more performance oriented while the S5 is more aesthetics/luxury, while good performance is a second. I'm not racing my cars on a track anytime soon, and almost every comparison I've seen matches the S5 with the 335i/xi, very rarely an M3. I never said the S5 is a terrible performance car. I really think that it's one of the best cars that you can buy for its price, provided that the M3's base is slightly more than $10,000 over that of the S5. Were performance were a priority, I would've gone with the M3, but obviously, it's not, and I'm pretty content with my choice in buying the S5.

 

[colli]

hi, ian and ess five, colli is back....
well i still have the 57 plate m3, and boy it is a savagley fast car , feels more so cause of its slippy handling at the back, now i have done a few thousand miles in it i would say it would be marginley quicker than my s5 , remember mine was re-mapped too. although on the road with same driving ability i dont think there would be much in it.
i can let you know i am getting my s5 back next week fully repaired by audi, it was just body damage at the end of the day so new panels all round, why they have taken so long is beyond me, its no wonder insurance is so expensive the m3 i have is being charged at 250 a day... oooochhh.
check this, i have swapped courtsey cars a few times, had a 997 2s, range rover supercharger, x5 new, sl 500 merc, m3, guess what for the all round package i want my s5 back over any of these, especially as mine had tricks on it, as per yours.
good to be back, laters

 

[gtlexec]

M3 Engine....

On my way back from a meeting near Coventry on Friday I ended up following an '06 M3 all the way down the A14. There were a few cars and lorries around, so only being two lanes, we had about 10 good 'burns' from either lorry speed (50 leptons) or car speed (80 leptons) until we reached the next 'slow' traffic. A great comparison of straight line speed. Here's the result:

From 50 to 80 leptons the M3 put about 3-4 car lengths on me every time, and then from 80 to 110 leptons I clawed it all back. When we started at 80 leptons we were inseperable. On one or two occasions, the gaps in the traffic were long enough to get more speed up and the cars were inseperable.

I'm not a BMW afficionado, so I don't know which version of M3 or what engine is in that one, but we seemed pretty much matched for grunt. I'd summise that because he could pull away from me 50-80 that he has better power to weight or even more HP, but at higher speeds when wind resistance becomes the dominant factor, the torque of the S5 made up for this (or possibly the car is just more aerodynamic).

We maintained safe distances between ourselves and other cars with no tailgating or silly closing speeds and shared a respectful wave when we went seperate ways, so this driver was in no way the kind of 'cock' one would have been led to believe would be driving an M3.

I enjoyed the rest of the sunny drive home at a steady pace listening to that V8 and wondering why on earth they even put a stereo in the S5!!

Happy days

The '06 M3 you raced has a 3.2 litre 6 cylinder engine!

Versus your S5 with a 4.2 litre V8?

The BMW M series are truly amazing cars!

 

[Ess5ive]

hi, ian and ess five, colli is back....

Hello mate and.....welcome back! So, the Wedding Car lives! I'm delighted that the Phoenix has risen - and hope that you're not disappointed when you see it. Sounds like they've had plenty of time to get it sorted properly!

Anyway, you've got some catching up to do mate - remaps are old-hat now - you need coilovers. Ian's been at APS again today having his wound down a tad - says he feels like he's been driving a Q7 since they were fitted and clearly they didn't settle as much as he'd hoped (and indeed, as mine did).

Looking forward to catching up again in person at some stage.