w8pmc

Well i finally picked her up last night, but due to problems with the purchaser of my E60 535d M-Sport, i was 2hrs late picking my M5 up so did not get as long to play with the settings last night as i'd have liked. She goes into a workshop today to have an Origin B2 GPS Speed Camera detector fitted today, as well as a high spec laser diffuser (me thinks i'll need this). I will RTFM when i get time but i have a couple of questions that i could do with answers to so i can be enjoying fully the car that little bit quicker.

Firstly & as per the title of the post, what are the very best settings for the M button. I quite easily found how to set these up but i think their were about 6-7 different options & i'd like a run-down of the very best settings for maximum power/performance/handling without making the car dangerous or very difficult to drive i.e i'm pootling along minding my own business & i suddenly fancy a play or i'm out on track & want to alter the car's set-up by pressing the M button.

Next, does the power button down by the gear selector just alter the power (i guess that's the case) & if so is it just "car starts off when started in P400 & if you press the button whilst on the move it changes the power to P500"?

I'll over time fiddle around with all the other settings & get learning, i'm just looking for some guidance.

Next setting question is for regular town driving. I hear reports that the car is a little hard work in town & cruising so whenever i get in & start the car for a regular commute/longer cruise, what settings should i be using/altering (if any) to save a little fuel, get the smoothest D gearbox semi-auto settings & the smoothest handling etc. (this will be my normal everyday settings). I really just want 2-modes for now, that being normal everday use & nutter mode so that's why i'm after these 2 settings. I'm sure i'll adjust things as confidence & experience grows.

I noticed when backing my car in the garage that their appeared to be no Park position on the gearbox. Is this correct?? when parking up is it leave the car in Neutral & apply the hand brake?? I also noticed that when reversing the gear does not appear to hold as an Auto or Steptronic would, that being when i take my foot off the throttle & i'm in reverse, the car actually rolls forward (this seems really odd).

Lastly i love the auto throttle blip when down-shifting but i did notice that every now & again the box seemed a little reluctant to react when pulling away. I can't recall if the box had dropped back into 1st or was in 2nd but their was just a small pause then she took off. No idea what mode/modes I was in so perhaps it my in-experience.

From just my small drive yesterday, the M5 does appear to be a true drivers performance car & far more so than any performance Audi's or the like.

Off to Nurburgring in 9days so i'll do a full write-up on my thoughts/findings once i've covered a good few miles & had time to get a little more used to her. Would appreciate your answers/thoughts on the above questions to get me on my way.

I'll take some photos next week (weather is crap this weekend) & post them up (i'll also probably use a 3rd party forum to host as it's so easy to use, but i'll check if it's easy on this forum 1st).

Cheers in advance

mr_djurgarden

Congrats!!! Lucky you!
I think the programmed M-mode is P500S, S5, MDM

w8pmc

Cheers,

Can anyone else assist?? I'm reading the manual tonight to try to get a better understanding but any assistance would be gratefully received & i just want to set her up & understand her correctly.

wolverine

During break-in you shouldn't use S5 or S6. So I'd set the "M" button as follows:

S4
EDC "Normal"
DSC "M dynamic"
P500 Sport

This will give you a very sporting ride, with the quickest throttle response and the full 500 HP. Be careful, it's very easy to exceed the rpm limit.

For your 'default' startup mode, I'd start in S3, EDC "Comfort", DSC "On", P400. This will give you a smooth, comfortable ride, and lets the tranny and engine warm up without too much strain. I always wait until the oil temperature is warmed up before switching to "M mode".

Have fun - the first 1200 miles is the toughest part!

0700700

the car has about 7000miles as far as i remember... its a dealer car

wolvertine, do you not damage the engine by constantly cycling between p400 and p500

madoon

does switching between p400 and p500 do any damage?what kind of damage?

w8pmc

The car already has covered 8000 miles, as it belonged to the Owner of a few BMW dealers, so run-in has long gone & full M Mode can be used.

Many thanks for the default daily settings, i was thinking along the same lines but my question on this is the settings the car defaults to when you start her up?? If i read the manual correctly all your above default settings are set upon starting the car with the exception of S3 which in start-up defaults to S1, all the others are the same.

My M Button is currently set to Physcho setting with Max everything, but i may tinker with the DSC & increase this a little, as the car is very twitchy & tail happy with my current setting & reading the manual it states that DSC will only kick in right at the very limit & by then it could well be too late, so i may increase the level of DSC for the time being.

wolverine

From what I've read, the main difference between p400 and p500 is simply the amount the throttle butterflys open. In p400 they are restricted to 90% of full opening. That means an airflow of (.9x.9=.8) 80% of full, which gives .8 x 500 HP = 400 HP. There could be other changes - timing and/or fuel remap, but I'm sure there is nothing going on that would damage the engine.

I do start out in S3, p400 just to let the oil warm up. If you go out immediately in 'Banzai mode' and drive like a maniac before the oil is warmed, you could conceivable do some damage to the engine or transmission.

0700700

i must be severely uninformed , but i though that the design of the V10 engine shared some of the characteristics of the e28 5.0 V12 ... in that when not in full use (as in P400) then 2of the cylinders automatically switch off? in this respect i though that if you cycle between modes, and constantly changed the operation of the engine, then there would be some damage...


as for a fuel remap, i would tend to agree that fuel and ignition timings are not altered... Although perhaps W8MPC could talk to Rob of DMS and find out... ? he has a very good understanding of how the engine works

perhaps i better post a thread on m5board?

0700700

edit... wolverine sorry , sorry cant spell