SSBaronM5

I see alot of people talking about the ///M's lack of low end Grunt. People on the benz boards bragg about say the E55's tremendous low end torque.

Those of you who drive the E60 M5 as your daily, either on commutes or whatnot, is there even one thought that passes through your mind...wishing you had more low end?

Cant you just rev a bit more and live in a higher RPM band?

The Dinan 3.91 Diff helps from what ive read... but a stock M5 and people complaining about torque? Thoughts welcome..

905

The 3.91 certainly helps but this is what I've observed. Driving an M for me was completely different than any previous cars I've driven (vette, 911). Specifically getting used to hearing and letting the engine rev. My initial impulse was to shift at about 5000. Previous cars that I'd driven had conditioned my ear to the shift points and when driving the M5 I had to recondition the shift impulse. So for me, once I got used to that, low end torque no longer seemed to be an issue. Remember, to go 0-60 in around 4.5 sec you have to have some pretty good low end. Anyway, I think for me it was more perceptual than anything else. Nevertheless I still put the 3.91 in because I'm anal!

darren_dallas

We happen to be going through several interesting discussions regarding the diff 3.91 upgrade right now on another forum (m5board.com). I have owned an E55 and CL55 which both had 516 lb-ft of torque. There is something to be said about driving around town with that much low-end grunt on tap at 10 or 20 mph. On the other hand, you're correct in saying that if you just drive the M5 in the manner it is designed you'll have more of that torque on tap ready to go. This car becomes lively starting at 5500 RPM and pulls like a banshee until 8000 RPM. That's your sweet spot.

The 3.91 diff, in my opinion, doesn't add that much more torque to the feel of the car. I have driven both cars and you still need to be in the sweet spot of the power band (listed above) to have any sense of neck snapping torque. The diff simply keeps you in a higher RPM band, so when I'm driving 60 mph in my car without a 3.91 gearing upgrade my tachometer will show 2500 RPM, while your car's tach will show 2800-2850 RPM (this is for sake of example...it's roughly 300-350 RPM higher is my point with the 3.91 diff upgrade).

You'll need to weigh if the $3k part + installation costs are worth it to you. I have posted several videos now on this subject showing for top-end performance (in comparisons from 30-150mph) the diff did *not* improve performance.

In the end, if you looking at it for improved around town driving maybe there's some applicability. You'll need to decide if it's worth $3k + installation to get a slightly higher rpm value on the tach, or if you should simply drive in a lower gear or slightly faster.

Good luck with the mods.

Regards,

Darren