- 6,041
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- Crash852
Crash's Cars
- Thread starter Crash
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- Under the Hood
You planning for a Aftermarket Exhaust? or Decat *illegal*? But hey.. If you Decat it.. Orgasmic Sound
Maybe but here if your car is newer than 1996 they don't do the Sniffer test. Just tune out the rear O2's and hope the technician can't smell all those yummy unburned hydrocarbons...
- 6,041
- Puget Sound
- Crash852
You planning for a Aftermarket Exhaust? or Decat *illegal
Nah, I would keep the cats on. The flow goes: cats>resonator>muffler. Some people remove the resonator as well and do just an x-pipe, but I think it's loud enough as it is with just a muffler delete.
Few videos on Youtube of M5s with muffler delete.
No muffler only (skip to 0:42)
No muffler or resonator, x-pipe.
Actually, good to know that electronic cut outs do exist for this car.
Good representation of the sound, both pre and post-muffler delete.
They couldn't connect to my OBDII when I first registered the car here, so they just did the sniff test. No idea why. Chances are, they'll have to do the same thing at the next emissions test.
In the United States, it is illegal to not have a catalytic converter if your car originally came installed from the factory with one. So there's that.
- 1,301
- Pennsylvania
I'm a huge fan of these cars without the muffler. If you want to go a little quieter, but keep that amazing sound I recommend checking out Fluid Motorunion's muffler combined with Super Sprint's x-pipe.
It's the car on the left.
It's the car on the left.
- 4,213
- Puerto Rico
- motortrend
I love FMUs mufflers, a lot of attention to detail and great craftsmanship. It is a tad on the expeensive side and I'm not sure it they sell it though.
The Eisenmann is probably the most exotic sounding exhaust but it's also expensive as hell and you're probably better off spenfing that cash somewhere else:
There's also the setup I'm running which is cheaper and sounds mean as hell, but not quite refined
Then again the muffler delete is a very good option, here's a local car:
It does make it sound more american-like, which can be good or bad depending on your preference.
The Eisenmann is probably the most exotic sounding exhaust but it's also expensive as hell and you're probably better off spenfing that cash somewhere else:
There's also the setup I'm running which is cheaper and sounds mean as hell, but not quite refined
Then again the muffler delete is a very good option, here's a local car:
It does make it sound more american-like, which can be good or bad depending on your preference.
Blackbird.
Premium
- 9,347
- Bay Area
- BlackbirdGTP
- Blackbird5150
Love the M5 I always wanted one but was too scared of the maintenance. But I guess that's unfounded since I own a car where if the diff blows it'll set me back 10k. 
I had the pleasure of driving an M5 before. From what I remember it was ridiculously fast. But my thoughts were probably skewed since I was driving a Dodge Neon at the time. Beautiful car though Crash I love it. 👍
I had the pleasure of driving an M5 before. From what I remember it was ridiculously fast. But my thoughts were probably skewed since I was driving a Dodge Neon at the time.
Beautiful car though Crash I love it. 👍
- 6,041
- Puget Sound
- Crash852
Love the M5 I always wanted one but was too scared of the maintenance. But I guess that's unfounded since I own a car where if the diff blows it'll set me back 10k.
Haha, hearing stories of Audi maintenance scares me. I did a long term borrow (~6 months) of my friends B6 A4 a few years back, and I swear everything broke on it. Then there's the stories and threads, and needing to remove the front end for timing belt changes? Audis are lovely, but I would only own one under warranty.
For the M5 though, maintenance in general isn't really that bad considering the caliber of the car, it's a few items that are expensive that give it a bad rep, and I would contend that those items aren't as common as it seems or as some make it out to be.
Thanks for your kind words.
Blackbird.
Premium
- 9,347
- Bay Area
- BlackbirdGTP
- Blackbird5150
Haha, hearing stories of Audi maintenance scares me. I did a long term borrow (~6 months) of my friends B6 A4 a few years back, and I swear everything broke on it. Then there's the stories and threads, and needing to remove the front end for timing belt changes? Audis are lovely, but I would only own one under warranty.
For the M5 though, maintenance in general isn't really that bad considering the caliber of the car, it's a few items that are expensive that give it a bad rep, and I would contend that those items aren't as common as it seems or as some make it out to be.
Thanks for your kind words.
For sure I'm crossing my fingers but so far the B8s are proving reliable. But I still want an M5
- 6,041
- Puget Sound
- Crash852
Update: Mazda 6.
Didn't think it would be on that, did ya?
Car has ~125k miles on it now and had only needed oil changes. A while back, it needed its first major investments: new spark plugs and coils and a new oil pan. The oil pan drain hole was completely stripped somewhere and sometime in the past, so a new oil pan was needed. The car was misfiring under load, so I took it to the mechanic, who pulled codes that pinpointed the misfiring to cylinder 3 and diagnosed it as bad plugs or coils. Since cylinder 3 is in the back of the engine towards the firewall, and a few items had to be removed to get to the back, I just had all the spark plugs and coils replaced. I also had the spark plugs in the front of the engine replaced, but keeping the old coils for now, as those coils are easy to get to if needed.
I guess I've had the 6 for about 2 years now, it's low maintenance is a refreshing change.
Didn't think it would be on that, did ya?
Car has ~125k miles on it now and had only needed oil changes. A while back, it needed its first major investments: new spark plugs and coils and a new oil pan. The oil pan drain hole was completely stripped somewhere and sometime in the past, so a new oil pan was needed. The car was misfiring under load, so I took it to the mechanic, who pulled codes that pinpointed the misfiring to cylinder 3 and diagnosed it as bad plugs or coils. Since cylinder 3 is in the back of the engine towards the firewall, and a few items had to be removed to get to the back, I just had all the spark plugs and coils replaced. I also had the spark plugs in the front of the engine replaced, but keeping the old coils for now, as those coils are easy to get to if needed.
I guess I've had the 6 for about 2 years now, it's low maintenance is a refreshing change.
- 6,041
- Puget Sound
- Crash852
When I washed the M5 last time, I finally replaced the old badges that were significantly faded, pitted, warping and falling off the trunk. A badge replacement (and a much needed wash ) does a nice job of refreshing the rear end.
Old badges as they sat. See the M that is fading and warped. I think someone in the past, before I bought the car, tried to pull it off the car but wasn't successful:
New badges:
Installed:
I hate replacing badges that are just free floating on a body panel, as I'm too OCD to just slap it on. I want it to be perfect as if it had just left the factory. But then, after removing the badges, I have to clean the adhesive residue from the old badge underneath it, so I can't just completely pull it off with no reference without significant headache during installation. For these badges, I ended up taping blue masking tape all around the badge to mark a straight line along the top and bottom edges, as well as a straight line on the right of the 5, and a diagonal line along the left of the M, to mark the outline for the new badges.
I think the method turned out ok, though I may be up to 0.5mm off in a couple of dimensions; it's not noticeable that anything is off, but I'm still slightly paranoid that it's not perfect.
Also bought a set of Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires for the car in 245/40-18 fronts and 275/35-18 rears, which are stock sizes. Moving from a set of Yokohoma Advan all season tires, the PSS summer tires are awesome. They have an immense amount of grip and great response, and corners at speeds where I previously would start understeering, with the trade being slightly noisier tire noise and a bit stiffer of a ride (worth it).
Front:
Rear:
Other than that, now at ~96.5k miles, the M5 hasn't been driven nearly as much as before, I've only done ~1500 miles in the past 3 months, as compared to more than double that previously.
) does a nice job of refreshing the rear end.Old badges as they sat. See the M that is fading and warped. I think someone in the past, before I bought the car, tried to pull it off the car but wasn't successful:
New badges:
Installed:
I hate replacing badges that are just free floating on a body panel, as I'm too OCD to just slap it on. I want it to be perfect as if it had just left the factory. But then, after removing the badges, I have to clean the adhesive residue from the old badge underneath it, so I can't just completely pull it off with no reference without significant headache during installation. For these badges, I ended up taping blue masking tape all around the badge to mark a straight line along the top and bottom edges, as well as a straight line on the right of the 5, and a diagonal line along the left of the M, to mark the outline for the new badges.
I think the method turned out ok, though I may be up to 0.5mm off in a couple of dimensions; it's not noticeable that anything is off, but I'm still slightly paranoid that it's not perfect.
Also bought a set of Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires for the car in 245/40-18 fronts and 275/35-18 rears, which are stock sizes. Moving from a set of Yokohoma Advan all season tires, the PSS summer tires are awesome. They have an immense amount of grip and great response, and corners at speeds where I previously would start understeering, with the trade being slightly noisier tire noise and a bit stiffer of a ride (worth it).
Front:
Rear:
Other than that, now at ~96.5k miles, the M5 hasn't been driven nearly as much as before, I've only done ~1500 miles in the past 3 months, as compared to more than double that previously.
Last edited:
- 6,041
- Puget Sound
- Crash852
Autocrossed the M5 a few weeks ago.
There were a lot of cars there, so I only had three runs. I didn't go competitively though; really went just for fun.
Mother nature couldn't make up its mind on the weather, so in the morning, it rained on and off, with bouts of sun that was just enough to start drying the tarmac. My first run turned out to be dry, but as I was waiting for the second run, rain started pouring, just long enough to soak the tarmac again. Between the second run and the third run, it had rained, again. For the two wet runs, I had just left traction and stability control on.
This autocross was the first real test of the new tires, and they performed admirably with ton of grip. Car was also fast and stable. It's impressive how quickly it moves its heft, and how quickly and willingly it does change directions.
A part of autocrossing is getting the chance to ride with other people, and have others ride with you. On the last run, I already had someone riding with me when someone else asked to ride along. As far as I was concerned, if the rules allow it and the second guy was willing to sit in the back, then he could ride along as well.
We were cleared to have people in the back seats as long as there are belts and everyone is wearing a helmet, which means that two more people then decide to hop in the back as well, making it a full car. So yeah, the two pictures from the last run, your eyes aren't deceiving you, there really are five people in the car.
I think with five people all piled in, I had the heaviest car going around the course as I was approaching 5000 lbs. No matter, I did the best time of the three runs then. My friend was telling me as well that when it was announced over the PA system that there were five of us in my car, everyone course side just turned and went, "Uhhh... what?"
Worth it. It was hilarious and something best shared with friends all piled in the car. I'm taking four friends with me around an autocross course again.
- 6,041
- Puget Sound
- Crash852
Took the M5 out on a road trip a few weeks ago that was about 1000 miles total over a couple of days, and it was great, other than what I think is bad gas that caused a few codes to pop up. I've cleared the codes and will drive around on a tank or two of gas to see what, if any, of the codes come back, and will replace parts from there.
Bugs probably weren't too thrilled about my road trip though:
--
Then a couple of weeks ago took the M5 to the dyno. The local car club chapter held a "Dyno Day" at a local tuning shop, where each entrant got 3 pulls on the DynoJet dyno for a discounted price. I brought my car out to it to try and understand what state the car is at.
The dyno itself is an AWD-capable setup in a pit, with a (frankly, not big enough) fan in the front to drive air into the engine bay. You drive into the garage and over the rollers, setting the rear tires on it, and the shop employees will tie the car down. Afterwards, they explain the procedure, you start your car and each owner got to do the pulls of their own car on the dyno.
Horsepower, torque, rpm and air/fuel ratio were measured. Here are the first and second (out of three) runs:
Results:
The results are I think, well, not good. The power peaked out at 318 hp and torque peaked at 312 lb-ft. Even accounting for a reasonable drivetrain loss, this is still showing less than what the motor as rated by BMW should show. While I understand that tons of different factors impact the final output numbers, including different temperature, humidity, stickiness of tires, camber, type of dyno, etc., this is still about 15-20 hp less than what other stock S62s have seen at the wheels. The car is also running rich and seems to be pulling timing at high rpms; the ratio should be closer to 12-12.5.
Of note, run 2 was done in 5th gear and run 3 was done in 4th gear. The shop suggested 4th gear, and I wanted to do one pull in 5th gear as that is the 1:1 ratio gear. 5th gear gave better results (by 1 hp), and now that I've done more research, it looks like the 1:1 ratio gear is the correct one to dyno in. The downside is 5th gear runs into the 155 mph speed limiter about 600 rpm shy of redline (the big blue dip on the graph), so I would have to figure out how to work around that.
From a fairly old Dinan article that talked about dynoing modern BMWs, he mentions that the M5 motor is highly sensitive to temperature swings. I shouldn't have let the car heat soaked before I went in for the pull. Between that, going when ambient is a few degrees cooler and resetting the ECU and fixing any codes that subsequently come up (I have a feeling that it's time to replace one or two things...), I will need to do this again to see if it's running more towards what it should be putting out.
Bugs probably weren't too thrilled about my road trip though:
--
Then a couple of weeks ago took the M5 to the dyno. The local car club chapter held a "Dyno Day" at a local tuning shop, where each entrant got 3 pulls on the DynoJet dyno for a discounted price. I brought my car out to it to try and understand what state the car is at.
The dyno itself is an AWD-capable setup in a pit, with a (frankly, not big enough) fan in the front to drive air into the engine bay. You drive into the garage and over the rollers, setting the rear tires on it, and the shop employees will tie the car down. Afterwards, they explain the procedure, you start your car and each owner got to do the pulls of their own car on the dyno.
Horsepower, torque, rpm and air/fuel ratio were measured. Here are the first and second (out of three) runs:
Results:
The results are I think, well, not good. The power peaked out at 318 hp and torque peaked at 312 lb-ft. Even accounting for a reasonable drivetrain loss, this is still showing less than what the motor as rated by BMW should show. While I understand that tons of different factors impact the final output numbers, including different temperature, humidity, stickiness of tires, camber, type of dyno, etc., this is still about 15-20 hp less than what other stock S62s have seen at the wheels. The car is also running rich and seems to be pulling timing at high rpms; the ratio should be closer to 12-12.5.
Of note, run 2 was done in 5th gear and run 3 was done in 4th gear. The shop suggested 4th gear, and I wanted to do one pull in 5th gear as that is the 1:1 ratio gear. 5th gear gave better results (by 1 hp), and now that I've done more research, it looks like the 1:1 ratio gear is the correct one to dyno in. The downside is 5th gear runs into the 155 mph speed limiter about 600 rpm shy of redline (the big blue dip on the graph), so I would have to figure out how to work around that.
From a fairly old Dinan article that talked about dynoing modern BMWs, he mentions that the M5 motor is highly sensitive to temperature swings. I shouldn't have let the car heat soaked before I went in for the pull. Between that, going when ambient is a few degrees cooler and resetting the ECU and fixing any codes that subsequently come up (I have a feeling that it's time to replace one or two things...), I will need to do this again to see if it's running more towards what it should be putting out.
- 4,213
- Puerto Rico
- motortrend
Mine dynoed at a peak 330whp on 100oct (not a huge difference) which I think is good but like you said depending on conditions your results aren't really bad. I did a few pulls and on the last ones I was down to 324-326. Simple things you could check/change: spark plugs, air filters, inefficient old cats, fuel filter/pump. For optimum performance on these cars spark plugs should be changed every 30k-ish miles so check when that was done last. Between all those things and a tune you could be at 340 probably
- 1,591
- Under the Hood
Try running a can of Seafoam through half a tank of gas, does an excellent job of cleaning the fuel line and injectors. Also wouldn't hurt to swap in a new fuel filter 👍
The results are I think, well, not good. The power peaked out at 318 hp and torque peaked at 312 lb-ft. Even accounting for a reasonable drivetrain loss, this is still showing less than what the motor as rated by BMW should show. While I understand that tons of different factors impact the final output numbers, including different temperature, humidity, stickiness of tires, camber, type of dyno, etc., this is still about 15-20 hp less than what other stock S62s have seen at the wheels. The car is also running rich and seems to be pulling timing at high rpms; the ratio should be closer to 12-12.5.
Of note, run 2 was done in 5th gear and run 3 was done in 4th gear. The shop suggested 4th gear, and I wanted to do one pull in 5th gear as that is the 1:1 ratio gear. 5th gear gave better results (by 1 hp), and now that I've done more research, it looks like the 1:1 ratio gear is the correct one to dyno in. The downside is 5th gear runs into the 155 mph speed limiter about 600 rpm shy of redline (the big blue dip on the graph), so I would have to figure out how to work around that.
From a fairly old Dinan article that talked about dynoing modern BMWs, he mentions that the M5 motor is highly sensitive to temperature swings. I shouldn't have let the car heat soaked before I went in for the pull. Between that, going when ambient is a few degrees cooler and resetting the ECU and fixing any codes that subsequently come up (I have a feeling that it's time to replace one or two things...), I will need to do this again to see if it's running more towards what it should be putting out.
Nice that was the same dyno I went to couple months back.
Looks like that sheet is SAE corrected which 'should' account for temperature/humidity/pressure during the dyno. What were your uncorrected numbers? Mine were 333/353 uncorrected and 315/333 SAE corrected, quite a big difference. Was this dyno after the trip? Could also be bad gas problems.
- 6,041
- Puget Sound
- Crash852
Checked my records and spark plugs, air filters and fuel filter were all done less than 10k miles ago during the previous Inspection II. Also check my older records and both MAFs were replaced roughly 20k miles ago. I haven't really driven the car since the dyno day, but I need to unlock the secret menu and check for coolant temp, air flow, and whatever parameters would affect performance.
I also need to hook up a Peake reader and check codes again; I have a suspicion that one of the pre-cat O2 sensors is on its way out...
Yup, that seems to be a pretty common place for a lot of people to go dyno their cars around here...
You're right that it's SAE corrected, but honestly, I don't know if I trust the correct factor that they applied. I'll like to see the math/algorithm behind the correction factor.
I didn't get the SAE uncorrected numbers separately, but based on the correction factor printed on the dyno sheet, my M5 was putting out 330 hp/324 lb-ft.
This was the week following my road trip, and without an ECU reset. I'm hoping the bad gas was partly/mostly the case.
- 4,213
- Puerto Rico
- motortrend
Wow, need to get more miles on mine, I'm still at 94K - hard, set of bearings, clutch replacement, transmission replacement - miles
- 6,041
- Puget Sound
- Crash852
I drove the 325iX out to lunch with at work a colleague a couple of days ago, and as I was driving, I started seeing the coolant gauge swing up beyond normal, getting hotter and hotter. Pulled over into the closest parking lot, turned off the car, and popped over the hood. As soon as it's even popped, steam is pouring out of the engine compartment.
A hose had split, and coolant was gushing out of it.
Thankfully, there were food places in the strip mall that I stopped in, as well as a grocery store, so we went and got food to first let the engine cool down a bit. After lunch, I went to the grocery store and bought a couple gallons of distilled water to temporarily refill the system so that there's at least fluid to get me back to the work parking lot. I figured out a route that would least likely require that I stop for any amount of time, try to time the lights, and set off.
Made it back to work with surprisingly little drama or fanfare.
I called a buddy that has a spare set of new coolant hoses that he was going to install in his car before he crashed it. He was kind enough to come to my work parking lot after we both got off work and helped me replace the split hose, as well as all the other ones while we were already at it as they all look original. Filled the system back up and bled the system, and I was all mended up.
People were definitely giving me weird looks for fixing my car in the work parking lot, but whatever, at least I was able to get home then.
A hose had split, and coolant was gushing out of it.
Thankfully, there were food places in the strip mall that I stopped in, as well as a grocery store, so we went and got food to first let the engine cool down a bit. After lunch, I went to the grocery store and bought a couple gallons of distilled water to temporarily refill the system so that there's at least fluid to get me back to the work parking lot. I figured out a route that would least likely require that I stop for any amount of time, try to time the lights, and set off.
Made it back to work with surprisingly little drama or fanfare.
I called a buddy that has a spare set of new coolant hoses that he was going to install in his car before he crashed it. He was kind enough to come to my work parking lot after we both got off work and helped me replace the split hose, as well as all the other ones while we were already at it as they all look original. Filled the system back up and bled the system, and I was all mended up.
People were definitely giving me weird looks for fixing my car in the work parking lot, but whatever, at least I was able to get home then.
- 6,041
- Puget Sound
- Crash852
It has been a long time since I updated this thread and I've put roughly 10k miles on the M5 since then, including a ~2500 mile road trip. A few friends and I planned a trip exploring the Pacific Coast along Highway 101 and 1 to southern(ish) California and back on Interstate 5 back in the summer, taking roughly this route:
Getting to the Oregon coast took most of the first day. We stopped at Corvallis for dinner before cutting out to the coast for the night. Most of this drive wasn't very interesting; we spent most of the day on I-5, with some twisty bits going out to the coast. There are a bunch of state campsites right on the Oregon coast, and we stopped at one of them, pitched some tents, walked the chilly beach under the moonlight, and went to sleep.
The next day, we took our time driving along the coast, stopping at whatever interested us. We spent a couple of hours at the Oregon Sand Dunes riding ATVs on them. I had never ridden one before, and it was great fun, but there were some pretty steep dunes out there, and on the way back to return the ATV rentals, I accidentally crested over one wrong and ended up almost running over myself.
We wound our way on Highway 101 down the south half of the Oregon coast to California as we'll be camping in the Redwoods that night. The weather was beautiful, and the scenery incredible as the sun is coming down and setting to our right. Traffic was light, road was smooth, and we were able to make good progress and really enjoy the few curvy parts, with one more fuel stop before crossing into California as the night and the redwood trees envelop us.
Next day started out like this:
Getting out of the Redwoods and down the North Coast, we took a detour across, up and down some coastal mountains to a sleepy little fishing town and had fish 'n chips right there on the ocean. Skies were quite gray, with reason; it was actually tough at times to figure out whether it was the coastal fog or if it was ash/soot from the nearby wildfires. That seemed to be the biggest topic of the town at that moment, the wildfires raging nearby, made especially worse with the drought that California was having at the time.
Returning onto the 101, the road was easy going, winding out of Redwoods and past rolling hills down the North Coast, becoming more a large highway rather than the narrow two lane road like before. We were meeting up with some friends in the SF Bay Area to stay with that night. This wasn't before stopping off at Russian River Brewing in Santa Rosa for a Pliny the Elder (and a case of beer). Stopping in Santa Rosa was also kind of neat as I had bought my M5 there the year before, a return of some sorts.
Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge into for the rest of the day:
The highlight in the next day was being here:
Laguna Seca
We just figured we'll drive to the race track and explore the race grounds, without really having figured anything out. It worked out great; I didn't know that Laguna Seca is actually part of a Monterey County public park. Even though the track itself was closed that day as Ford had rented it out for journalists to get a first drive of the new Shelby Mustang GT350 and GT350R, we were still able to wander around the outside perimeter and campgrounds, and watch the new Mustangs circle the race track.
Look! The corkscrew!
We also spent a bit of time just checking out Monterey. Warm sand in your feet, cool ocean breeze, blue water and skies. What an amazing time.
Monterey is, of course, most famous for Laguna Seca and its annual Car Week, which includes the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, Monterey Historics, Concorso Italiano, Legends of the Autobahn, and numerous car auctions. Everything that I've read and heard says that amazing cars show up around from around the world for Car Week (and notably, Pebble Beach in 1985 was the first time all six Bugatti Type 41 Royale ever built were assembled together for display). But in any other August week, the cars in town were generally unremarkably normal. We saw a Countach, and a couple of classic Ferarris, and that's... about it.
Continuing south on the Pacific Coast Highway was some of the best driving roads on the West Coast, period. The roads twisted its way for 100+ miles, coupled with stunning views of the ocean and coast. The road dipping in and out, up and down as it hugged the rugged coastline.
There were so many possible spots to stop at and just enjoy the view and ocean breeze, but with a good rhythm going, we continued on through many of it.
The M5 did an amazing job through these twisty roads. In the turns, the car had tons and tons of grip. You definitely feel the weight being tossed around, but the suspension manages extremely well, and it kept up with significantly lighter cars. There's a bit of, you feel the weight and a bit of inertia, then with trust in the suspension, even with the components already having a lot of miles on them, it will settle down and turn like nobody's business. The car seems to shrink around you. It has all the power I need coming out of corners; the sea of torque starts down low all the way up through the rev range, rocketing the car down the short straights. Brakes worked great and didn't fade at all, and car remained stable under hard braking. The letdown is the steering; though nicely weighted, it just doesn't have a ton of feel. Other than that though, on this road of corner after corner, all connected together, the chassis feels so balanced, dynamics were impeccable and everything together feels so right.
Snaking south on Highway 1, the sun slowly came down on our right, and we stopped as the sun is about to set over the Pacific Ocean.
That was the furthest south we went on the PCH; Morro Bay, just north of San Luis Obispo, before visiting Paso Robles and a brewery tour at Firestone Walker, and taking Highway 101 up to San Francisco the next day. Other than taking me up to Sonoma area for wine tasting, I parked the car for the few days that I hung out with friends and checked out SF.
Oooh, beer!
From there, it was a straight 12 hour drive up I-5 back home.
The car performed flawlessly throughout, was extremely comfortable, carved all the coastal corners and ate up all the miles. In many ways, the M5 became sort of a GT car for this trip, though being a sedan instead of a coupe. It had the pace but the comfort, and it had plenty of space for me to throw all my stuff into it. GT cars seem to, at times, be dismissed simply because they are not "hard core" enough. Really though, there aren't many better cars to do a long road trip in.
Getting to the Oregon coast took most of the first day. We stopped at Corvallis for dinner before cutting out to the coast for the night. Most of this drive wasn't very interesting; we spent most of the day on I-5, with some twisty bits going out to the coast. There are a bunch of state campsites right on the Oregon coast, and we stopped at one of them, pitched some tents, walked the chilly beach under the moonlight, and went to sleep.
The next day, we took our time driving along the coast, stopping at whatever interested us. We spent a couple of hours at the Oregon Sand Dunes riding ATVs on them. I had never ridden one before, and it was great fun, but there were some pretty steep dunes out there, and on the way back to return the ATV rentals, I accidentally crested over one wrong and ended up almost running over myself.
We wound our way on Highway 101 down the south half of the Oregon coast to California as we'll be camping in the Redwoods that night. The weather was beautiful, and the scenery incredible as the sun is coming down and setting to our right. Traffic was light, road was smooth, and we were able to make good progress and really enjoy the few curvy parts, with one more fuel stop before crossing into California as the night and the redwood trees envelop us.
Next day started out like this:
Getting out of the Redwoods and down the North Coast, we took a detour across, up and down some coastal mountains to a sleepy little fishing town and had fish 'n chips right there on the ocean. Skies were quite gray, with reason; it was actually tough at times to figure out whether it was the coastal fog or if it was ash/soot from the nearby wildfires. That seemed to be the biggest topic of the town at that moment, the wildfires raging nearby, made especially worse with the drought that California was having at the time.
Returning onto the 101, the road was easy going, winding out of Redwoods and past rolling hills down the North Coast, becoming more a large highway rather than the narrow two lane road like before. We were meeting up with some friends in the SF Bay Area to stay with that night. This wasn't before stopping off at Russian River Brewing in Santa Rosa for a Pliny the Elder (and a case of beer). Stopping in Santa Rosa was also kind of neat as I had bought my M5 there the year before, a return of some sorts.
Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge into for the rest of the day:
The highlight in the next day was being here:
Laguna Seca
We just figured we'll drive to the race track and explore the race grounds, without really having figured anything out. It worked out great; I didn't know that Laguna Seca is actually part of a Monterey County public park. Even though the track itself was closed that day as Ford had rented it out for journalists to get a first drive of the new Shelby Mustang GT350 and GT350R, we were still able to wander around the outside perimeter and campgrounds, and watch the new Mustangs circle the race track.
Look! The corkscrew!
We also spent a bit of time just checking out Monterey. Warm sand in your feet, cool ocean breeze, blue water and skies. What an amazing time.
Monterey is, of course, most famous for Laguna Seca and its annual Car Week, which includes the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, Monterey Historics, Concorso Italiano, Legends of the Autobahn, and numerous car auctions. Everything that I've read and heard says that amazing cars show up around from around the world for Car Week (and notably, Pebble Beach in 1985 was the first time all six Bugatti Type 41 Royale ever built were assembled together for display). But in any other August week, the cars in town were generally unremarkably normal. We saw a Countach, and a couple of classic Ferarris, and that's... about it.
Continuing south on the Pacific Coast Highway was some of the best driving roads on the West Coast, period. The roads twisted its way for 100+ miles, coupled with stunning views of the ocean and coast. The road dipping in and out, up and down as it hugged the rugged coastline.
There were so many possible spots to stop at and just enjoy the view and ocean breeze, but with a good rhythm going, we continued on through many of it.
The M5 did an amazing job through these twisty roads. In the turns, the car had tons and tons of grip. You definitely feel the weight being tossed around, but the suspension manages extremely well, and it kept up with significantly lighter cars. There's a bit of, you feel the weight and a bit of inertia, then with trust in the suspension, even with the components already having a lot of miles on them, it will settle down and turn like nobody's business. The car seems to shrink around you. It has all the power I need coming out of corners; the sea of torque starts down low all the way up through the rev range, rocketing the car down the short straights. Brakes worked great and didn't fade at all, and car remained stable under hard braking. The letdown is the steering; though nicely weighted, it just doesn't have a ton of feel. Other than that though, on this road of corner after corner, all connected together, the chassis feels so balanced, dynamics were impeccable and everything together feels so right.
Snaking south on Highway 1, the sun slowly came down on our right, and we stopped as the sun is about to set over the Pacific Ocean.
That was the furthest south we went on the PCH; Morro Bay, just north of San Luis Obispo, before visiting Paso Robles and a brewery tour at Firestone Walker, and taking Highway 101 up to San Francisco the next day. Other than taking me up to Sonoma area for wine tasting, I parked the car for the few days that I hung out with friends and checked out SF.
Oooh, beer!
From there, it was a straight 12 hour drive up I-5 back home.
The car performed flawlessly throughout, was extremely comfortable, carved all the coastal corners and ate up all the miles. In many ways, the M5 became sort of a GT car for this trip, though being a sedan instead of a coupe. It had the pace but the comfort, and it had plenty of space for me to throw all my stuff into it. GT cars seem to, at times, be dismissed simply because they are not "hard core" enough. Really though, there aren't many better cars to do a long road trip in.
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