BMW E60 M5 with 6 speed manual, and traction control settings?

Question

I've read that with the E60 M5 with 6-speed manual, the traction control management systems cannot be fully disengaged. My question is, how much of it cannot be disengaged? Can you wheel spin off the line, can you burn out, can you doughnut, can you drift? if you can drift, how much will it let you drift? And also if anyone knows, with the Dinan aftermarket software, can the electronic stability control systems be completely turned off? Thanks for any advice. Please only answers from people who KNOW what they're talking about, not people that THINK they know what they're talking about

Answer 1

You are right that during the start of production, M5's with 6 speed

manual trannies do not have the provision to disengage the DSC/DTC.

But things have changed since then. Starting MY'08 (actually 09/07), the DSC OFF function had already been made available in both M5's and M6's that have the optional 6 speed manual trannies. So I will no longer answer your original question of what  with the DSC active you can do or you can not do.

With the DSC disengaged, (fully this time), only the ABS is still active

so only the releasing of the brakes and pumping to prevent lockup are holdovers. No stabilizing intervention is available with DSC off. You can do whatever you want that the car is capable of doing (including some very serious situations).

For those cars that have the optional 6 speed trannies but no provision to turn off the DSC, a software update (retrofit) is available to make turning off the DSC also available. No hardware changes are needed.

When updated, the MDM button in the center console has 3 settings:

1) default is with DSC on

2) short press turns MDM on (with green indicator on cluster)

3) press and hold turns off the DSC (with yellow DSC indicator in the cluster and a check control message appears on the display).

I do not want to touch on the Dinan software for an M5 for to me it is an utter waste of time (and money).

PS:

Allow me to congratulate you on your fine taste. While SMG 3

is slightly faster than manual during acceleration, I  also firmly believe that the driver interacting with a manual transmission  is a better experience and gives more "joy" to owning a car and driving it.

Answer 2

There are many factors to the new traction control system on the E60 M5. This car is equipped with the MK60E5 Continental Teves Dynamic Stability Control System.

But to first answer your questions, yes you can spin off the line, burn out, donut, drift as far out as you can hold, and all the other fun stuff that makes RWD performance cars so much fun to drive. The thing is, you do not have to completely disengage everything to have fun with the new MDM mode.

The biggest deal on this new system offers functions that were not yet available with the previous system, is the MDynamic Mode (MDM)

In principle, the MK60E5 for the M5 has 3 different operating modes:

• DSC ON

• DSC OFF

• MDynamic mode.

There is no DTC function in connection with the M5. However, similar to DTC mode, corresponding control thresholds are raised by activating the MDM.

The key to this function in this car is the MDM mode. MDM gives the "performance-oriented" driver the option of driving the car with controlled float angle and longitudinal slip without DSC intervening. The control system intervenes only when the physical limits are exceeded. The control thresholds are not static but rather, as the speed increases, they approach the thresholds of DSC ON mode.

The stability control thresholds are identical as from a speed of about 125 mph in order not to get you in over your head in higher speed ranges.

As far as Dinan's S/W.... why? You don't need it with this car. The  car and system are amazing. If you already own one, your dealer should have set you up with the one-day M School in SC. If not, call them and ask for it! (I assume you're here in the US, if so it comes with the car)

If you're looking for a car to drive like a nut doing doughnuts, burnouts etc, please don't subject this car to that, get an old RWD muscle car for that stuff.....