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      05-02-2021, 01:40 PM   #1
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F90 M5 Competition Track Guide & Tips

BIMMERPOST
     Featured on BIMMERPOST.com
Hey everyone. I spent months looking up various posts on whether the M5 can handle the track, what needs to be upgraded, etc, but couldn't find anything that just answered all the questions. So since I took mine to the track yesterday I figured I'd post my experience here, and maybe everyone else who has tracked theirs can too and we can make this the go-to thread for future owners.

Summary - a 2021 F90 M5 Competition LCI can 100% handle a solid day of track as standard without breaking a sweat.

But to make it interesting, a bit more detail:

The car is heavy but the setup is perfect so it will not feel uncomfortably heavy on track. You can chuck it around with minimal understeer and have a great time. The suspension could be lower, and I'm going to give the M Performance setup a go with a 20mm drop, but it's certainly fine as stock.

The stock steel braking setup - discs, pads, fluid - didn't break a sweat. Pedal feel was great all day. No need to upgrade for performance reasons. I may try out track pads and put a higher temp fluid in, but there was no reason to suggest that's actually necessary.

Mine came with the Pirellis from the factory, and I wanted to get solid lap times, so the only change I made was that I put Michelin Cup 2 Connects on - the newer Connects come in the exact standard 20 inch tyre sizes for both front and rear, unlike the previous ones, so there was no need to run a non-standard setup. With the tyres adjusted for the right pressures, they were rock solid for the whole day, and the car was faster on track than anything else there - all the other M cars (including new gen M3s and M4s, an M5 with the PS4Ss, and a few M2 Comps), and a 570S (on standard Pirelli P-Zeros).

For tyres, the Michelin Connect app is excellent as it helps you tweak starting pressures to make sure you maximise the time within the optimal range. I found that I was starting on around 26 psi in order to run between 32 and 35 once warmed up for a good 15-20 minutes before they would then go over that pressure and you can start to feel the car sliding around a bit too much (not in a fun way).

Steering is definitely best in Comfort so you can play around with it a bit easier and slide around - the feel is not better in Sport so it's just a bit heavier and harder to quickly rotate when you need to put some lock on. Engine and Drivetrain definitely Sport Plus.

Optimal driving mode is 4WD DSC Off if you want the ultimate lap time of 4WD Sport DSC Off if you want a more engaging driving experience. MDM cuts in far too aggressively - it's not smooth like the supercar electronics these days, it just cuts you off once it starts to slide, and that makes it hard to balance the car and keep the pace up. With Cup 2s, and 4WD, there was never a time that the car lost traction unless I specifically chucked it in to achieve that. Hold down DSC Off for 10 seconds, tweak the engine and drivetrain settings, then hold down M Mode for 10 seconds and set it into Track to switch off all the various electronics and entertainment, and you're set.

So basically if you have an M5 and want to take it on track, then you're totally good to go. No changes needed. If you absolutely want to set the best lap times on the day, then just stick some Cup 2s on it. The rest of the car is absolutely built for it.

Hope this is interesting and helpful to people!
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