2003 BMW M5 vs. 2015 Chevrolet SS - BMWBLOG (blog)
Understand that the E39 M5, produced between 1998 and 2003, comes from a high-water period for BMW road cars. So when the folks at BMW M tuned one, they didn’t just throw down the fast-four-door gauntlet. Like the G8 before it, the SS borrows its Zeta chassis architecture from the Commodore, sized between the current Camaro and Chevy’s Caprice police cruiser. For 2015, the SS swaps nonadjustable shocks for Magnetic Ride Control (see: magnetorheological suspension, like that in the Corvette Stingray Z51). GM’s close-ratio Tremec six-speed manual transmission, complete with a 3. 70:1 axle ratio, becomes... (As in, you pay no monies and receive a manual gearbox. The best things in life, right. ) Of course, you can still spec last year’s six-speed paddle-shift automatic and taller 3. 27:1 final drive, but you’d be missing the point entirely. Because the Chevy SS is now the only three-pedal, rear-drive sedan with room for five and enough naturally aspirated V8 grunt to give every passenger a hernia. Source: www.bmwblog.com
