RayKnight

Hello all. I wanted to share my thoughts on the GS-F so far.

A bit of history, i had an IS-F since 2009 and sold it in 2013 to replace with an F10 M5. The M5 was a really nice car and had MONSTER torque. So much that it was actually making the car not very fun to drive here. Allow me to explain. So, here in NE Ohio, we have snow half the year, and rain, rain, rain. When its dry, the roads have a touch of salt leftover or are a little damp from rain most of the time. We get only a handful of perfect driving days here. The M5, if you try to have some fun with it you have 2 choices. Traction all on - mash the gas, traction control comes on, car goes slow. no fun happens until after 60-80mph when it starts to get grip. Or, traction off, its just not safe at all. Not only do the tires just go ablaze, the car has a tendency to point right towards oncoming traffic when it happens! So yes i loved the ferocious engine and the DCT, while its no manual, it worked really, really well. The car had some service issues after about 4500 miles that never could be properly fixed. Also, the front seats were so thick that the rear legroom was really tight. i liked the car but never loved it. it was just too big and heavy to have such a crazy engine. It really needs AWD around here to make it enjoyable.

Fast forward, sold the M5, bought an F80 M3 with the 6 spd manual. Now this car is REALLY special. Its an absolute hooligan!! Tons of power on tap and it actually hooks up unlike the M5 could. Strangely, there is also significantly more legroom in the back seat! The F80 is by far the funnest car i've ever driven. Love the power, love the handling, love the cabin tech. Its perfect for just unleashing rage on the road!! But as a daily driver? No. No way. Its loud, its buzzy, its super stiff. its just not nice to drive "normally" if that makes sense. its just nice to drive alone and unleash the rage if you know what i mean! So i had been driving my X5 35d daily with family, etc. and the M3 is for the nice days when i just want to have some fun.

So the X5 lease is coming up, i had ordered a 340i Xdrive to replace it. We already have a GL350 (wife's) and a Raptor for the winter so another X5 would be pointless. I started having issues with the X5's head unit and then the same with my M3. Same issue just ongoing. I can deal with it in the M3 as its my toy but not for a daily driver. So i stopped the 340i order and picked up a new GS-F.

So, the GS-F, all the reviews you will see are comparing this car to the M5, CTS-V, etc.. But i think people are really not getting the point of this car. The GS-F is an AMAZING daily driver. its NOT a hooligan. Its NOT an M5, an AMG or a CTS-V. Far from it. The GS-F is a car you can drive relaxed across the country in supreme comfort. It gets a TON of traction with its low bottom end torque. On wet roads, you can drive it without concern of the rear end doing anything unexpected. Its very, very smooth and easy to drive. When you get on it, you do wait a bit for something to happen, but it IS properly quick up to redline. it pulls very hard and the sound…….just insanely good!!! I actually enjoy driving this car slow and at the speed limit. Its calm, relaxed and very stable yet it will breath fire when you want it to. Driving the M5 feels like a waste if you are not smashing the gas every time. I don't get this feeling from the GS-F. It feels like a really, really nice "normal" car. The transmission is way behind the DCTs in performance but it really suits this car well and makes it a nicer car to drive daily with family, The Mark Levinson sound system is awesome! Better than the Bang&Olufson i had in the M5 and X5.

The NA V8 is "underpowered" compared to the germans yes. But in the real world, i will argue that its actually quite a bit nicer to drive and live with. I'm not at the edge of my seat driving the GS-F. I'm VERY comfortable and relaxed. And i really love it as a daily driver! The rear leg room is fantastic and the interior is excellent. Looks awesome (red interior). If i were to gripe, it would be mostly about the garbage infotainment/mouse setup. Its crap. But i'm getting used to it. BMW's cabin tech is truly years ahead. Its much easier to use without taking eyes off the road and it does a lot more. BUT its also plagued with service issues which i have personally been dealing with for the last few months on 2 different cars. The GS-F transmission upshifts great. No gripes at all there. I do have an issue how slow it is to downshift. If you are going 60 and mash the gas, its literally 1.5-2 seconds before its in the right gear and taking off. With a DCT, its generally about 1/2 second to get into the lower gear. So i see lots of room for improvement in the downshifting and hopefully someone will start tuning this and get the software programmed to downshift more aggressively. I do think its all software because my IS-F was much quicker to get into a passing gear and i have to assume this is the same transmission or at least very similar. Also, i miss BMW's navigation in the heads up display.

All in all, i am VERY happy with the GS-F. I am really surprised how good it is. I drove a GS350 F sport and compared with the GS-F, it felt like a Camry. The GS-F chassis feels much more rigid, drivetrain is much smoother, and interior is much more upscale. It truly feels like an $85k car. It not a GS350 with a V8 like a lot of people think looking at it on paper. It cannot replace my M3…That one is a keeper! But i can see owning the GS-F for a long time. Its the best daily driving luxury car i've owned to date. I plan on swapping on some snow tires this winter as well so i will give a report on how it does.

Sorry no pics yet! I will take some shortly. its Atomic Silver with red interior.

Still not sure i love the funky grill, but it does not offend me either. I think its a good looking ride. orange brakes, CF spoiler, vented front fenders…Just looks wild enough but not pure evil.

bigblack06

iTrader: (20)

Congrats and an excellent review, exactly what I think as well Its not meant to compete with the Germans, and the power is adequate just not enough to justify the price in my mind.

ssmoked

Congrats on the GSF! I agree with everything in your review but the asking msrp. Hope you didn't pay the full asking price

RayKnight

Nah i got a fair deal. 5k off sticker and buy rate. I let them make a few bucks and they always take care of me.

RayKnight

Adding some pics. To put in price perspective, If you consider the M5 a competitor, My M5 was $114k. Thats over 30k more than i paid for the GS-F. You can't go by base price as the GS-F base is LOADED and the base M5 is not. options add up very fast. To get comparable equipment on the M5 you are well over 100k. A loaded LS hits 100k. Comparing against the GS 350 - it really feels like a completely different car. Everything feels more upscale and refined over the standard GS models. I actually think its a great deal compared to what else you would get in this price range. Look at a base Panamera! Price is nuts. I would compare it mostly with a BMW 550i. Loaded 550i hits just under 100k. So really, i don't see how its overpriced.

Here are some pics!

yardie876

Oh man Atomic Silver over Rioja Red is damn sexy.

RayKnight

Thanks! Red interior in my M3 as well. Love it.

Meraki Autoworks

iTrader: (8)

Great review.. You have the best of all three worlds.. f80 m3, raptor, and GSF..

Just throwing this out there.. I carry parts for all your cars!

Swift, Vorsteiner, Meisterschaft, Weathertech, etc.

-Josh

1BlinkGone

RayKnight- great review. I tend to think of the GS-F along the same lines as you do about the car- including pricing. Great color, thank you for the pics!! Congratulations!

RayKnight

After driving it a few days, I can say the navigation, voice command, audio UI, HUD, seat adjustments and climate control are all light years behind BMW's systems in features, ease of use and speed of response. These things are bothering me. Passenger side heated seat is not working.

Otherwise - it drives awesome! Super comfortable and great to cruise in. Just all electronic functions are painfully slow and hard to use while driving.

Masteron

Coming from a 2015 m4, I have had my GSF now for about 3 weeks and absolutely agree with OP 100%

The only thing I would disagree is on my m4 anyway the cooling system was no where near what the lexus is, I would have to blast the ac to get it comfortable and would be loud where the GSF is ice cold with little noise.

Very nice review!

8spd

Good to hear that the GS F suspension is nicely judged. How's the body roll around the corners compared to the M3 and M5?

Does your M3 have the optional adaptive dampers?

How does the Lexus red interior compare to the BMW Sakhir Orange? Is it a shade lighter?

RayKnight

Neither really have any noticeable body roll. Both corner very well. The M3 is more lively but the GSF can sure hold its own. I have all options on the M3 except DCT. I have the adaptive suspension. Its great. But really, while these cars are similar on paper, they are VERY different. M3 is WILD, angry, evil, GSF is smooth, luxurious, and has an absolutely wicked sounding and very hard pulling V8 when you want it. The M3 is always angry and violent. Its like an axe murderer (M3) vs a professional hitman in a black suit (GSF)

The Sakhir orange is very slightly brighter, more saturated and slightly more orange but hard to tell even side by side. Both are a nice bright red.

JayRo354

I see you have the all weather mats in there. Did you also get the carpet mats on delivery? What are your thoughts on the audio specifically? There is more dampening mat over the wheel well compare the GS 350 F and the trunk gap height to the rear inner area is a bit lower in height by a few inches. The amp also has one less plug in on the end closest to the tail light.

RayKnight

I got both sets of mats. The car is very quiet as to road noise. The engine is pretty hushed under 4k but gets real loud when you open it up. Sounds absolutely epic. One of the best sounding V8s outside of the "Italian F cars". The Mark Levinson system is really good at mid to high volume. At low volumes (under 20) its not as rich as the German B&O systems we have in our other cars. At hogh volumes, its a fuller sound and i like it better. So from the hushed road noise, the sweet sounding Yamaha V8 to the Mark Levinson system i would pretty much call it pornography for your ears!