LS vs. 5 series "my thoughts"
 

I am a 23 year old, undernourished, underpayed, white boy from middle america. I grew up across the street from "the projects" and somehow always hoped for better things. At the age of 11 I adopted a cat which i naturally named Bimmer. I am completely infatuated with the cars, and seem to always have been. I have always been at unease for the lack of culture and lack of respect for which, in this great u.s. of a. It shows in the clothes that people wear, the music they listen to and Oh Yes.... the cars they drive. Let me give you some comparison's.

Gucci, Prada, Armani........Abercrombie, American Eagle, etc..

Moby, Radiohead, Pink Floyd, Sigur Ros,..... Britney, Backstreet, Creed, Nelly, etc

Jags, Mg's, Volvo, Saab, BMW,..........Ford, Chevy, Oldsmobile, etc

My favorite comparison is the Lincoln Ls. It is a 5 series rip-off. I mean, if you have enough money to buy a Ls, why not just spend a couple of grand more and get a 5 series.

Ls:

LAYOUT
Front engine, rear-wheel drive


TYPE
V-6 DOHC 24-valve V-6 with aluminum block and cylinder heads

V-8 DOHC 32-valve V-8 with aluminum block and cylinder heads


DISPLACEMENT
V-6 3.0 liter/181 cu. in.

V-8 3.9 liter/240 cu. in.


BORE & STROKE
V-6 89.0 mm x 79.5 mm/3.5 in. x 3.13 in.

V-8 86.0 mm x 85.0 mm/3.39 in. x 3.35 in.


COMPRESSION RATIO
V-6 10.5:1

V-8 10.55:1


HORSEPOWER
V-6 220 @ 6,400 rpm (SAE net)

V-8 252 @ 6,100 rpm (SAE net)


TORQUE
V-6 215 lb-ft @ 4,800 rpm (SAE net)

V-8 261 lb-ft @ 4,300 rpm (SAE net)


FUEL DELIVERY
Sequential multi-port electronic fuel injection


FUEL REQUIREMENT
91 octane (recommended)


COOLING SYSTEM
Fail-safe cooling


IGNITION
Coil-on-plug integrated electronic ignition system


EXHAUST SYSTEM
Full dual exhaust with separate catalytic converters, mufflers and resonators for each cylinder bank


TRANSMISSION TYPE
5-speed Getrag™ manual, 5-speed electronic automatic overdrive or SelectShift Automatic™ transmission





BODY
Unitized construction with front and rear subframes


SUSPENSION
Front Independent, aluminum Short- and Long-Arm with coil springs, tubular stabilizer bar and anti-dive geometry



Rear Independent, aluminum Short- and Long-Arm with coil springs, tubular stabilizer bar and anti-dive geometry


SHOCK ABSORBERS
Front Gas-charged hydraulic twin tube with integral rebound springs



Rear Gas-charged hydraulic twin tube


STEERING
Type Speed-sensitive variable power-assisted rack-and-pinion



Turns lock-to-lock 3.0



Turning Circle curb-to-curb 38.06 ft diameter


WHEELBASE
114.5 in.


TRACK
Front 60.5 in.



Rear 60.8 in.


BRAKES
Front Power anti-lock with vented discs (300 mm dia.) and dual-piston aluminum calipers



Rear Power anti-lock with vented discs (288 mm dia.) and single-piston aluminum calipers


WHEELS
V-6 and V-8 automatic: 16-inch 7-spoke brushed satin aluminum



V-6 manual: 17-inch 5-spoke SuperSilver aluminum


TIRES
V-6 P215/60R16 94H (automatic), P235/50R17 95V (manual)



V-8 P215/60R16 94H


CURB WEIGHT
V-6 3,640 lb (automatic), 3,603 lb. (manual)



V-8 3,729 lb.





HEADROOM (in.)
38.6 front1; 36.7 rear1


SHOULDER ROOM (in.)
57.7 front; 57.0 rear


HEADROOM (in.)
40.4 front; 37.5 rear


OUTSIDE DIMENSIONS (in.)
56.1 height; 80.1 width (including mirrors); 193.9 length


LEGROOM (in.)
42.8 front (max.); 37.4 rear (min.)


FUEL CAPACITY (gal)
18.0


HIPROOM (in.)
53.0 front; 54.4 rear


CARGO VOLUME (cu ft)
13.5

Now a 540i



Weight


Unladen
lbs
3803


Weight distribution, front/rear
%
52.5/47.5


Max. permissible
lbs
4817


Permitted load
lbs
1014


Permitted axle load, front/rear
lbs
2381/2635


Permitted roof load
lbs
220


Engine


Liters/type/valves

4.4/V-8/32


Bore/stroke
in
3.62/3.26


Nominal output/rpm
hp
290/5400


Max. torque/rpm
lb-ft
324/3600


Compression ratio
:1
10.0


Fuel grade

unleaded premium


Transmission


Automatic gear ratios (:1)
I/II/III
3.57/2.20/1.51

IV/V/R 1.00/0.80/4.10


Final drive ratio1
:1
2.81 (3.15)


Performance


Drag coefficient
Cd
0.31


Top speed1 , 2
mph
128 (155)


Acceleration 0-60 mph1 , 3
sec
6.2 (6.1)


Fuel Consumption


City1 , 4
mpg
18 (15)


Highway1 , 4
mpg
24 (21)


Wheels


Tire dimensions
front
235/45R-17 all-season



rear
255/40R-17 all-season


Wheel dimensions
front
17 x 8.0



rear
17 x 9.0


Material

alloy

*sleep* *angel*

You are forgetting the most important fact:

Since we're both talking V8's here,


Lincon LS

0-60 8.8 seconds
1/4 mile 16.6 seconds

540

0-60 5.9 seconds
1/4 mile 14.3 seconds


(stats taken from R&T)

oh yeah
 

How could i forget that. Thank you gamite.
But..........There is so much more to all of this, aside from performance. You guy's might think i'm a freak, but there is an air about bmw's. And i do not mean the people that drive them. I mean when i see a Bimmer, and before i owned them i just knew it was a "top of the food chain" car. Or mechanically superior.
And to have that kind of function with the form (the form being the "look", that unmistakable realization that you were just passed at high speeds by a superior german automobile) is truly a pleasure. In fact it is a code that all of us love and live by. Maybe i take it to far, maybe not. But i think we can all agree that the reason why we drive these machines is because we love them. And wouldn't settle for anything else.

.... ok i have said my peace.