M5 inspection help.
Discussion
I have enquired recently about an M5 which is up for sale.It has 90k kms on the car and is a 2006. The car is up for sale due to the death of the previous owner and is been sold off
to settle his estate. There seems to be very little history/receipts with the car.
He has forwarded on a copy of the service book which showed some maintenance carried out
but its not exactly extensive. Any other questions I ask I also cannot get an answer to, given the situation. There was 5 services in that time.
Oil was changed at 1400, 32k, 50k, 77k.
Brake fluid changed 14k, 32k, 50k, 77k
So there was no oil change for 30k kms when the car was new. That doesn't sound like the owner was too enthusiastic but its all I got to go with. Whether there was oil changes in between the ones above or not there is no record.....
I have no record of whether the clutch/flywheel has been changed or not. Is there any way to tell? The service book has the front and rear brakes done once, at 50k kms so if they have not been done since I guess they would be badly needing a change. I actually can't see how they could have lasted that long so maybe they
have been changed but there is no paperwork to back it up.
What are the thoughts on approaching a car like this? Bearing in mind I am a big distance from the car and its not really an option for me to
go and inspect it personally. I wouldn't even look twice at a car like this except that maybe I can get a good deal, but I don't want a good deal if the cars will be a dud.
Going off manufacturers recommendations the service intervals probably aren't too far off?
I will try upload the service book.
to settle his estate. There seems to be very little history/receipts with the car.
He has forwarded on a copy of the service book which showed some maintenance carried out
but its not exactly extensive. Any other questions I ask I also cannot get an answer to, given the situation. There was 5 services in that time.
Oil was changed at 1400, 32k, 50k, 77k.
Brake fluid changed 14k, 32k, 50k, 77k
So there was no oil change for 30k kms when the car was new. That doesn't sound like the owner was too enthusiastic but its all I got to go with. Whether there was oil changes in between the ones above or not there is no record.....
I have no record of whether the clutch/flywheel has been changed or not. Is there any way to tell? The service book has the front and rear brakes done once, at 50k kms so if they have not been done since I guess they would be badly needing a change. I actually can't see how they could have lasted that long so maybe they
have been changed but there is no paperwork to back it up.
What are the thoughts on approaching a car like this? Bearing in mind I am a big distance from the car and its not really an option for me to
go and inspect it personally. I wouldn't even look twice at a car like this except that maybe I can get a good deal, but I don't want a good deal if the cars will be a dud.
Going off manufacturers recommendations the service intervals probably aren't too far off?
I will try upload the service book.
They all suffer from the same common problems eventually.
Around 60-70k = clutch, abs pump, aircon compressor, both actuators, and occasionally oil rad. Mine has all this done in the last 15k, car on 63k.
Don't forget tyres, discs, pads, front lower arms.
Front arms where knackered in mine @ 60k.
Last of all service, check which one is due, every 3rd is the big one to include box oil & plugs.
Around 60-70k = clutch, abs pump, aircon compressor, both actuators, and occasionally oil rad. Mine has all this done in the last 15k, car on 63k.
Don't forget tyres, discs, pads, front lower arms.
Front arms where knackered in mine @ 60k.
Last of all service, check which one is due, every 3rd is the big one to include box oil & plugs.
ant123456 said:
They all suffer from the same common problems eventually.
Around 60-70k = clutch, abs pump, aircon compressor, both actuators, and occasionally oil rad. Mine has all this done in the last 15k, car on 63k.
Don't forget tyres, discs, pads, front lower arms.
Front arms where knackered in mine @ 60k.
Last of all service, check which one is due, every 3rd is the big one to include box oil & plugs.
I've been looking at E60's as well......Around 60-70k = clutch, abs pump, aircon compressor, both actuators, and occasionally oil rad. Mine has all this done in the last 15k, car on 63k.
Don't forget tyres, discs, pads, front lower arms.
Front arms where knackered in mine @ 60k.
Last of all service, check which one is due, every 3rd is the big one to include box oil & plugs.
That looks like a long list at 60K for any car, what did BMW engineer these out of......cheese??
Ha ha ha yes seems like it sometimes.
Consumables as in brakes, arms, discs, pads etc is the same on any car around this milage to be fair.
Again, all new high powered cars don't have clutches so again, is about right depending on how's it's used.
As for the other bits, that's why I had to have the warranty, mental cost if you buy new.
However my previous C5&C6 RS6 was much more £££ to keep on the road.
Consumables as in brakes, arms, discs, pads etc is the same on any car around this milage to be fair.
Again, all new high powered cars don't have clutches so again, is about right depending on how's it's used.
As for the other bits, that's why I had to have the warranty, mental cost if you buy new.
However my previous C5&C6 RS6 was much more £££ to keep on the road.
ant123456 said:
Ha ha ha yes seems like it sometimes.
Consumables as in brakes, arms, discs, pads etc is the same on any car around this milage to be fair.
Again, all new high powered cars don't have clutches so again, is about right depending on how's it's used.
As for the other bits, that's why I had to have the warranty, mental cost if you buy new.
However my previous C5&C6 RS6 was much more £££ to keep on the road.
that warranty thing seems to come up a lot and people seem to do very well out of it. although I guess it ends up being a maintenance fund in essence.Consumables as in brakes, arms, discs, pads etc is the same on any car around this milage to be fair.
Again, all new high powered cars don't have clutches so again, is about right depending on how's it's used.
As for the other bits, that's why I had to have the warranty, mental cost if you buy new.
However my previous C5&C6 RS6 was much more £££ to keep on the road.
Considering this car is sitting on about 55k miles, there is a good chance then that many of these issues will start to rear up very soon?
Like I said I have no idea if most of these issues were done already on the car. Need to take it that they haven't. I will try to ring around to the garages from previous services, apart from that I don't think there is much I can do?
How specialist are these cars to maintain, does the mechanic needs expensive equipment to carry out even the most basic of maintenance?
Like I said I have no idea if most of these issues were done already on the car. Need to take it that they haven't. I will try to ring around to the garages from previous services, apart from that I don't think there is much I can do?
How specialist are these cars to maintain, does the mechanic needs expensive equipment to carry out even the most basic of maintenance?
Also If the car gets inspected at a BMW garage, as far as I know they can inspect how many times launch control has been used, how many times it's been redline and other driving characteristics of previous owners?
Can they also say what maintenance has been carried out and at what mileage?
Can they also say what maintenance has been carried out and at what mileage?
japseye007 said:
Considering this car is sitting on about 55k miles, there is a good chance then that many of these issues will start to rear up very soon?
If there aren't any invoices to evidence work done, I'd strongly recommend a BMW Insured warranty if they do that in your country. Of course ringing the garages where the car has been serviced to see what records they have is a good idea.GarageQueen said:
I've been looking at E60's as well......
That looks like a long list at 60K for any car, what did BMW engineer these out of......cheese??
Name another 500bhp car which is cheaper to run?That looks like a long list at 60K for any car, what did BMW engineer these out of......cheese??
You can't compare running costs of these cars to a normal 5 series.
Shaoxter said:
japseye007 said:
Considering this car is sitting on about 55k miles, there is a good chance then that many of these issues will start to rear up very soon?
If there aren't any invoices to evidence work done, I'd strongly recommend a BMW Insured warranty if they do that in your country. Of course ringing the garages where the car has been serviced to see what records they have is a good idea.GarageQueen said:
I've been looking at E60's as well......
That looks like a long list at 60K for any car, what did BMW engineer these out of......cheese??
Name another 500bhp car which is cheaper to run?That looks like a long list at 60K for any car, what did BMW engineer these out of......cheese??
You can't compare running costs of these cars to a normal 5 series.
C63 AMG? RS6? Jag XJR? can't say I've experience with them but for 4 - 5 major components to commonly fail at 60K is not on in my book. 60K is not a lot of miles
the fact its a 500bhp car has nothing to do with it, components should be engineered to cope at that hp.
Edited by GarageQueen on Monday 24th October 12:04
GarageQueen said:
C63 AMG? RS6? Jag XJR?
All have their fair share of problems, you just haven't read up on them 
Some things like throttle actuators, big end bearings etc. BMW really should have made better, but when you put things into perspective I think the running costs are pretty reasonable.
60k on a clutch in the SMG is a long way compared to similar tech: Ferrari F1, Aston Sportshift, Lambo E-Gear etc. which typically last half that, or less.
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