E60 / E61 M5 Buyers Guide

[Plainview23]

I'm going to test drive an M6 this weekend -- the owner has already told me that he never takes it out of Auto; good thing or bad thing?! Any implications for clutch wear in that? I think it's reasonable to suspect that he doesn't rag it too much - or track it!

[ecain63]

Plainview23 said:

I'm going to test drive an M6 this weekend -- the owner has already told me that he never takes it out of Auto; good thing or bad thing?! Any implications for clutch wear in that? I think it's reasonable to suspect that he doesn't rag it too much - or track it!

Best way to check the clutch is to get the box nice and warm. Take the car to a town environment with lots of stop-start situations, such as traffic lights and roundabouts. It wont take long to get the clutch warmed up and any excessive clutch wear will show itself if its there. Look for signs of slippage and juddering. If it does either, walk away or negotiate the price accordingly.

Oh, stick the car in S5, flappy mode from start to finish.

[Plainview23]

Thank you, appreciate the input.

[smokey145]

my M6 is now going back to the main dealer i brought it from mid may for them to look at (and hopefully sort) the clutch judder.

fingers crossed.

[ecain63]

smokey145 said:

my M6 is now going back to the main dealer i brought it from mid may for them to look at (and hopefully sort) the clutch judder.

fingers crossed.

Keep us posted!

[Plainview23]

ecain63 said:

Best way to check the clutch is to get the box nice and warm. Take the car to a town environment with lots of stop-start situations, such as traffic lights and roundabouts. It wont take long to get the clutch warmed up and any excessive clutch wear will show itself if its there. Look for signs of slippage and juddering. If it does either, walk away or negotiate the price accordingly.

Oh, stick the car in S5, flappy mode from start to finish.

e hte

Thanks for all the tips ecain; in the end it came down to an E92 M3 or the M6. The 6 was about £5k cheaper - the guy was open to bargaining so I got him down to £21k .... It was a tough choice because I expect the M3 would be the easier ownership experience but driving the M6 felt like an absolute event whereas the M3 just felt like a great car... so I had to go for the V10 machine!
Thanks again.

[smokey145]

Plainview23 said:

ecain63 said:

Best way to check the clutch is to get the box nice and warm. Take the car to a town environment with lots of stop-start situations, such as traffic lights and roundabouts. It wont take long to get the clutch warmed up and any excessive clutch wear will show itself if its there. Look for signs of slippage and juddering. If it does either, walk away or negotiate the price accordingly.

Oh, stick the car in S5, flappy mode from start to finish.

e hte

Thanks for all the tips ecain; in the end it came down to an E92 M3 or the M6. The 6 was about £5k cheaper - the guy was open to bargaining so I got him down to £21k .... It was a tough choice because I expect the M3 would be the easier ownership experience but driving the M6 felt like an absolute event whereas the M3 just felt like a great car... so I had to go for the V10 machine!
Thanks again.

Be glad to know you have made the right choice.

Welcome to the club.

[JJ5]

Guys,

I can understand the view of 'don't buy an M if you can't afford the fuel', but as a point of discussion what does everyone think of an LPG conversion for the E61 M5?

Any problems?

[ecain63]

JJ5 said:

Guys,

I can understand the view of 'don't buy an M if you can't afford the fuel', but as a point of discussion what does everyone think of an LPG conversion for the E61 M5?

Any problems?

To recoup the costs of the conversion you'd need to be doing the mileage to justify it. There are decent systems out there but I'll stick by my opinion that there's no point! It's an M5, a car meant for petrol heads, not economisers. But that's just my opinion and no doubt there will be critics.

[JLBMatic]

Hi all,
Newbie to this site here.... may I thanks all especially Eddie for the informative thread which helped me secure a M5 recently.
One query I had - which may have been posted earlier but I couldn't see the answer to - does anyone know of the existence of a list of all updates / dates throughout the production of this car? I think Parkers' (paperback) guide used to show it - things like recalls / SMG Pump upgrades etc but showing the date......
Many thanks

[Contigo]

JLBMatic said:

Hi all,
Newbie to this site here.... may I thanks all especially Eddie for the informative thread which helped me secure a M5 recently.
One query I had - which may have been posted earlier but I couldn't see the answer to - does anyone know of the existence of a list of all updates / dates throughout the production of this car? I think Parkers' (paperback) guide used to show it - things like recalls / SMG Pump upgrades etc but showing the date......
Many thanks

I found this on the M5board but it relates to US models which share some similarities.

BMW M5 E60 model year 2005 (build until 8/2005)

model year 2006 (build until 8/2006)
Updates:
START/STOP button and key-brick
Trunk lid "open" button

model year 2007 (build until 8/2007)

model year 2008 (build until 8/2008)
Updates:
New headlights
New tail lights with LED
New headrest trim on M-Multifunc seats
New high-end Audio system available as option
New interieur/design on doors incl. new placement of electric windows
New interieur/design on mittle console incl. new buttons for seat heat, M-seat, tyre puncture etc

model year 2009 (build until 8/2009)
Updates:
New i-Drive knob with direct buttons (like the new 7-series)
New 3D graphics on navigation

[mondie]

Thanks to Eddie and all the other contributors to this valuable thread. I found it in a Google search when reading up on the e60 facelift. Last week we bought a late 07 e60 M5 with 2 years BMW warranty and couldn't be happier. Being an Aussie and having never owned or really ever driven a quality German car we are blown away by the inherent quality in these cars, let alone the M5 specialness. UK car prices are insanely cheap compared to what l am used to so it was a tough choice deciding what to buy for family duties, but l think we made the right choice in the end.

Cheers
Simon

[ecain63]

mondie said:

Thanks to Eddie and all the other contributors to this valuable thread. I found it in a Google search when reading up on the e60 facelift. Last week we bought a late 07 e60 M5 with 2 years BMW warranty and couldn't be happier. Being an Aussie and having never owned or really ever driven a quality German car we are blown away by the inherent quality in these cars, let alone the M5 specialness. UK car prices are insanely cheap compared to what l am used to so it was a tough choice deciding what to buy for family duties, but l think we made the right choice in the end.

Cheers
Simon

Glad you found it helpful mate. Welcome to the club.

[King Eric]

I am looking at getting an E60 M5 soon. This thread has been valuable in learning about them, so thank you to the contributors who have made the effort to type all the information. Top show.

I have only had a short test drive in one, dealers run them with such low fuel and are tight on test drives! Don't suppose anyone in the Fleet area wants to show me around theirs and talk about ownership and take me up the road in it? Would be really grateful and buy a beer!

My budget will be up to about £30k and looking at an AUC applied so I can trade it later on for an E90 M3 when I have scratched that M3 itch!

[mondie]

For 30k you will get a seriously good car Eric. We paid 26.2k for a 26k miler with most options in near as immaculate condition with tax and a 2 year BMW warranty. My plan is to keep it for about 2 years and just before the 2 year warranty expires buy another year and then sell it. These are awesome cars, I love the subtle muscle looks and sound when under load.

[King Eric]

Thanks Mondie. There are a few AUC cars doing the rounds at the moment. However I will also look at private sales with modial warranty in play and transfer that over.

[Contigo]

King Eric said:

I am looking at getting an E60 M5 soon. This thread has been valuable in learning about them, so thank you to the contributors who have made the effort to type all the information. Top show.

I have only had a short test drive in one, dealers run them with such low fuel and are tight on test drives! Don't suppose anyone in the Fleet area wants to show me around theirs and talk about ownership and take me up the road in it? Would be really grateful and buy a beer!

My budget will be up to about £30k and looking at an AUC applied so I can trade it later on for an E90 M3 when I have scratched that M3 itch!

If you can make it over to Newbury mate I'm game. E61 here though.

[King Eric]

Contigo-I may be in touch Thanks for the offer

[JLBMatic]

Guys, just a quick update after a few weeks' ownership (may help or be of interest to others)....

Good points:
the ability to have the choice between a comfortable ride (non M-mode) or stiff ride at the touch of a button. Ride on soft setting over Surrey's st roads is actually good (better than expected anyway)
400bhp does not seem the same as 507bhp :-)
Head Up display is actually very useful. Better for gear selected & speed rather than tacho(tacho seems to 'lag' (or maybe my eyes are on the rapidly approaching road instead!)). Non M-mode HUD gives speed, plus user-selectable sat-nav directions and warning messages (low fuel mainly!).
Accereration and gear changes can be described as brutal, but I am trying to be 'sympathetic' and can't see myself ever using launch control or hard acceleration until I'm in 2nd gear...)
Seat side bolsters puff up when engine is started to previously set position (non-'active' seats)
Exhaust note at 4000rpm+ is fantastic ...the sound is nothing like a V8


Bad points:
Fuel consumption a miserable 11-12 mpg average (mixture of calm runs with occasional full-throttle accelerations, perhaps 'normal' general driving for most....?
Lifting the throttle at every gear change will take some getting used to.... then smooth changes are no probs . Relatively low torque means working the SMGIII box more than I would choose to.
Rear screen heater use renders the FM/DAB radio useless
SatNav will not go to 'full screen' (and probably never will)
Need to find a petrol station that sells Castrol Edge 10W60 fast!

Edited by JLBMatic on Monday 2nd July 23:08

[ecain63]

JLBMatic said:

Guys, just a quick update after a few weeks' ownership (may help or be of interest to others)....

Good points:
the ability to have the choice between a comfortable ride (non M-mode) or stiff ride at the touch of a button. Ride on soft setting over Surrey's st roads is actually good (better than expected anyway)
400bhp does not seem the same as 507bhp :-)
Head Up display is actually very useful. Better for gear selected & speed rather than tacho(tacho seems to 'lag' (or maybe my eyes are on the rapidly approaching road instead!)). Non M-mode HUD gives speed, plus user-selectable sat-nav directions and warning messages (low fuel mainly!).
Accereration and gear changes can be described as brutal, but I am trying to be 'sympathetic' and can't see myself ever using launch control or hard acceleration until I'm in 2nd gear...)
Seat side bolsters puff up when engine is started to previously set position (non-'active' seats)
Exhaust note at 4000rpm+ is fantastic ...the sound is nothing like a V8


Bad points:
Fuel consumption a miserable 11-12 mpg average (mixture of calm runs with occasional full-throttle accelerations, perhaps 'normal' general driving for most....?
Lifting the throttle at every gear change will take some getting used to.... then smooth changes are no probs . Relatively low torque means working the SMGIII box more than I would choose to.
Rear screen heater use renders the FM/DAB radio useless
SatNav will not go to 'full screen' (and probably never will)
Need to find a petrol station that sells Castrol Edge 10W60 fast!

Edited by JLBMatic on Monday 2nd July 23:08

Just buy some Edge from Opie and keep a litre bottle in the boot.