E60 / E61 M5 Buyers Guide

[Contigo]

Daaaveee said:

I would just like to say thank you to ecain63 for putting this guide together, with its help I purchased an E60 M5 last week and couldn't be happier, cheers!

Happy Motoring! Many Smiles per mile!

[mondie]

Contigo said:

For sure the selling dealer will have to prove that the car didn't have the fault and that would be very hard to do for them. Go back at them and see what they say and then start muttering SOGA etc....

Good luck and hope it's the first and last thing you suffer from.

Followup to my recent posts on the SOS call errors and RPD failures.

The faulty modules were replaced today and the source of leak in the boot found, it was a failure of the vent in the right rear quarter vent letting water in. Dealer reckons he has seen a few of these fail over the years and its nearly always on the right. Seems a poor design that any leak in the boot of an e60 is going to cause failure of these two modules which are only available ex Germany. Anyhow all fixed under warranty.

She has to go back next week for the replacement key (middle button not working) and also the USB plug in the centre console which doesn't work.

Warranty is a must with these babies!

[Charliecloud]

E61 M5 facelift - the search will begin! Great guide - Thanks

[Contigo]

Charliecloud said:

E61 M5 facelift - the search will begin! Great guide - Thanks

Good luck! Not many out there to chose from!

[Contigo]

It seems that the used E61 M5 prices have gone the other way now, ie appreciated ever so slightly in the last couple of months as the numbers of them for sale seems to have dropped and demand has increased. Anyone else noticed this?

[ecain63]

Contigo said:

It seems that the used E61 M5 prices have gone the other way now, ie appreciated ever so slightly in the last couple of months as the numbers of them for sale seems to have dropped and demand has increased. Anyone else noticed this?

Yup! I think we'll always have good strength in value over the saloon so long as the cars are well kept.

[Contigo]

ecain63 said:

Yup! I think we'll always have good strength in value over the saloon so long as the cars are well kept.

Indeed, keeping the miles off mine for sure and also keeping it in tip top condition. I wonder if we have ourselves a future classic?

[ecain63]

Contigo said:

ecain63 said:

Yup! I think we'll always have good strength in value over the saloon so long as the cars are well kept.

Indeed, keeping the miles off mine for sure and also keeping it in tip top condition. I wonder if we have ourselves a future classic?

For sure. But i think waaaaaaay in the future. The S85 V10 in itself is going to be remembered as BMW's finest piece of mechanical mastery, adding that to the rarity of the E61 shape and i reckon we could indeed have a future capital safety net. For now i reckon it'll be a roller coaster of gains and losses until the values fall to a plateau. As for final value: thinking in terms of the cars actual scrap and parts value i dont think they'll go as low as the E39's did or C6 RS6's. Engines will hold good residual value out of pure admiration. I may be talking BS but i think they wont ever get below £10k, even for a rougue, and for the E61 especially it'll be a long long time before any decent examples show at £15k.

[anonymous-user]

I must be doing it wrong because I can't seem to search for an M5 touring on the BMW website anymore, doesn't let me select Touring as a bodystyle after I select M Cars.

Is there a tyre-thread for M5s on here, I've not been able to find one but thought it would be the sort of thing where there was a lot of feedback and advice.

[ecain63]

cosmokmike said:

I must be doing it wrong because I can't seem to search for an M5 touring on the BMW website anymore, doesn't let me select Touring as a bodystyle after I select M Cars.

Is there a tyre-thread for M5s on here, I've not been able to find one but thouught it would be the sort of thing where there was a lot of feedback and advice.

Are you searching used cars? Might he that there are none available if there's no option on the site. Just choose M5 estate on autotrader, thatll show any dealer cars.

Ref tyres, just search the forum, its easier.

Have I emailed you about what spec you're after?

[anonymous-user]

There can't be any for sale with BMW then, the Touring option is definitely greyed out.

Its OK, I've had my Touring for just over 6 months now. I was just being nosey about prices!

This thread was invaluable when I was looking btw and still is.

[Contigo]

only 3 cars in the country for sale. Rarer than rocking horse manure.

[ecain63]

Edited to add a pdf at the bottom of the original post for those with time to read it. Very interesting stuff!

[smokey145]

Eddie, i am looking at potentially getting back into the V10 M5 fold after a year or so away. the reality will be looking at a car which is over the key 60k mile point (possibly 70/80k) so the mondial warranty is out of the question. to be frank, does anyone have any warranty direct M specialist warranty experience, is it worth it or should i just be armed with a "slush fund" for the potential inevitable?

and the last point is, if i dont go for a high mile E60 M5 it will almost certainly be a C5 RS6 avant, which i know you have experience with and to be fair ive been reading alot about recently. how do you find the cars compare?

[ecain63]

smokey145 said:

Eddie, i am looking at potentially getting back into the V10 M5 fold after a year or so away. the reality will be looking at a car which is over the key 60k mile point (possibly 70/80k) so the mondial warranty is out of the question. to be frank, does anyone have any warranty direct M specialist warranty experience, is it worth it or should i just be armed with a "slush fund" for the potential inevitable?

and the last point is, if i dont go for a high mile E60 M5 it will almost certainly be a C5 RS6 avant, which i know you have experience with and to be fair ive been reading alot about recently. how do you find the cars compare?

I'd say the slush fund might be a good option unless you are happy paying £2500 for the Mondial warranty (id personally go for the Mondial option dependant on what it covered).


As for C5 RS6 vs M5 ownership: I wrote this last year. http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/xforums/topic.asp?h=0...

[smokey145]

ecain63 said:

smokey145 said:

Eddie, i am looking at potentially getting back into the V10 M5 fold after a year or so away. the reality will be looking at a car which is over the key 60k mile point (possibly 70/80k) so the mondial warranty is out of the question. to be frank, does anyone have any warranty direct M specialist warranty experience, is it worth it or should i just be armed with a "slush fund" for the potential inevitable?

and the last point is, if i dont go for a high mile E60 M5 it will almost certainly be a C5 RS6 avant, which i know you have experience with and to be fair ive been reading alot about recently. how do you find the cars compare?

I'd say the slush fund might be a good option unless you are happy paying £2500 for the Mondial warranty (id personally go for the Mondial option dependant on what it covered).


As for C5 RS6 vs M5 ownership: I wrote this last year. http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/xforums/topic.asp?h=0...

thats a very interesting read, thanks.

[meanm5]

Hi Eddie,

I bought an M5 a week or so ago and it's been a bit of roller coaster, albeit not really my concern or my £££ as it's an AUC from a dealer near M25.

If I hadn't read your review I would have never picked up on the clutch issue the car was showing when the dealer done the handover - it's now in for a clutch and fw replacement plus other bits.

The service manager did say that I was more akin to spotting the faults than most other owners who would have probably thought a slight judder is normal when driving off.
- Really the thanks go to you mate, for the detailed write up and research you have undertaken to help us all.

All in all, the dealer is paying for it all, about £4K bill. And I only had the car for 1 day!

[Gibb]

warranty, warrant, warranty. Please if you are going to buy one of these get a warranty. I didn't and after a year of wonderful ownership my 2007, 50,000 mile E60 engine blew up due to the valves sticking in the open position on pistons 9 & 10.

BMW wanted £34K for a new engine to be fitted, so the warranty would be a lot cheaper!

But I did love every second of ownership. Have an E90 M3 now, which is a completley different car to drive and I love it but miss my M5.

[Patrick Bateman]

£34k?

[smokey145]

Gibb said:

warranty, warrant, warranty. Please if you are going to buy one of these get a warranty. I didn't and after a year of wonderful ownership my 2007, 50,000 mile E60 engine blew up due to the valves sticking in the open position on pistons 9 & 10.

BMW wanted £34K for a new engine to be fitted, so the warranty would be a lot cheaper!

But I did love every second of ownership. Have an E90 M3 now, which is a completley different car to drive and I love it but miss my M5.

I take it you had a warranty then? Why have you got rid now?