Discussion
I went from a rover 214 to a bmw 323i when i was 19 obviously thought i could drive but ended up loosing it coming off a roundabout sideways and wrote it off. Absolutely gutted loved that car. God knows what i would of been like in a an m5 at that age. If you do get one take it easy!
Slow said:
Is it really that dangerous to drive that both reply's said I will die?
Its not dangerous to drive, I have one and I don't think its worth much more than your budget.Runing costs might hurt if you aren't handy with spanners though.
Had my car from 50K miles and its now on 150K miles. Of freinds with similar, when they went to BMW there were four figure bills to contend with. BMW will cheerfully look at a car worth £5K and give you a bill of the same. They tend to leave it to you to decide when to quit.
Recent done all the intake and outlet cam sensors. Interestingly also did a cam sensor on an E46 diesel.
Comparitively the E46 took about ten minutes to change the sensor whereas the M5 took an entire weekend. I'll leave it to your imagination how much BMW would charge for the job.
Having said that if you are handy with spanners, my running costs excluding fuel and tyres have to be worked out for the taxman, and over the past ten years have come to about 1-2K per year in parts. Not bad for the car.
Hi,
No one knows your true financial position, perhaps only you and your family and financial advisor know, so it's more difficult to reply to you in a serious manner.
In short, if you have enough income and thus, disposable income after your mandatory expenses, put enough away each month towards good levels of savings, investments etc, perhaps are due a substantial pay increase for where you work or perhaps about to land a very lucrative deal for your own business, then get the car!
If you have perhaps only got maybe half of the above in place or due to be in place, or less or none, then from a purely financial standpoint, I'd advise not to get the car. As mentioned, the cars themselves can be relatively cheap and it's the maintainence and looking after them which potentially can and will drain your wallet very quickly indeed. On top of that, from the safety aspect, it's likely that your at most 2 years of driving experience isn't really enough for such a powerful car. That's not meant to be negative to you specifically, as car enthusiasts we were all 17,18,19 as well and wanted 'fast' cars! I remember when the E30 325i at 171 BHP was considered 'very fast' and Porsches, Lamboghini's and Ferrari's were just the stuff of dreams. It's scary that in just less than 2 decades, performance family hatchbacks will have a variant more powerful than Ferrari's of just that short while ago. Driving 'complextity' has increased over that time as well, more congestion, more people around etc. I think I speak on behalf of many that a 400 HP car in the hands of a relatively inexperienced young driver would be very risky and dangerous compared to say getting a 231 bhp 530i.
Again, only you know your finances - I'd urge you to put the money and the next couple years earnings towards putting a deposit down on a property and/or starting up your own business depending on your view to risk. Cars are always a 'cost' centre and depreciate as well, although that can happen with a property, it's at least mainly regarded as a non depreciating asset.
Get an 'interim' level power car, 530i, 540i, increase your driving skills and experience with that over the next few years, if you make money in a business or increase the property's value, then perhaps look to 'spend' some small proportion of it towards an M5 later, by which time you'll also get better insurance quotes too.
Good luck whichever way you decide to go!
Cheers, Dennis!
No one knows your true financial position, perhaps only you and your family and financial advisor know, so it's more difficult to reply to you in a serious manner.
In short, if you have enough income and thus, disposable income after your mandatory expenses, put enough away each month towards good levels of savings, investments etc, perhaps are due a substantial pay increase for where you work or perhaps about to land a very lucrative deal for your own business, then get the car!
If you have perhaps only got maybe half of the above in place or due to be in place, or less or none, then from a purely financial standpoint, I'd advise not to get the car. As mentioned, the cars themselves can be relatively cheap and it's the maintainence and looking after them which potentially can and will drain your wallet very quickly indeed. On top of that, from the safety aspect, it's likely that your at most 2 years of driving experience isn't really enough for such a powerful car. That's not meant to be negative to you specifically, as car enthusiasts we were all 17,18,19 as well and wanted 'fast' cars! I remember when the E30 325i at 171 BHP was considered 'very fast' and Porsches, Lamboghini's and Ferrari's were just the stuff of dreams. It's scary that in just less than 2 decades, performance family hatchbacks will have a variant more powerful than Ferrari's of just that short while ago. Driving 'complextity' has increased over that time as well, more congestion, more people around etc. I think I speak on behalf of many that a 400 HP car in the hands of a relatively inexperienced young driver would be very risky and dangerous compared to say getting a 231 bhp 530i.
Again, only you know your finances - I'd urge you to put the money and the next couple years earnings towards putting a deposit down on a property and/or starting up your own business depending on your view to risk. Cars are always a 'cost' centre and depreciate as well, although that can happen with a property, it's at least mainly regarded as a non depreciating asset.
Get an 'interim' level power car, 530i, 540i, increase your driving skills and experience with that over the next few years, if you make money in a business or increase the property's value, then perhaps look to 'spend' some small proportion of it towards an M5 later, by which time you'll also get better insurance quotes too.
Good luck whichever way you decide to go!
Cheers, Dennis!
Ummm, where to start? No doubt someone will shoot me down in flames, however...
I have had an E39 M5 for four years and still have it. I have covered about 20k miles in that time. The following are facts:
It averages 17 mpg on a commute of 70% A/B roads and 30% town. You will only get 20 mpg on a steady, long motorway run. Forget what the computer says; they are wrong. I work it out by brimming the tank and calculating the true mpg
It costs me circa £2K per annum in parts and labour. This is NOT fuel, tax, MOT costs! It is very, very expensive to run because every part is extremely expensive for what they are. Eg, two front disc and one set of brake pads were £522. That's just the parts, not fitting. The rears were about £450. However they are no more difficult to replace than any other car.
Water pump for £240? Whoever got one for that price was lucky! Try £450 for the part alone. And it's a b
h of a job to do without ramps or a lift.
Alternator will set you back £520.
Suspension parts: they range from £40 to £200 but remember that there an awful lot of parts to the E39 M5's complicated suspension so the costs shoot up.
On the other hand, it is an awesome thing to drive but if i had had this when I was 19, I would have been long dead by now. £2100 for insurance for a 19 year old? Really? At that quote, I would say, "buy the car and write your Will. Enjoy it." Most 18/19 year olds that I come across are being charged or quoted between £1k to £3k for a Renault Clio. (I work with people of this age).
I have had an E39 M5 for four years and still have it. I have covered about 20k miles in that time. The following are facts:
It averages 17 mpg on a commute of 70% A/B roads and 30% town. You will only get 20 mpg on a steady, long motorway run. Forget what the computer says; they are wrong. I work it out by brimming the tank and calculating the true mpg
It costs me circa £2K per annum in parts and labour. This is NOT fuel, tax, MOT costs! It is very, very expensive to run because every part is extremely expensive for what they are. Eg, two front disc and one set of brake pads were £522. That's just the parts, not fitting. The rears were about £450. However they are no more difficult to replace than any other car.
Water pump for £240? Whoever got one for that price was lucky! Try £450 for the part alone. And it's a b
h of a job to do without ramps or a lift.Alternator will set you back £520.
Suspension parts: they range from £40 to £200 but remember that there an awful lot of parts to the E39 M5's complicated suspension so the costs shoot up.
On the other hand, it is an awesome thing to drive but if i had had this when I was 19, I would have been long dead by now. £2100 for insurance for a 19 year old? Really? At that quote, I would say, "buy the car and write your Will. Enjoy it." Most 18/19 year olds that I come across are being charged or quoted between £1k to £3k for a Renault Clio. (I work with people of this age).
Mr Gearchange said:
No - of themselves they are not dangerous to drive.
When we were 19 we all would have loved a M5 - and we know we could have driven it.
However when we get to mid 30's for example - we look back at our 19 year old selves and know that we would almost have certainly binned it. That's the benefit of long term hindsight .
Sorry if that sounds condescending - but it's unfortunately true.
You might very well be an exception - but 19 years old with a 400BHP RWD car sounds like a fairly significant risk.
This, you will die.When we were 19 we all would have loved a M5 - and we know we could have driven it.
However when we get to mid 30's for example - we look back at our 19 year old selves and know that we would almost have certainly binned it. That's the benefit of long term hindsight .
Sorry if that sounds condescending - but it's unfortunately true.
You might very well be an exception - but 19 years old with a 400BHP RWD car sounds like a fairly significant risk.
Slow said:
So pretty much, I could afford to run one but don't as I will die in a ball of fire?
As per my post above - we don't know, maybe you can, maybe you can't afford to run one properly. We also don't know if you'll kill yourself, you might drive the car like miss daisy all the time, in which case you probably won't die, or you might decide to redline it as much as you can whenever you can, whereby you might die. If you do get one, perhaps start a build thread and journal etc as to what you do and find with the car. Which insurance company and which postcode region are you in for that quote? it sounds wrong actually overall as other 19 year old BMW owners I speak to have had quotes for over £3500 for a E39 530d - but you 'might' be in one of those really low insurance risk areas etc...
Cheers, Dennis!
I owned one for several years, and it is a superb car. In its time it beat everything else and was regarded as the world's best sporting saloon car. In terms of danger, not dangerous to drive, but would suggest you do take some very good performance driving instruction, not to use the road as a race track, but to learn proper car control
I recall a very young guy coming on line one night and asking about shifting in a new E60 M5. We thought its was all BS, but it was not, and his first ever night of posting was tragically his last. The link below is very sobering. It is a lot of car, the E39 M5. Just be a bit careful with the exuberance, and good luck!
http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e60-m5-e61-m5-tou...
I recall a very young guy coming on line one night and asking about shifting in a new E60 M5. We thought its was all BS, but it was not, and his first ever night of posting was tragically his last. The link below is very sobering. It is a lot of car, the E39 M5. Just be a bit careful with the exuberance, and good luck!
http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e60-m5-e61-m5-tou...
Edited by RDMcG on Monday 25th November 20:28
DennisCooper said:
Slow said:
So pretty much, I could afford to run one but don't as I will die in a ball of fire?
As per my post above - we don't know, maybe you can, maybe you can't afford to run one properly. We also don't know if you'll kill yourself, you might drive the car like miss daisy all the time, in which case you probably won't die, or you might decide to redline it as much as you can whenever you can, whereby you might die. If you do get one, perhaps start a build thread and journal etc as to what you do and find with the car. Which insurance company and which postcode region are you in for that quote? it sounds wrong actually overall as other 19 year old BMW owners I speak to have had quotes for over £3500 for a E39 530d - but you 'might' be in one of those really low insurance risk areas etc...
Cheers, Dennis!
OP - what company is the quote with?
I got 26mpg on a 220 mile motorway run and not hanging about in my M5. That was brim to brim fill.
OP, it's your money, your life, your choice. It depends on the type of person you are as to whether you'll crash it etc. You sound a bit of a boy racer, but that's not a bad indicator. I was a boy racer and I had a 300bhp cossie. I did own a house as well but I was only 23.
Drive it sensible, don't show off, learn the car and maybe get some proper driving tuition in the car and who knows
OP, it's your money, your life, your choice. It depends on the type of person you are as to whether you'll crash it etc. You sound a bit of a boy racer, but that's not a bad indicator. I was a boy racer and I had a 300bhp cossie. I did own a house as well but I was only 23.
Drive it sensible, don't show off, learn the car and maybe get some proper driving tuition in the car and who knows
Slow said:
Just wether or not I can drive without Dieing is the problem then I guess.
It's a pretty standard query that's made when you inquire about an M5. Part of the BMW delivery + handover process for M5's includes "check whether driver is capable of driving without dying."Usually followed by checking whether you have enough money in investments, savings and piggy banks plus whether you're aware that the world could potentially end for yourself if a fast car is bought before buying a house and getting married.
Edited by Babw on Monday 25th November 22:24
RDMcG said:
I recall a very young guy coming on line one night and asking about shifting in a new E60 M5. We thought its was all BS, but it was not, and his first ever night of posting was tragically his last. The link below is very sobering. It is a lot of car, the E39 M5. Just be a bit careful with the exuberance, and good luck!
http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e60-m5-e61-m5-tou...
This was a truly tragic tale which I read at the time. The 18 year old whose father had just bought him a 2008 M5 posted the following in response to forum members suggesting that 500 bhp at 18 was not such a good idea:http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e60-m5-e61-m5-tou...
Edited by RDMcG on Monday 25th November 20:28
"M5froth I completely understand where you are coming from assuming that I am irresponsible..that is definitely understandable. I do sometimes make bad decisions but I am young and I do drive safe and I will not endanger the lives of others."
Well, later that very same night he killed himself and four friends in the car with him, attempting a top speed run in the dark on a private air strip in Florida and going off the end at high speed.
Although he believed he was not irresponsible, the combination of youthful testosterone and temptation was too much for him to resist.
It having happened in America, the last I read of this story the families of the friends were suing the father of the driver and also the owner of the airstrip. No idea how that turned out.
Dr Buz said:
Ummm, where to start? No doubt someone will shoot me down in flames, however...
I have had an E39 M5 for four years and still have it. I have covered about 20k miles in that time. The following are facts:
It averages 17 mpg on a commute of 70% A/B roads and 30% town. You will only get 20 mpg on a steady, long motorway run. Forget what the computer says; they are wrong. I work it out by brimming the tank and calculating the true mpg
It costs me circa £2K per annum in parts and labour. This is NOT fuel, tax, MOT costs! It is very, very expensive to run because every part is extremely expensive for what they are. Eg, two front disc and one set of brake pads were £522. That's just the parts, not fitting. The rears were about £450. However they are no more difficult to replace than any other car.
Water pump for £240? Whoever got one for that price was lucky! Try £450 for the part alone. And it's a bh of a job to do without ramps or a lift.
Alternator will set you back £520.
Suspension parts: they range from £40 to £200 but remember that there an awful lot of parts to the E39 M5's complicated suspension so the costs shoot up.
On the other hand, it is an awesome thing to drive but if i had had this when I was 19, I would have been long dead by now. £2100 for insurance for a 19 year old? Really? At that quote, I would say, "buy the car and write your Will. Enjoy it." Most 18/19 year olds that I come across are being charged or quoted between £1k to £3k for a Renault Clio. (I work with people of this age).
As I said, do your homework and you'll save a packet. I have had an E39 M5 for four years and still have it. I have covered about 20k miles in that time. The following are facts:
It averages 17 mpg on a commute of 70% A/B roads and 30% town. You will only get 20 mpg on a steady, long motorway run. Forget what the computer says; they are wrong. I work it out by brimming the tank and calculating the true mpg
It costs me circa £2K per annum in parts and labour. This is NOT fuel, tax, MOT costs! It is very, very expensive to run because every part is extremely expensive for what they are. Eg, two front disc and one set of brake pads were £522. That's just the parts, not fitting. The rears were about £450. However they are no more difficult to replace than any other car.
Water pump for £240? Whoever got one for that price was lucky! Try £450 for the part alone. And it's a b
h of a job to do without ramps or a lift.Alternator will set you back £520.
Suspension parts: they range from £40 to £200 but remember that there an awful lot of parts to the E39 M5's complicated suspension so the costs shoot up.
On the other hand, it is an awesome thing to drive but if i had had this when I was 19, I would have been long dead by now. £2100 for insurance for a 19 year old? Really? At that quote, I would say, "buy the car and write your Will. Enjoy it." Most 18/19 year olds that I come across are being charged or quoted between £1k to £3k for a Renault Clio. (I work with people of this age).
Gassing Station | M Power | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff