e60 m5(high milers)
Discussion
Before I bought my M5 I spent at least 12 months looking for the "right"one as I saw it. I read with interest Eddies (member on here, ECAIN63) tales of woe about the clutch issue, digested his excellent buyers guide, and went searching.
I had a budget of approx €18K which I knew wasn't going to get me anything newer than a 2005 model, but still, I wanted one so bad, I kept looking.
Then, approx 6 months ago, my car was advertised.
2005, 110,000 miles, with a really comprehensive service history. Irish car from new.
I then spent another week checking the car out, called the three previous owners, validated the €21k worth of service history in 9 years of driving that the garage sent me, and then bought the car.
It had the clutch and flywheel replaced at 88K miles, both throttle actuators replaced, and the vanos repaired, all at main dealers, in the 18 months before I purchased it.
Long story short, she's now pushing 116k miles, and zero issues. I have no warranty, as it would cost a fortune.
There is much genuine bad press on here about the reliability of these cars, but all I can tell you is that if you do your homework, and buy wisely, you'll be fine. These are extremely complicated machines, and if things go wrong the can be expensive to repair, but so can your new Jag, or Range Rover, or merc.
Happy hunting.
Christy.
I had a budget of approx €18K which I knew wasn't going to get me anything newer than a 2005 model, but still, I wanted one so bad, I kept looking.
Then, approx 6 months ago, my car was advertised.
2005, 110,000 miles, with a really comprehensive service history. Irish car from new.
I then spent another week checking the car out, called the three previous owners, validated the €21k worth of service history in 9 years of driving that the garage sent me, and then bought the car.
It had the clutch and flywheel replaced at 88K miles, both throttle actuators replaced, and the vanos repaired, all at main dealers, in the 18 months before I purchased it.
Long story short, she's now pushing 116k miles, and zero issues. I have no warranty, as it would cost a fortune.
There is much genuine bad press on here about the reliability of these cars, but all I can tell you is that if you do your homework, and buy wisely, you'll be fine. These are extremely complicated machines, and if things go wrong the can be expensive to repair, but so can your new Jag, or Range Rover, or merc.
Happy hunting.
Christy.
Christy O'Rourke said:
Before I bought my M5 I spent at least 12 months looking for the "right"one as I saw it. I read with interest Eddies (member on here, ECAIN63) tales of woe about the clutch issue, digested his excellent buyers guide, and went searching.
I had a budget of approx €18K which I knew wasn't going to get me anything newer than a 2005 model, but still, I wanted one so bad, I kept looking.
Then, approx 6 months ago, my car was advertised.
2005, 110,000 miles, with a really comprehensive service history. Irish car from new.
I then spent another week checking the car out, called the three previous owners, validated the €21k worth of service history in 9 years of driving that the garage sent me, and then bought the car.
It had the clutch and flywheel replaced at 88K miles, both throttle actuators replaced, and the vanos repaired, all at main dealers, in the 18 months before I purchased it.
Long story short, she's now pushing 116k miles, and zero issues. I have no warranty, as it would cost a fortune.
There is much genuine bad press on here about the reliability of these cars, but all I can tell you is that if you do your homework, and buy wisely, you'll be fine. These are extremely complicated machines, and if things go wrong the can be expensive to repair, but so can your new Jag, or Range Rover, or merc.
Happy hunting.
Christy.
Congrats, research is key. Enjoy your ownership.I had a budget of approx €18K which I knew wasn't going to get me anything newer than a 2005 model, but still, I wanted one so bad, I kept looking.
Then, approx 6 months ago, my car was advertised.
2005, 110,000 miles, with a really comprehensive service history. Irish car from new.
I then spent another week checking the car out, called the three previous owners, validated the €21k worth of service history in 9 years of driving that the garage sent me, and then bought the car.
It had the clutch and flywheel replaced at 88K miles, both throttle actuators replaced, and the vanos repaired, all at main dealers, in the 18 months before I purchased it.
Long story short, she's now pushing 116k miles, and zero issues. I have no warranty, as it would cost a fortune.
There is much genuine bad press on here about the reliability of these cars, but all I can tell you is that if you do your homework, and buy wisely, you'll be fine. These are extremely complicated machines, and if things go wrong the can be expensive to repair, but so can your new Jag, or Range Rover, or merc.
Happy hunting.
Christy.
That being said you've only done 6k miles in yours and only had it 6 months .
The op wants to buy a circa 80k miler and yours had a clutch, flywheel, actuators, vanos and stuff done at 88k miles - at a wild guess that would be, what, £4k bill?
Also, someone spent 21k on upkeep on it before you bought it and most cars need nothing in the first 3 years so that was some fairly hefty bills and thats probably without an exhaust or the engine letting go.
I'm all for these cars but boy are they expensive - prob Maserati levels of running costs.
I'm all for these cars but boy are they expensive - prob Maserati levels of running costs.
Thanks Christy for your reply...i've had my fill of m3's & others no big problems but an m5 is required !!.who looks after yours i see your in same area as myself,i might be able to contact you by pm/phone when ever suits..thanks.
As for other posts if i want golf lessons i go to a pro.!!
As for other posts if i want golf lessons i go to a pro.!!
You've hit the nail on the head, research is key. I knew the potential weak points, and held out until I found one that had all of these items addressed already. There's lots of these for sale for £12-14k with 60-80K miles with no big repair work carried out, but I'd be willing to bet that it around the corner for the new owner!
We're getting slightly off topic here, the op started this thread to establish if it's ok to buy what he thinks is a high miler(80K) car, I think it's fine as long as he does his homework and is patient!
We're getting slightly off topic here, the op started this thread to establish if it's ok to buy what he thinks is a high miler(80K) car, I think it's fine as long as he does his homework and is patient!
Fancy that Liam, small world! I look after the car myself, I am by no means a qualified mechanic, but have a life long passion for fast cars, but without a budget to send them to main dealers to repair, so I've picked it up along the way. I have a purpose built workshop with lift, compressor etc, so it makes life a bit easier when it comes to servicing/repairs!
Please feel free to PM me and you can come see mine and we can organize a test drive to give you an idea of what you're missing!!
Please feel free to PM me and you can come see mine and we can organize a test drive to give you an idea of what you're missing!!
I did research on my M6. Plenty of it. Bought an AUC car, negotiated a 24 month warranty and it still went wrong on me - frequently.
I have to replace the clutch sooner rather than later. Warranty is 50:50 on it so I'd rather pay half the money including a clutch position sensor than nearly £3000 at the dealers for it all in!
Other stuff, I am reading up regularly and making mental notes from m5boardforums and can do some myself now.
These cars are essentially a 5/6 series with a racing car engine in them with a tonne of previously untrialled gadgets on them. We are gueinea pigs. Just about every E6x M has had numerous warranty claims made.
Do I love it? Yes it is epic when it works.
Would I buy one again? No chance. Just too unreliable and inconsitent (IMO) as a daily runner.
I have to replace the clutch sooner rather than later. Warranty is 50:50 on it so I'd rather pay half the money including a clutch position sensor than nearly £3000 at the dealers for it all in!
Other stuff, I am reading up regularly and making mental notes from m5boardforums and can do some myself now.
These cars are essentially a 5/6 series with a racing car engine in them with a tonne of previously untrialled gadgets on them. We are gueinea pigs. Just about every E6x M has had numerous warranty claims made.
Do I love it? Yes it is epic when it works.
Would I buy one again? No chance. Just too unreliable and inconsitent (IMO) as a daily runner.
Point taken Schermerhorn, but I feel that the issues you have had with your machine are not representative of everybody's experience with the V10 drivetrain. You have had serious issues, and it's a pity that it has made the ownership experience probably an overall unpleasant one, but not everybody who owns a V10 BM has had a negative experience.
As we often hear, it's rare that people post about how good the car is going, and that's the same with all cars!
As we often hear, it's rare that people post about how good the car is going, and that's the same with all cars!
Christy O'Rourke said:
Point taken Schermerhorn, but I feel that the issues you have had with your machine are not representative of everybody's experience with the V10 drivetrain. You have had serious issues, and it's a pity that it has made the ownership experience probably an overall unpleasant one, but not everybody who owns a V10 BM has had a negative experience.
As we often hear, it's rare that people post about how good the car is going, and that's the same with all cars!
Oh abolutely. However, these are known to be quite 'fragile' cars and need regular TLC. I knew this going into ownership hence why I got it with a 24 month AUC warranty for piece of mind. Even so, 3000 miles into ownership, 5 visits to the dealership is not normal.As we often hear, it's rare that people post about how good the car is going, and that's the same with all cars!
Bear in mind, this was a 2 owner car, that was fastidiously maintained from day 1 and no expense was spared. When these fall out of warranty and become cheap enough, the average Joe Bloggs is going to have a real fit when it comes with such things and you'll see lots of insurance claims and the like on them because people simply cannot afford to maintain them.
Epic epic cars though once running right. The way it can keep up with a GT-R over 100mph (never tried *ahem*) and at full chat it sounds like an F1 car. We'll never see another car like it again. Ever.
The new M5 and M6 have made a massive leap forward though.
Edited by Schermerhorn on Thursday 9th October 12:20
Christy O'Rourke said:
Point taken Schermerhorn, but I feel that the issues you have had with your machine are not representative of everybody's experience with the V10 drivetrain. You have had serious issues, and it's a pity that it has made the ownership experience probably an overall unpleasant one, but not everybody who owns a V10 BM has had a negative experience.
As we often hear, it's rare that people post about how good the car is going, and that's the same with all cars!
I've had mine for a year and its been just as reliable as any other car I've had, not had any issues yet ! Clutch,fly & position sensor replaced at 39k by Stephen James BMW before my ownership. Its now on 55k. I'm quite expecting the throttle actuators to go at some point. As we often hear, it's rare that people post about how good the car is going, and that's the same with all cars!
A guy in my village has a facelift 57 plate M5 that he bought at 2 yrs old from BMW for 42k. It had done 16k miles when he bought it, its now on 71k miles and its had 3 clutches in that time and the actuators and some other bits. He said 10k on warranty repairs last year !
Simon.
i own an 07 touring and its on 88k miles, in 2 years its had the big stuff done, seems this mileage is when they let go if youre lucky. it is supercar performance but i totally disagree on supercar running costs.
my ferrari cost £5500 for a service and oil cooler and my 993 cost me £5k for a top end rebuild.
they are not cheap to maintain i agree but when you stick the car in M mode there are very few cars id rather be in, i have 3 kids so needed a practical super car around my toy cars. my advice is buy one that has had a recent clutch, throttle actuators as a minumum, or make sure you have some cash in reserve. the AUC warranty is good but very expensive now from mondial at these mileages. warranty wise doesnt cover actuautors but warranty direct does. i had a warranty on mine and BMW wouldnt touch the clutch, so ive self funded all the above repairs, its probably around £5k in 2 years but other than Vanos and possible Diff leaks im not aware of any other issues on the horizon, as has been said before though you simply have to drive one of these cars in M mode S6 full power and nail it, its incredible and the V10 sound track with a standard exhaust is sublime, please no modified exhausts ;-)
my ferrari cost £5500 for a service and oil cooler and my 993 cost me £5k for a top end rebuild.
they are not cheap to maintain i agree but when you stick the car in M mode there are very few cars id rather be in, i have 3 kids so needed a practical super car around my toy cars. my advice is buy one that has had a recent clutch, throttle actuators as a minumum, or make sure you have some cash in reserve. the AUC warranty is good but very expensive now from mondial at these mileages. warranty wise doesnt cover actuautors but warranty direct does. i had a warranty on mine and BMW wouldnt touch the clutch, so ive self funded all the above repairs, its probably around £5k in 2 years but other than Vanos and possible Diff leaks im not aware of any other issues on the horizon, as has been said before though you simply have to drive one of these cars in M mode S6 full power and nail it, its incredible and the V10 sound track with a standard exhaust is sublime, please no modified exhausts ;-)
oh and to add, i have had my Actuators repaired in the past, message me for details. for me though the gears were warn but after a month it turned out that the board on bank 1 is still faulty so i am going for a pair of brand new Actuators. £1370 for the pair from BMW (pm me for discount and contact name) and £140 labour from a friendly BMW master tech, (again happy to share contact details) enjoy.
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