e60 m5(high milers)
Discussion
In my quest for an e60 M5 i test drove today an 06,93k on clock,full BMW history up to 89k.car immaculate & appears to have been cared for somewhat...i drove it on normal p400 for while then proceeded to p500... to my horror engine light on dash,into idrive when pulled i over & "engine failure-reduced power".
The owner beside me nervously assured me that it was just a sensor....!!i
I assured him i was gone,GOODBYE.
Anyone any POSITIVE ideas as to what the cause maybe...is it as serious as death.??
The owner beside me nervously assured me that it was just a sensor....!!i
I assured him i was gone,GOODBYE.
Anyone any POSITIVE ideas as to what the cause maybe...is it as serious as death.??
No point guessing, best to get its codes read and use it as a bargaining tool.
They are complicated cars so could be anything, I have a great auto electrician that helped me with active head rest and airbag fault messages once which turned out to be nothing more than a wire pinched and earthed in the seat.
If the car you saw was nice get the codes read and go from there, worth bearing in mind that some M5's if not driven fairly regulary particularly in damp weather(check blocked sunroof seals and water pooling around ecu's, particular problem on E61's) can misbehave, I tend to leave mine on a trickle charge otherwise I have seen random messages in the past if the battery is a bit low.
Ask the owner how often he drives it, when was the battery changed, get an auto electrician to test the battery not just the charge but the power when cranking and idling etc.
If it is the Actuators in my case I think same as others though it's accompanied by DSC failure message and something like active start? You can get new ones in the car for under £1500.
Good luck, stick with it they are worth the effort.
They are complicated cars so could be anything, I have a great auto electrician that helped me with active head rest and airbag fault messages once which turned out to be nothing more than a wire pinched and earthed in the seat.
If the car you saw was nice get the codes read and go from there, worth bearing in mind that some M5's if not driven fairly regulary particularly in damp weather(check blocked sunroof seals and water pooling around ecu's, particular problem on E61's) can misbehave, I tend to leave mine on a trickle charge otherwise I have seen random messages in the past if the battery is a bit low.
Ask the owner how often he drives it, when was the battery changed, get an auto electrician to test the battery not just the charge but the power when cranking and idling etc.
If it is the Actuators in my case I think same as others though it's accompanied by DSC failure message and something like active start? You can get new ones in the car for under £1500.
Good luck, stick with it they are worth the effort.
Schermerhorn said:
Get a C110 code reader from Ebay and you'll be able to diagnose problems yourself.
So easy to use and less than £50.
These only support from 1997 to 2008, would suit the E60 but nothing later < FYI.So easy to use and less than £50.
Good tool for this application , BUT a warrantee would be needed in reality for a high miler E60 M5 IMO.
Not sure what the OP has for a budget , this looks OK :
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...
JMBMWM5 said:
Not sure what the OP has for a budget , this looks OK :
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...
all them badges add an extra 50bhp+http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...
Bought ours with 87k private sale FBMWSH, with no warranty, now done 95k's and still with no warranty,, just had oil change 1k ago, brake fluid change due now £400 main dealer been quoted may go independent !.
Clutch work done at 44k's with a bill of only £1300 so I presume warranty was present with a previous owner.
Only ever had warning lights when battery ran flat, took about a hour of driving to eventually clear.
Car drives great !
Clutch work done at 44k's with a bill of only £1300 so I presume warranty was present with a previous owner.
Only ever had warning lights when battery ran flat, took about a hour of driving to eventually clear.
Car drives great !
mbromwel7 said:
Bought ours with 87k private sale FBMWSH, with no warranty, now done 95k's and still with no warranty,, just had oil change 1k ago, brake fluid change due now £400 main dealer been quoted may go independent !.
Clutch work done at 44k's with a bill of only £1300 so I presume warranty was present with a previous owner.
Only ever had warning lights when battery ran flat, took about a hour of driving to eventually clear.
Car drives great !
Prohaps you have been one of the lucky one's, not sure but it is a risk with this car not having "back up" of a good warrantee IMO.Clutch work done at 44k's with a bill of only £1300 so I presume warranty was present with a previous owner.
Only ever had warning lights when battery ran flat, took about a hour of driving to eventually clear.
Car drives great !
JMBMWM5 said:
rohaps you have been one of the lucky one's, not sure but it is a risk with this car not having "back up" of a good warrantee IMO.
It's either £2300 or £3300 for 12 month cover with BMW ! Not sure its worth it tbh !I've got 2 good independents near me plus local dealer is only a stones throw away, who do look after me well, the chance you take after hearing some of the horrors stories, but I do believe they need to be driven and not drove !
Only thing its had done it clutch/flywheel and a track rod end looking through the SH, perhaps I avoided the Monday morning Friday afternoon jinx !...
But if it helps the OP I wouldn't be put off buying a high mileage example from a private sale,
I bought a high miler (just over 80k)... Did 25k without any issues, only cost was servicing, tyres, fuel and £650 for me to do the entire front brakes with new BMW parts... I was happy.
Then without warning I had DSG failure and sent it to an independent that wanted 4.5k to fix it... I had them deliver it back and sat it on my drive... Anyhow it turns out that they had left vital parts (that take seconds to fit) off from under the engine bay and the car had filled with water and ruined the loom, engine and gearbox ecu... Very pissed off but I didn't realise for 3 months as the car just sat on my drive (I have a number of cars to use) so I have no comeback other that letting people know not to touch the garage.
I've had the DSG issue fixed for under £1k, and have spend £2k fixing the electronics the garage destroyed, just having the new engine ecu recoded and it should be back running again. Whoop whoop.
Point is, these cars are very expensive if you take it to the wrong garages as the electronics are fragile and they really need to know their stuff... But parts can be cheap and you don't have to have your trousers taken down to get major issues fixed now.... Finding the right garage is the hard part :-(
One point I will make, is when I bought mine 3 years ago I was told it was depreciation suicide, I'd loose loads as the values would disappear etc etc.... I paid £15.5k for a top spec full leather active seats nav etc etc one.... I don't see even the dogs going for significantly less even now?
Then without warning I had DSG failure and sent it to an independent that wanted 4.5k to fix it... I had them deliver it back and sat it on my drive... Anyhow it turns out that they had left vital parts (that take seconds to fit) off from under the engine bay and the car had filled with water and ruined the loom, engine and gearbox ecu... Very pissed off but I didn't realise for 3 months as the car just sat on my drive (I have a number of cars to use) so I have no comeback other that letting people know not to touch the garage.
I've had the DSG issue fixed for under £1k, and have spend £2k fixing the electronics the garage destroyed, just having the new engine ecu recoded and it should be back running again. Whoop whoop.
Point is, these cars are very expensive if you take it to the wrong garages as the electronics are fragile and they really need to know their stuff... But parts can be cheap and you don't have to have your trousers taken down to get major issues fixed now.... Finding the right garage is the hard part :-(
One point I will make, is when I bought mine 3 years ago I was told it was depreciation suicide, I'd loose loads as the values would disappear etc etc.... I paid £15.5k for a top spec full leather active seats nav etc etc one.... I don't see even the dogs going for significantly less even now?
Buying any car is a gamble, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and unfortunately, no matter where you look, the internet is plagued with horror stories.
I say do a lot of research, check the history of each car you consider carefully to make sure the expensive items have been done and go for it.
Like any supercar, you may have to take a hit every now and again.
Good luck and keep us posted.
I say do a lot of research, check the history of each car you consider carefully to make sure the expensive items have been done and go for it.
Like any supercar, you may have to take a hit every now and again.
Good luck and keep us posted.
andygtt said:
so they are expensive to run and expensive to fix when they break... but they seemed to have levelled out on depreciation, at least thats good news lol
They are a relative bargain now. For what they are capable of achieving they aren't that expensive to run, no more so than a RS Audi, AMG Merc, Porsche etc If wrenching your own car is your thing, the E60 M5 can be an extremely rewarding car to own. The majority of massive repair bills (I mean the downright silly ones) come from dealers with no experience with the car guessing wrong a few times before finding the right failed component. Case in point, I've seen two engines with holes punched in the back of the oil pan because the dealer reinstalled the two longer transmission bolts in the wrong place (they should be at the top) when reinstalling the transmission.
It's a complex machine, no doubt, but not impossible to work on. I purchased mine at 60k miles and have 82k now. I've suffered nearly every common failure (throttle actuators, SMG PLCD, fuel injectors, oil cooler, O2 sensors, MAFs, ionic current modules, etc) and worked through every issue myself.
I've always figured I was just as capable as guessing wrong as the dealership, I just do it cheaper.
It's a complex machine, no doubt, but not impossible to work on. I purchased mine at 60k miles and have 82k now. I've suffered nearly every common failure (throttle actuators, SMG PLCD, fuel injectors, oil cooler, O2 sensors, MAFs, ionic current modules, etc) and worked through every issue myself.
I've always figured I was just as capable as guessing wrong as the dealership, I just do it cheaper.
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