Taking the M5 Touring to the south of France?

[Mags]

Just looking to book a place near Carcassone and would like to take the M5 touring down there. I've never taken it on a decent long motorway run so was looking for some feedback on mpg others have had doing this? Google maps says it's about 760 miles from my house so assuming 3 tankfulls to get there?

[MattOz]

I guess you'll be using the Autoroutes? My E60 M5 would easily see 300-320 from a tank on a 80-90mph cruise. If you budget 3 tanks each way you shoukd be fine.

[Shaoxter]

As above.
Around 25mpg on a steady cruise, but that drops towards 20mpg if you add any sort of town driving in there! Best I've ever seen was 28mpg cruising at 60mph on an empty motorway.

[chandler99]

I got 28-29 when traveling through france on a clear run, just cruising at about 66-68mph

[Mags]

Cools, thanks all.

[Jazzer]

I got 14mpg on a night drive from Glasgow to London in my E60.....must have been something wrong with it!!!!!

[Welshbeef]

Jazzer said:

I got 14mpg on a night drive from Glasgow to London in my E60.....must have been something wrong with it!!!!!

Lol no you tried to do the trip in 3 hours

[Schermerhorn]

Jazzer said:

I got 14mpg on a night drive from Glasgow to London in my E60.....must have been something wrong with it!!!!!

Must have been one epic trip!

[Pennyroyal Tea]

Welshbeef said:

Lol no you tried to do the trip in 3 hours

Maybe not 3hrs, but 4hrs 45 mins is or was possible. I wouldn't have the balls to try it now though (E39 M5).

[batmanreturns]

I took mine down and it was an epic trip but i averaged 17.9 mpg-most of that was sat at 99mph. I then headed back via the alps with all the family kit in it (Mrs and little one flew) and ended up with a hot lap of the ring and then home. It's in it's element on a trip like that, practical, cool and V fast! Got a load of attention in Europe as well-they seem to enjoy rare BMW's over there-especially 507 bhp V10 estate's!

[cosworth330]

Best I've ever seen on a motorway run is 22-23 mpg and that's with 2 people and no luggage. I think getting 26-27 mpg is a bit optimistic. With the family and luggage I reckon your average about 20 mpg taking into account non motorway roads etc.
I've never managed to get more than about 270 miles to a tank on the motorway at about 70 mph.

[nick1275]

Iirc when I went to Le Mans with ecain63 in his tourer I don't think we got above 20/21mpg. That was 4 up with luggage

[Gruber]

Would it be a financially suicidal idea to buy one of these? The idea appeals immensely, but I've read so many horror stories on here about red cogs of death, knackered transmissions, rod bearing failures and so on that I'm just not sure I've got the balls.

I currently rather fancy the black one at Millennium Heroes...

[Mags]

Thanks guys, its the poxy small tank on these that is frustrating. Although flying is going to be cheaper I'm pretty certain we are taking the E61 M5 as both the missus and I want to take it instead of flying & hire car.

Gruber. They are not cheap to run by any stretch. I did no research and bought one on impulse, the MPG was a bit of shock to the system but if you compare the performance and engine size etc to anything similar I'm sure it's all relative.
I took out a BMW warranty for just over £100 per month, there is debate on the value of this but yesterday I found out a throttle actuator had gone south and it is a £700 part through BMW so I'm glad I have it now, a couple of issues like this every year would cover its cost.
For me its an epic car, its comfy, quiet, good stereo for boring journeys, then hit the M button and leave most other cars in your dust. It takes 5 adults with luggage and is a bit of Q car, looks like a typical Family estate car but when you prod it with a stick...
The best bit for me is my wife loves it and wouldn't allow me to sell it which helps when the bills roll in, the bad bit is she pretty much refuses to get in the TVR now

[Gruber]

Thanks chap.

I've just spent my lunch break reading Eddie's epic buyers guide.

Not as scary as I feared.

The next challenge will be persuading Mrs G that we need two e61s in the family, and why a new one would be so different from her 523i...

[Bodie390]

I was looking for one for a while but I wanted black on black, I ended up buying a Space Grey one with 47k and I'm glad I did.



I too was put off with horror stories but I thought life was short and went out and got it.

I'm hoping to have a road trip to Switzerland in mine soon so I'll keep an eye on the OP's thread for his mpg but the noise of the V10 makes you forget about low figures in mpg.

[cosworth330]

Gruber said:

Would it be a financially suicidal idea to buy one of these? The idea appeals immensely, but I've read so many horror stories on here about red cogs of death, knackered transmissions, rod bearing failures and so on that I'm just not sure I've got the balls.

I currently rather fancy the black one at Millennium Heroes...

I've had my E60 M5 coming up 2 1/2 years and it's not been any bother really. Took out the warranty and never needed to use it for the 1st 2 years of ownership. Last month was the 1st warranty claim both both throttle actuators.

[MattOz]

cosworth330 said:

I've had my E60 M5 coming up 2 1/2 years and it's not been any bother really. Took out the warranty and never needed to use it for the 1st 2 years of ownership. Last month was the 1st warranty claim both both throttle actuators.

Yours is a nice one though!

[AW10]

4.5 years and 35K miles and mine hasn't been too bad. Rear glass switch, 1 throttle actuator, 1 throttle position sensor, 2 sets of VANOS solenoids (1st set under warranty, 2nd set free) and a voltage regulator have been all that's been needed. I paid to replace the clutch about 10K miles into my ownership - by the looks of it the PO(s) hammered it a bit. All fine now.

[B3MX5]

This is the thread I wasn't looking for but needed to! I've been looking for a roomier E46 B3 touring replacement and had discounted an M5 touring on grounds of high maintenance and ruinous fuel economy. These figures aren't much worse than the 23mpg average my B3 gets. Get a warranty and fingers crossed...