F10 M5- LCi or non Lci, & is it a good time to buy?

F10 M5- LCi or non Lci, & is it a good time to buy?

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RWD cossie wil

Original Poster:

4,295 posts

172 months

Monday 31st October 2016
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Sorry for the rambling post!

I've been thinking about getting an F10 M5 now for a while, it's an itch that won't go away! I'd be selling my supercharged E46 M3 & E60 535d to pool the funds & save two lots of running costs, hopefully shrinking it into one car.

How important is the LCI update? From what I can find, the steering wheel is a major improvement, but there isn't a lot else bar a few detail changes? Am I missing anything major by looking at pre LCI cars?

The other (admittedly crystal ball like!) question is do you think it's a good/bad time to be buying? With the end of production/expectation of a new model next year, can you see prices dropping off more sharply than normal?

What sort of discounts have people negotiated on screen prices of used M5s, a lot of cars seem to be for sale for a long time before selling, some have been on my saved list for months!

ds666

2,605 posts

178 months

Monday 31st October 2016
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Quite often there seems to be a bit of a price rally before a new version is launched as car mags write about what a bargain the outgoing model is second hand . Doesn't last long mind ..
The lci steering wheel is a much better item than pre-lci . Not sure if there are many other differences .
I don't think you will be disappointed .


batmanreturns

536 posts

268 months

Monday 31st October 2016
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You won't regret the change, the M5 is possibly one of the best all rounders in the world.
Having had every version of M5 over the last 16 years and the current one is the best yet. I personally have a Competition Pack car, it's way better than the standard car, bit more power, active exhaust, sits 10mm lower and quicker steering rack for a sharper turn in-it completely changes the way the car drives compared to the standard one. The LCI is also a much needed improvement.
The pick of the bunch is the CP model, it's just epic!

RWD cossie wil

Original Poster:

4,295 posts

172 months

Monday 31st October 2016
quotequote all
Does anyone know the definitive answer to what the LCI changes were? I can only find generic F10 answers not M5 specific. Didn't know that the CP had a quicker rack, thanks for the info!

batmanreturns

536 posts

268 months

Monday 31st October 2016
quotequote all
I don't think it's dramatic, lights front and rear, interior updated inc steering wheel, software, seats etc. The LCI worked, those cars look much more up to date (the whole point of the LCI i guess!)

Carpmart

142 posts

228 months

Monday 31st October 2016
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I've been running a new M5, actually two, for the last16 months. Had the V10 just before. Whilst the current M5 is not as visceral, it's an awesome car....

On the second M5 I ordered, I toyed with CP, but got more than you do with CP 'doing it myself'! It doesn't take much to make the car look quite a bit more individual, but very stock too. Saved my money on the 'standard' 20 inch alloys and put that towards some gorgeous forged alloys, saving a good chunk of unsprung weight each corner, whilst adding 10mm extra offset per corner. Looks very stock and individual. Sorted the sound out with new down pipes and an Box to control the exhaust valves and have KW adjustable spring seats going on in a week to have infinitely adjustable ride height!

To specifically answer your question, I would go LCI and standard spec, then play with the style and function myself..

RWD cossie wil

Original Poster:

4,295 posts

172 months

Monday 31st October 2016
quotequote all
Carpmart said:
I've been running a new M5, actually two, for the last16 months. Had the V10 just before. Whilst the current M5 is not as visceral, it's an awesome car....

On the second M5 I ordered, I toyed with CP, but got more than you do with CP 'doing it myself'! It doesn't take much to make the car look quite a bit more individual, but very stock too. Saved my money on the 'standard' 20 inch alloys and put that towards some gorgeous forged alloys, saving a good chunk of unsprung weight each corner, whilst adding 10mm extra offset per corner. Looks very stock and individual. Sorted the sound out with new down pipes and an Box to control the exhaust valves and have KW adjustable spring seats going on in a week to have infinitely adjustable ride height!

To specifically answer your question, I would go LCI and standard spec, then play with the style and function myself..
Pics of your car please!

anonymous-user

53 months

Monday 31st October 2016
quotequote all
Carpmart said:
I've been running a new M5, actually two, for the last16 months. Had the V10 just before. Whilst the current M5 is not as visceral, it's an awesome car....

On the second M5 I ordered, I toyed with CP, but got more than you do with CP 'doing it myself'! It doesn't take much to make the car look quite a bit more individual, but very stock too. Saved my money on the 'standard' 20 inch alloys and put that towards some gorgeous forged alloys, saving a good chunk of unsprung weight each corner, whilst adding 10mm extra offset per corner. Looks very stock and individual. Sorted the sound out with new down pipes and an Box to control the exhaust valves and have KW adjustable spring seats going on in a week to have infinitely adjustable ride height!

To specifically answer your question, I would go LCI and standard spec, then play with the style and function myself..
Agreed

Mine was bought stock as a black sapphire LCI car.

It then underwent a few subtle changes - inc black OEM grilles and side intakes, black sapphire respray to the wheels, ac Schitzer springs, DMS remap and Evolve downpipes.

It's not most definitely visceral smile

Turbo cab

1,601 posts

231 months

Monday 31st October 2016
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Having just purchased a CP car to run alongside my 991 Turbo S I can safely say its the most fun i've had in a car for a while.

So much so i'm binning off the 991 as I have no desire to use it anymore. This is also heavily tuned beyond 700 bhp to further weight how highly I rate the M5!!

stain

1,051 posts

209 months

Monday 31st October 2016
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I had an early car and now run a 66 plate CP version. Night and day different and I'd say go LCI if you have s choice.

batmanreturns

536 posts

268 months

Tuesday 1st November 2016
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I don't think it's dramatic, lights front and rear, interior updated inc steering wheel, software, seats etc. The LCI worked, those cars look much more up to date (the whole point of the LCI i guess!)

likesachange

2,630 posts

193 months

Tuesday 1st November 2016
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Turbo cab said:
Having just purchased a CP car to run alongside my 991 Turbo S I can safely say its the most fun i've had in a car for a while.

So much so i'm binning off the 991 as I have no desire to use it anymore. This is also heavily tuned beyond 700 bhp to further weight how highly I rate the M5!!
Thats quite a statement. But i guess the 991 laps up the power making it a relatively easy car to drive fast?!.
At least the M5 you have to wrestle it a little...

Not drove a comp pack car, but really its only the steering rack that seems to be the change that might be difficult to replicate with aftermarket mods. Plus i really dont like the CP wheels

R8VBV

348 posts

114 months

Tuesday 1st November 2016
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What's the difference in price between LCI and pre-LCI? Mine is pre-LCI but have the new steering wheel and front grills. Probably saved myself £10k and no one would tell the difference.

likesachange

2,630 posts

193 months

Tuesday 1st November 2016
quotequote all
Don't think the price difference would be noticeable tbh... more to do with age and mileage maybe 1k or so

R8VBV

348 posts

114 months

Tuesday 1st November 2016
quotequote all
A lot more than £1k. I bought mine from BMW Approved, 62 plate, 23k miles with comfort seats and all the options for £29k 2 months ago and had the LCI wheel fitted. The cheapest LCI car on BMW approved now is c£39k and has over twice the mileage and hideous orange sports seats.

I'd personally save the money and get a pre-LCI and if you really care about the wheel in a months time get a new one fitted for c£1k. The grills are £200 and take 30 seconds to fit.

Turbo cab

1,601 posts

231 months

Tuesday 1st November 2016
quotequote all
likesachange said:
Thats quite a statement. But i guess the 991 laps up the power making it a relatively easy car to drive fast?!.
At least the M5 you have to wrestle it a little...

Not drove a comp pack car, but really its only the steering rack that seems to be the change that might be difficult to replicate with aftermarket mods. Plus i really dont like the CP wheels
991 is way too easy to drive fast and lacks any sort of excitement. The M5 I drive without traction on and its so controllable for such a big heavy car.

According to a BMW press release the differences between a CP car and standard are;

Power increase
Stiffer stabilizer bars
Stiffer and lower suspension
Stiffer front axle bushings
Active M Differential with a unique tune for the CP for improved traction
New hydraulic rack and pinion steering with the M specific servotronic function with more direct programming to improve agility during cornering
M Dynamic mode tuned with higher threshold levels of intervention
New M light alloy wheels
Sport exhaust with black chrome tips

It really is a night and day difference, Having drove a KW equipped Tuned car it really doesn't compare to the CP in terms of agility.

I agree with the comments RE wheels however picture do not do them justice. I had initially wanted to change them out before seeing them in person and once I had viewed them fell in love.



gcpeters

959 posts

231 months

Thursday 3rd November 2016
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R8VBV said:
A lot more than £1k. I bought mine from BMW Approved, 62 plate, 23k miles with comfort seats and all the options for £29k 2 months ago and had the LCI wheel fitted. The cheapest LCI car on BMW approved now is c£39k and has over twice the mileage and hideous orange sports seats.

I'd personally save the money and get a pre-LCI and if you really care about the wheel in a months time get a new one fitted for c£1k. The grills are £200 and take 30 seconds to fit.
that was a very good deal, what dealer was that from? Also where did you get the LCI wheel fitted?

R8VBV

348 posts

114 months

Friday 4th November 2016
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BMW Ruxley in Sidcup. The wheel was already fitted by the previous owner. I've changed the front grills for £200 and added an ExhaustMiester which allows you to remotely open the exchaust values, for £130. I now have a low mileage car with a great sounding exchaust when I want it, that even most M5 fans wouldn't be able to tell is pre-LCI, for under £30k. The deals are out there you just need to be quick when they appear.

Obviously the M5's will be hit when the new one starts appearing on the roads and the LCI's will have the highest % drop as although they are at the moment considered "fresher", when the new car emerges, they will just be another old model. The pre-LCI cars have already taken some of this.

W8PMC

3,345 posts

237 months

Friday 4th November 2016
quotequote all
R8VBV said:
What's the difference in price between LCI and pre-LCI? Mine is pre-LCI but have the new steering wheel and front grills. Probably saved myself £10k and no one would tell the difference.
The thing is though with this pre/post LCI is that you still have a pre LCi car regardless of chucking £1k into it for a new steering wheel & a few hundred quid for new plastic trim. The post LCi cars are newer & therefore will command a higher price. Other differences exist such as the iDrive wheel being bigger & the top being a touchpad, changes were made to the software, the rear & perhaps even front lights were different & IIRC the intakes were different (i'm sure other mechanical & cosmetic changes exist).

Of course buying the older car is always likely to be the cheaper option. You got a good price at £29k but again the car was probably £65k new (in real terms) so not the massive fall that everyone assumes as i'm guessing it's 4 1/2 years old? Still a lot of car for the money & more so with low miles in your case. Mine's a 2014 & already at 34k miles & will be just under 40k when it goes in March.


R8VBV

348 posts

114 months

Friday 4th November 2016
quotequote all
W8PMC said:
The thing is though with this pre/post LCI is that you still have a pre LCi car regardless of chucking £1k into it for a new steering wheel & a few hundred quid for new plastic trim. The post LCi cars are newer & therefore will command a higher price. Other differences exist such as the iDrive wheel being bigger & the top being a touchpad, changes were made to the software, the rear & perhaps even front lights were different & IIRC the intakes were different (i'm sure other mechanical & cosmetic changes exist).

Of course buying the older car is always likely to be the cheaper option. You got a good price at £29k but again the car was probably £65k new (in real terms) so not the massive fall that everyone assumes as i'm guessing it's 4 1/2 years old? Still a lot of car for the money & more so with low miles in your case. Mine's a 2014 & already at 34k miles & will be just under 40k when it goes in March.
It's a Jan 2013 car, so only 3.5 years when I bought it. First owners receipt was £78k.

The mid-lifetime model upgrades are a con, introduced by the car manufacturers in the late 90's, early 2000's when buying a car on 3 year finance deals became the norm. A lot of the time the changes made are pointless (like a touch sensitive iDrive knob), but enough to make the pre update model seem old in the eyes of the people who want the newest of everything regardless of the financial losses they will make. Porsche are the experts in this, changing major styling points and often the entire satnav system, which makes today's car, look dated tomorrow.

The truth is nothing has really changed at all, they just want you to want the new one, so you'll trade-in your old one and they'll continue making high margins from you, without having the cost of actually developing a whole new car.

What really change on the M5 LCI? Nothing that actually changes the reason anyone would buy the car, which is for the engine. Is it therefore worth paying a £10k premium, to have a car 6 months newer, with more miles and less options, which will depreciate more in real terms? Not in my opinion.

I've owned a Porsche Cayman, 997 Turbo, Jag XFR, multiple BMW's and an Aston Martin Vantage and I've made money on every car I've owned, aside from the Aston, which I lost £2k on over 12 months of ownership. I've never bought tyres or brakes for a car and only ever paid for a service a few times. These are the rules I follow to do this:

- Choose a car that is getting close to end of production.
- Buy a pre facelift model that was highly optioned and has lower mileage (sub 30k) as these represent better value.
- Only buy a car that has a max of 2 previous owners.
- Buy from a main dealer with a warranty.
- Always pay in full for the car without finance. Buying a £50k car on finance, means you really end up paying c£65k to own the car or you've just leased it for £15k while also having to maintain it. There is no way to break even or make money here.
- Sell within 1 year of ownership.
- Alway clean and detail the car yourself. Never go to a automatic or public car wash, where they ruin the finish.
- When selling always price it high. It only takes one person to call, to sell it. Pricing it low will only mean you get a lot of time wasters.