E39 M5 at 19

[Slow]

Got about 5-6 grand towards a new car. M5 just squeeze into around that price bracket.

Ran some insurance quotes as I have to at 19 before I even think about buying.

Came in at about £2100 for the year. I felt that was good value, paid £1800 for a cherry.


Anyone have a opinion on this? Financial suicide?

[helix402]

As a man who was 19 I would advise waiting a few years. There is a reason insurance premiums are high for young men.

[Slow]

If we ignore the fact im more likely to crash it than a slower car. What would your opinion be?

[leeson660]

Incredible if you can do it.

At 19 I would have killed myself in a M5! But if you've got a cool head then I say go for it

[Slow]

Is it really that dangerous to drive that both reply's said I will die?

[nickrex]

£2100 at 19 years old to insure an m5?! If I could of insured a car like that at 19 I'd of got one without hesitation. Just remember they're not cheap to run and there's lots of dogs out there, if you get a rough one it could cost you £1000's. Also, 400bhp, rear wheel drive, a bit of a step up from a Cherry.........

[Babw]

It's not the fact it's difficult to drive but poor judgement of even a few seconds of ill discipline could mean you're going a lot faster in the wrong direction/oncoming car etc etc than in something less powerful.

I'm only a few years older than you and lucky to have a few fast rwd drive cars in my stable. If I didn't have a crash at 19 in something a lot slower I think I would still have that feeling of invincibility and no doubt be taking those risks which would ultimately lead to a nasty incident.

(This is me completely generalising petrolhead 17-20 year olds.)

Edited by Babw on Sunday 24th November 17:55

[Mr Gearchange]

Slow said:

Is it really that dangerous to drive that both reply's said I will die?

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.

[anonymous-user]

Just do it, if you have the money. I used to pay 1500 quid for a stty ax.

Age i nothing my mate at 17 had a vr6 never binned it. Just take it steady.

[Adam3441]

You only live once!

Just be careful though.....at 5 to 6 grand you'll be looking at earlier cars with more miles & possibly more gremlins.

Edited by Adam3441 on Sunday 24th November 18:11

[Slow]

What sort of running costs can I expect?

I'm guessing a average of 20mpg as i don't do much town driving or motorway. Mostly 60mph A roads and unclassified roads.

Guessing most cars in my price bracket will be dogs so will require more work.

[leeson660]

As per other posts its not that's its difficult to drive its just when I was 19 (29 now) I took lots and lots of absolutely crazy risks. In a 400bhp car if you push it hard your going to be going so fast. On dual carriageway within reasonable short time with the taps fully open you could hit 170mph in a e39 M5. Very tempting with all your mates there with good music on in the car etc.

Like I said if you've got a cool head go for it, it would be an incredible achievement and thing to do at 19. I didn't have a cool head so for me it would have been a bad, probably fatal choice!

Also to the previous poster absolutely no offense meant at all here but a M5 is a massive step up from a VR6 (standard I assume) there in totally different worlds of performance.

Edited by leeson660 on Sunday 24th November 18:23

[leeson660]

Slow said:

What sort of running costs can I expect?

I'm guessing a average of 20mpg as i don't do much town driving or motorway. Mostly 60mph A roads and unclassified roads.

Guessing most cars in my price bracket will be dogs so will require more work.

Not a M5 but I had my M3 CS for 18 months and did 10k miles over that period. All in it was 11k over the 18 months. Take off 2k for a couple of VMax events and unessential costs. It was 100% reliable and I bought it outright so no finance costs. I did treat the car to the very best though.

I think you could expect a bit better than 20mpg, because the motor is so powerful you can get pretty reasonable mpg if you cruise along. I once managed to get 34mph from my M3 when trying to get to a petrol station. 24mpg was my average for mixture of normal and faster driving.

Rightly or wrongly when I consider running costs I always think of the original purchase price of the car. My M3 was around 55k when new I think so you can expect running costs to be on par with that level of income who would be able to afford 55k. Whether thats completely wrong or not I don't know but seems logical to me.

[Slow]

11k including depreciation and fuel?

[Stedman]

Do it, if you can. However aren't £6k examples going to be as ropey as a crack we?

[Adam3441]

Slow said:

Guessing most cars in my price bracket will be dogs so will require more work.

Not necessarily dogs but these cars are 10 - 15 years old. Things wear out. Some bits are simple to sort, others are more expensive. A car with lots of jobs that need doing will hit you in the wallet. Due to this, a lot of owners would rather sell the car than fork out a grand or two on the bits that need fixing...hence lots of ropey M5's that will require work.

[ecain63]

You only live once and life can be too short! Do it!!

I was diagnosed with colon cancer last month and Im only 32. Im not going to die, but its a good kick up the arse. In the past 6 years ive had a 510bhp Audi C5 RS6, 507bhp BMW E61 M5 and am now clowning around in the pantomime 520+bhp C63 AMG. Im really glad i didnt wait until i was 'old enough' to get into performance cars. Im just glad i was sensible enough to drive them properly and ask the right questions.

Ive always wanted my pilots license so thats where im headed next i reckon. Why wait!!

[Slow]

Are the parts themselves expensive or is it the labour cost that makes it expensive?

[quavey]

Slow said:

Are the parts themselves expensive or is it the labour cost that makes it expensive?

It depends what you call expensive and what needs doing. I have just put new front brakes on mine, it was £500 for the bits from BMW and a local garage fitted them whilst fitting two new front tyres.

The total bill for that run of the mill maintenance was just over £900 including the bits. I have receipts totalling £1000's with mine (thankfully not my expenditure) Mine is a fairly "young" 02 plate with 120k ish on the clock.

Labour in many cases no worse than a normal 5 series but it depends what needs doing. They suffer from all the common stuff, Dash Pixels, final stage resister etc etc.

If it were me I would be looking at an E60 with a V8, either a 545i or a 550i if you can stretch to it. Point being is that it looks far more modern, I would say less to potentially go wrong with vanos etc although more complex electronics...

Thing is, depends how image conscious you are? People just view my M5 as an old 5 series yet a 520d M sport next to it is "a newer M5 than yours"... Apparently! And at risk of being flayed alive a 545i would be on the coat tails and a 550i probably level pegging flat out but in every day use both every bit as fast as the E39 M5.

However if you appreciate the E39 M5 for what it is and can weather the "why do you have an old one..." then why not, at 19 (for 2 weeks!) and then 20 I had my first 300zx TT with more than 300bhp and no traction control. At least these things have a fantastic DSC which keeps you out of trouble!

[Adam3441]

Slow said:

Are the parts themselves expensive or is it the labour cost that makes it expensive?

The usual expenses will be replacing worn tyres / worn suspension parts / worn & wobbly brakes / weeping gaskets etc

These jobs are doable at home if you have the space to jack the car up for a day or two at a time which will of course save you hundreds of pounds in labour. I think most things would be doable yourself if you have the tools / confidence.