Advice Appreciated. E60 or R35 GTR

[Spuggy]

Hi chaps,

I have been routing around in the classifieds torturing myself looking at R35's. I have not however driven one.... YET!

I have a mint low mileage 2007 M5 with recent new clutch and brakes and rubber. The car wants for nothing, and I adore it, but the naughty little Nissan keeps popping into my head at the most inappropriate times (like now, when I have a whopping great tender to price up).

So should I leave my beloved M///funf and turn Japanese?

Cheers in advance...

Rich

[ady702]

Go and test drive one, see what its like to compare. No doubt it will be fast, the things are animals.

[StuH]

Spuggy said:

Hi chaps,

I have been routing around in the classifieds torturing myself looking at R35's. I have not however driven one.... YET!

I have a mint low mileage 2007 M5 with recent new clutch and brakes and rubber. The car wants for nothing, and I adore it, but the naughty little Nissan keeps popping into my head at the most inappropriate times (like now, when I have a whopping great tender to price up).

So should I leave my beloved M///funf and turn Japanese?

Cheers in advance...

Rich

About the only 4 seater that can give the e60 M5 a good kicking! You're talking 3sec to 60 rather than 4.5 and with the 4wd it's immense off the line. Downside for me was the quality of the interior and the ride. Great cars though.

[Dblue]

StuH said:

About the only 4 seater that can give the e60 M5 a good kicking! You're talking 3sec to 60 rather than 4.5 and with the 4wd it's immense off the line. Downside for me was the quality of the interior and the ride. Great cars though.

Quite well summed up I reckon.
There's no way the GTR is as day to day usable or versatile as the M5. Its appearance as a largish, four square , theoretically 4 seater (as long as the passengers don't have legs )with a quite reasonable boot is a cunning disguise.
In reality it's a full on weapon of mass B road destruction. Sensationally fast in all conditions, thrilling, a superb handling wonder of its age. The M5 is not really batting in the same class as a performance car.
The ride is unremittingly hard even in comfort mode, its wide and brash and it needs regular servicing but it is ALL WORTH IT !

[jontysafe]

I raced a standard one in my M6 on a private road of course and above 60 he definitely wasn`t getting away, I may have even been creeping up, below 60 I got monstered.

I`m afraid I couldn`t live with the interior though. If was you, I`d rather stay with V10. Who am I to talk though, I went to a turbo-diseasel passhat!

[Dblue]

Not quite sure why the interior gets so much criticism myself. Its got lots of leather, very good seats and is very well put together. Its not particularly elegant but not worthy of being dissed as much as it is. 2011 MY cars have carbon Fibre in place of the fake aluminium bits.
The multi function display is quite a lot of fun too.

I am personally not a huge fan of the E60/61 interior unless the extended leather is specced and a lighter contrast colour present.

The M6 may well be able to match a stock GTR above 60 but it will be a long way back by then. If the GTR is a MY2011 or later or its had even a stage1 remap (£600 5 mins) then even that's unlikely.

[Makem]

I love M power stuff but been in the GTR and was just so blindingliy fast was unreal. It will destroy the E60 on staight road and even more in the twisties. Go buy one.

[Nedzilla]

Get a GTR,they are great! If you dont like it,sell it.

[JapFreak786]

Sold my 996 TT on wednesday and took an E60 M5 as part ex with cash on top,my intial plan was to get a GTR asap however loving the M5 so much at the moment!

The GTR is a great car,driven one and been out in several,different type of car really and depends on what you need it for, they're not as thristy on fuel as an M5, used £25 for 50miles in mine so far,but I have been enjoying the V10 a fair bit .

Driving the GTR it'll you'll feel more involved with it, the interior isn't as nice but the gearbox with 2012 software is SO much better and the car's just a hoot to drive,I'll still get one, but I'll wait a while now as the M5 will keep me happy for quite a while!

[Alpinestars]

Do you need 4 seats? If so, the gtr is not for you. There is very little leg room in the back.

Pros and cons are;

As others have said, the gtr is a quicker car, above and below 60.
Nothing wrong with the interior, but the m5 active seats are better at holding you in on the twisties.
The gearbox in the gtr is miles better than the m5.

If running costs are a factor, the gtr is much more expensive to run.

[Jazzer]

The GTR is great for a blast when the mood takes you.
It would be pretty embarrassing to be seen in one though.....they just look ridiculous, with horrific interiors.
I'd take a nimble Evo down a narrow B road any day against one of these.
In summary, the GTR is a sensational one-night stand, but the E60 M5 is the wife!!

[skeeterm5]

jontysafe said:

I raced a standard one in my M6 on a private road of course and above 60 he definitely wasn`t getting away, I may have even been creeping up, below 60 I got monstered.

I`m afraid I couldn`t live with the interior though. If was you, I`d rather stay with V10. Who am I to talk though, I went to a turbo-diseasel passhat!

He clearly wasn’t trying then. There is no way the M6/M5 would keep up with (and gain) on a similarly driven GT-R in pretty much any conditions.

In my view, horses for courses, jump from the GT-R to the M5/M6 and the M feels like a comfy GT car.

The M wins in terms of every day real world liveability, cost to run, it has room for 4 real people, a big boot and feels a nice place to be.

On the other hand the GT-R is possibly the fastest real world car ever made; it is simply streets ahead of the M5/M6 in terms of driving dynamics and handling, anybody who says different generally hasnt driven one.

But there is a cost to all this performance and that is it can feel a little 'disconnected', by that I mean it has computers for everything and this can make you wonder what the driver is for

I had one for a week when I was thinking of swapping the M5 for one. Ultimately I didn’t change to it because it wasn’t I car I could love. Admire yes, be astonished by it yes, but love it, no.

S

[Nedzilla]

Jazzer said:

The GTR is great for a blast when the mood takes you.
It would be pretty embarrassing to be seen in one though.....they just look ridiculous, with horrific interiors.
I'd take a nimble Evo down a narrow B road any day against one of these.
In summary, the GTR is a sensational one-night stand, but the E60 M5 is the wife!!

Have you driven a GTR? Their looks aren't to everyones taste but I certainly wouldn't say they are embarrassing to be seen in.Ive never had one negative comment about mine but many positive and admiring comments and there is nothing embarrassing about that.
I wouldn't say the interior is horrific either.Maybe not quite BMW M car quality but a very nice place to sit and streets ahead of most cars.

Ive also owned two evos.A stardard 5 and an 8MR fq300 modded to 380bhp and I can tell you I would take the GTR any day and also that a stock GTR would leave either of them for dead on any road!......And thats before we get to the evos truly embarrassing looks/image and utterly horrendous interiors.

[Dblue]

Jazzer said:

The GTR is great for a blast when the mood takes you.
It would be pretty embarrassing to be seen in one though.....they just look ridiculous, with horrific interiors.
I'd take a nimble Evo down a narrow B road any day against one of these.
In summary, the GTR is a sensational one-night stand, but the E60 M5 is the wife!!

Everyone's entitled to their opinion but I never had a single negative comment about my GTR. Just genuine appreciative interest. It's much more positive than the response to any M car I've driven (Either a complete lack of knowledge about how it differs from any one of a thousand similar looking saloons driving around or positive anti-pathy to the BM badge)

If you'd take an EVO aginst my GTR down that B Road I'll get the coffees in at the cafe for when you eventually turn up

[StuH]

Obviously this is the new M5 but Monkey gives an idea of how they compare:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8jLbyNloCg

It's really only the image that puts me off, plus the fact that for a 2+2 for similar money you can get a pretty recent 997TT which is as quick and easier to live with imo.

[smokey145]

What type of tender are you pricing?

[rassi]

I can see the allure of the GTR but in my opinion the M5 and GTR were made for quite different purposes. M5 is about a relatively discreet executive saloon (or Touring, as it were) with space for the family and abundance of comfort, that can blitz motorways AND not embarrass itself on a nice B road, whereas the GTR is more about B roads, track days but which can do the all weather motorway stints too. The emphasis is different, so really depends what you mainly use your car for/want from it?

[Spuggy]

Thanks guys for all you opinions. I do need 4 seats really. I have 2 little earthlings, 7 years and 2 years. I am 6'3", so I find the seat is always right back in nearly every car I have owned so far bar the Range rover.

This lack of legroom may get tiresome in the GTR.

The M5 is comfortable on family trips out currently.

I only use the car for family trips and runs out as I don't commute, (not strictly true... I use a Fokker 70 and Boeing 747, then a Toyota Landcruiser for my commute to work).

I think the thing to do from here is to arrange an extended test drive and see how I get on with it.

Oh P.S thanks for the 997T comment. You really must want me not to get any work done this trip.

Right off to the classifieds.....

Edited by Spuggy on Monday 15th October 08:08

[Contigo]

Got kids who are similar age to you and i'm a similar height so I went for the E61 M5. Just been on holidays to Cornwall in it and it was amazing. I much prefer it to the GTR because it's much more grown up. I don't like the styling of the GTR and it's way too big for a sports car imo.

[StuH]

Spuggy said:

t.

Oh P.S thanks for the 997T comment. You really must want me not to get any work done this trip.

Right off to the classifieds.....

My pleasure - My little one is also 7 - just getting you back for making me waste my time looking at GTR's when I've got work to do. I was amazed to see that '57 reg 997TT's can be had for £40k.