E63 M6 V10 rebuild
Discussion
The oil sample isn't worth doing. If the bearings haven't been done on a car with 60k plus miles on then get them done.
Also change the fuel filter and fuel injectors as well as these can cause failures.
You can get some indication of the bearing condition by dropping the oil filter and looking for anything sparkly.
BMR cab do rod bearing changes as well.
Also change the fuel filter and fuel injectors as well as these can cause failures.
You can get some indication of the bearing condition by dropping the oil filter and looking for anything sparkly.
BMR cab do rod bearing changes as well.
Just a few thoughts from an owner....
I wouldn't worry about finding the right the spec, always buy on condition and history. If you get one with full service history (not necessarily BMW history) you can get BMW branded warranty, but the cost is high for any car over 60k miles.
Warm it up before driving it hard. Always. I keep mine to about 2500rpm until the oil is about 75c, after which I do use the rev range and enjoy it.
Get a good one and do the preventative maintenance (unless you have invoices to show it's been done by a proper specialist). Rod bearings are about £1500 -£2000 depending on where you go, BMR in Crawley get my vote at about £1600, they know that they are doing!
Check the carbon roof lacquer isn't peeling as it can be a pain to sort. Lots of places don't want to work on carbon, but my BMW dealer is sorting mine for about £600.
Check the clutch has been done as that is £2500-3500 depending on where you get it done, but they should last 50k miles if you don't use launch control. Brakes are expensive, but that's no surprise.
The SMG3 gearbox is something you will need to get used to, it is not an auto box in the traditional sense, so treat it like a manual. It is good fun at high rpm, but a chore at low speeds. Always keep it in S5 mode and learn to get the most from it. Or just manual swap it for about £3500....
Fuel is silly, it will do 13mpg day to day, but 20-25mpg on a run is realistic. The tank is small so 150-200 miles is about as good as it gets, but the noise is makes and the way it surges towards the redline does mean that good mpg is not going to be at the forefront of your mind!
The rest will be the same as your 650i, old iDrive, comfortable interior and a great looking car that has aged really well. It is a great car, the likes of which cannot happen again. All the 'bad points' are irrelevant when you actually drive it, it is absolutely worth it, just look after it.
I wouldn't worry about finding the right the spec, always buy on condition and history. If you get one with full service history (not necessarily BMW history) you can get BMW branded warranty, but the cost is high for any car over 60k miles.
Warm it up before driving it hard. Always. I keep mine to about 2500rpm until the oil is about 75c, after which I do use the rev range and enjoy it.
Get a good one and do the preventative maintenance (unless you have invoices to show it's been done by a proper specialist). Rod bearings are about £1500 -£2000 depending on where you go, BMR in Crawley get my vote at about £1600, they know that they are doing!
Check the carbon roof lacquer isn't peeling as it can be a pain to sort. Lots of places don't want to work on carbon, but my BMW dealer is sorting mine for about £600.
Check the clutch has been done as that is £2500-3500 depending on where you get it done, but they should last 50k miles if you don't use launch control. Brakes are expensive, but that's no surprise.
The SMG3 gearbox is something you will need to get used to, it is not an auto box in the traditional sense, so treat it like a manual. It is good fun at high rpm, but a chore at low speeds. Always keep it in S5 mode and learn to get the most from it. Or just manual swap it for about £3500....
Fuel is silly, it will do 13mpg day to day, but 20-25mpg on a run is realistic. The tank is small so 150-200 miles is about as good as it gets, but the noise is makes and the way it surges towards the redline does mean that good mpg is not going to be at the forefront of your mind!
The rest will be the same as your 650i, old iDrive, comfortable interior and a great looking car that has aged really well. It is a great car, the likes of which cannot happen again. All the 'bad points' are irrelevant when you actually drive it, it is absolutely worth it, just look after it.
Edited by MikeM6 on Wednesday 10th November 21:44
I'd echo what Mike says.
Mine was a 55 plate when i bought it in 2015 only 40K miles full BMWSH.
One day pootling about 75mph on the M25 it went into limp mode and was later diagnosed as a dropped valve I think on the furthest back cylinder, the bill was something like £7k but fortunately I took out the warranty so it only cost me £100 XS.
You already know how fantastic they look, unique instantly recognisable style of their own, and just epic to drive quickly. SMG as has been said should be treated like a manual but try reversing slowly up a slight incline and it's very difficult due to the on/off nature and will make you look like a learner. It's awful around town in auto but on the paddles it's really really good.
It had far more character than my current M6GC but this one is much easier to live with as a daily. I'm really glad I did it and am sure you will enjoy it too but try to get under 60K miles so you can add the warranty.
Good luck
Mine was a 55 plate when i bought it in 2015 only 40K miles full BMWSH.
One day pootling about 75mph on the M25 it went into limp mode and was later diagnosed as a dropped valve I think on the furthest back cylinder, the bill was something like £7k but fortunately I took out the warranty so it only cost me £100 XS.
You already know how fantastic they look, unique instantly recognisable style of their own, and just epic to drive quickly. SMG as has been said should be treated like a manual but try reversing slowly up a slight incline and it's very difficult due to the on/off nature and will make you look like a learner. It's awful around town in auto but on the paddles it's really really good.
It had far more character than my current M6GC but this one is much easier to live with as a daily. I'm really glad I did it and am sure you will enjoy it too but try to get under 60K miles so you can add the warranty.
Good luck
Just to add I agree with everything on here. They are a great car with an epic engine which we will never see again. As others say, the gearbox is not an automatic, keep the settings at S5 and use the paddles. Perhaps lacks just a little bottom end grunt but more than makes up for that as it heads past 7500rpm. You'll find that you frequently have to open the window to hear the sound, it's intoxicating and addictive. Amazing and still miss mine.
TheAngryDog said:
The oil sample isn't worth doing. If the bearings haven't been done on a car with 60k plus miles on then get them done.
Also change the fuel filter and fuel injectors as well as these can cause failures.
You can get some indication of the bearing condition by dropping the oil filter and looking for anything sparkly.
BMR cab do rod bearing changes as well.
He knows from experience.Also change the fuel filter and fuel injectors as well as these can cause failures.
You can get some indication of the bearing condition by dropping the oil filter and looking for anything sparkly.
BMR cab do rod bearing changes as well.
His thread is probably worth a read!
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Taita said:
These are my favourite childhood car 
Just to check, is the range mentioned above (150-200 miles) a typo?! It's a GT!
Nope.... Extremely thirsty engine, small fuel tank. The fuel light comes on at about a quarter left, maybe just under, and you don't want to let these run low on fuel so I fill on the light. Running low is bad for the pumps, which can lead to injector problems and then dead engines, so not letting it run low helps prevent it. Just to check, is the range mentioned above (150-200 miles) a typo?! It's a GT!
You could get up to maybe 300 miles if you sat on a motorway at a constant 70 for...300 miles. I did once get an indicated 27mpg on a long run.
I mostly get 120-140 miles out of of a tank, but that is commuting to a city centre for 5 miles or having fun, so the worst possible road conditions for mpg.
Remember, it is a 5.0 naturally aspirated V10 that revs to 8250rpm. If it was located in an Italian supercar that range and MPG (and reliability) would not seem suprising.
MikeM6 said:
Taita said:
These are my favourite childhood car
Just to check, is the range mentioned above (150-200 miles) a typo?! It's a GT!
Nope.... Extremely thirsty engine, small fuel tank. The fuel light comes on at about a quarter left, maybe just under, and you don't want to let these run low on fuel so I fill on the light. Running low is bad for the pumps, which can lead to injector problems and then dead engines, so not letting it run low helps prevent it. Just to check, is the range mentioned above (150-200 miles) a typo?! It's a GT!
You could get up to maybe 300 miles if you sat on a motorway at a constant 70 for...300 miles. I did once get an indicated 27mpg on a long run.
I mostly get 120-140 miles out of of a tank, but that is commuting to a city centre for 5 miles or having fun, so the worst possible road conditions for mpg.
Remember, it is a 5.0 naturally aspirated V10 that revs to 8250rpm. If it was located in an Italian supercar that range and MPG (and reliability) would not seem suprising .
king fantastic 
Mr Tidy said:
TheAngryDog said:
The oil sample isn't worth doing. If the bearings haven't been done on a car with 60k plus miles on then get them done.
Also change the fuel filter and fuel injectors as well as these can cause failures.
You can get some indication of the bearing condition by dropping the oil filter and looking for anything sparkly.
BMR cab do rod bearing changes as well.
He knows from experience.Also change the fuel filter and fuel injectors as well as these can cause failures.
You can get some indication of the bearing condition by dropping the oil filter and looking for anything sparkly.
BMR cab do rod bearing changes as well.
His thread is probably worth a read!
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
I've been through the highs and very lows!anonymous said:
[redacted]
Not mad at all, in fact I think its a great idea! I've had one of these V10s in some form for 8 years now, can't imagine life without an S85 
Never had any major issues and I've been confident enough in the cars to run them without a warranty most of the time. Most expensive fault was a knackered boot strut motor but that could have happened on a 520d. Also had a 4 figure bill for a water damaged ABS module but again that could have happened on a regular model.
Rod bearings... personally I think the whole thing is massively overblown (check out Evolve's 150k mile E92 with original bearings on Youtube), but for the sake of £1500-2000 it's probably worth to get them done for peace of mind.
Interlagos Blue with full Silverstone leather is unquestionably the best colour combo, but good luck getting one as M6s seem to be very rare now!
cerb4.5lee said:
I pay £600 on tax for only a 3.7 V6 engine in a 370Z. Paying £600 for a 5.0 V10 engine...seems an absolute bargain I reckon in comparison!
Until it goes tits up! Fix 370z v M5/6.....Forever car for me, just need a 458 to add to it and a E34 M5.........
Edited by VeeTenM on Friday 12th November 22:05
Shaoxter said:
...
Rod bearings... personally I think the whole thing is massively overblown (check out Evolve's 150k mile E92 with original bearings on Youtube), but for the sake of £1500-2000 it's probably worth to get them done for peace of mind.
...
I did think that, but I had mine done at 54k miles after buying mine and whilst they should have been fine, they were showing quite a bit of copper.Rod bearings... personally I think the whole thing is massively overblown (check out Evolve's 150k mile E92 with original bearings on Youtube), but for the sake of £1500-2000 it's probably worth to get them done for peace of mind.
...
I would just get it done, I suspect many 1st onwers did driven them hard when cold before it was clear what a bad idea that was. Once done, you can then warm it up properly and use the correct oil etc and have confidence it will be good.
Plenty of these over 100k miles still going strong, there is one I know of over 200k miles, dread to think how much fuel that had gone through!
If you find one registered before March 2006 the tax is closer to 300 for the year. Not many fall into that category though, mine was February 2006.
I had v10 m5 for a few years. It was absolutely epic not much compares tbh. I had the eventuri intake system and map from evolve and an einssman exhaust, the noise was motoring perfection.
Bills do add up with these cars and tbh if going into ownership with eyes wide open you will need to do 4-5k of preventative maintenance.
If you have the big ticket items done then the car should not be overly ruinous
Bills do add up with these cars and tbh if going into ownership with eyes wide open you will need to do 4-5k of preventative maintenance.
If you have the big ticket items done then the car should not be overly ruinous
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