Looking at an e34 M5
Discussion
It really depends what you want. I love my E34 but won't pretend its cheap to run. Fuel consumption is the worst part. I average just under 17mpg. Ionly do a 5-mile daily commute in the car every day though so its running cold most of the time. 25mpg+ is achieveable on a motorway run. Give it the beans though (which is very hard to resist) and you'll be looking at single figures.
Servicing and parts have so far been not too bad. Its also a remarkably easy car to work on if you don't mind getting stuck in yourself. As someone who'd used to working on Alfas and other Italian nonsense, the E34 is a joy with everything being fairly accessible. An engineering joy, so it is.
I don't know quite so much about E39 M5's, having only driven one once before. Impressive machine, but I prefer the rawness of the E34 every time. I truly believe its one of the best cars BMW have ever built. Its also of the over-engineered, hand-built generation of cars before the build quality became more balance-sheet focused!
Mine is due an exhaust soon but I've been investigating having one made instead of buying the ludicrously priced BMW item. Theres vert little electronic gubbins to go wrong, just make sure everything works before you buy one and you should be fine. I'd avoid anything thats been modified but going by what you say, it sounds like you've sourced a good 'un.
I think the same costs apply to both E34 and E39. You have to want one badly enough as you may have to face the odd bill safe in the knowledge that you're unlikely to recoup this when you sell. But the same could be said of many lesser cars than these.
Buy one. I very much doubt you'll regret it. I certainly haven't.
Servicing and parts have so far been not too bad. Its also a remarkably easy car to work on if you don't mind getting stuck in yourself. As someone who'd used to working on Alfas and other Italian nonsense, the E34 is a joy with everything being fairly accessible. An engineering joy, so it is.
I don't know quite so much about E39 M5's, having only driven one once before. Impressive machine, but I prefer the rawness of the E34 every time. I truly believe its one of the best cars BMW have ever built. Its also of the over-engineered, hand-built generation of cars before the build quality became more balance-sheet focused!
Mine is due an exhaust soon but I've been investigating having one made instead of buying the ludicrously priced BMW item. Theres vert little electronic gubbins to go wrong, just make sure everything works before you buy one and you should be fine. I'd avoid anything thats been modified but going by what you say, it sounds like you've sourced a good 'un.
I think the same costs apply to both E34 and E39. You have to want one badly enough as you may have to face the odd bill safe in the knowledge that you're unlikely to recoup this when you sell. But the same could be said of many lesser cars than these.
Buy one. I very much doubt you'll regret it. I certainly haven't.
Ran one of these for a little while. Fuel consumption rarely exceeded 20, service items aren't too bad - available from GSF etc. It's when M specific items go wrong, and there are many, that it tends to get a bit pricey! You can't just pop down your local motor factors for a new water pump etc, it's BMW only and subject to the fabled M tax.
I'd still have another one though, even over a e39.
I'd still have another one though, even over a e39.
mat59 said:
I'm interested in one of these also. What are the specific weak areas? How can dampers cost £5k+ when a good koilover setup can be had for £1500 on most cars?
Aftermarket dampers are available from many suppliers, there's competition to keep the price reasonable and manufacturers can make one damper for a wide range of applications also keeping the cost down.BMW can charge what they like for genuine parts because they have an exclusive license for those EDC/SLS dampers.
Even a semi-decent coil-over kit will cost more than £1500 fitted to an e34 M5 as it's not just a matter of removing the struts and putting new ones on, you've got to replace top-mounts at a minimum and you'll probably find the strut won't come away from a 15-20 year old hub, so you'll need new hubs all round too.
EDC is great when it's working perfectly, but that can be for 1 year or 5 years - and then it's another £1k/corner (assuming the prices don't keep rising like the have over the last 6 years - i.e. 15% per year).
Mine is not silly money to run, but quite simply buy the most expensive one you can find and invest in it every year! Handbuilt car, wonderful engine, bank vault build quality....but look at the bills, get the car onto a ramp, look at the front jacking points, when was the last valve clearance done, where has it been serviced, what oil is it using, and look closely at the dampers and rear self levelling suspension.
A 3.6 (the older versions) are cheaper to run being less complex, but the 3.8's are amazing. Buy well, be careful and for around £1400 per annum excluding petrol, insurance and tyres you will have a top car to enjoy.
A 3.6 (the older versions) are cheaper to run being less complex, but the 3.8's are amazing. Buy well, be careful and for around £1400 per annum excluding petrol, insurance and tyres you will have a top car to enjoy.
I nearly swapped my M3 evo for an E34 M5 touring.
It was a late 3.8 which I think had larger brakes and the larger alloys,
but running costs, specifically the cost of the electronic shocks slightly put me off.
Had the car have been very clean (bodywork wasn't great) or if I'd really enjoyed the test drive I might have gone for it.
Seeing the Saloon E34 M5 in evo this month made me want one again so I might have another look towards the end of the year as I'm also hoping to need a tow car for next year.
It was a late 3.8 which I think had larger brakes and the larger alloys,
but running costs, specifically the cost of the electronic shocks slightly put me off.
Had the car have been very clean (bodywork wasn't great) or if I'd really enjoyed the test drive I might have gone for it.
Seeing the Saloon E34 M5 in evo this month made me want one again so I might have another look towards the end of the year as I'm also hoping to need a tow car for next year.
balls-out said:
Sorry chaps, but there are a lot of wrong answers here.
I wanted to hear 'Yes, they're not too bad, don't worry and buy one!'
Yes, they're not too bad, don't worry and buy one! (but please remember to come back here when something goes kaput so we can say "I told you so!").I wanted to hear 'Yes, they're not too bad, don't worry and buy one!'
I've had mine for nearly a year now and it's not been too bad-so far. I was using it as a daily driver (60 mile a day motorway commute) and it was fine-in fact the more I used it the better it drove. It's had little use over the past few months sadly but hopefully it'll be out more come the better weather. There's a lot of bad ones out there and a few good ones.
Mine only needed the steering box adjusted and a couple of bushes for its MOT. As said previously parts are either stupidly cheap (£3 for an oil filter from GSF) or stupidly expensive (£40 for a thermostat, £big bucks for plug leads and dizzy cap) It's due a gearbox oil change and another engine oil change, I also need to investigate a battery drain and set the valve clearances-with the exception of the valve clearances all stuff I can do myself at little cost. Even the valve clearances can be checked easily enough, I'm not sure about adjusting them with the shims tho so may entrust that to a specialist.
A good specialist local to you would be essential-my M5 would never see the inside of a main dealer as I trust them as far as I could throw them, especially with an old car that most of the techs will never have worked on. Get yourself onto www.bmw5.co.uk-good for general e34 stuff and www.m5board.com for specific stuff.
P.S. They are a wonderful wonderful car-truly amazing to drive and with good suspension and good tyres you can use every one of those 315 horses (mines a 3.6) remarkably easily
I can only say good things about the E34 M5 i have owned many bmw,s and many other cars but this is a special car! sure some bits can be expensive but the fun that can be had greatly out weighs this.
I will be honest and say my 3.8 only gets used occasionaly so i cant coment on everyday running costs.
If you can get a goodun do it as there arent many left and im sure you will love it!!!
I will be honest and say my 3.8 only gets used occasionaly so i cant coment on everyday running costs.
If you can get a goodun do it as there arent many left and im sure you will love it!!!
Yes, they cost alot to run
I know of an example that was reasonable to begin with but when the owner decided to go over it with a fine tooth comb, he came out the other side having been relieved of somewhere in the region of £5-£6k in 12 months.
Admittedly some things were not a necessaity in this case, but to the best of my knowledge, it didn't include any major suspension parts replacement, gearbox work or clutch renewal.
However, when you compare the costs against depreciation of a new car that offers what an E34 M5 does, then it can make sense to invest in the car in this way.
I spent about £1.5-2k on mine and only drove it 5,000 miles and nothing went seriously wrong in that time.
What a car though, only the running costs prevent me from justifying another at this point in time, and even then, I am still very seriously tempted.
I know of an example that was reasonable to begin with but when the owner decided to go over it with a fine tooth comb, he came out the other side having been relieved of somewhere in the region of £5-£6k in 12 months.
Admittedly some things were not a necessaity in this case, but to the best of my knowledge, it didn't include any major suspension parts replacement, gearbox work or clutch renewal.
However, when you compare the costs against depreciation of a new car that offers what an E34 M5 does, then it can make sense to invest in the car in this way.
I spent about £1.5-2k on mine and only drove it 5,000 miles and nothing went seriously wrong in that time.
What a car though, only the running costs prevent me from justifying another at this point in time, and even then, I am still very seriously tempted.
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