BMW e60 M5 (55reg) or Audi S4 Avant (09reg)

[Joe5y]

Afternoon all,

I'd like some guidance on the above cars.

I have had verbal offers on both accepted but am seriously torn between them.

Both have new Mot's. Both have FSH from indys not main dealer. M5 has c80,000. Audi have c95,000. Both similarly priced.

M5 - a dream of mine since they came out.
Pro's - lovely sound. Great car. Dream. Heart says yes. New SMG pump. Just serviced
Cons - big bills - the image - length of time I could feasibly own owing to trying to start a family. Mileage. SMG box worries me.

S4 - love the avant.
Pros - great car. DSG. Just serviced. Potential of a revo map is something I'd love to do. Could easily keep for a long time.
Cons - mileage is my main concern.

Please make my decision for me!

[Douglas Quaid]

Why is mileage your main concern on the Audi? They have similar mileage. Neither is likely to break down purely based on mileage.

Which did you prefer driving?

[yajeed]

Joe5y said:

length of time I could feasibly own owing to trying to start a family.

If you've always wanted one, and can afford the transaction cost of buying them selling shortly afterwards, choose the M5.

Buy it, enjoy it, then buy a family wagon when you need one.

[ZX10R NIN]

I agree with the above

[Fox-]

These cars are in a different league and do not deserve to be in the same thread.

The E60 M5 is almost a 4 door supercar and comes with all that entails both good and bad.

The Audi S4 Avant is what would have been called the A4 3.0TFSI S-Line until the marketing department realised 'S4' was more snappy and they could fool a bunch of people into thinking it's anything at all comparable to anything M Power. Sadly it worked as the amount of times people seem to have S4 v M3 threads yet never consider the true S4 rival, the identically priced when new 335i, is huge..

Would you consider a 335i M Sport Touring? If not, stay away from the S4.

[ZX10R NIN]

Or you could get an M5 Touring

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

[anonymous-user]

I've always fancied an e60 M5 but never had the nerve to take the plunge

I'm not short of a bob or two but I have read so many stories of ruinous bills associated with the E60 M5 that it's made me dismiss one.

It's not just the SMG pump (they are not too bad) the clutch is a major cost issue, release bearing, rear diff, brakes - If buying without a cast iron BMW warranty then I'd not bother. The web is full of stories of grown men crying about never ending costs.

Also for me it's not just the monetary issue when things go wrong; it's the stress of having to go back and forth to the garage, worrying about what it might be etc etc.

eta - read this guide https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=10...

Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 4th May 06:57

[diluculophile]

I'll admit to being predjudiced against Audis, so of the two I'd certainly be more inclined towards the M5. I haven't actually driven either car, so take my opinion with a pinch of salt, but the E60 M5 is a (technically complicated) supercar saloon. The potential costs would really put me off unless I had the money to fix the big issues set aside should they come up.
I find myself wanting the E39 more, with it's normal aspiration and manual gearbox, but not something I'd necessarily want to drive everyday (although it could I'm sure).

[Fox-]

diluculophile said:

I find myself wanting the E39 more, with it's normal aspiration

The E60 is normally aspirated, too. The only turbocharged E60's in the UK were diesel.

[CSLchappie]

lord trumpton said:

I've always fancied an e60 M5 but never had the nerve to take the plunge

I'm not short of a bob or two but I have read so many stories of ruinous bills associated with the E60 M5 that it's made me dismiss one.

It's not just the SMG pump (they are not too bad) the clutch is a major cost issue, release bearing, rear diff, brakes - If buying without a cast iron BMW warranty then I'd not bother. The web is full of stories of grown men crying about never ending costs.

Also for me it's not just the monetary issue when things go wrong; it's the stress of having to go back and forth to the garage, worrying about what it might be etc etc.

eta - read this guide https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=10...

Edited by lord trumpton on Thursday 4th May 06:57

I ran two for a total of almost eight years, had my fair share of problems, but none related to the clutch, yes there were some ey watering bills, the most painful of which was ironically not covered by the warranty - rodent damage to the engine wiring loom.

For the money these days, they really are exceptional value, yes most turbo nutter vag wagons will be just as fast real world, but none will have that absolutely intoxicating engine note, nor the scalpel sharp throttle feel or sure footed ride quality.

I'd love another, it's the only thing I look at in the classifieds these days, but I wouldn't run one as a weekend car nor could I bring myself to have one as a daily again now that I've got used to my 340i reguarly getting 370+ miles out of a tank.

Buy one now, regret it later.

[Patrick Bateman]

If you can manage the running costs, the M5 is a no brainer for me.

[Joe5y]

Douglas Quaid said:

Why is mileage your main concern on the Audi? They have similar mileage. Neither is likely to break down purely based on mileage.

Which did you prefer driving?

I guess. Just never bought a car with more than 60,000 on before.

Honestly, the Audi but then the gearbox is always going to make for a smoother test drive but that's not what the BMW is about.

[Joe5y]

Fox- said:

These cars are in a different league and do not deserve to be in the same thread.

The E60 M5 is almost a 4 door supercar and comes with all that entails both good and bad.

The Audi S4 Avant is what would have been called the A4 3.0TFSI S-Line until the marketing department realised 'S4' was more snappy and they could fool a bunch of people into thinking it's anything at all comparable to anything M Power. Sadly it worked as the amount of times people seem to have S4 v M3 threads yet never consider the true S4 rival, the identically priced when new 335i, is huge..

Would you consider a 335i M Sport Touring? If not, stay away from the S4.

I agree, they are not comparable but I'm not comparing the cars really. They both have their pros and cons and these are the two cars that I've decided I'd like.

The 335i is nice but fairly thin on the ground. Also the standard spec levels aren't a patch on the Audis.

[Joe5y]

ZX10R NIN said:

Or you could get an M5 Touring

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

I would absolutely love one, sadly out of budget (a realistic one at that). I want to spend no more than £15k really so I can keep a slush fund.

[Ahbefive]

M5 is a huge moneypit, S4 is pretty boring and the gearbox can also throw a big bill. Lose Lose imo.

[ZX10R NIN]

This is just over budget but they are very robust & won't kill you with a killer bill in the same way (former M5 owner here) the M5 can it's also way more interesting than the S4

2008 E63 Estate W211 515bhp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

or a more sensible:

2010 E350 Estate W212 295bhp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

Saloon wise you have some interesting options within your budget:

2007 E63 W211 514bhp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

2010 E500 Sport W212 (these are super rare but do normally get snapped up as they have a good amount of performance) 385bhp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

2006 E63 (low miles haggle hard & you'll be just over budget)

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

2007 Audi S6 Avant (I've not heard bad things about these they seem to be pretty robust) V10 429bhp Low miles

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

2009 Jaguar XFR 505bhp (underrated but more than worthy of consideration over the S4)

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...


Very Leftfield but hardly (as long as you can see past the badge) lacking in the performance family car stakes:

2007 VXR8

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

Or if you don't mind mapping it, if so then nigh 400bhp is on the cards.

2010 VXR Supersport 325bhp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

2014 4x4 Tourer 325bhp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...


From the above & your two choices OP I'd probably go for the W211 E63 but if I had to be a bit sensible then I'd settle for the W212 E500

[Joe5y]

ZX10R NIN said:

This is just over budget but they are very robust & won't kill you with a killer bill in the same way (former M5 owner here) the M5 can it's also way more interesting than the S4

2008 E63 Estate W211 515bhp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

or a more sensible:

2010 E350 Estate W212 295bhp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

Saloon wise you have some interesting options within your budget:

2007 E63 W211 514bhp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

2010 E500 Sport W212 (these are super rare but do normally get snapped up as they have a good amount of performance) 385bhp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

2006 E63 (low miles haggle hard & you'll be just over budget)

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

2007 Audi S6 Avant (I've not heard bad things about these they seem to be pretty robust) V10 429bhp Low miles

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

2009 Jaguar XFR 505bhp (underrated but more than worthy of consideration over the S4)

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...


Very Leftfield but hardly (as long as you can see past the badge) lacking in the performance family car stakes:

2007 VXR8

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

Or if you don't mind mapping it, if so then nigh 400bhp is on the cards.

2010 VXR Supersport 325bhp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

2014 4x4 Tourer 325bhp

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...


From the above & your two choices OP I'd probably go for the W211 E63 but if I had to be a bit sensible then I'd settle for the W212 E500

Uummmm, wow. Thank you very much. Online beer for you!

I have made a decision, in fact I have collected the car. I went for the . . . . .

|https://thumbsnap.com/yqMwSzdu[/url]

[ZX10R NIN]

Well that's different to your brief

Glad you got sorted is it a 4.4?

[Joe5y]

ZX10R NIN said:

Well that's different to your brief

Glad you got sorted is it a 4.4?

Yeah. I realised that whilst it's not very PH, I didn't need 500+BHP. More importantly, the wife didn't. She has to drive these cars and seeing how many kerbs she hits etc I felt that a M5 & S4 wasnt a great idea.

X5 is nice enough for me and she can use it as it was intended.

If I want some fun I'll look at another S2k or similar.

This is just the 3.0d. Actually fairly happy with its performance so far. Torque helps move it around nicely. Test drove a 4.8is but wasn't very impressed plus it was ropey as hell. This one is mint!!

[Patrick Bateman]

Nobody ever needs 500bhp but that's rather missing the point.