BMW e39 M5 vs. e60 M5
Discussion
Standard servicing isn't the issue with the E39. The problem is if you get vanos problems which can be £3.5k per engine bank (2 banks on a V8). You may get a problem, you may not, but at the end of the day the recent warranty hike has come about for a reason. The car can also be heavy on clutches and tyres according to your driving style. So far over the 14 months I've had my car, nothing exceptional has reared it's head, so it's been quite cheap for the performance.
DAZ
(details of tyre costs and one of the services in my profile)
DAZ
(details of tyre costs and one of the services in my profile)
rob05 said:
The car is just not special enough for that kind of money...
Rob, forgive me but have you been in one?
The E60 is a strange thing because for me, the physical encounter is actually a minor event; yep, despite relative ubiquity, the originality of design (growing), unbelievable interior quality and fantastic ergonomics do make it special.
If driving the E60 M5 isn't intoxicating on at least half a dozen levels then I'll check my pulse!
Get beyond the badge (snobbery) and you have a truly unbelievable creation.
Yes i have and as i said already its a great car,it seems that a few of you are happy to stick labels on people who are'nt of the same opinion,so be it.
What is'nt special for me might be to someone else and i'm fine with that,after all if we all liked the same thing cars would be boring.
I like the shape of the new 5 and when i say not special i mean there are just too many of that shape car around for it to be individual enough for me for 7OK and there are just other cars out there that would be first in line.
This is not about badges and when that car Is three years old,as a fast family saloon it will be well worth a look imho.
Beyond that i respect the fact you all are into your cars,but lets keep other peoples opinions in perspective,after all this is a forum and not a communist propaganda website.
Rob
What is'nt special for me might be to someone else and i'm fine with that,after all if we all liked the same thing cars would be boring.
I like the shape of the new 5 and when i say not special i mean there are just too many of that shape car around for it to be individual enough for me for 7OK and there are just other cars out there that would be first in line.
This is not about badges and when that car Is three years old,as a fast family saloon it will be well worth a look imho.
Beyond that i respect the fact you all are into your cars,but lets keep other peoples opinions in perspective,after all this is a forum and not a communist propaganda website.
Rob
The E60 M5 is a genuinely stunning car. For most people, most of the time, its faster than a 430 such is the ease with which you can extract its performance. It contains its weight surprisingly well - even in the wet - never washing into understeer as such a hefty vehicle may be expected too, and its road attitude is infinately adjustable via the throttle should one be that way inclined 
Its basically a superfast bruising GT which happens to be beautifully built, possesses more gadgets than you really need and sports 4 spare seats.
Faults? Lets be honest, its not the best looking thing in the world: black is definately the colour to have. The steering is not the last word in road feel. It really likes petrol. Thats it: the rest is immense, and @ £65k its a bargain.
Its basically a superfast bruising GT which happens to be beautifully built, possesses more gadgets than you really need and sports 4 spare seats. Faults? Lets be honest, its not the best looking thing in the world: black is definately the colour to have. The steering is not the last word in road feel. It really likes petrol. Thats it: the rest is immense, and @ £65k its a bargain.
I strongly disagree that an E39 M5 looks like a £3k BMW. It absolutely doesn't - whilst the E39 is certainly not as fresh as it once was, it has yet to descend into cheap old banger land in the looks thing. If anything, the reverse is true - it is entirely possible to spend £3k on a 523i, through £1500 of Sport kit and faceift lights at it and have a car that looks worth as much as 4-5 times what it actually is.
I don't think it will be until the E60 is replaced that the E39 begins to be a seriously dated car - in much the same way that it was only really 2003 before the E34 started to look very old.
Don't forget the X5 looks VERY similar to the E39 and is worth a hell of a lot more - to non-car-people they'd assume the 5 is at least similar, especially given 2000-2003 X5's do NOT have the facelift angel eye headlights of the 2000-2003 E39's.
I don't think it will be until the E60 is replaced that the E39 begins to be a seriously dated car - in much the same way that it was only really 2003 before the E34 started to look very old.
Don't forget the X5 looks VERY similar to the E39 and is worth a hell of a lot more - to non-car-people they'd assume the 5 is at least similar, especially given 2000-2003 X5's do NOT have the facelift angel eye headlights of the 2000-2003 E39's.
I think any new radical design will make a previous model look dated.Take a brand like porsche and there philosophy,each model is an evolution of the last rather than a total redesign and it pays of in the end because residuals are less affected.
Bmw pissed alot of people of when they changed direction and they are aware of this thats why the new X5 wont be following dont the same road as the other models.
Imo i think petrol heads tend not to see cars age in the same way as most other people do i for one still find my self looking at my old Lancia delta 16v or my 5 turbo thinking they still look good,its only when i suggest to my wife that i fancy one,her response is "Why do you want a lada!"
Anyone who wants to buy an old M5 o should,but like i said before it wont be cheap to run and it could end up being a money pit if you are unlucky so if your on a budget look else where.
Bmw pissed alot of people of when they changed direction and they are aware of this thats why the new X5 wont be following dont the same road as the other models.
Imo i think petrol heads tend not to see cars age in the same way as most other people do i for one still find my self looking at my old Lancia delta 16v or my 5 turbo thinking they still look good,its only when i suggest to my wife that i fancy one,her response is "Why do you want a lada!"
Anyone who wants to buy an old M5 o should,but like i said before it wont be cheap to run and it could end up being a money pit if you are unlucky so if your on a budget look else where.
I think this is a fairly silly argument...
The E39 M5 is a 400 bhp saloon, which can be had from anything between 10-30K, which will transport 4 people (5 at a squeeze) in comfort, yet also capable of blasting down the motorway or for trans-european cruises at very high speeds.
The E60 M5 is a 500 bhp saloon, which which can be had from 55K secondhand(?), which will transport 4 people (5 at a squeeze) in comfort, yet also capable of blasting down the motorway or for trans-european cruises at very high speeds, and will accelerate faster than an E39 M5.
Does an E39 M5 look dated? Well, personal opinion really. I prefer the classic looks of the E39 as well as its interior, but appreciate that the E60 is newer, has more technology, is faster (and a lot thirstier).
But really, both are super-saloons, which will fulfil their design brief (super fast cruiser + entertaining in all circumstances whatever road you throw at it) to 100 % - I honestly don't care if the E60 is faster to 100 mph. If I had, I would have bought something entirely different. What matters to me is the ability to carry sustained high speed, in an effortless fashion and the E39 does that very well.
The E39 M5 is a 400 bhp saloon, which can be had from anything between 10-30K, which will transport 4 people (5 at a squeeze) in comfort, yet also capable of blasting down the motorway or for trans-european cruises at very high speeds.
The E60 M5 is a 500 bhp saloon, which which can be had from 55K secondhand(?), which will transport 4 people (5 at a squeeze) in comfort, yet also capable of blasting down the motorway or for trans-european cruises at very high speeds, and will accelerate faster than an E39 M5.
Does an E39 M5 look dated? Well, personal opinion really. I prefer the classic looks of the E39 as well as its interior, but appreciate that the E60 is newer, has more technology, is faster (and a lot thirstier).
But really, both are super-saloons, which will fulfil their design brief (super fast cruiser + entertaining in all circumstances whatever road you throw at it) to 100 % - I honestly don't care if the E60 is faster to 100 mph. If I had, I would have bought something entirely different. What matters to me is the ability to carry sustained high speed, in an effortless fashion and the E39 does that very well.
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