RE: M5 (E39) vs. M5 (E60) vs. M5 (F90)
Discussion
RichardM5 said:
They really have done a superb job. The problem with this is that you initially decide A, B and C need replacing but X, Y and Z are OK. Then the work is done and X, Y and Z look far worse than they did!
Always the case with these cars - you end up spending way more than intended as you want everything to be 'right'.Your car looks sublime by the way - epic machine.
I've been tempted by the V10 for quite some time now, and had a test drive of a V10 M6 earlier this year.
As fast as it was, I just didn't feel as 'involved' with the car compared to when in the E39.
Plus, too many horror stories and examples from my BMW specialist have put me off them slightly.
However, it is an itch I do want to scratch one day.
As fast as it was, I just didn't feel as 'involved' with the car compared to when in the E39.
Plus, too many horror stories and examples from my BMW specialist have put me off them slightly.
However, it is an itch I do want to scratch one day.
FerrariGuy007 said:
I feel these cars are totally impractical. I just want one to go to supermarket or drive to Mickey D’s. An Aventador FTW!
uh?! how is a 4 door saloon capable of carrying 5 people impracticable?! - I have even had a tennis net post in mine - very usable...Onehp said:
Would love an E39, but there are issues with running one as a high mileage daily, and I also do wonder what the lack of the last 20 years of crash safety development would do if a nutter crashed full on into our little family.
No issues at all - I have had mine nearly 21 months and done about 21,000 miles in it - issues or costs:- 2 oil changes and another about to take place
- 5 adhoc 1 litre of oil top-ups
- 1 set of rear brake pads
- 1 full set of tyres
- 1 extra set of rear tyres
- some windscreen-wash fluid stuff
- couple of packets of mints
- ...struggling here...
Doesn't seem much more than would be expected from any car - slightly more oil perhaps than your average run-around...
like anything in life - buy something that has been cared for and it is likely to be fine - buy something that has been trashed and you will have issues...
none of the usual rust issues on mine - it is inspected every 6 months - occasional bit of pin prick rust from stone chips but I am going around the car having that resolved - just come out of the body shop today with a slight tweak for one area to avoid any issues...
look after the car, and it will be fine!
as for protection - it is built like a tank and even with less modern crumple zones than a new car, I would rate it against the average hot hatch that cost the same...
seiben said:
Mr Whippy said:
No one is buying any of these older ones as a daily now, so occasional use and occasion is king?
Speak for yourself! I daily an E39 M5... mehmehmeh said:
The problem with the e39 is you can either buy a high mileage £6k risk...or you have to spend £40k on a low mileage one. There are hardly any in betweens.
There is truth in that - I was lucky to get one of the in-betweens - still sub-100k and have been offered on two occasions, 25% more than I paid - they are out there, but they are mainly sold amongst collectors / friends - or stored and enjoyed...AlasdairB10 said:
My whole family love ours. 88k miles, FBMWSH and hardly costs a penny except for petrol. I get more comments about this car any other I have - people have a real soft spot for them. Its the one car I have that I'll probably never sell. 
Very similar to mine in mileage / costs / love / etc. - must be something in the name (Alasdair!)
^^ looks very well taken care of. Envious in a good way.
If you can find a good one and take care of it, sure.
For quite some people, me included, time is very much constrained so barely have time to wash the car once a month, and certainly have no time to deal with issues that can potentially arise in a near 20 year old car.
I'm not in the UK and well taken care of E39 M5's are extremely rare here, most have been subjected to different forms of torture and money pinching, with the number of owners usually longer than the options list (certain correlation exists...)
And the ones that are mint, it is a bit of a shame to add 15-20k miles every year... The want isn't that big for me at least.
If you can find a good one and take care of it, sure.
For quite some people, me included, time is very much constrained so barely have time to wash the car once a month, and certainly have no time to deal with issues that can potentially arise in a near 20 year old car.
I'm not in the UK and well taken care of E39 M5's are extremely rare here, most have been subjected to different forms of torture and money pinching, with the number of owners usually longer than the options list (certain correlation exists...)
And the ones that are mint, it is a bit of a shame to add 15-20k miles every year... The want isn't that big for me at least.
Edited by Onehp on Friday 21st December 12:39
Onehp said:
^^ looks very well taken care of. Envious in a good way.
If you can find a good one and take care of it, sure.
For quite some people, me included, time is very much constrained so barely have time to wash the car once a month, and certainly have no time to deal with issues that can potentially arise in a near 20 year old car.
I'm not in the UK and well taken care of E39 M5's are extremely rare here, most have been subjected to different forms of torture and money pinching, with the number of owners usually longer than the options list (certain correlation exists...)
And the ones that are mint, it is a bit of a shame to add 15-20k miles every year... The want isn't that big for me at least.
It is well looked after - just been valeted today and looks superb - done professionally every couple of weeks... any issue - sorted immediately...If you can find a good one and take care of it, sure.
For quite some people, me included, time is very much constrained so barely have time to wash the car once a month, and certainly have no time to deal with issues that can potentially arise in a near 20 year old car.
I'm not in the UK and well taken care of E39 M5's are extremely rare here, most have been subjected to different forms of torture and money pinching, with the number of owners usually longer than the options list (certain correlation exists...)
And the ones that are mint, it is a bit of a shame to add 15-20k miles every year... The want isn't that big for me at least.
Edited by Onehp on Friday 21st December 12:39
but would agree - not easy to find a good one - which is why there is such a price differential - the average M5 being sold might be £10k and a bit of a risky proposition - mine, I have been offered £25 - £30k for it - mileage is still sub 100k and the condition is fantastic... I suspect that those are only found being sold privately - not on autotrader. Mine was bought from a friend and the opportunity was too good to pass up...
it is a shame to add mileage to them, but I had this debate early on and decided that it was pointless to buy a car like this and not drive it - any petrolhead would surely prefer to be driving a better car - and you don't get much better than one of these... so, though I have other cars as well, why drive a cheap car to 'save miles' when you have an amazing car on the drive - so it will be driven... and even if that affects the value - it is proving to be a far cheaper ownership proposition than the Kuga / Octavia I leased which cost me £18.5k over 5 years - and there is no choice in which I would prefer to drive!
I am actually quite tempted to risk £10k on one.
Sell my daily which is worth around £8k I think (have not checked)
Buy something like a 4.0 jeep cherokee as a daily / for the winter (lots of snow up here).
Then put the e39 away.
Can you get classic insurance on them yet?
The only issue is I don't have a garage. So M5 on drive and jeep on pavement outside which seems to be what everyone else is doing (bought a house in the sticks, they recently built a new build of 6 houses, 3 houses up the road, median car ownership seems to be 2 cars per person but only enough driveway space for 2 cars so each family is parking 4 vehicles in the pavement outside mine and the neighbours house...great).
Sell my daily which is worth around £8k I think (have not checked)
Buy something like a 4.0 jeep cherokee as a daily / for the winter (lots of snow up here).
Then put the e39 away.
Can you get classic insurance on them yet?
The only issue is I don't have a garage. So M5 on drive and jeep on pavement outside which seems to be what everyone else is doing (bought a house in the sticks, they recently built a new build of 6 houses, 3 houses up the road, median car ownership seems to be 2 cars per person but only enough driveway space for 2 cars so each family is parking 4 vehicles in the pavement outside mine and the neighbours house...great).
mehmehmeh said:
Can you get classic insurance on them yet?
On an E39? Quite do-able. Most companies have a 20 year age cut-off for "classic" policies, so that now lets early E39 M5s into category. If you're in year 19 you might get them to accept build date rather than first registration date - that worked for my when I first acquired one of my other cars a few years ago. Great read.
E60 M5 box will be ticked one day... Has anyone in the UK ever converted their E60 M5 to a manual or DCT?
Another vote for E34 M5 3.8 six-speed vs E39 M5 vs E90 M3 vs F80 M3 PistonHeads feature this year for the 3.8 25th Anniversary - would love to read this! Please do it, Eds!
E60 M5 box will be ticked one day... Has anyone in the UK ever converted their E60 M5 to a manual or DCT?
Another vote for E34 M5 3.8 six-speed vs E39 M5 vs E90 M3 vs F80 M3 PistonHeads feature this year for the 3.8 25th Anniversary - would love to read this! Please do it, Eds!
akirk said:
It is well looked after - just been valeted today and looks superb - done professionally every couple of weeks... any issue - sorted immediately...
but would agree - not easy to find a good one - which is why there is such a price differential - the average M5 being sold might be £10k and a bit of a risky proposition - mine, I have been offered £25 - £30k for it - mileage is still sub 100k and the condition is fantastic... I suspect that those are only found being sold privately - not on autotrader. Mine was bought from a friend and the opportunity was too good to pass up...
it is a shame to add mileage to them, but I had this debate early on and decided that it was pointless to buy a car like this and not drive it - any petrolhead would surely prefer to be driving a better car - and you don't get much better than one of these... so, though I have other cars as well, why drive a cheap car to 'save miles' when you have an amazing car on the drive - so it will be driven... and even if that affects the value - it is proving to be a far cheaper ownership proposition than the Kuga / Octavia I leased which cost me £18.5k over 5 years - and there is no choice in which I would prefer to drive!
Indeed they're very usable day to day cars.but would agree - not easy to find a good one - which is why there is such a price differential - the average M5 being sold might be £10k and a bit of a risky proposition - mine, I have been offered £25 - £30k for it - mileage is still sub 100k and the condition is fantastic... I suspect that those are only found being sold privately - not on autotrader. Mine was bought from a friend and the opportunity was too good to pass up...
it is a shame to add mileage to them, but I had this debate early on and decided that it was pointless to buy a car like this and not drive it - any petrolhead would surely prefer to be driving a better car - and you don't get much better than one of these... so, though I have other cars as well, why drive a cheap car to 'save miles' when you have an amazing car on the drive - so it will be driven... and even if that affects the value - it is proving to be a far cheaper ownership proposition than the Kuga / Octavia I leased which cost me £18.5k over 5 years - and there is no choice in which I would prefer to drive!
TobyTR said:
Great read.
E60 M5 box will be ticked one day... Has anyone in the UK ever converted their E60 M5 to a manual or DCT?
Another vote for E34 M5 3.8 six-speed vs E39 M5 vs E90 M3 vs F80 M3 PistonHeads feature this year for the 3.8 25th Anniversary - would love to read this! Please do it, Eds!
There is a chap on Instagram putting the v10 in an E39 M5 and converting it to manual, using the m3 gearbox.E60 M5 box will be ticked one day... Has anyone in the UK ever converted their E60 M5 to a manual or DCT?
Another vote for E34 M5 3.8 six-speed vs E39 M5 vs E90 M3 vs F80 M3 PistonHeads feature this year for the 3.8 25th Anniversary - would love to read this! Please do it, Eds!
You could buy 6 speed stick shift E60 M5 in the USA or Auto (not sure if the auto was SNG2 or torque converter).
Below vid has the 6 speed stick shifter
https://youtu.be/5F9XyFk34tM
Below vid has the 6 speed stick shifter
https://youtu.be/5F9XyFk34tM
You could buy 6 speed stick shift E60 M5 in the USA or Auto (not sure if the auto was SNG2 or torque converter).
Below vid has the 6 speed stick shifter
https://youtu.be/5F9XyFk34tM
Below vid has the 6 speed stick shifter
https://youtu.be/5F9XyFk34tM
mehmehmeh said:
I am actually quite tempted to risk £10k on one.
Sell my daily which is worth around £8k I think (have not checked)
Buy something like a 4.0 jeep cherokee as a daily / for the winter (lots of snow up here).
Are you me?!Sell my daily which is worth around £8k I think (have not checked)
Buy something like a 4.0 jeep cherokee as a daily / for the winter (lots of snow up here).
Naturally, I'm currently driving the M5 while the Jeep's broken...
The E39 is still my favourite.
If I ever have the money I'd love to own a good one.
The newer models might be technically/dynamically superior, and the F90 is definitely faster, but the E39 is just so much better looking, plus there's the manual gearbox which just makes things a little bit more fun.
If I ever have the money I'd love to own a good one.
The newer models might be technically/dynamically superior, and the F90 is definitely faster, but the E39 is just so much better looking, plus there's the manual gearbox which just makes things a little bit more fun.
seiben said:
Are you me?!
Naturally, I'm currently driving the M5 while the Jeep's broken...
Great minds?Naturally, I'm currently driving the M5 while the Jeep's broken...
That's because you drive the naff diesel one.
You need one of these
https://www.offroad-zone.com/wp-content/uploads/20...
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