Hmm, possible M5 buyer
Discussion
i think im finally growing up. Owned a long string of mental cars, had a lot of fun, wasted lots of money and now ive had enough. The currenet evo7 and SLR are up for sale and I just want one comfortable car that does everything inculding a bit of fun now and again and also that the wife can use.......
ive tried desperately to liek teh M3 but after a second test drive today its a definite NO. Test drove an M5 and the chassis and ride quality is IMO infintely better than the M3. I found teh M3 fidgety, poor body control, no chassis feel & no "sweetness" in a bend. Basically, very underwhelming and even if they were half teh price id be hard pressed to write the cheque out. Nice interior and nice engine though.
The M5 however loaded up real nice in bends, engine character was even more stonking with fab noise and throttle response. Steering was better than expected and the ride quality was brillinat ... perfection for a road car i'd say. You can tell its a top chassis, reminded me of my old esprit a bit.
Thing is, ive been researching and hearing a lot of bad stories particularly on this board ? I have a few questions:
1) presumably i should buy approved used with 1 year warranty (i wasnt originally going to do this but it now seems the sensible/only option)
2) any ideas how much another year of warranty costs on top ?
3) what sort of overall mpg do people get ? with say, 60% town driving ?
4) wife will use teh car 3 times a week to go shopping/pick daughter up/visit friends... its ridiculous overkill for this (mouse, canon etc..)obviously but will she be okay .. i mean i found teh car easy to drive at low speed. Is it easy to park (soemthing that i didnt try).
any help much appreciated. Looking forward to the legend that is teh M5.... lets just hope teh horror stories dont put me off, otherwise it may have to be teh new S4
ive tried desperately to liek teh M3 but after a second test drive today its a definite NO. Test drove an M5 and the chassis and ride quality is IMO infintely better than the M3. I found teh M3 fidgety, poor body control, no chassis feel & no "sweetness" in a bend. Basically, very underwhelming and even if they were half teh price id be hard pressed to write the cheque out. Nice interior and nice engine though.
The M5 however loaded up real nice in bends, engine character was even more stonking with fab noise and throttle response. Steering was better than expected and the ride quality was brillinat ... perfection for a road car i'd say. You can tell its a top chassis, reminded me of my old esprit a bit.
Thing is, ive been researching and hearing a lot of bad stories particularly on this board ? I have a few questions:
1) presumably i should buy approved used with 1 year warranty (i wasnt originally going to do this but it now seems the sensible/only option)
2) any ideas how much another year of warranty costs on top ?
3) what sort of overall mpg do people get ? with say, 60% town driving ?
4) wife will use teh car 3 times a week to go shopping/pick daughter up/visit friends... its ridiculous overkill for this (mouse, canon etc..)obviously but will she be okay .. i mean i found teh car easy to drive at low speed. Is it easy to park (soemthing that i didnt try).
any help much appreciated. Looking forward to the legend that is teh M5.... lets just hope teh horror stories dont put me off, otherwise it may have to be teh new S4
After 2 years, 39,000 untroubled miles, including a few track days, the average has been 24.1mpg.
Fabulous car but just don't work the brakes too hard. The front discs will warp.
My missus likes driving it but says jealous chaps in other cars around her behave differently compared to when she is driving in her 3 series.
Fabulous car but just don't work the brakes too hard. The front discs will warp.
My missus likes driving it but says jealous chaps in other cars around her behave differently compared to when she is driving in her 3 series.
I've had mine for a year and done about 12 miles in it, had lots of agro that BMW sorted. An extension to your(very comprehensive) warranty will cost you £560. As a car it is a fabulous all rounder but to heavy to be a real contender in the sports car stakes, however, switch of the TC and it oversteers like an old Capri, superb. I get 20 MPG from mine and do about 50/50 town motorway.
cheers guys...
wow 20mpg sounds good.. no worse than my current 2 cars. Some of the test reports i've read said 14 ! And when i had a test drive the on board computer was showing 13 !!! Mind you i wasnt hanging about.
I see from autotrader.co.uk that significant savings can be made buying privately .... does anyone know if i could get a private car inspected by a bm dealer or maybe even get a bmw warranty put on it (or does it actually have to go through teh dealer network and be sold by them etc..) ?
thing is, depreciation is an issue.. it already looks as though as if i buy a car for low 30k's it will be worth ~25/26k the moment i drive away in it.... so buying privately would be good if i could sort warranty out.
wow 20mpg sounds good.. no worse than my current 2 cars. Some of the test reports i've read said 14 ! And when i had a test drive the on board computer was showing 13 !!! Mind you i wasnt hanging about.
I see from autotrader.co.uk that significant savings can be made buying privately .... does anyone know if i could get a private car inspected by a bm dealer or maybe even get a bmw warranty put on it (or does it actually have to go through teh dealer network and be sold by them etc..) ?
thing is, depreciation is an issue.. it already looks as though as if i buy a car for low 30k's it will be worth ~25/26k the moment i drive away in it.... so buying privately would be good if i could sort warranty out.
I'd been mulling over an M5 swap a while back and finally got to steer one recently.
It was just sensational and I'm sure, in time, would have become a really well trained psycho looning device.
As an all-in-one, kill all birds with one stone proposition, I'm of the opinion it's still the Chief Inspector of Ubersaloondom.
An almost gem-like hybrid of automotive satiations.
And cheaper, second hand, than a Cornetto in Trafalgar Square these days!
It was just sensational and I'm sure, in time, would have become a really well trained psycho looning device.
As an all-in-one, kill all birds with one stone proposition, I'm of the opinion it's still the Chief Inspector of Ubersaloondom.
An almost gem-like hybrid of automotive satiations.
And cheaper, second hand, than a Cornetto in Trafalgar Square these days!
Truly a fabulous car and grow on you more & more. Had mine now 18 months done about 12k miles, had no problems and 1 green service blob left. I too looked at the M3, then suddenly realised I really like 4 doors.
My wife uses very ocassionally and as she has no idea about the sport and DSC buttons, nor the oomph after 4k revs can drive it fine.
mpg - about 21 (goes to 24 on any sort of distance assuming it's not to LeMans). Mine is an import and I bought a 3yr money-back warranty for £450 from the importer.
Prices are probably about to slide off the cliff (dealers seem to factor it in on trade-in but not on re-sale) as the new 5-series is out Q4 this year. However, it's another Bangle and I'm not convinced I'd rush to join that club. I would see a natural floor around the £20k mark (when you consider a 13yr old E30 M3 Evo sport is 15-17k). If you're looking, go for the facelifted (angel eyes) model and yes, you can probably pay a BM garage to pre-inspect.
good luck
My wife uses very ocassionally and as she has no idea about the sport and DSC buttons, nor the oomph after 4k revs can drive it fine.
mpg - about 21 (goes to 24 on any sort of distance assuming it's not to LeMans). Mine is an import and I bought a 3yr money-back warranty for £450 from the importer.
Prices are probably about to slide off the cliff (dealers seem to factor it in on trade-in but not on re-sale) as the new 5-series is out Q4 this year. However, it's another Bangle and I'm not convinced I'd rush to join that club. I would see a natural floor around the £20k mark (when you consider a 13yr old E30 M3 Evo sport is 15-17k). If you're looking, go for the facelifted (angel eyes) model and yes, you can probably pay a BM garage to pre-inspect.
good luck
I think you may also find it worthwhile to try out the C43 and E55 Mercs. They are surprisingly quick, handle well and are (IMHO) a lot better stuck together than BMW's. Initially I thought the downside would be the Autobox, but I found it to be superb and would never entertain a manual on a road car if all Autoboxes were that good.
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