Doing 25k to 30k miles per year in a E60 M5
Discussion
Hello gents, long time lurker first time poster.
currently looking at buying an E60 M5 early next year, my dream car. i currently own a E46 M3 coupe, wonderful car, probably out grown it though. 16 month old daughter and all that
. anyway, due to the nature of my job i do say 25k to 30k miles per year. i know the M5 will cost me more money through wear and tear (not concerned about petrol as i have a company fuel card). but are these cars capable of doing these types of miles per year without too many issues?
is it a bad idea?
currently looking at buying an E60 M5 early next year, my dream car. i currently own a E46 M3 coupe, wonderful car, probably out grown it though. 16 month old daughter and all that
. anyway, due to the nature of my job i do say 25k to 30k miles per year. i know the M5 will cost me more money through wear and tear (not concerned about petrol as i have a company fuel card). but are these cars capable of doing these types of miles per year without too many issues?is it a bad idea?
The effect of mileage on these cars is minimal with it being a large engine. The issue is going to be servicing.
If you are going to be using it as a motorway car then you will be looking at 1 litre of oil every 1500 to 2000 miles. The faster you drive the earlier it needs it. That works out to be around £250 per year in oil top ups.
Servicing will probably be every 4 months for you and you'll be seeing 2 small services and one major one every year. Youre looking at around £3k per annum all in for your standard servicing (2 x oil change services and 1 x plug job).
At a guess you'll be doing 2 sets of rear tyres in a year. Add £1000+ for that. You might even get through a set of fronts in a year if youre that way inclined. Add £500+ for that.
If its motorway stuff then you proabably wont need brakes every year, but if you drive hard then add £1500 to £2000 for discs and pads.
Other stuff will be based on the cars needs, but to be honest you wont know until it does.
Fuel wise (i know you said it doesnt matter) youre looking at a best case example of £8325. Worst case is £13200. How do you manage to get a fuel card for an M5 then? lol
If you can afford it then go for it.
If you are going to be using it as a motorway car then you will be looking at 1 litre of oil every 1500 to 2000 miles. The faster you drive the earlier it needs it. That works out to be around £250 per year in oil top ups.
Servicing will probably be every 4 months for you and you'll be seeing 2 small services and one major one every year. Youre looking at around £3k per annum all in for your standard servicing (2 x oil change services and 1 x plug job).
At a guess you'll be doing 2 sets of rear tyres in a year. Add £1000+ for that. You might even get through a set of fronts in a year if youre that way inclined. Add £500+ for that.
If its motorway stuff then you proabably wont need brakes every year, but if you drive hard then add £1500 to £2000 for discs and pads.
Other stuff will be based on the cars needs, but to be honest you wont know until it does.
Fuel wise (i know you said it doesnt matter) youre looking at a best case example of £8325. Worst case is £13200. How do you manage to get a fuel card for an M5 then? lol
If you can afford it then go for it.
I'm in the same situation mileage wise. I ended up buying a VXR8 due to it's mechanical simplicity, younger age and lower miles for the same price. After 20k miles in 8 months, my bills for fixing problems outside normal servicing will run to somewhere between £4-5k. Air con parts, control arms, diff, clutch, 02 sensors, etc. It's only done 47k miles now. Meanwhile, my wife's BMW, admittedly only an E46 330i, hasn't missed a beat in 3 years. I shouldn't have bought privately on this mileage. I should have gone main dealer for a proper warranty and haggled hard. That's the best advice I can give you, above average mileage drivers in complicated cars, get our money's worth out of AUC warranties! 
For doing that sort of mileage you could obviously make a sensible case for something like a 535d but if the M5 is your dream car and you can afford it then I'd say go for it! You're in a relatively fortunate position if you can ignore the cost of the fuel but one thing that might bug me slightly if I was doing a high mileage would be the range (or rather the lack of it!). I'm guessing that you wouldn't see more than 300 miles from a tank (probably less if you're using the performance!) and multiple visits to the petrol station each week would probably start to irritate me quite quickly; however, if that doesn't bother you and the M5 is something you really want then do it before good ones start to become more difficult to find!
thank you guys, some very insightful feedback thus far.
ecain's cost of breakdown is a little eye watering but, i expect to pay alot considering what type of car it is. a real shame to own one of these exceptional beasts and not be able to look after it properly.
no i dont work for shell lol.
i had considered a 535d (read the evo review on this, excellent really, 360bhp, 0-60 in 5.5 seconds, enough torque to rip your face off) or even 335d with a DMS remap but, you know,its just not a M5.
is it really worth getting a higher milage one? i am looking at spending about £22k. so a 2006 plate with sub 50k miles.
ecain's cost of breakdown is a little eye watering but, i expect to pay alot considering what type of car it is. a real shame to own one of these exceptional beasts and not be able to look after it properly.
no i dont work for shell lol.
i had considered a 535d (read the evo review on this, excellent really, 360bhp, 0-60 in 5.5 seconds, enough torque to rip your face off) or even 335d with a DMS remap but, you know,its just not a M5.
is it really worth getting a higher milage one? i am looking at spending about £22k. so a 2006 plate with sub 50k miles.
smokey145 said:
is it really worth getting a higher milage one? i am looking at spending about £22k. so a 2006 plate with sub 50k miles.
When you look at total running costs probably not! Just get the best one you can. Though you may want to make sure it has less than the mileage threshold required (60k miles IIRC) if you buy UAC and want to extend the warranty at the end of the first year.
If you have a company fuel card then this really is a no brainer. You have plenty of room for your children and one of the greatest engines ever built at your disposal, with only maintenance costs to worry about. Providing you can accept the depreciation, servicing and consumable costs then you should do it.
I guess it's not too big a change if you're coming from an M3 but there was a high mileage user on here recently getting rid of his M5 - I forget the exact description he used, but basically he was saying it was just too intense to do long distances every day.
Personally, I'd be worried about losing my licence!
Personally, I'd be worried about losing my licence!
Deva Link said:
I guess it's not too big a change if you're coming from an M3 but there was a high mileage user on here recently getting rid of his M5 - I forget the exact description he used, but basically he was saying it was just too intense to do long distances every day.
Personally, I'd be worried about losing my licence!
id be interested in hearing this guys story.Personally, I'd be worried about losing my licence!
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