Thinking about an M6

[Captainawesome]

I never did like the looks of the M6 but they have grown on me. I see a fair few below the sub 20k bracket these days.

Would these just be money pits????

I've got a 475bhp supercharged E46 M3 at the moment but it's going to be sold in the next couple of weeks and my main car is going to be a standard E46 M3. Amazing car but I have a feeling I'm gonna miss the big power.

I'm looking for owner experience on these cars, common problems and what to be looking for in a used example.

Any help would be much appreciated.

[MrC986]

To give you an idea of what you can get for slightly more £s....a friend recently bought an 06 M6 with 18k miles from a BMW dealer for mid £20s & the car was 'mint' as they say in the trade. l think if you are patient & negotiate well you might be surprised by what you can get for your £s. He went with a BMW dealer for peace of mind on the wty btw. Good luck

[Captainawesome]

MrC986 said:

To give you an idea of what you can get for slightly more £s....a friend recently bought an 06 M6 with 18k miles from a BMW dealer for mid £20s & the car was 'mint' as they say in the trade. l think if you are patient & negotiate well you might be surprised by what you can get for your £s. He went with a BMW dealer for peace of mind on the wty btw. Good luck

Wow!!!

That just seems like so much car for the money.

Now, just got to get the Mrs on board……..

[jcolley]

Worlds...and I mean worlds of information on m5board.com about these beasts. They are amazing machines but do have their pitfalls. Study before purchase, get a PPI done on the vehicle from someone other than the selling dealer, and then study some more.

I have always said in order to be truly satisfied owning an S85 car, you need one of these three things:
- a good exclusionary warranty to cover inevitable repairs
- enough cash set aside that you don't care what a repair cost
- a little mechanical know-how and great curiosity to learn how things work and just fix it yourself

If you have one of the three above, you will smile every time the tach passes 5k.

[Sadface]

Just do it , I did only with a m5 , the only advice as is always stated AUC warranty or it's extended version, I've just renewed my 2 yr auc at a rolling cost of £90 PCM with no excess , all mechanical all electrical it really is the only way anybody should even consider ownership

[Pistom]

Wow, are these cars so prone to throw up big bills that a £90/ month warranty is a must have.

I've run a Z4M and an M3 without a warranty and never had any issues. I don't mind the odd repair for several hundred pound or even more but the thought of paying out that much on a warranty wouldn't allow me to sleep at night.

Oh st, what time is it?

[c7xlg]

i think if £90 a month would keep you awake at night an M6 is not for you! I'm thinking of acquiring one and the warranty at £90 a month seems an absolute bargain once you've done the research into big-end bearings, high pressure vanos pumps, gearbox failure etc etc etc.

[Pistom]

c7xlg said:

i think if £90 a month would keep you awake at night an M6 is not for you! I'm thinking of acquiring one and the warranty at £90 a month seems an absolute bargain once you've done the research into big-end bearings, high pressure vanos pumps, gearbox failure etc etc etc.

Agreed, my logic makes no sense. I can live with a 4 figure bill whereas most couldn't sleep without the warranty.

The M6 is for people with more disposable income than me. The low asking prices do make them tempting though.

[Shaoxter]

Pistom said:

Wow, are these cars so prone to throw up big bills that a £90/ month warranty is a must have.

Well to give you an idea, the previous owner of my M5 had a £6k bill for clutch/flywheel/SMG pump change and several over £1k. All under warranty thankfully.

[ChrisMCoupe]

I would say i've had somewhere in the region of 12-15k worth of warranty work in the 4 years of ownership.

Just last week my car was in for over £3k's worth of high pressure oil pump and related work.

As stated, if the thought of £90 a month on warranty keeps you awake at night, then buy a different car. That's about 150 miles to put it in perspective

It's the warranty that helps me sleep at night

[Schermerhorn]

I wouldn't buy one without a warranty. Never ever.

A single bill could end up being the family holiday fund for the year disappearing.

Then I'd end up on the streets or having to sleep in the car because the Mrs has chucked me out.

[jcolley]

I fall into the last category. No warranty and no faith or trust in dealerships and their technical ability. I am perfectly capable of randomly replacing things myself until it works. Apparently, I have better luck than they do as well.

The value of these cars has plummeted primarily due to the growing reputation of unreliability. However, IMO, the unreliability is in dealership's ability to repair a problem correctly the first time.

In the states, we routinely see guys reporting quotes for repairs north of $5k for completely nonsensical problems. Example, this week an M5 owner was told he needed a new SMG hydraulic block when in fact the problem is proving to be either the battery or alternator's voltage regulator. When scanned, the car presents about 12 error codes and ony 4 of them have anything to do with the SMG. The others are all caused by voltage fluctuations, very high likelihood the SMG errors are as well.

The problem is, BMW created a truly unique and remarkable *system* in the E60/E63 M cars. A system which is more integrated than anything they've ever done before. However, the engineering background necessary to repair this *system* when one piece of it stops working properly doesn't exist with the vast majority of techs at a dealership. BMW AG provided a lot of good training material on the car, but mechanical forensics and fault-chain analysis weren't in the curriculum. Most people with this kind of experience aren't likely to be working at a dealership, so when a car this complex comes in (rare), they have no choice but to rely on ISTA's guidance to get the answer.

They truly are an incredible machine when everything is smooth and an utter nightmare when it they aren't.

The exhorbitant warranty claims of the past are the reason most US warranty companies won't touch the car and those who will know what they are getting in to and price the warranty accordingly. I haven't seen any here that will price monthly, but only a single purchase for x number of months. It's not unusual to see warranty quites north of $7.5k for 2 or 3 years.

Murphy is a bd and he knows whether you got a warranty or not.

[bmwm6bruce]

I bought a M6 not 2 months ago , and had a gearbox go within a week . Now I did my homework and bought one with a Full BMW Warranty , What a result as the bill would of been £9000 Plus . Now when I got it back it was and is still a amazing Car . You can drive it like Miss Daisey and get 20miles plus to the Gallon ,or Drive it in M mode and get 9 to 12 to the gallon the choice is yours . They are like Marmite you either hate it or love it . I love mine and will extend the warranty for another year at £90 a month . Drive one and you will be hooked !!!!! I Did and am Well hooked . If only they Did a Manual Gearbox and these would be bombproof . When you Test drive One get it warm and then take it up the gears quickly and back down quickly this will in M Mode see if the Gearbox is Worn . If it is the red cog of death will appear if so a £9000 bill is looming trust me so buyer beware . This will show up on the BMW scan when they plug it in . When spending your hard earned cash ask the seller to meet you at a local BMW dealership and have it plugged on . If he is Genuine he wont mind you doing this if he has something to hide he wont . It may cost you £120 for the test but believe me its worth every penny as it highlights every thing ,including if mileage as been altered . As this is becoming a trend now with high performance cars . I was lucky with a warranty and a very good BMW Main agent nearby. So do your homework and remember that if it sounds to good to be true it normally is. sorry to be such a pessimist put its a minefield and your hunger to own one will allow you to over look things that may bite you in the #rse later on . Good luck and let us know what one you get .

[gazchap]

I had an AUC 2005 E60 M5 that I bought at 81K miles and part-exed about 7-8 months later at 86K because it spent most of it's time at the garage rather than on the road. I spent £2.2K getting the clutch and flywheel replaced.

Oddly enough, the place I part-ex'd it to has just got it back in stock, now on 99K miles and without the benefit of the warranty, yet are selling it for the same price they sold it at before.

When they sold it the first time, apparently three weeks after the new owner drove it away, it needed a complete engine rebuild at £7K, all done under warranty apparently.

So yeah, they can be eye watering.

Having said that, have a 2007 E61 M5 at the moment that I've been running with no warranty since I bought it in June (other than the 12 month "5-Star" warranty supplied by the dealer) and absolutely nothing has gone wrong with it.

[Schermerhorn]

If anyone has the GAP insurance and the bills get too much...use it! Just sayin'