Selling/Sold my F10 M5 for a 340i touring F31

[shadowedition]

Sooo call me mad but a bit of man maths justified it for me.

I love my 2015 M5. Its reliable, has BMW warranty and I look after it better than I do myself. It was my first M car 2 years ago and it will probably be my favourite car for a long time. I said to myself I needed a cheaper car for running costs so I can save a bit more money but the truth is I'm a bit bored and want something different. I've been in this state for maybe the past 5 months but randomly while browsing BMW AUC a 340i touring 2017 with 35k miles popped up and that car was SPECCED. The price was only £25k which Is way cheaper than other tourings on the market. I called up and put a deposit that day and agreed a price for my M5. Basically I'm paying £5k in order to swap from my M5 to the 340i (great money saving).

The M5 is great. I've said it many times now in this post. But I'm gonna talk about the negatives here.

Firstly, the engines simply too powerful. Its brilliant dont get me wrong, but there's only so much you can do in a car as big as the F10 5 series, packed with almost 600BHP pushing the car with the rear wheels only. I don't feel like I'm driving a ridiculously fast car most of the time and that's just because 0-40mph it isn't drastically faster than some of the cars on the road with 1/3 of its horsepower. It's only when i'm accelerating at 80mph do you realise this thing isn't slowing down and you really feel how powerful the car is. Given that I drive 'sensibly' about 90% of the time I feel a car like that is a bit wasted on me.

The sheer size of the thing is also driving me away. I live down South around many country roads and the M5 is just too big to really enjoy and throw around corners. Also, despite me saying the car is reliable, it's only because it hasn't broken down on me yet and I'm forking £92/mo for BMW warranty. Add to that the fact I'm getting oil changes done every 5k miles (£160) + the yearly road tax of £585 and its just becoming a bit of a money pit. I haven't even mentioned the cost of brakes (£2k).

The 340i from reading around is a reliable engine and the chassis of the 3 series will be more fun around tighter roads. I haven't mentioned the fuel costs because my long term average on the M5 is 24.9mpg which is fantastic for a car with a V8 engine. This probably tells you how 'sensible' i am with my right foot.

This isn't really a post talking crap on the M5 because its a great car and I was fully aware of the running costs when I bought it. I just think it would have been a better car for daily purposes if it had 4wd with that much power. I was aware of the running costs going on so these aren't negatives as such, I've just decided I'd rather pay less on the running costs and saving £2k/year only on insurance, road tax and warranty is what has made me do this.

My biggest regret is that I ended up in Germany last summer driving my 'runaround' and never got to take my M5 on the autobahn

Oh well, maybe they'll make an F90 touring one day.

I'll post pics of the M5/340i when I finally make the official swap.

[TheAngryDog]

Did your m5 have moon miles on it? £20k is too cheap.

[shadowedition]

57k miles. I agree its quite cheap but prices have tanked a bit with AUC ones being sold for about £26k with same mileage/spec.

[bmwmike]

Thanks for posting this. I'm currently between cars and have been thinking about an f10 m5 for a long time but your points echo my concerns. After the novelty wears off its basically an expensive to run overly powerful 5 series.

Be interested to hear how you get on with the 340i.

[Harry Rule]

I've had my F10 M5 for about a year now and I love it, I think it looks fantastic and when you get the opportunity to unleash it it's phenomenal. But I also get where you're coming from with the car.

It's so powerful and so fast that the opportunities to use the full performance are few and far between, other traffic usually puts a stop to it before it gets started and the fact it's rear drive means anything other than a completely dry road causes traction issues and limits what you can do (In fairness mine has Pirelli tyres, I'm told Michelins vastly improve this issue).

So yes, I've had the same thoughts as you from time to time, is it worth paying the fuel, road tax, insurance and extended warranty costs for a car that spends 95% of it's time pottering along in traffic doling nothing over and above what a 520d would do.

in spite of that I'm hanging onto mine for the moment.

[Harry Rule]

bmwmike said:

Thanks for posting this. I'm currently between cars and have been thinking about an f10 m5 for a long time but your points echo my concerns. After the novelty wears off its basically an expensive to run overly powerful 5 series.

Be interested to hear how you get on with the 340i.

As i said above, I've had mine for a year and although I do think about the running costs from time to time, overall it's a fantastic car and if you're thinking of getting one, I'd say go for it.

I can assure you the novelty doesn't wear off that quickly, after a year dialing all the settings up to the max and unleashing it is still an event, it's laugh out loud fast

[pjv997]

shadowedition said:

Sooo call me mad but a bit of man maths justified it for me.

I love my 2015 M5.

The price was only £25k which Is way cheaper than other tourings on the market. I called up and put a deposit that day and agreed a price for my M5.

Basically I'm paying £5k in order to swap from my M5 to the 340i (great money saving).

OK - so you’re mad - and you also can’t do proper man maths if you’re paying £5K for a lesser albeit slightly younger car. I’d wager the M5 will depreciate less over the next few years or however long you keep the 340i, so I suspect your running cost savings will be offset to some extent by more depreciation.

Why is this particular Touring “way cheaper” - there is always a reason, sometimes an acceptable reason that won’t ring alarm bells, sometimes not.

I agree with some of your comments on the M5 as I had one for 6 years. I now have an M6GC and a Mini Clubman that I have considered changing for an M340i Touring or maybe M3T. Man maths is easier as swapping running costs of two cars for one, but I just can’t bring myself to do it and give up 600bhp of V8.

Hope you don’t regret the decision and the 340i is all you want.

[shadowedition]

pjv997 said:

OK - so you’re mad - and you also can’t do proper man maths if you’re paying £5K for a lesser albeit slightly younger car. I’d wager the M5 will depreciate less over the next few years or however long you keep the 340i, so I suspect your running cost savings will be offset to some extent by more depreciation.

Why is this particular Touring “way cheaper” - there is always a reason, sometimes an acceptable reason that won’t ring alarm bells, sometimes not.

I agree with some of your comments on the M5 as I had one for 6 years. I now have an M6GC and a Mini Clubman that I have considered changing for an M340i Touring or maybe M3T. Man maths is easier as swapping running costs of two cars for one, but I just can’t bring myself to do it and give up 600bhp of V8.

Hope you don’t regret the decision and the 340i is all you want.

I accept the car is more expensive than what I'm selling my M5 for.

However, I'm currently paying £92/month, £585 road tax a year and about £1k in insurance just to have my M5 on the driveway. The 340i warranty is about half that, road tax 1/3 and insurance is 2/3 the cost of the M5. All in all it saves me about £2k a year without factoring in servicing, brakes etc.

Sure it'll probably depreciate more than the M5 but in 3 years I'll have saved £6k on the running costs that I could use towards other things.

As i said though my main motive for swapping is that I want an estate and I just don't use the power the M5 has. It's a fantastic car and I'm glad Ive owned one but its time to change to something a little different. The finances was just an excuse I give myself to pull the trigger.

Still not 100% on this swap and I will go to BMW this weekend and see what I make of it. I might come back to this post and all I've said is rendered mute. It's AUC so I'm hoping it will be a good 'un.

[shadowedition]

bmwmike said:

Thanks for posting this. I'm currently between cars and have been thinking about an f10 m5 for a long time but your points echo my concerns. After the novelty wears off its basically an expensive to run overly powerful 5 series.

Be interested to hear how you get on with the 340i.

Honestly mate it depends what you're after. The M5 is a great bang-for-buck car. Its supremely comfortable and it is rapid. I must say the novelty hasn't worn off because the V8 is so satisfying every time. The boots huge, interior space is great, the cabin is really nice quality etc.

I just don't think it feels that fast at lower speeds due to its size and RWD.

If I hadn't bought this car 2 years ago and I was in the market today looking for a performance car the M5 would be top of my list again. For £25k you won't find another car packing >500bhp for that price. Running costs are steep (but IMO reasonable) if you're not prepared (£160 oil changes every 5k miles, £585 road tax a year, warranty >£1000/ year, major service at BMW £1000, brake discs and pads £2k). These running costs are fine if you're coming from a range rover for example but not if you're currently driving a golf TDI. Fuel is fine too - i easily get 29-31mpg on the motorway and about 21mpg around town.

If you do it with your eyes wide open, they're a great car and you won't regret it. I've had it for 2 years and I just want something different, more practical and a little lighter on the wallet with (hopefully) a comparable thrill behind the wheel.

[Smuler]

SPECCED is key on these.
I ran one for 13k miles and while no M car it is a solid alternative if you need a touring
Pano roof and adaptive suspension were key.

I paid s little more than you paid , but 3 years ago for my 2017 with 19k miles

Prices are crazy , but £25k is cheap in todays AUC market

[shadowedition]

Smuler said:

SPECCED is key on these.
I ran one for 13k miles and while no M car it is a solid alternative if you need a touring
Pano roof and adaptive suspension were key.

I paid s little more than you paid , but 3 years ago for my 2017 with 19k miles

Prices are crazy , but £25k is cheap in todays AUC market

Yeh it has those. Only thing missing that I would have liked is electric seats and head up display but it’s decked out with everything else.

Excited to go see it this weekend

[Caddyshack]

shadowedition said:

57k miles. I agree its quite cheap but prices have tanked a bit with AUC ones being sold for about £26k with same mileage/spec.

You will always get spanked on the trade in with a BMW dealer

[survivalist]

Smuler said:

SPECCED is key on these.
I ran one for 13k miles and while no M car it is a solid alternative if you need a touring
Pano roof and adaptive suspension were key.

I paid s little more than you paid , but 3 years ago for my 2017 with 19k miles

Prices are crazy , but £25k is cheap in todays AUC market

Everyone's different. I've had 2 tourings with Pano roof and hated them. Never used them and they always caused issues. Given that it's the family hack, memory seats, audio upgrades and no pano roof were my main requirements when choosing our current F31. The bigger brakes and HUD were a bonus.

[Smuler]

The upgraded brakes are good.
Car feels heavy and they give assurance in spirited driving.
Not a bad package with Harmon Kardon and the privacy glass.

I had lumbar support with mine E/seats. Added some supportiveness to seats that are good but fall way below M standard.

Enjoy your new ride.

[bmwmike]

shadowedition said:

bmwmike said:

Thanks for posting this. I'm currently between cars and have been thinking about an f10 m5 for a long time but your points echo my concerns. After the novelty wears off its basically an expensive to run overly powerful 5 series.

Be interested to hear how you get on with the 340i.

Honestly mate it depends what you're after. The M5 is a great bang-for-buck car. Its supremely comfortable and it is rapid. I must say the novelty hasn't worn off because the V8 is so satisfying every time. The boots huge, interior space is great, the cabin is really nice quality etc.

I just don't think it feels that fast at lower speeds due to its size and RWD.

If I hadn't bought this car 2 years ago and I was in the market today looking for a performance car the M5 would be top of my list again. For £25k you won't find another car packing >500bhp for that price. Running costs are steep (but IMO reasonable) if you're not prepared (£160 oil changes every 5k miles, £585 road tax a year, warranty >£1000/ year, major service at BMW £1000, brake discs and pads £2k). These running costs are fine if you're coming from a range rover for example but not if you're currently driving a golf TDI. Fuel is fine too - i easily get 29-31mpg on the motorway and about 21mpg around town.

If you do it with your eyes wide open, they're a great car and you won't regret it. I've had it for 2 years and I just want something different, more practical and a little lighter on the wallet with (hopefully) a comparable thrill behind the wheel.

Thanks. I've had a f10 for a number of years (>5) so i'm familiar with the f10 and how comfy etc it is, only sold it recently, intending to upgrade to a m5. I do very little mileage and don't drive fast, so have also been looking at f31 B58 340i's and g30 540i x-drive. I am leaning toward staying with a 5, but i've noticed that early f90's are now dropping to low 40k which is drifting into budget for me. From what i've read the f90 is leaps ahead of the f10 m5. Yes, i procrastinate a lot

[Harry Rule]

bmwmike said:

I am leaning toward staying with a 5, but i've noticed that early f90's are now dropping to low 40k which is drifting into budget for me. From what i've read the f90 is leaps ahead of the f10 m5. Yes, i procrastinate a lot

The biggest problem I find with the F10 if you're pushing it on is trying to get the power down, it can become quite frustrating if the road's damp and the traction control constantly intervening also destroys the rear brake pads.

Another lesser issue is the DCT gearbox, it's great on the open road but I find it can be a bit of a clunker at low speed around town, especially when it's cold.

The F90 with it's four wheel drive and ZF auto will definitely solve both those issues.

[shadowedition]

Update.

I made the switch. Here's my thoughts.

The 340i is no comparison to the M5 in terms of the engine. It sounds nice and its very capable, it's just not a 550hp V8.

The 340i I find way more fun though. It's about 300kg lighter and the ZF auto is way way more practical for use as a daily. The 340i feels faster and it can get into legal speeds as quickly as the M5. When you do a quick pull at 70mph you can tell the vast difference in power. The M5 still feels effortless while the 340i is starting to work.

The M5 is way more comfortable as the driver and its way more spacious. My F10 wasn't very well specced but it felt luxurious nonetheless. This 340i has pretty solid spec but feels cheaper inside the car (as you'd expect in a £45k OTR car vs £80k).

The touring is more practical for my needs and navigating UK roads in a rapid, smaller car feels better and that's what matters most to me. Getting a £600 refund from the DVLA and my insurance was another positive.

Have a good day.

[jm doc]

shadowedition said:

Update.

I made the switch. Here's my thoughts.

The 340i is no comparison to the M5 in terms of the engine. It sounds nice and its very capable, it's just not a 550hp V8.

The 340i I find way more fun though. It's about 300kg lighter and the ZF auto is way way more practical for use as a daily. The 340i feels faster and it can get into legal speeds as quickly as the M5. When you do a quick pull at 70mph you can tell the vast difference in power. The M5 still feels effortless while the 340i is starting to work.

The M5 is way more comfortable as the driver and its way more spacious. My F10 wasn't very well specced but it felt luxurious nonetheless. This 340i has pretty solid spec but feels cheaper inside the car (as you'd expect in a £45k OTR car vs £80k).

The touring is more practical for my needs and navigating UK roads in a rapid, smaller car feels better and that's what matters most to me. Getting a £600 refund from the DVLA and my insurance was another positive.

Have a good day.

Hi, I have an F90 M5comp, and an M340i Touring which tends to be used/shared as a daily drive and/or family car. I would agree completely with your sentiments, it's a cracking drive, a superb engine with an amazing engine note and super smooth sound, and can be hustled around local roads really well being so much lighter and nimbler. I do quite a lot of long distance trips, especially in Europe and that's when the M5 really comes into it's own. Super comfortable, massive spec, epically fast and a monster mile muncher. Stepping down from an M5 is always going to be a difficult decision in deciding what next but I would agree that the 340i Touring goes a long way in offsetting that step down. An excellent choice, hope you continue to enjoy it.