Talk me out of buying a f10 M5
Discussion
It’s car change time and I really have a hankering for a f10 M5….already have a couple of classics but it would be great to have a 4/5 door special car for the odd family trip and commute…c8k a year
I’m aware of the rod bearings issue….many I’ve looked at had this done already it seems..
Against the grain I quite like the pre face lift wheel, odds on it will be a 2012 varian or thereabouts.
I need it both barrels, please….whats good and bad?!
I’m aware of the rod bearings issue….many I’ve looked at had this done already it seems..
Against the grain I quite like the pre face lift wheel, odds on it will be a 2012 varian or thereabouts.
I need it both barrels, please….whats good and bad?!
They are great until you have engine trouble, and there is a lot to go wrong: coolant leaks, stuck injectors leading to bore washing, turbos, rod bearings, etc.
I really enjoyed ours for the two years we had it, then it just threw up an enormous bill that meant we had to get rid. I know a guy who runs a small BMW indie shop, and he says he generally refuses to work on S63s unless it's a customer he knows well, because they just generate massive bills that people then don't want to pay.
I have had one for about 8/9 years - a LCI and I have enjoyed it tremendously. I have always interim serviced it in between the BMW recommended intervals and have had the DCT box/diff serviced twice in that time too. The engine/turbos/gearbox have generally been rock solid but I have had a couple of coolant leaks which weren't too expensive to fix.
Comfort access handles are prone to failure, well on mine anyway and I have had a couple of broken front springs, a failed AC compressor and condenser all of which was covered under warranty (I still have the BMW warranty that I pay circa £130 per month for peace of mind but rather annoyingly it doesn't cover pipes/hoses so the coolant pipe repairs were out of my own pocket!).
Both my brothers in law have a F90 M5 and while it's more polished I don't believe its worth the jump in price (for me anyway - others may beg to differ) and the F10 has more power than you will ever need on our roads.
Comfort access handles are prone to failure, well on mine anyway and I have had a couple of broken front springs, a failed AC compressor and condenser all of which was covered under warranty (I still have the BMW warranty that I pay circa £130 per month for peace of mind but rather annoyingly it doesn't cover pipes/hoses so the coolant pipe repairs were out of my own pocket!).
Both my brothers in law have a F90 M5 and while it's more polished I don't believe its worth the jump in price (for me anyway - others may beg to differ) and the F10 has more power than you will ever need on our roads.
My brother just got rid of one. Incredible car and I'd agree with the previous post that it's quicker than you'd ever need as standard, it's just the deep pockets required to run them. On the whole they don't seem to be awful for reliability but when they do need work it's always a big bill. My brothers needed valve stem seals I think it might have been, luckily covered by the supplying dealer but that twinned with the diff giving up and the fuel costs meant he moved it on after a short while.
I also felt when I drove it, while it was very quick, it didn't feel it. So you'd end up going very fast very easily with out much feel. It's a big old unit too, super for continental cruising but felt a bit big on a UK back road.
I also felt when I drove it, while it was very quick, it didn't feel it. So you'd end up going very fast very easily with out much feel. It's a big old unit too, super for continental cruising but felt a bit big on a UK back road.
2015 M6 owner here with the same S63TU engine 
have a read of these threads which cover your questions in more detail:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
According to my ///M car Specialist who looks after my car, the Rod Bearings on these cars aren’t an issue in isolation – they're improved from the E60 M5 and E9* M3. The issues arise from Injector Failure and/or BMW’s hideously long manufacturer service intervals. These cars need oil changes every 5,000 miles at the latest (the oil filters are a mess by then too).
As purely preventative maintenance on my 37,000-mile car when I took delivery, I got fitted: 8x new EU5 Fuel Injectors, 8x new OEM spark plugs, 8x new OEM coil packs, fresh new Liqui Moly 5W-40 oil & filter. I will get 2x new High-Pressure-Fuel-Pumps at its next service in December. I also run a Liqui Moly Mos2 additive just after every oil change/service every 5,000 miles, and I run a high-quality PEA-based Fuel Injector Cleaner like the Liqui Moly DI Jectron every 2,000-3,000 miles to keep the fuel system in good condition and keep the carbon deposits at bay (which can set off an LSPI super-knock event and detonate the engine). Run minimum 98 RON Octane fuel only too; they need high quality fuel at all times.
Some people scoff at using Fuel Injector cleaners, but these Direct Injection engines do need them. It’s not just marketing guff. They are highly-strung proper ///M car engines after all and when well-looked after they can do big miles. They’re just Naomi Campbell cars at the end of the day; you take them out to dinner at Frankie & Benny's and they will throw a tantrum, but wine & dine them at The Ivy and all is well…
Oh, and go for the newest car you can in the best possible condition/best history; the pre-LCI cars are now 12-14 years old now, are more prone to issues and have the older iDrive system.
These are VERY fast cars in standard form and BMW under-quote their power figures; see my Readers Cars thread where I got my completely stock-standard car dyno’d and it was 532bhp at the wheels and 620bhp at the engine… hope this helps and best of luck with your search, they are indeed epic ///M cars and sometimes misunderstood. One of the last truly great M5s.
have a read of these threads which cover your questions in more detail:https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
According to my ///M car Specialist who looks after my car, the Rod Bearings on these cars aren’t an issue in isolation – they're improved from the E60 M5 and E9* M3. The issues arise from Injector Failure and/or BMW’s hideously long manufacturer service intervals. These cars need oil changes every 5,000 miles at the latest (the oil filters are a mess by then too).
As purely preventative maintenance on my 37,000-mile car when I took delivery, I got fitted: 8x new EU5 Fuel Injectors, 8x new OEM spark plugs, 8x new OEM coil packs, fresh new Liqui Moly 5W-40 oil & filter. I will get 2x new High-Pressure-Fuel-Pumps at its next service in December. I also run a Liqui Moly Mos2 additive just after every oil change/service every 5,000 miles, and I run a high-quality PEA-based Fuel Injector Cleaner like the Liqui Moly DI Jectron every 2,000-3,000 miles to keep the fuel system in good condition and keep the carbon deposits at bay (which can set off an LSPI super-knock event and detonate the engine). Run minimum 98 RON Octane fuel only too; they need high quality fuel at all times.
Some people scoff at using Fuel Injector cleaners, but these Direct Injection engines do need them. It’s not just marketing guff. They are highly-strung proper ///M car engines after all and when well-looked after they can do big miles. They’re just Naomi Campbell cars at the end of the day; you take them out to dinner at Frankie & Benny's and they will throw a tantrum, but wine & dine them at The Ivy and all is well…
Oh, and go for the newest car you can in the best possible condition/best history; the pre-LCI cars are now 12-14 years old now, are more prone to issues and have the older iDrive system.
These are VERY fast cars in standard form and BMW under-quote their power figures; see my Readers Cars thread where I got my completely stock-standard car dyno’d and it was 532bhp at the wheels and 620bhp at the engine… hope this helps and best of luck with your search, they are indeed epic ///M cars and sometimes misunderstood. One of the last truly great M5s.
Gassing Station | M Power | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff