Anyone owned a E60 M5 (05-10)? What are they really like to own?

[rommelrommel]

I'm looking for a summer car (for next year obviously) and I have a thing for fast sedans or bigger coupes. The fanboi forums try to say they never break and such... Looking for some objective opinionated ions. Other stuff on the list is a second gen CTS-V, C63, E63, maybe a CL65... But I know those eat coil packs and air suspensions. Basically I'm bored of the crappy weather and would like to pick up something that I could freshen up over the winter and then drive in the good weather.

 

[Pantoot]

I had an 08. I really miss it, but at the same time I am happy to be rid of it.
It was a blast to drive, if not maddening at slow speeds. Don't get an 05 or early 06. I think anything after the LCI should be pretty good.

I did have a few things go wrong with it, all under warranty, I am struggling to remember the major one...It was all under warranty at the time. If I can remember I will come back and update.

I guess just the usual cautions, I went through (pretty expensive) tires every 3 months in the rear, oil changes are 10 quarts of $12 oil, etc.

 

[tfinch2]

I went through (pretty expensive) tires every 3 months in the rear

Needs more explanation.

 

[SSSnail]

Needs more explanation.

I think he has the heavy right foot syndrome.

 

[Pantoot]

I think he has the heavy right foot syndrome.

Heavy car, soft tires and hp = bald tires.

 

[Wuzup101]

Heavy car, soft tires and hp = bald tires.

You would have to be royally beating on even the stickiest high performance summer tires to wear them out in 3 months (or putting a ton of miles on them). The only way I can see that happening is taking it to the track frequently, or putting 3k+ miles a month on them. 3 months is absurd for most use cases lol. I bet you had a ton of fun though!

The above being said, it's reasonable to assume that a good set of high performance tires should give you 20k of useable life on an M5 (I'm talking more about something like a pilot super sport or conti DW... not an AD08 or RS-3). I would NEVER expect to replace rears in 3 months unless I was hooning for a living!

 

[Pantoot]

I would NEVER expect to replace rears in 3 months unless I was hooning for a living!

To be fair, I sold the car almost 3 years ago, and you know how memory works. It could have been 4 months...or 5 months...it just seemed like I was always at discount tire.

Every other time there it was for all four, only the rears in between.

 

[KentState]

Even on my 600 rwhp CTS-V, I got 15k out of Michelin Pilots. Conti DW's lasted at least 25k.

 

[iamwiz82]

Even on my 600 rwhp CTS-V, I got 15k out of Michelin Pilots. Conti DW's lasted at least 25k.

Pilot Super Sports had excellent life in my case. F1 Supercars are not nearly as good.

 

[Wuzup101]

To be fair, I sold the car almost 3 years ago, and you know how memory works. It could have been 4 months...or 5 months...it just seemed like I was always at discount tire.

Every other time there it was for all four, only the rears in between.

Yeah I know how it goes. I just didn't want you to scare him off with tires every 3 months. Outside of hard core weekend warrior racers, no one replaces tires that often on any normal street car lol. Performance tires exist that should give him 15-20k easily even on the rear.

How many miles were you driving a month? Obviously time isn't the best measure of tire wear. I'm curious as to how many miles you were getting out of them.

 

[rommelrommel]

Pilot Super Sports had excellent life in my case. F1 Supercars are not nearly as good.

F1 supercars are ridiculously soft so that's not surprising.

 

[halik]

Apparently rod bearing wear is pretty common and expensive issue.

 

[Jimzz]

Many european cars are nice to look at and drive but if its out of warranty then have a backup fund to buy the parts and pay someone to replace if you can't.

I would rather have a 2nd gen CTS-V, V8 Lexus, etc... over a used European car and I am a tech so I can work on them myself. My wife got rid of her Mercedes after just 1 year as I was always working on it.

 

[halik]

Many european cars are nice to look at and drive but if its out of warranty then have a backup fund to buy the parts and pay someone to replace if you can't.

I would rather have a 2nd gen CTS-V, V8 Lexus, etc... over a used European car and I am a tech so I can work on them myself. My wife got rid of her Mercedes after just 1 year as I was always working on it.

Cadillac labor rate is the same as european cars; what you said applies to all used luxury cars.

 

[Jimzz]

Cadillac labor rate is the same as european cars; what you said applies to all used luxury cars.

Its not the rate, its the number of hours needed.
Let alone the cost of the parts.

 

[jlee]

Its not the rate, its the number of hours needed.
Let alone the cost of the parts.

I replaced the water pump on my CTS-V in my driveway. It's an LS motor..no big deal. The water pump was ~$200 instead of ~$100 for the Corvette version, though (different pulley depth). Brakes weren't bad either, ~$90 rotors and ~$60 pads, IIRC.

 

[Jimzz]

I replaced the water pump on my CTS-V in my driveway. It's an LS motor..no big deal. The water pump was ~$200 instead of ~$100 for the Corvette version, though (different pulley depth). Brakes weren't bad either, ~$90 rotors and ~$60 pads, IIRC.

Yep everything on my CTS is cheaper than my Mercedes, and I work on my CTS a lot less.

Just got to the 1 year mark on the CTS and only thing I have done so far is tires (hated the Michelins on it), oil changes, and added a rear view camera.
My Mercedes after 1 year was cam seals (known issue and Mercedes updated them but you still pay), many transmission problem, oil leaks, fake leather seats coming apart (60k car and no leather), sun roof cover failing, oil changes (filters are not cheap), tires, etc... It why after just 1 year my wife was done.
My SiL had even more issues with her Audi. Not so much now since she switched to Lexus.

Have some customers now with a Saab and VW, they see me more than any other customer has so far and I only do this as side work now. The VW was towed here last week for its 3rd coolant leak this year.


Yea the Corvettes always get different pumps for some reason. My 73 has a regular small block so most think its either the short or long nose water pump... nope. Its a special Corvette length water pump. But I am going to convert to electric fan and a Serp belt system and use a regular Camaro reverse water pump.

 

[rommelrommel]

Many european cars are nice to look at and drive but if its out of warranty then have a backup fund to buy the parts and pay someone to replace if you can't.

I would rather have a 2nd gen CTS-V, V8 Lexus, etc... over a used European car and I am a tech so I can work on them myself. My wife got rid of her Mercedes after just 1 year as I was always working on it.

If there was a not 15-20k way to go forced induction on a LS460 I'd be considering one. HP is too pricey on a Lexus. CTS-V may be the more livable choice.