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E39 M5 long term reliability?

SpatiallyAware

SpatiallyAware

Lifer
In my quest for a sub-30k sports car I've gone from G35 to 545i to previous gen 3 series.


.....and then I found an M5. 2003, 55k miles. They want 27k for it.


Thoughts? I don't mind tracing out electrical gremlins or scouring the internet for cheap parts. I can afford the car, and if need be I can afford the maintenance. Many on the M5 boards talk about aftermarket extended warranties (which are usually a scam IMO)
 
I owned one of those! I didn't have it for long before it was wrecked (S.O. was driving, wasn't her fault though), and it didn't give me any problems to speak of.

One thing I'll say : brakes and tires are $$$ on those, also sucks gas like mad (if you drive it even halfway like it should be, heh). Any motor/tranny work would likely be ridiculously pricey.

With that out of the way, if you have some $ put aside, and can afford the thing, why not? It's a fantastic car, that V8 is one of the best things BMW has ever done, it really does sound better than the current V10.
 
SpatiallyAware said:
In my quest for a sub-30k sports car I've gone from G35 to 545i to previous gen 3 series.


.....and then I found an M5. 2003, 55k miles. They want 27k for it.


Thoughts? I don't mind tracing out electrical gremlins or scouring the internet for cheap parts. I can afford the car, and if need be I can afford the maintenance. Many on the M5 boards talk about aftermarket extended warranties (which are usually a scam IMO)
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Have you considered a Corvette? They're faster, easier to work on, and cheaper. I have a sweet spot for the Bimmers too, but I can't justify it with other performance vehicles in that price range. As far as my research has gone, they seem to be pretty reliable but when something goes wrong, it's very pricey.


839whp Corvette for a similar price: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-...-fully-built-839rwhp-822rwtq-on-pump-gas.html

^btw, that car will kill you very quickly. If you haven't had something anywhere near that kind of power before, it's probably not the best idea. I've driven one that dyno'd at 913rwhp and anyone who hasn't at least ridden in it wouldn't even begin to understand.
 
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Sub $30k would indeed buy a whole lot of Vette! From his OP it sounds like he's looking for a sedan though.
 
Yeah I don't know if that's such a good idea... great car no doubt, but I think a G8 GXP would be as fun but a lot less headache/money when it goes wrong, I think they're around that price range used these days?
 
A good friend of mine swears by BMW M cars; he has two M3s. He often mentions how much more repairs/maintenance cost on them vs. regular Bimmers.
 
I would bet that it would be fine as long as you go into it knowing that it will be a lot more expensive to maintain than something like the G8 someone suggested. I read at one point that an M5 engine replacement is somewhere around $20k+, for example.

A friend of mine has an old '98 528 with around 135k on it. The thing looks and runs great. I'd look into a non-M version at least if you're set on a BMW. Maybe a 535. The twin-turbo I6 would be pretty sweet too.

Disclaimer: I took the easy way out. I looked at BMWs, Infiniti, etc. also last year, and ended up going with an Acura TL.
 
Someone else on here has an M5, but i'll chip in for now about my 540. I don't think the S62 engine is that much different than my M62. Some engine parts are ok, some are outrageous. The water cooled alternator comes to mind. Chassis parts if the are shared with the I6 counterparts are pretty cheap. I wouldn't own one if I couldn't do the repairs myself. That mileage car is getting into the timeframe of cooling and suspension overhaul. Mine has 115k mi on it. I think with proper care, it can get to 175-200.

The car is fun to drive for 4000lbs, i'm not sure i'd want another 100hp. Nice lazy V8, just stomp on it and go. No need to rev it to a million rpm.
 
My mate has one.

2001 or 2002 with 97k miles at purchase, he got it for £9.5k ~ $17k or so.

Pulls epicallyl and has so much over head it's insane, just keeps pulling.

It does feel heavy but when it's loaded up and it pulls on the motorway it's fun!

Brakes, tyres will cost you but you probably know that!

If you can afford it, do it! Why not an E46 M3? Thats my choice as I prefer more nimble cars.

Koing
 
Every one suggests G8, but they are pretty hard to find (in a sense), especially the G8 GXP
 
Quintox said:
Every one suggests G8, but they are pretty hard to find (in a sense), especially the G8 GXP
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The demand for the G8 has spiked since the end of Pontiac was announced, especially the GXP. And really the OP would probably want the GXP since it's the only one available with a manual transmission (he didn't say, but I'm assuming since he's looking at an M5). The regular GT is pretty common though.
 
GoatMonkey said:
The demand for the G8 has spiked since the end of Pontiac was announced, especially the GXP. And really the OP would probably want the GXP since it's the only one available with a manual transmission (he didn't say, but I'm assuming since he's looking at an M5). The regular GT is pretty common though.
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I won't buy a Pontiac.. G8 is out. I might consider a CTS-V
 
zmatt said:
Just a thought, you could grab any old e30 3 series and easily make it scream. I was looking into getting one as a project car not to long ago and I found many people who had done some rather interesting things to them.

http://www.e30tech.com/featured/
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The thing about the E39 5 series is that it's a classy larger sedan, the E30 could be fast, but it wouldn't have the same presence, at least outside of gearhead territory.
 
My dad had one 2000 m5. It was an amazing piece of machinery. I think he had stage 3 upgrades (dinan). Exhaust was definitely an upgrade, it said dinan on the tips. Had radar built into the instrument cluster (2 red lights). Once you pressed the sport button, im pretty sure the HP went up quite a bit. Anyways he kept it up till 42k, the original owner only put 25k on it. Although he sold it for 30,000 two years ago, everyone still misses it. He sold it because it needed engine work, like a rebuilt, being driven hard. He kept up with all the maintenance, but it was also very expensive for a weekend car.

Nice car though, I wouldn't say it was the most reliable though
 
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