stewvy

hello people ive had a year away from owning a bmw ive had a few cars in that year and wasnt happy with any of them

1. mr2 turbo 255 bhp (crap)
2. mitzibushi FTO (worse)
3. V6 VW golf (great but no 5series)

ive owned a e36 320
e39 525 (lowest MPG i saw was 12)

i loved them both to bits ive looked at m5's i NEED 1 asfar as i can tell there is not much difference between a 10k car and a 7k car(am i wrong?).
just need to know some accurate and truthfull figures please
what MPG are you people getting?
i'd like figures for a car thats driven hard (poss, track time?)
and
a car that is used sensibly

were u running unleaded 95ron or super unleaded 99ron (uk)

also read that the brakes could be better?

maxm5

Stewvy

I do alot of miles - circa 20k per year. My average UK MPG is 20.1. This doesn't really change whether I drive it hard or not. Saying that, I do drive mine pretty hard most of the time. Super unleaded all the way.

Never really had an issue with the brakes.

A full documented history is a must.

__________________
Max
____________________________
Drive it like you stole it.
2005 Silvestone II e60 M5
2009 Subaru Impreza 330s. GONE
2001 Carbon Black e39 M5 - Most options fitted.
1995 Calibra 4x4 Turbo-Don't laugh 'til you drive one. GONE
1985 RE1900 VW Scirocco - Very special, every mod possible. GONE
1981 MK3 Ford Escort - Tried to make it look like an XR3i with five doors! GONE

humphuk

same...

I get about 20 mpg for short runs - gets a little better for longer distances

This dips to 17-18 mpg for "spirited" driving. Which works out pretty cheap for the extra fun!!

I am now on super unleaded - I see slightly better mileage - so I dont think it works out much more expensive than unleaded

I am sure you can get a lost less if you drive like a lune - but an M5 is fast enough to get you into trouble if you dont have the right roads - or a track.

Keith

Kam

I get an average of 19-20mpg with a mixture of 60% city and 40% motorway driving.

I've seen 12mpg around the city when crawling in traffic and regularly get 25mpg on motorway runs.

Track wise I normally get anywhere from 7 - 10mpg. My last session at Bedford got 9mpg.

I only use V-Power but have used other supers in the past. The car actually ran best on Tesco 99 but my local tesco only does 97.

Brakes wise, I never suffered any fade on standard road driving but didn't want to risk it on track. I invested in a set of Pagid RS29 pads front and rear and suffered no fade at all. Even at Bedford on the full GT circuit the car will easily reach 140+ on the back straight with is followed by a 2nd gear chicane. I was doing roughly 9 - 10 laps per session without any fade. Pads aren't cheap and extremely noisy on the road but my cars a weekend toy so I'd rather know it's gonna stop than hope.

Buying wise, loads of info on here. Personally I was adamant I wanted a facelift model 2001 onwards. I also had my car inspected prior to purchase.

They are not cheap to run as I've had a couple of bills on mine mainly due to me using the performance on track. Nothing silly but the harder you use it they do cost.

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2001 M5, Silverstone Blue with Black Lthr, Pro Sat Nav, Comms Pack, Kellener Re-Map, Kellener Exhaust, Kellener Handling Pack

gavinp

Test drive some of the 7k "bargains" have a goodlook through the paperwork and inspect the car properly and then decide if cheap is still a bargain

These are still 60 grand plus cars when it comes to some areas of maintenance so be careful !

Mine is averaging 21.4mpg normal driving, but can see 16-17mpg hard driving and upto 26mpg motorway cruising. (I do not use mine on a track)

Ian_01M5

The 7k one will be fine as long as you have another 7k aside to run it!

Super-saloon

Welcome!

Brakes are CRAP - this was my first job - AP Racing are 100 times better.

My MPG is always around 21-22 no matter how I drive it (maybe it's a deisel? LOL)

Great car in short, but do your home-work and buy well - better to spend a bit more on getting the 'right' M5 than having to pour money into a heap!

Good luck and stick around M5 BOARD - EXCELLENT

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2002 Carbon Black e39 M5 Super-Saloon
Miltek Cat Back exhaust system
Miltek Racing 100 cell CATs
De-limited
Re-mapped (Superchips/Thorney stage 2)
AP Racing BBK
KW Variant 3

Richbe

brakes aren't crap, for regular driving APs are no more powerful, I've tried them back to back. I've also driven stock brakes, albeit with braided hoses and new oil at the ring and not suffered fade, though they do get a bit shuddery towards the end of a lap. Owner of car with Stoptechs who was there at the time was impressed with the standard stopping power. Regular consistent stopping on a track would probably require at set of BBK or as is stated above different pads.

Town driving 14mpg
80-90 mph - 26-28mpg
Ring - 8 mpg

Look for a car that has good history, mileage is not a critical indicator. Plenty of threads around on here and for the UK on mtorque.co.uk which will give you info on considerations you need to make. For the sake of a grand or two you'd probably be best not going for the very cheapest. Good luck

dave_gt

Welcome to the board. Plenty of good advice so far but you are welcome to my opinions too......

Regarding MPG; I have averaged about 22mpg in the 100k + miles I've had the car. I do a lot of long distance driving though which is good - fortunately I rarely have to sit in rush hour city traffic. I once reset the computer before caning along my favorite B road and got about 7MPG. I use exclusively Shell V-power or Tesco 99; both are great.

As far as buying an M5, there seems to be a huge disparity between the good ones and the bad ones and it does not necessarily just depend on mileage; the more you can find out about the history of the car and how it has been treated, the better. With the M5 you are better off finding the best example of the car in roughly your choice of spec, irrespective of purchase price.

Maintenance is not bad for a 400bhp V8 supersaloon in my opinion. I have kept mine up well and it has cost me what I consider to be a very reasonable amount of money over the years for what it is. Don't be tempted to skimp on it though - if mine has ever needed something doing, it has been done straight away with proper parts by someone who knows what they are doing. It's good to remember that this was a £58,000 car + options when it was new.

These cars are built to be used; if you get one don't abuse it, but for Heavens sake don't baby it either. I drive mine quickly but with a degree of mechanical sympathy and it has responded very well indeed.

Brakes - for normal road use they are stunning. For fast road use they are more than up to the job. For track work you're gonna want to upgrade them. Full retardation should feel quite simply awesome but on a track the car will get to such a high speed and weighs so much that the brakes will get cooked in a lap or two. There are good upgrade options if you are a trackday warrior though.

Good luck!

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M5 (i) - Le Mans Blue, 218,000 brilliant miles before rust and head gasket failure killed it.
M5 (ii) - Carbon Black, 125,000 miles and counting.