KBK

I'm in the process of buying a M5, and I have looked at the buyers guide stuff that has been listed in various threads.

I'm just looking for a bit of advice on what to look for, ya never know, maybe someone has some new and useful info.

Here's one question I have, for example..where should the clutch engage on a M5? how should that aspect behave? Shifting is also an issue I'll have to look at, when I do the final 'pre-buy' drive on Friday morning, Oct/21/2005.

When I saw the car for the first time, it was stated by others (when I brought the pricing to their attention) as being priced at 'wholesale' for some reason they could not figure out. To me, it seemed exactly right and correct.

The dealer says he/they will allow me to buy warranty, if I should so desire, down the road..and my time frame I said, was about two months from now. I WILL ascertain the exact particulars on that warranty buy..before I sign and take posession. I may choose not to buy the warranty, as I am a DIY kinda guy. Also, no matter how fast I go or how hard I drive a car..I've never broken one in my life.

I learned how to drive in Northern snow, (James Bay Frontier) and literally did my driving test at the age of 16..in a full-on blizzard. In a 1976 chrysler Monaco w/440. I drove around on sheer ice, in a constant 4 wheel drift.. for 4-4.5 months a year, as a teen. 45 degrees below zero. etc, etc.

Driving big 2.5 ton R wheel drive cars, in 4 wheel drifts or rear slides is a complete natural for me. Backwoods boys have nothing on me.

When I first test drove the M5, The sales guy seemd a bit weirded out that I could talk, drive, adjust the seats, mirrors, play with the radio and shift flawlessly, figure the car out, etc......while carrying on a multi-level conversation with him. Product of a bad, bad, bad car childhood (bent the frame on the odd car.... Oops!OK. you got me. I never broke a car in my adult life) and drove cab for 5 years. This is cab drving: The worse the weather- the harder you drive-the more money you make, the worse the weather- etc.

This is a major, major purchase for me, the most expensive thing I've ever bought. My company (part owner) is paying for it! It's my daily driver and is to be used instead of renting cars for travel. Sucks to be me!!!

Here's a link to the info/pics, it should be valid for a few more days before they pull it off the autotrader. I saw the ad, jumped in the car and droive to it immediately. I just compared, condition wise, to a local '00 M5 that's up for grabs. The one I'm looking at has more mileage but is obviously in better shape, internally and externally.

http://www.trader.ca/powerpage/detai...1&adid=4776828

I'm leery of buying the car with no warranty. THe way it worked, is that the sales guy tried to get me into the car with BMW finance,and I speced 3 years of warranty. That financing fell through,as I have no prior credit history. It is being leased to me, and I'll buy it out at the end.

As it will be my daily driver and end up with quite a few miles on it...I am naturally worried about repair costs. The car is, relatively speaking -immaculate.

It's a small dealership, and supposedly, the economy in that exact area has tanked. Fire sale for dealers? Ontario residents..buy your Beemers here?

Ok. Just got off the phone. Apparently, many folks in the Toronto area drive to this particular dealership to purchase their Beemers. Their reputation is apparently, a stirling one. Once again, the thought of buying warranty on this puppy is paramount-as voiced to me via friend (by a friend) who buys cars for other people-as a living. I can't afford it at the point of purchase but can afford it a few months from now. Dec/Feb maybe, maybe sooner. I'll ask the folks I'm buying it from, "detailed information, please".

Anyone got anything to add to this? I was told to gain a bit of perspective and walk around the block on this one. Buy a Turbo Subaru, they said. 'I don't want a bloody Subaru', I said. 'I want my M5'.......

mikeoski

The car looks decent overall. The mileage is high for the price. Is $44K Canadian or US dollars? I bought my MY00 last October with 42K miles for $42K US. The clutch engagement will vary, but with 91K miles, I would have to guess that it has been replaced at least once. Can you get the vehicle history from the dealer? I would make sure the brakes and tires have plenty of life left. Feel the rotors for a lip. When you drive it, drive it hard and make sure there is no hesitation in the acceleration or slippage in the clutch. Good luck with the purchase. These cars a simply awesome all around.

__________________
Mike

2000 Avus Blue ///M5

ESS VT550 Supercharger
Dinan Headers and Throttle Bodies
Dinan LTW Flywheel
Diann Exhaust,
Diann 3.45 Differential,
Dinan Stage 3 Suspension

UUC Evo3/DSSR Short Shift Kit
Rogue Power Pulleys
Euro Brake Ducts
StopTech ST-40 Front Brakes
Euro Floating Rotors Rear
StopTech Pads Street/Hawk HT-10 Track
SSR GT7H 9.5" & General UHP Exclaim 275/35R18 Street
SSR Comp 9.5" & Pilot Sport Cups 265/285 Track
H&R 10mm spacers (front)

KBK

92kms, is the case, that's about 55k miles. That's $44k cdn, or / by 1.22-1.23 for US bucks. $35kUS.

There is a fair lip on both the front and rear rotors. I'm afraid to ask about the price of rotors,but.. I just blew $2k for the exhaust on my old Probe GT (stainless from manifold back), so I'm not afraid to do things that are expensive.

The car has apparently never been winter driven. I'll fix that over the next few months. The dealer was sad that I'll be driving it all winter, but hey, sucks to be me. Also, I'll hav to get winter rubber. The tires are a solid 75% tread left or better. But it will need winter tires, no doubt about that. The existing ones are obviously pure performance oriented. Winter tires on an M5. UG! Is anyone shuddering yet?

Here's one thing I forgot to mention.

I saw some rust on the front right rotor when I first walked around the car. After the first test drive, I looked at that rotor again. It was still rusted. All the rust SHOULD have come off on the test drive. 'That caliper/piston is siezed', I told the sales guy. 'Not good.' Also, the driver's door seal needs replacement, like some very weak and obese gentleman had to slide in and out of the car. Worn right through, just above where the door latch is. Other than that, the car is virtually cosmetically, at least, perfect. I'll do a lift-look too. Get it on the hoist, etc. The story goes, that these particular guys have the great rep and won't do anything stupid to mar that.

I will be sure to drive the car harder in my final test. i don't like trying things in a vicious manner when they are not mine though, and I am unfamiliar with the shifter, clutch, etc. It is a majour purchase, and I should make sure to do 'due dillgence' on this one. Once I own it for more than 48hrs, I'll likely be slam-shifting my way to nirvana..but not yet.

My understanding is that the caliper issue and the door seal issue will be taken care of before I buy it. I managed to get a look at the car before the detailing was even properly finished, which in my opinion, is a good place to be. Lets me see things they would normally like to take care of, or remove -- as possible issues.

The engine report, I will get a look at the electronic tally befor buying and as the following comment states, see the service report.

ycchan

I would also ask for a service list of the car, so you know what problems have occurred, what has been fixed etc.

ard

You really need to do some more research on this "warranty"...

You may be totally screwed in a few months when they say "can't sell the warranty".

I assume they can't add a BMW CPO warranty due to mileage or come canadian reason? WHat is the warranty they are proposing?

Personally I beleive you cannot trust car dealers- have the dealership's GM sign a statement that they will unwind the deal (or buy the car for $__ ) if they fail to sell you a warranty of ___ months and ___ km for ___ $ on or before December 31, 2005..... It won't happen.

Good luck

A

KBK

That's the kind of guarantee I'm going to -try- and get from them, or - no deal.

The reason I can't do it now? I'm completely tapped! I'm cash screwed to the nines to get this far. I'm on salary..etc. Heck, I'll have to borrow money to get the warranty. They'd easily warranty the car, no problemo, they said. BMW finance fell through, and the leasing company won't cover the purchase of a warranty. Kind of odd, though, that they'd let me lease a car..with no protection. Very strange.

here's the interesting part though. The car was new in the spring of 00. (feb 00 manufacturing date) Four year, I'm guessing, on the warranty. They said it expired in march, 05.

Richard in NC

I can answer a few questions. One, I would recommend a warranty. Not too many things "break" on an M5 but they can be VERY expensive when they do. The warranty is no guarantee of no maint costs but is good insurance against most big ticket items.

Two, the clutch is tricky to master and easy to burn up in an M5. It seems to have a long throw before engaging, especially with high RPM shifts. It is very important to be fully off the pedal before nailing the throttle. Only expert power shifters should even try.

Third, I've never driven the M5 in snow but I have done wet skid pads, track days, etc. It is easy to drift with DSC off. With good snow tires and DSC on, everyone says it can be a good winter car. I personally keep the M5 in the garage during the few days a year it snows in the south.

PS: I learned to drive in Youngstown Ohio winters with a 68 Monaco. I drifted the car on purpose at times and accidently at times.

__________________
Richard
NEW 2008 550i Space Gray, Creme Biege/Black/Dk Poplar : Sport Package, Cold Weather, Sport Auto, Nav, HUD, CA, Logic 7, iPod/USB, SAT, HD Radio, Lane departure warning
'06 X3 Black Sapphire/Tan PP, Steptronic, Xexons, Heated seats, Privacy glass, UGDO, Compass, bike rack, iPod adapter
Sold '06 650i Black Sapphire/Cream Beige sport package, 6 speed
'02 M5 Titanium Silver/Black Luxury/Burl

KBK

I noticed that the clutch engaged up high, but had a long slide 'range' of movment/lock-up. I've been known to be hard on motor mounts, but not on clutches. I'm never on the gas until it's fully engaged. Now that I know how it works, I'll be fine. I did not notice any rubbing in the clutch.

I did a 'zero accelerator' clutch engagement the first shift I did. No pressing on the gas pedal at all. I let the car roll into it, under it's own idle. It went very smoothly. I felt a bit of reluctance to go into second, once..as the rpm maybe had yet to come down, on one occasion. It was an on-ramp freeway accel situation. It was only the second time I had shifted through any gears on the car.

Second gear is always the bad one, it seems, on any given tranny. Must be that high rpm difference.

For example, My uncle had me driving around a GMC 454/4/dualie truck when I was 17. In crowded shopping mall parking lots, as I already had a history of being trusted with people's lives..while driving big tractor/trailers in fields (people walking around on trailers, way up high, stacking bales,as you drive the tractor). Ah, the farming life.

A 454 GMC floor shift dualie. That's fun! Busloads of torque and traction.

KBK

Ps, my dad taught me how to shift without ever using the clutch. On motorcycles, and yes, in cars. Easier to master on bikes, though.

However..I might buy myself a little 'fecal box' for the hard part of winter. It only lasts about 2.5 months here, max. Sometimes there is no snow at all, but that's rare.

KBK

Back to the M5 musings:

I'm not afraid to change my own heads on a given vehicle..but in the case of a M5, finding the haynes or Chilton's manual might be a bit tricky.......

Parts are not cheap, but I'm used to stripping apart brand new audio and video equipment at the $10k+ level..and modifying them. And have broken them in the process..many a time.

It makes me panic a bit, but I do know how to get parts cheap for such gear. Such methods of the lowest parts cost possible will trickle down in my BMW M5 endeavor as well, I suspect.


I am interested in creating a perfect, digital crossover, custom phase aligned, DSP compensated Multi channel audio system for my M5. I do audio and video design for a living and I'm damned good at it, and this is at the innovation level, not the mundane level. Anyone interested? Let me know. It won't be cheap, though, but it will be the best anyone has ever heard.

Here's the question, and I suspect many will simply shrug their shoulders along with me on it: Should I pursue the warranty..or simply go it alone and then modify at will?

Options:
1)Buy one year of warranty to get my feet wet in the Beemer world of M5's. After all, a large oversized condom in my new vehicular relationship might be a good idea, as I've no idea where she's been..or what she's been doing.

2)Forgo the warranty and then start with the chip..then the CAI..then the swaybars... the stainless oversize exhaust... the cross drilled rotors...massive 4-6-8 piston brembos....clutch....short shifter... etc..etc.. all self installed. Ouch! Sounds expensive.

Any comments?