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M5 a money pit?

18K views 91 replies 42 participants last post by  thefleshrocket 
#1 ·
So I've been looking at 08+ M5s and came across a message board on a website that I won't mention. Basically, they just made the car sound like a huge money pit. Like once the SMG pump goes next is the bearings, then after the bearing job is this n that n it never ends lol. They say to have a college fund ready for repairs. So my question is has anyone had a good running e60 without tons of problems? Should I be scared to get one?

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#2 ·
I've had my 2010 E60 for nearly 3 years and it's run flawlessly. Oil changes every 5K miles religiously are sure to extend the life of your engine internals.

As for the rod bearings and SMG pumps, those (amongst a few additional gremlins) are known maintenance issues for these cars. But one doesn't buy a V-10, street-driven performance luxury car with 507 HP on tap without an expectation of an above average maintenance schedule, property taxes and car insurance too for that matter.

To me, it boils down to the risk you're willing to take for the reward if daily driving one of the fastest cars out there for the money. That's why I bought one.


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#6 ·
No. Its really not. The car I'm looking at is an 08 with 41k for $33k. I know repairs and parts won't be cheap that's a no brainer but the people on the site made it seem like its problem after problem after problem, as If it will be in the shop every other week.

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#9 ·
MONEY PIT!


if i could go back in time, id NEVER buy mine....but now that ive had it for 5 years and sank in over $10k in repairs....it would be dumb to sell it for the maybe $20k its worth on the market these days so in the collection she stays.

buy one only if its a spare car that you dont need to rely on for anything other than fun on the weekends. its easily the least reliable BMW produced within the last 10 to 15 years.

but if you have money to burn its a fun car to own! :)
 
#10 ·
it may be, it's hit or miss

The problem is that parts are expensive.
front brake job? > $2K
oil change? > $200
idle actuators ? $500 each x2 + labor
throttle actuators? $600 each x2 + labor
vanos solenoids? $900 each x2 + labor

The rod bearings I would change, $2500 job.

Just be ready for those items as the miles & years pile up.

Don't forget, 10 cylinders = 10 of everything that may break :)
 
#19 · (Edited)
The problem is that parts are expensive.
front brake job? > $2K
oil change? > $200
idle actuators ? $500 each x2 + labor
throttle actuators? $600 each x2 + labor
vanos solenoids? $900 each x2 + labor

The rod bearings I would change, $2500 job.

Just be ready for those items as the miles & years pile up.

Don't forget, 10 cylinders = 10 of everything that may break :)
I think I understand now why you think it's a money pit...

Two jugs of 0w40 + filter =$60
Rotors are $220-250 a pop etc
Rod bearing $1000 in labor + 600 in parts

Here's a good analogy - the idrive box on my wife's 06 died last year. If I had to pay a dealer to repair it, it would've been a $3K endeavor. I got a replacement part from LKQ for $150 delivered. Same thing for that stupid thigh support seat thing - $300 + labor at the dealer or $20 part on ebay.

Paying someone else, especially a dealer, to maintain your used high end car is how you end up with a money pit. I've put thousands of miles on various high end cars (911/S8/S4/bunch of m3s etc) over the years and the only thing I've lost money on has been depreciation.
 
#12 ·
I wouldnt say absolute money pit, unless you get a lemon

Trouble is people get this car, which in australia was $250k new and expect it to be like a camry!

Its a lot of car for the 2nd hand market
Just accept its over 10 years old and yes money has to be spent.
 
#13 ·
You nailed it. People expect because it costs the same as a new loaded Nissan Altima that the repairs will be similar. This is a V10 BMW expensive machine. Just because the market price on these has fallen drastically(which sucks,) doesn't mean someone can actually afford the car.

If someone can't afford a 50-60k car, then they shouldn't touch this car even if it the selling price is 30k.
 
#16 ·
bottom line i would never recommend the E60 M5 to anyone as a car to buy....even if they had money to waste on the repairs. there are other cars out there with less quirks for similar pricing and performance. just not a smart buy no matter what...

just my opinion.

ive actually had friends come to me and ask me and ive told them my honest opinion and steered them away from the car/platform.
 
#17 ·
If it is on your bucket list - get one. Likely the most affordable V10 out there.

Be prepared to spend some money - and, maybe, go 6M/T to avoid the SMG headaches. You pay to play - some pay more, some less - your mileage will vary.

I am glad I owned one. I am glad I don't now. To me it was a bucket list item...
 
#20 · (Edited)
I have owned my M5 for nearly 3 yrs now.. Although it's not a daily driver.I smile every time I get behind that steering wheel..This is my 3rd BMW in last 10yrs and by far the Most exhilarating.Yes the car needs special attention.. Because Bmw built this car like no other,from the ground up.

My advice is take time to get to know the vehicle.There are things that give you the ultimate joy if you learn to DIY.
Over the years I have acquired my own diagnostic tools and stayed up late nights, learning about the various features, functions,tips and tricks on how to tackle issues that may arise.That has helped me tremendously.

Yes certain things will be of course too much for one to repair alone..But I think some of that could be as a result of prior or current maintenance depending on who owned the vehicle from day one.I for one did some research for about 6 months before pulling the trigger.I visited different dealerships and test drove about 5 different cars.In the end I settled on a 2007 with 63,000 miles and most importantly a 6 speed manual transmission.I decided that the SMG unfortunately, was still plagued with issues that were more expensive to repair than it's alternate.

So far I'm at 89,000 miles and car runs even better than when I first purchased it.No major expenses so far.Oil changes every 5K miles and recently upgraded my idle actuator gears before they acted up.(preventive maintenance)..

One thing that I did when I first got my car was I had some vanos noise upon Cold starts.I therefore decided to bleed the system frequently (once or twice monthly) .That greatly improved its performance and minimized noise.I Used DIS V57 software to do this..I also cleaned all my my throttle bodies and greased the linkages.

I just picked up my car today from the BMW dealership due to fact that I wanted to make sure my software was up to date on all the modules in the car.Surprisingly my software was old, 2008 was last update and Bmw actually had updates as late as November 2016 for my vehicle.Glad to know that Bmw still looking to improve things on this legendary vehicle. Just paid an hour labor ,they kept vehicle overnight and provided me with a loaner.

So overall do your homework and research. Be prepared to school yourself on the complexities of this wonderful vehicle unless of course someone else is taking care of the maintenance for you
Good luck!
 
#34 ·
In the end I settled on a 2007 with 63,000 miles and most importantly a 6 speed manual transmission.
Your'e kidding - they offered this car with a proper manual transmission!? :eek i didn't know this :eek I suddenly want one now mmmmmm

Yup, money pit, especially if you mod, think I've spent £15k or so in 18 months.
:confused3 HOLY wow....are you for real??! I'm guessing a full engine rebuild from ground up, right? New crank too?

I steer clear of any used high end car with aftermarket stuff on it and not surprisingly I've never had an issue. Here's a pro tip: anything with blacked out tail light and especially that goofy front tint strip will murder you in maintenance cost.
While not the case all of the time, it certainly can be most of the time. You can always tell by the standard of the work carried out in modifications and also the quality of the parts (ie, fit and finish) because bad fitment, tends to correlate with bad maintenance.
 
#22 · (Edited)
Yup, money pit, especially if you mod, think I've spent £15k or so in 18 months.

Just bought all the parts for a rod bearing change and about to buy a new vanos pump, so that'll be another £4k once it's all installed....

Oh, and I've been buying engine parts, planning to stroke the engine in the next year or so, ceramic plate lots of internals, so maybe another £20k over the next 2 years.

My living room atm....



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#23 · (Edited)
One of my most favorite cars - EVER! My love affair started 24 months and 45K miles ago. My history and journey with my E60 M5 are well documented on the board. I daily drive my vehicle and take her everywhere -

1st year -

Oil Changes every 3.5k - 5k depending on what I was doing with her
BST cable
TPMS
2 sets of tires :p
+ a lot of Mods

1st year was GREAT!

2nd year still great but VERY expensive

Bearings, OEM upgrades to latest and greatest, idle control actuators, throttle actuators, all new clutch components (SMG), all fluids flushed and replaced, brakes (F&R), all new Meyle HD steering components

+ upgrades this year

ess tuning vt2-650 SC kit
custom pre-lci DTM style quad demon eye lights
2 more sets of tires :p
new section 3

I can't comment on money pit or not - I think it comes down to how much do you love the car - I thought about buying this car for years and let the forum and stories scare me away - when price dropped to 40K for nice clean models the juoice was worth the squeeze so I bought one without extended warranty and have never looked back.

For all of its little quirks, I love this car and the money is an after thought to the joy and smiles she puts on my face daily. The E60 M5 is like any other thing - treat her nice and she will treat you nice - but abuse her like - high revs on cold oil, too many launch controls, and poor maintenance then she will reward you accordingly.

Have a great warranty or be prepared at any time to spend 5K or 10K to get her running again.

If you are OK with that buy her - drive her and enjoy her you wont regret it! This is the best sounding car I have ever owned and the sight, smell and feel of her on a drive combined with that exhaust note is sure to please anyone and bring a smile to their face.
 
#31 · (Edited)
It needs money alright. But I wouldn't describe it as a pit.
A LOT of people throw thousands at these cars for preventative maintenance. You can take your chances, regularly maintain and look after it and you won't need to do this, but eventually you will have do some more serious maintenance. that is the cost of owning these type of cars.
I knew they needed money when I bought it, but wasn't expecting to have to throw money at it in such high quantities in such a short amount of time.
Spend the extra money and get a top notch one, then don't be tight on the servicing. You will NEVER avoid high costs with this type of car. You just won't. But you can certainly put them off for as long as possible.
 
#36 ·
6MT is only in North America, so hopefully you're here.

That said, to answer your question, this car IS a money pit. There's simply no argument or consideration - that's just a fact.

People have different ownership experiences due to timing (aka luck). Some might own the car and never experience any major failures and simply just do regular maintenance. Some might inherit a car that was neglected (unknowingly or knowingly) and have a major failure in the first week of their ownership. I would say because this car does have a few quirks, it can make it difficult to detect when something is not right. I've been fortunate to drive quite a few examples (FiftyTwoEighty's 6MT above, randywei's, YKJones', M5Jed's, kheimlich's, and a couple others I don't remember right now). Because of that, I was confident my car ran right, and I was also able to tell when something was off. I was even able to detect a few anomalies on kheimlich's car and he got it fixed under warranty.

But the simple fact is that if you own the car for a long period and actually drive it a decent amount, you will be paying for some big repair or maintenance. Additionally, if you want the best reliability and service life from the car, you'll need to maintain it better than the factory service intervals. The 15K mile oil changes are a joke. Most people do about 5K intervals, some do 3K. You'll want to do the spark plugs every 17.5K, not 35K as in the manual, for maximum performance.

In the end though, the big question is: Is all this worth it?

If you have the money to spare, the answer is unequivocally YES. No other car offers this kind of driving experience combined with the luxury and practicality. No other car. Anyone who tells you otherwise is just plain lying to themselves. I had 7 years with this car and EVERY single time I drove it, it blew me away. I have yet to drive a car that comes close.
 
#40 ·
HOLY wow....are you for real??! I'm guessing a full engine rebuild from ground up, right? New crank too?
Nope.....

Some might inherit a car that was neglected (unknowingly or knowingly) and have a major failure in the first week of their ownership
Yep.

My car broke down 5 minutes and 1 mile after I bought it and cost me £1500 to repair, and it still wasn't fully serviceable. And still isn't now after the first few months.

Pretty much sums it up.

More luck...
I got mine for thousands less than market value so it still puts a smile on my face, even though I'm only driving it about 100 miles per month right now until I can afford ot get plenty more work done on it. You could say mine is the exceptional case though, I know I bought a lemon.
 
#46 ·
Damnit, it's only manual in North America.....hmmm....I wonder if people have imported the tranny and rest of the bits from the USA to the UK and done the swap here....damn... I'd kinda love to do that, but seeing as you guys are telling me it's a problem-child, I think it's best I steer clear for now. I've already got a car that breaks on me once a year and I spend around £3000 to £4000 on as it is.

Generally speaking, this thread is referring to the E60 M5 isn't it? Not the E39, although I know the E39 is one helluva liability at times too. Damn though, the thought of an E60 manual M5 is turning me on though...so much win.

My car broke down 5 minutes and 1 mile after I bought it and cost me £1500 to repair, and it still wasn't fully serviceable. And still isn't now after the first few months.
I feel for you man....i have to ask...(and I'm being genuine here) did you buy it from the Midlands or around Manchester/Bradford etc? Did you know it would have it's challenges and have you found any evidence to suggest that the lemon status was cloaked by the previous owner?
 
#41 ·
My car developed a misfire on the drive home, and 3.5 weeks after I bought it it left me stranded at the airport at 10:30 pm in single-digit temperatures...spent 6 weeks at the dealer and cost about 3k to get the clutch, clutch slave, and PLDC changed + a couple minor things.

I'd still buy it again. Like has been stated before, there really is nothing else that will do what this car can. Nothing will give you an engine like this, comfort and luxury like this, handling/driver involvement like this, all for the type of price you can now buy them for. They will absolutely cost you money over a long enough timeline. May not be worth it for some....but I can't think of many cars I'd rather own right now, certainly not for the insanely good price I paid for mine given its overall condition and spec.


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#43 ·
just gets a PPI for peace of mind and if you can spare a couple dollars have them check your vanos solenoids.. that alone can make or break the deal..

I've had my M5 for about 1.5 years and am finally dealing with major repairs so its true its a money pit but like all have stated its a fun one? regardless do your research and good luck on your buy!
 
#49 ·
I agree Celicasaur. I'm not comfortable selling any of my cars unless I would feel comfortable giving it to my daughter. I want the next person to have as good an experience as I have. I've done a lot of pro-active preventative maintenance, especially around 100K miles.

But the M5 I bought has been very frustrating in terms of things popping up - and 'things' on an M5 are always a chunk of money.
 
#50 ·
That probably explains why there is such a vast difference in price for them. Here in the UK we see examples ranging from as low as sub £10k, all the way up to high £20k or low £30k. There is also a clear difference in the types of owner affluence, defined by the price gap.

Well, for now I'll just enjoy my E39 M5. I tell you what though, if somebody was to make affordable manual conversions in this country or in Europe damn it would change the way how a lot of us view the E60. The general consensus here is that if you want a proper M5, you get an E39 and that's largely to do with the manual tranny (and the timeless looks, but let's ignore that for now). I've never considered the E60 myself also until yesterday for a a few minutes when I saw this thread....but then I continued to read it and got scared off yawnnnn
 
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