Hey all, very long time lurker, my previous ownership includes E39 M5, I currently own an E92 M3 and a car I would like to introduce below, my E60 M5.
There's a few reasons I wanted the LCI car, I think the interior is significantly nicer than the LCI cars and I prefer the LCI headlights and tail lights.
The release of the LCI car came with the first revision of the S85 too, the following components are upgraded:
After a bit of a search and wait, in September 2022, a march 2007 build M5 came up for sale, Space Grey, folding seats (such a rare option and I god send in a saloon), under 56k miles but no alcantara roof, no L7 or Individual audio, IA I could always retrofit, the roof, no big deal, slightly high owner count at 6 previous owners, but that can be par for the course with the E60 given their ownership costs, the big thing was that this car had been in a collection for 6 years, with less than 1k miles between MOTs and had a nice folder called, "Mikes Personal Cars".
Having been burned previously with another E60 M5, I took a very cautious route with the car, I had the car inspected by two specialists, who found no fault with the car, a good friend was heading passed the car en route to the Nurburgring, so I tagged along and we planned to make a trip of it.
We arrived at the car and it remains the best condition E60 M5 I've ever seen, the colour is excellent, and I've never gelled with a car so quickly, but as is customary, it does take time to confirm that one hasn't bought a complete ball of ****, and again, I was a bit paranoid when it comes to E60s.
First stop, all seemed well, I did notice that the oil level had dropped from full to 3/4, it put it down to poor timing, the aircon also wasn't working, something I could fix later, usually down to the condenser or cracks in the coolant lines.
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We approached Folkstone and the oil level dropped to 50% from full, representing a further 250ml decline in the reading, at this stage, ones balloon knot starts to pucker.
We continue, we clear 150km from Calais, we're on walkie talkies and we do some tests to try to determine if there's anything wrong with the engine, no sign of smoke, Emmet did make the point that if it was burning it at that rate, he's also expect it to be on his windscreen, "unless it was in the water dues to a head gasket failure".
When I had the car inspected, there was no signs of any oil leaks, the S85 isn't really prone to oil leaks like other BMW engines either.
![Image]()
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We pulled off the motorway, parked the with it's left side on a high curb and tried to see if we had a leak, nothing, I had brought some 10w60 with me, so I figured, best move is to top it up with 500ml, instead of the 750ml it now indicated it wanted and monitor for change. Maybe taking what is considered to be the most unreliable ///M car in history on a 2500km round trip untested is not the smartest move. ¯\(ツ)/¯
Topped it up, monitored it for the next 500km and it remained stable, had to be an oil level sender.
On to the next problem, a sticky brake caliper, something that would need to be sorted before bringing it home.
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After a few phone calls we managed to get the car to The Crown Performance in Adenau, they serviced the car, ordered a new genuine oil level sender from BMW, pulled off and greased the brakes, front and rear.
So, what else would you do with an untested M5 still on its original bearings.... well... laps, this was my first time on the ring, in a car I didn't really know that I hadn't done my usual blanket service routine on, to say I was anxious was an understatement, but while in Rome....
The SMG makes a bit more sense on track, but that's just where it is its least ****, it's never actually good, it's more capable than I had expected.
![Image]()
![Image]()
![Image]()
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Following a fun weekend, the next step was bringing it home for a few months while I decided what I was going to do with it.
Back home
![Image]()
![Image]()
There's a few reasons I wanted the LCI car, I think the interior is significantly nicer than the LCI cars and I prefer the LCI headlights and tail lights.
The release of the LCI car came with the first revision of the S85 too, the following components are upgraded:
- Updated vanos pump
- Updated crank gear for the vanos pump
- Updated Vanos lines
- Updated Vanos units
- Updated oil pan with two drain plugs
- Updated oil squirters
After a bit of a search and wait, in September 2022, a march 2007 build M5 came up for sale, Space Grey, folding seats (such a rare option and I god send in a saloon), under 56k miles but no alcantara roof, no L7 or Individual audio, IA I could always retrofit, the roof, no big deal, slightly high owner count at 6 previous owners, but that can be par for the course with the E60 given their ownership costs, the big thing was that this car had been in a collection for 6 years, with less than 1k miles between MOTs and had a nice folder called, "Mikes Personal Cars".
Having been burned previously with another E60 M5, I took a very cautious route with the car, I had the car inspected by two specialists, who found no fault with the car, a good friend was heading passed the car en route to the Nurburgring, so I tagged along and we planned to make a trip of it.
We arrived at the car and it remains the best condition E60 M5 I've ever seen, the colour is excellent, and I've never gelled with a car so quickly, but as is customary, it does take time to confirm that one hasn't bought a complete ball of ****, and again, I was a bit paranoid when it comes to E60s.
First stop, all seemed well, I did notice that the oil level had dropped from full to 3/4, it put it down to poor timing, the aircon also wasn't working, something I could fix later, usually down to the condenser or cracks in the coolant lines.
We approached Folkstone and the oil level dropped to 50% from full, representing a further 250ml decline in the reading, at this stage, ones balloon knot starts to pucker.
We continue, we clear 150km from Calais, we're on walkie talkies and we do some tests to try to determine if there's anything wrong with the engine, no sign of smoke, Emmet did make the point that if it was burning it at that rate, he's also expect it to be on his windscreen, "unless it was in the water dues to a head gasket failure".
When I had the car inspected, there was no signs of any oil leaks, the S85 isn't really prone to oil leaks like other BMW engines either.
We pulled off the motorway, parked the with it's left side on a high curb and tried to see if we had a leak, nothing, I had brought some 10w60 with me, so I figured, best move is to top it up with 500ml, instead of the 750ml it now indicated it wanted and monitor for change. Maybe taking what is considered to be the most unreliable ///M car in history on a 2500km round trip untested is not the smartest move. ¯\(ツ)/¯
Topped it up, monitored it for the next 500km and it remained stable, had to be an oil level sender.
On to the next problem, a sticky brake caliper, something that would need to be sorted before bringing it home.
After a few phone calls we managed to get the car to The Crown Performance in Adenau, they serviced the car, ordered a new genuine oil level sender from BMW, pulled off and greased the brakes, front and rear.
So, what else would you do with an untested M5 still on its original bearings.... well... laps, this was my first time on the ring, in a car I didn't really know that I hadn't done my usual blanket service routine on, to say I was anxious was an understatement, but while in Rome....
The SMG makes a bit more sense on track, but that's just where it is its least ****, it's never actually good, it's more capable than I had expected.
Following a fun weekend, the next step was bringing it home for a few months while I decided what I was going to do with it.
Back home
