The search for a E60 M5 has not been an easy one.
It’s taken almost 6 months of trawling through autotrader, craigslist and the classifieds on this forum… as well as many agonizing decisions to pass on cars that didn’t meet my criteria.
My very reasonable (in my eyes at least) requirements were:
Manual transmission
Detailed service records,
Minimal mods (with stock parts available)
Aluminum trim on the interior (I never warmed up to the wood trims)
Rod Bearings done
Ventilated seats with the active bolsters
Additionally, I was looking for a car with ideally sub-100k miles, had a black/white/blue exterior, and was owned by a car enthusiast.
Needless to say, I soon discovered that my requirements were not that reasonable after all, and finding a car that met all (or even half) of them would be challenging. I almost gave up on a few occasions, and even briefly entertained the idea of getting a M3 instead… but it was a moment of weakness that passed quickly.
I’m glad I waited.
A gem appeared a few weeks ago on my local CraigsList, and so began a 2 week odyssey that culminated with me picking up my new to me 2008 E60 M5 late this week.
The car is currently sitting at a bit over 73k miles, has a two owner history prior to me, and (perhaps most importantly) a stack of service records showcasing a life of pampering and frequent oil changes by the previous owner. Both the idle *and* throttle actuators were recently replaced, along with the addition of new rotors/brakes and Michelin PSS tires.
The car is in great shape inside and out, and the list of mods are minimal:
Dinan springs/sways, strut bar, LCA monoball kit,
Thicker leather wrapped steering wheel with contrasting red/blue stitching (fitted to original airbag)
Eisenmann Race Exhaust
All the stock parts were included with the car.
As an added bonus, the previous owner had the rod bearings replaced prior to the sale, along with the usual set of “while you’re in there items”: motor mounts, high pressure vanos line, vanos filter, inspecting the vanos pump gears, etc.
The original bearings were starting to show copper on a few of them… so it was time to get them replaced and I’m glad it’s now done.
One less thing to worry about.
I'm loving the car so far, though the exhaust is in conflict with my “wolf in sheep’s clothing” goal, so I’ll probably swap it back to stock (for now).
Plenty more to come as I personalize the vehicle to my spec, and I’m looking forward to the journey with this V10 beast.
It’s taken almost 6 months of trawling through autotrader, craigslist and the classifieds on this forum… as well as many agonizing decisions to pass on cars that didn’t meet my criteria.
My very reasonable (in my eyes at least) requirements were:
Manual transmission
Detailed service records,
Minimal mods (with stock parts available)
Aluminum trim on the interior (I never warmed up to the wood trims)
Rod Bearings done
Ventilated seats with the active bolsters
Additionally, I was looking for a car with ideally sub-100k miles, had a black/white/blue exterior, and was owned by a car enthusiast.
Needless to say, I soon discovered that my requirements were not that reasonable after all, and finding a car that met all (or even half) of them would be challenging. I almost gave up on a few occasions, and even briefly entertained the idea of getting a M3 instead… but it was a moment of weakness that passed quickly.
I’m glad I waited.
A gem appeared a few weeks ago on my local CraigsList, and so began a 2 week odyssey that culminated with me picking up my new to me 2008 E60 M5 late this week.
The car is currently sitting at a bit over 73k miles, has a two owner history prior to me, and (perhaps most importantly) a stack of service records showcasing a life of pampering and frequent oil changes by the previous owner. Both the idle *and* throttle actuators were recently replaced, along with the addition of new rotors/brakes and Michelin PSS tires.
The car is in great shape inside and out, and the list of mods are minimal:
Dinan springs/sways, strut bar, LCA monoball kit,
Thicker leather wrapped steering wheel with contrasting red/blue stitching (fitted to original airbag)
Eisenmann Race Exhaust
All the stock parts were included with the car.
As an added bonus, the previous owner had the rod bearings replaced prior to the sale, along with the usual set of “while you’re in there items”: motor mounts, high pressure vanos line, vanos filter, inspecting the vanos pump gears, etc.
The original bearings were starting to show copper on a few of them… so it was time to get them replaced and I’m glad it’s now done.
One less thing to worry about.
I'm loving the car so far, though the exhaust is in conflict with my “wolf in sheep’s clothing” goal, so I’ll probably swap it back to stock (for now).
Plenty more to come as I personalize the vehicle to my spec, and I’m looking forward to the journey with this V10 beast.