Took the Plunge: 2013 M5 6-Speed

[spiff]

Always been a manual guy, and still daily my 2001 540i Manual, got this for weekend fun, road trips, and track days. Couldn't be happier with it.

Got it from CarMax with a 5-Year/125k warranty. While doing some searching I found that the previous owner had taken it to EAS to have some work done, so here are some photos from their blog:

It's on BBS CH 265/295's, has KW Springs, and a nice clear wrap on the major panels/fenders.

Absolutely love this car. The second I saw it had a manual I had to have it. Don't care if it's slower, I really wanted a manual and man am I happy.

Shooting for buttonwillow at the end of the month.

I'll be keeping my 540, so I think I'll have the best of both worlds.

Dan

[Chauncey.Bishop]

Congratulations on the purchase, this car with a true 6-speed manual gearbox is a ton of fun!

[Ickdeep]

Congratz!

[94jedi]

niiiice congrats!

[WabiSabi]

Definitely have the best of both worlds, congrats! I also have an e39 as my daily but it needs some TLC right now.

[spiff]

Originally Posted by Jonkumi88

Definitely have the best of both worlds, congrats! I also have an e39 as my daily but it needs some TLC right now.

Originally Posted by Jonkumi88

Definitely have the best of both worlds, congrats! I also have an e39 as my daily but it needs some TLC right now.

It makes the debate of which is best much easier ha

[pcohen15]

Great find ... congratulations. Singapore Gray?

[M5Rick]

Looks a peach and for sure my favourite colour,Singapore Grey; the bold writing on the BBS's make the wheels stand out more.
Just some nice bigger exhaust outlets protruding a little more would make it perfect.

[technician117]

congrats! Welcome to the 6MT club! I also still daily my e39 M5 in the summer. Totally different cars and each is awesome in it's own way.

[spiff]

Originally Posted by technician117

congrats! Welcome to the 6MT club! I also still daily my e39 M5 in the summer. Totally different cars and each is awesome in it's own way.

Oh yeah.

E39 is a gem of a car, hence why I'm keeping it, and even being a 540 I think it's actually even a little more special because it's generally a little overlooked to the M5, when honestly I think it's a better car because it's miles more reliable without the S62(yeah I know timing chain guides suck on the M62).

However, comparing the E39 to the F10... well they are just two different beasts. The E39 is every bit as raw as you'd like a fast luxury sedan to feel like, but when you sit in the F10 it's like "sure I'll drive this 400 miles to a track, bang on it all day at Laguna, then drive all the way home". In the E39, it could probably do that, but you'd feel a bit more ragged and the car would need a complete going-through back home.

They are just different cars hands down. The F10 handles 560hp better than the E39 would, and the E39 makes way better use of 286hp than the F10 would. If one had to be rated better than the other, the E39 steering feels superb compared to the F10, but the way the F10 cockpit embraces the driver is pretty amazing.

I'm happy I have both so I don't have to choose, I'll say that much.

[94jedi]

Originally Posted by technician117

congrats! Welcome to the 6MT club! I also still daily my e39 M5 in the summer. Totally different cars and each is awesome in it's own way.

Thinking about picking up an E39 M5 myself, can you pm me your thoughts on both cars, how they compare, dd'ing the e39 M5, etc.? Thanks!

[PerfM5]

Nice! Welcome aboard and see you around town

[technician117]

Originally Posted by 94jedi

Thinking about picking up an E39 M5 myself, can you pm me your thoughts on both cars, how they compare, dd'ing the e39 M5, etc.? Thanks!

There are a ton of threads on M5board both in the e39 section and the F10 section where people (including myself) have compared the cars. The big summary is one is not a replacement for the other. You can see what the OP is saying below and it definitely applies to the M5 in the same way as the 540.

Originally Posted by spiff

Oh yeah.

E39 is a gem of a car, hence why I'm keeping it, and even being a 540 I think it's actually even a little more special because it's generally a little overlooked to the M5, when honestly I think it's a better car because it's miles more reliable without the S62(yeah I know timing chain guides suck on the M62).

However, comparing the E39 to the F10... well they are just two different beasts. The E39 is every bit as raw as you'd like a fast luxury sedan to feel like, but when you sit in the F10 it's like "sure I'll drive this 400 miles to a track, bang on it all day at Laguna, then drive all the way home". In the E39, it could probably do that, but you'd feel a bit more ragged and the car would need a complete going-through back home.

They are just different cars hands down. The F10 handles 560hp better than the E39 would, and the E39 makes way better use of 286hp than the F10 would. If one had to be rated better than the other, the E39 steering feels superb compared to the F10, but the way the F10 cockpit embraces the driver is pretty amazing.

I'm happy I have both so I don't have to choose, I'll say that much.

I couldn't agree more with your last statement! The second paragraph I don't fully agree with. The luxury seats in my e39 are very comfortable and I would have no problem doing the same distance and racing in both cars without extra work being needed on the e39 later. I DO agree that the F10 is much more refined... quieter and even more comfortable! So at the end of the day I would have more energy if driving the F10. I've taken the e39 to the road course twice this summer already. Besides looking it over and changing to race pads, I haven't had to do anything. The track is 1.5 hours away and in a different country but I don't give making the trip a second thought.

To each his own, but IMO (and I know this sounds like I'm being pretentious but I'm really not lol) if you owned/daily drove an e39 M5 you would never go back to the 540. Maintenance is maybe a little higher $$ than a base model but if you know the car well enough and do your own work, it's really not bad. Reliability is another internet scam. Do the PM instead of deferring it and it won't strand you. I've owned mine for 10 years and have put 170,000 miles on it (bringing the total to 286,000 as of today). My engine has never been opened besides 2 sets of valvecover gaskets and removing the lower oil pan to inspect everything a few years ago. The sensors, etc. have been replaced, but no rod bearings or timing chain guides. Still rocking the original starter, alternator, P/S pump and AC compressor. I've driven it all around the US including a cross country road trip lat summer. 8,000 miles in 3 weeks. No issues with the car besides a bad valve stem on a wheel.

Re: F10 6MT - the first thing you should do is remove the CDV. I couldn't believe they put one on this generation M5. No previous gen M5 has had one.

[spiff]

Originally Posted by technician117

There are a ton of threads on M5board both in the e39 section and the F10 section where people (including myself) have compared the cars. The big summary is one is not a replacement for the other. You can see what the OP is saying below and it definitely applies to the M5 in the same way as the 540.

I couldn't agree more with your last statement! The second paragraph I don't fully agree with. The luxury seats in my e39 are very comfortable and I would have no problem doing the same distance and racing in both cars without extra work being needed on the e39 later. I DO agree that the F10 is much more refined... quieter and even more comfortable! So at the end of the day I would have more energy if driving the F10. I've taken the e39 to the road course twice this summer already. Besides looking it over and changing to race pads, I haven't had to do anything. The track is 1.5 hours away and in a different country but I don't give making the trip a second thought.

To each his own, but IMO (and I know this sounds like I'm being pretentious but I'm really not lol) if you owned/daily drove an e39 M5 you would never go back to the 540. Maintenance is maybe a little higher $$ than a base model but if you know the car well enough and do your own work, it's really not bad. Reliability is another internet scam. Do the PM instead of deferring it and it won't strand you. I've owned mine for 10 years and have put 170,000 miles on it (bringing the total to 286,000 as of today). My engine has never been opened besides 2 sets of valvecover gaskets and removing the lower oil pan to inspect everything a few years ago. The sensors, etc. have been replaced, but no rod bearings or timing chain guides. Still rocking the original starter, alternator, P/S pump and AC compressor. I've driven it all around the US including a cross country road trip lat summer. 8,000 miles in 3 weeks. No issues with the car besides a bad valve stem on a wheel.

Re: F10 6MT - the first thing you should do is remove the CDV. I couldn't believe they put one on this generation M5. No previous gen M5 has had one.

Oh don't get me wrong the E39 has fantastic seats. I commute in it 1.5 hours both ways to work, zero complaints. I just meant as a comparison the F10 cockpit feels better, which you mentioned you'd feel less tired in as well.

I totally believe the E39 M would be as capable as an F10 doing a gigantic track weekend, I would admit to believing Internet rumors on reliability as I haven't owned an S62.

That's seriously awesome your E39 is running like a champ. Mine is about to hit 170k and I'm switching from 5k oil changes to 3k to avoid timing chain guides. Trying to stay on top of everything so it'll hit 300k.

Cheers!

[technician117]

Originally Posted by spiff

Oh don't get me wrong the E39 has fantastic seats. I commute in it 1.5 hours both ways to work, zero complaints. I just meant as a comparison the F10 cockpit feels better, which you mentioned you'd feel less tired in as well.

I totally believe the E39 M would be as capable as an F10 doing a gigantic track weekend, I would admit to believing Internet rumors on reliability as I haven't owned an S62.

That's seriously awesome your E39 is running like a champ. Mine is about to hit 170k and I'm switching from 5k oil changes to 3k to avoid timing chain guides. Trying to stay on top of everything so it'll hit 300k.

Cheers!

I'm still running 7,500 mile intervals with good reports from Blackstone on oil condition. When I do track days I lower the interval for obvious reasons. Coming up on 5,000 miles this season and I'll be changing the oil shortly. My goal is to break the 300k mark next year. Shouldn't be an issue at this rate! Doing a short road trip later this month. Roughly 3,000 miles in 10 days.