My first 30 days with my 2013 M5

[some_idiot]

I bought my car exactly one month ago (April 17). The car was enthusiast owned -- this was his third M5, and he really took care of it. It had 56,4xx miles on it. The seller had an extended EasyCare warranty, which helped reassure me that it wasn't completely stupid to ditch my reliable 2017 Explorer to buy an 8 year old BMW. At least if something came up, it could be covered by the warranty. This thing is loaded - rear seat entertainment, night vision, executive package, full leather, B&O, etc. Lots of stuff to potentially break...

I love driving this car. It's so quick, looks great, and handles amazing. It has Corsa exhaust, RKP front lip, Dinan coilovers, Dinan swaybars, and a Dinan stage 1 that's currently not hooked up.

But here's what's happened in the last 30 days and 1,500 miles of ownership. I'm curious if this is what's to be expected, or if I just have some bad luck.

- In the first week of ownership, I discovered that the washer fluid hose going to the nozzles is broken and I can't wash my windshield. That's fine, this will get fixed once the EasyCare warranty is transferred to me.

- Week two, a valet hits a curb and ruins my RKP front lip. Not the car's fault, so I can deal with that... once they compensate me.

- Week three, pulling in to work I get a "front collision warning system inactive" warning. The car says camera-based system malfunction. This happens every time I start the car now. I assume this is something with the front camera, but now the collision warning, lane keep assistance, and speed limit info no longer works.

- Week four (today), I get back in my car after dropping off my son at school and the soft close function of my driver's door is making some hideous grinding noise. So I assume that motor is broken and will need to be replaced.

Maybe it's just bad luck. But every week it's something new.

So, is this an outlier, or is this what is to be expected when you own an 8 year old BMW? If so, I'm not going to keep this car without a warranty covering these expensive pieces.

[Ickdeep]

Congratz on the new car. Seems kind of an outlier situation. I bought my '13 M5 from 52k to 88k miles and the only issues I had was the turbo coolant lines were leaking (common problem and fixed it at home) and the AC needed to be recharged at 80k miles. Luckily you have the warranty and they can get all the issues resolved.

[some_idiot]

Originally Posted by Ickdeep

Congratz on the new car. Seems kind of an outlier situation. I bought my '13 M5 from 52k to 88k miles and the only issues I had was the turbo coolant lines were leaking (common problem and fixed it at home) and the AC needed to be recharged at 80k miles. Luckily you have the warranty and they can get all the issues resolved.

my AC doesn't seem to be blowing as cold as I would expect either. I will have them look at it when it's in for the other issues.

how would I know if my coolant lines were leaking?

[pleadbymail]

Ironically my AC isn't blowing cold either. 13' 51k miles here...

I think most of your issues are pretty generic with any high end model BMW. Not specific to the M5, I've been enjoying mine for 3 months now but only drive on weekends so it might take some time before I see any of these small "tech" problems.

[Noggie]

Well, 8 year old car is one way of saying it.

Washer hose and lip, well, bad luck.

The camera failure, has the windshield been replaced?
Were you able to check for a fault code on the camera, could be wiring related, especially if the windshield was replaced by someone else than BMW, could be that it needs a calibration/alignment done, fault codes would be helpful.

Softclose, well it sees a lot of use, is the door properly adjusted, it may have seen excess load due to an incorrect aligned door hinge.

If you keep your car outside and wash it frequently you tend to get issues with the comfort access and need to replace doorhandles.

On my -14 I had a rear PDC sensor fail a month after purchase (2 years ago), that was a wiring issue, the wires had corroded and broken, temporary fixed it with a solder iron, had the rear PDC wiring harness replaced by BMW now as it was only a $60 part.
My trunk comfort access never worked, also seems to be a wiring problem as it reported L-bus failure, BMW looked at it while replacing the PDC harness and it appeared to be a wiring issue as well.
Getting the car back in a couple of days so I hope everything is fixed now.

[technician117]

I assume you didn't expect a high end BMW (M model) to be like a Ford Explorer (big change btw!). Definitely a bad luck but you can't include an "accident" as part of an ownership experience cost, so scratch that off the list. :-)

Soft close motor is probably stripping a gear. Fairly common issue, has happened to me. For now I just unplugged the motor and let the door work like a standard door.

Front camera isn't as common. Is the car hardwired for a radar detector?

Whoever monkeyed around with the Dinan piggyback ECU's (installing or disconnecting) probably broke the washer hose and didn't notice or didn't care or never got it fixed.

Considering you just bought the car, I'd say you're not doing too bad.

I've done a fair amount of PM to mine but not much has broke. AC condenser failed (common issue on the F10 platform), the soft close motor as mentioned and the B&O amp failed. I've had the car for just over 3 years and put about 33,000 miles on in that time.

[some_idiot]

Originally Posted by technician117

I assume you didn't expect a high end BMW (M model) to be like a Ford Explorer (big change btw!). Definitely a bad luck but you can't include an "accident" as part of an ownership experience cost, so scratch that off the list. :-)

Soft close motor is probably stripping a gear. Fairly common issue, has happened to me. For now I just unplugged the motor and let the door work like a standard door.

Front camera isn't as common. Is the car hardwired for a radar detector?

Whoever monkeyed around with the Dinan piggyback ECU's (installing or disconnecting) probably broke the washer hose and didn't notice or didn't care or never got it fixed.

Considering you just bought the car, I'd say you're not doing too bad.

I've done a fair amount of PM to mine but not much has broke. AC condenser failed (common issue on the F10 platform), the soft close motor as mentioned and the B&O amp failed. I've had the car for just over 3 years and put about 33,000 miles on in that time.

yes, the car is hardwired for a radar detector, but as far as I know it's been that way for years and the issue just started. I actually think that the hardwiring is to the passenger visor.. is that possible?

[vafan13]

I had ac condenser leak, a trans pan leak, and a bad coil early on. First two fixed under warranty and did the coil in my garage. Haven't had an issue since (knock on wood).

Turbo coolant line leak will be obvious if you take the engine cover off. The rubber connectors go bad. Make sure yours have the heat shield covers over said rubber. Can't imagine any don't at this point, but worth checking.

[Ickdeep]

Originally Posted by some_idiot

my AC doesn't seem to be blowing as cold as I would expect either. I will have them look at it when it's in for the other issues.

how would I know if my coolant lines were leaking?

Get that checked out as well.

You would smell coolant, get a low coolant warning and you would see some white smoke coming from the engine bay after you drove it and parked it.

[M_Bimmer]

Originally Posted by some_idiot

- Week two, a valet hits a curb and ruins my RKP front lip....

Bet the front lip damage also caused your front collision detection system issue (You can google this to confirm)...but let us know how it works out.

[Craze]

Remember bmw have a hot and cold knob near the vents check that out!

The above are really minor issues
The more tech the more stuff can break
I recently bought an f430 low k and it had a lot of minor issues
Most of it no one would notice
It seems the nicer the car you get the more you see defects lol

[some_idiot]

Originally Posted by M_Bimmer

Bet the front lip damage also caused your front collision detection system issue (You can google this to confirm)...but let us know how it works out.

The posts I had seen about this suggests that there's a sensor near where the front lip is, but I don't see anything?

The warning/error also started a week later. I'm not sure. I should remove the lip and see if anything changes.

[vafan13]

I was of the impression that the M5 only had the KAFAS camera in the windshield, as they couldn't fit the bumper sensor(s). I believe they'd be the same sensors used for ACC, which we definitely don't have.

[ruben356]

Congrats on the new car. I am currently shopping for a good used example for myself as well. Given the age, and as everyone else has put it, it is just outlier situation. I had an F10 535XI, and got rid of it at 80K when my extended warranty ran out. Things just seemed to begin failing at that time, and I did not want to keep putting money into the car. I kept that in mind now that I am shopping for an F10 M5. Given its a higher performance car, i am looking for the lowest mileage possible for my budget. However, i am also budgeting repairs as well. I would say for these cars, 40-50k should be the mark that things might begin to break, and "for peace of mind" maintenance should begin. Good luck with everything, hope your experience gets better.

[some_idiot]

The car is at the dealership now for its 60,000 mile service as well as to fix all of the issues above. Not a cheap trip.

[F10_M5_Competition]

Originally Posted by some_idiot

The car is at the dealership now for its 60,000 mile service as well as to fix all of the issues above. Not a cheap trip.

Were you offered a third party extended warranty when purchasing the car? It's well worth it for this very reason imo

[some_idiot]

Originally Posted by F10_M5_Competition

Were you offered a third party extended warranty when purchasing the car? It's well worth it for this very reason imo

The previous owner already had a $0 deductible EasyCare warranty, which is a large part why I chose this car instead of others.

[F10_M5_Competition]

Originally Posted by some_idiot

The previous owner already had a $0 deductible EasyCare warranty, which is a large part why I chose this car instead of others.

Have you used it to cover your service/repairs? Just picked up my M5 with ext warranty as well and yet to take it to a service center, wonder how that all works using 3rd party warranty 🤔

[some_idiot]

Originally Posted by F10_M5_Competition

Have you used it to cover your service/repairs? Just picked up my M5 with ext warranty as well and yet to take it to a service center, wonder how that all works using 3rd party warranty 🤔

this is my first time taking the car in. the service guy said it tends to be very good. so far they are paying for the soft close door motor that is broken... well, $1100 out of $1300. seems easy enough. I just confirmed with the shop before starting work that they're familiar with the warranty and know the process of getting stuff covered

[F10_M5_Competition]

Originally Posted by some_idiot

this is my first time taking the car in. the service guy said it tends to be very good. so far they are paying for the soft close door motor that is broken... well, $1100 out of $1300. seems easy enough. I just confirmed with the shop before starting work that they're familiar with the warranty and know the process of getting stuff covered

Awesome that's good to hear! Thanks again man

[some_idiot]

Does anybody know the part number for the KAFAS camera that I would need to replace?

[WindUp]

I also live in Tennessee. 32 years in Nashville, and had to get away, so now I am in Tullahoma.

My experience has been a little different than yours.

I bought my 2013 M5 in May with 97k miles. The previous owner was a soccer mom, not an enthusiast. There were zero mods done to the car when I bought it, and I have no extended warranty. The car runs flawlessly and uses very little oil. I did the first oil change right away and have not had to add any oil in almost 3000 miles. I only paid $26k for the car, so it's not perfect.

Here are the small issues I have noticed.

The blind spot indicators don't seem to do anything. I don't know if the system is dead or a fuse is blown, but I get no indicators at all. Collision and lane departure both work great.

The driver side door handle was continually trying to lock, causing the car to get the battery drain message, so I disconnected the large plug in the handle. I can no longer unlock the car by placing my hand in the driver's door handle, but the rest of the work fine, so I use the rear door instead.

Soft close works on all doors except the driver's door. If I try to soft close, it seems to work fine and closes the door, then it just pops right back out without latching. I have not investigated the issue, but the motor seems to work fine, and there is no strange noise, so it's not a big deal to me.

I'm in the process of doing all the maintenance that I am sure was neglected before I install the JB4 that I already purchased. I have changed wipers, oil, oil filter, air filters, spark plugs, coils, differential oil, DCT oil and filters, and coolant flush is upcoming. Once all that is done, I will probably install the JB4 then turn my attention to the brakes, which seem fine, but could probably use new rotors. Once that is done, suspension control arms/bushings/ball joints and everything else will be gone over. I love the car and drive it every day.