buying 15plate M5 f10

[Haroun]

guys, I saw an f10 15 plate with 27k on the clock, the car looks good and service been done, but reading through most of the posts seems alot of major engine failures and replacement happened to the people's M5, I was so tempted to get it but now I'm more concerned about it's near future problems. any advices how to make sure engine is ok, any important things to check? I will be using RAC comprehensive inspection if I decided to go ahead. any information is highly appreciated.

thanks all

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by Haroun

guys, I saw an f10 15 plate with 27k on the clock, the car looks good and service been done, but reading through most of the posts seems alot of major engine failures and replacement happened to the people's M5, I was so tempted to get it but now I'm more concerned about it's near future problems. any advices how to make sure engine is ok, any important things to check? I will be using RAC comprehensive inspection if I decided to go ahead. any information is highly appreciated.

thanks all

You can't,other than taking engine apart.Just go by service history.The most important being oil changes + filter of course with the BMW recommended 0-30 grade oil and should be ok.Yours should have had at least 4-5 oil changes up to now with BMW stamped book.If not walk away.

[Haroun]

Originally Posted by M5theonlyone

You can't,other than taking engine apart.Just go by service history.The most important being oil changes + filter of course with the BMW recommended 0-30 grade oil and should be ok.Yours should have had at least 4-5 oil changes up to now with BMW stamped book.If not walk away.

Originally Posted by M5theonlyone

You can't,other than taking engine apart.Just go by service history.The most important being oil changes + filter of course with the BMW recommended 0-30 grade oil and should be ok.Yours should have had at least 4-5 oil changes up to now with BMW stamped book.If not walk away.

he says 3 including diff.

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by Haroun

he says 3 including diff.

Just caught this before I went off. There should be an interim service at about 1500 miles,a kind of running in service including oil which is a must.That's one.
Then one each every year up to '18 would make it four not including this year yet?
Seems a bit short,I don't know but just lacking one oil change or prolonging it is bad news for these with the rod bearings at risk.
Mine is a '13, it's had seven changes and its at 35k miles inc the interim one, that's a change on average at 5k miles or yearly which ever came first.
Think about it but I think the oil changes have been dragged out a bit, they could have been done sooner,I personally would look for another.

[C320]

As stated above the running in service at about 1,200 miles is vital / essential.

If this hasn't been done I'd give it a wide berth and move onto another one. A BMW dealer can't retail any M car as an Approved Used Vehicle if this service has been missed (I came across a few like that when I was looking for an F10 M5).

Running one of these without a warranty is (in my opinion) suicidal. The BMW Comprehensive Warranty is the one to go for: https://www.bmw-warranty.co.uk/Start

This means you could buy a car from anywhere and have a sensible ownership experience as the BMW Warranty is super easy to claim on by BMW dealers when needed.

[C320]

Originally Posted by Haroun

he says 3 including diff.

If you haven't seen it yourself ask the seller for a photo of the service history screen. Also worth looking at the service required too, should given an inication of next oil change and brake pads etc.

[OneExtra]

If the car has had a running in oil change and one other then I would avoid, try and get a car thats had an oil change every 12 months or 5-8,000 miles

[BeachM5nster]

Originally Posted by Haroun

guys, I saw an f10 15 plate with 27k on the clock, the car looks good and service been done, but reading through most of the posts seems alot of major engine failures and replacement happened to the people's M5, I was so tempted to get it but now I'm more concerned about it's near future problems. any advices how to make sure engine is ok, any important things to check? I will be using RAC comprehensive inspection if I decided to go ahead. any information is highly appreciated.

thanks all

i respect everyone's opinions and we are all looking out for each other but sometimes u just gotta pull the trigger.

up to this point i am super happy i was blissfully ignorant when i jumped on my car. if i had checked up on it like most do, i wouldve never bought it.
my carfax alone said it was a 3 owner, rental car, and rear-ended
(none of which was true) also said it was in bmw service for 160 days (but it was for an interior trim piece that was on backorder.. crazy right?)

i didnt know about the 160 days, but i grabbed my balls and got it anyway bc i didnt care. i had to have it. not many m5's around in my area if any at all. ive seen two in 3 years. and it wasnt really in my area either i had to drive 3 hours and did it 3 times. look, buy, get old car i left (no trade, screw dealers and their BS trade crap)

but my main thing is:

WHO buys a brand new $115,000 car, much less an M5, and doesnt follow the break in rules and the 1200 mile service in the least.
i dont think that should be a concern.

however, 26,000 miles of 0w-30 and waiting every 10k miles for oil change is not optimal but doesnt necessarily spell disaster

[Snake doctor]

With these Cars I know a lot of owners change engine oil more regularly than recommend by BMW, which in my view is not really necessary.

what's most critical with these engines is the amount of oil, keeping the oil topped up between oil changes is essentially the most important factor, driving for extended periods with oil at minimum level is the worst possible condition for these engines

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by Snake doctor

With these Cars I know a lot of owners change engine oil more regularly than recommend by BMW, which in my view is not really necessary.

what's most critical with these engines is the amount of oil, keeping the oil topped up between oil changes is essentially the most important factor, driving for extended periods with oil at minimum level is the worst possible condition for these engines

I always carry a full 4 litre can of Edge in the boot cut out though some make do with just a 1 litre bottle and agree as soon as dash sign comes on then stop off somewhere safe to top it up.Some people in US have said they change theirs every 3k miles but every year with 6-7k should be ok.
It goes without saying not go by what the i-drive says concerning oil changes, oil viscosity starts breaking down as soon as you start the engine whatever the oil companies claims' for their product.

[OneExtra]

Originally Posted by Snake doctor

With these Cars I know a lot of owners change engine oil more regularly than recommend by BMW, which in my view is not really necessary.

what's most critical with these engines is the amount of oil, keeping the oil topped up between oil changes is essentially the most important factor, driving for extended periods with oil at minimum level is the worst possible condition for these engines

So in essence what you are saying is that its OK to change the oil & filter every 19,000 miles. I can 100% say this is not a good idea on an M5 engine given the issues that people are seeing.

Given how many used M5s are available you can afford to be choosy.

[OneExtra]

Originally Posted by M5theonlyone

I always carry a full 4 litre can of Edge in the boot cut out though some make do with just a 1 litre bottle and agree as soon as dash sign comes on then stop off somewhere safe to top it up.Some people in US have said they change theirs every 3k miles but every year with 6-7k should be ok.
It goes without saying not go by what the i-drive says concerning oil changes, oil viscosity starts breaking down as soon as you start the engine whatever the oil companies claims' for their product.

I dont think its necessary to drive round with 4 litres in the boot, generally you need to add a litre every 4000 give or take, if your car uses anymore than that its knackered.

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by OneExtra

I dont think its necessary to drive round with 4 litres in the boot, generally you need to add a litre every 4000 give or take, if your car uses anymore than that its knackered.

Just can't be bothered to pour into a litre bottle from a 4 ltr container and the boot cut out for the container is just right

[Snake doctor]

Originally Posted by OneExtra

So in essence what you are saying is that its OK to change the oil & filter every 19,000 miles. I can 100% say this is not a good idea on an M5 engine given the issues that people are seeing.

Given how many used M5s are available you can afford to be choosy.

I did not say or infer changing oil every 19k miles
What am saying is that get the Oil changed as required.

I have a 2015 with 25K miles and its had 3 oil changes and the spark plugs changed under the maintenance pack by BMW

[Fletch61]

It's an interesting thread and an interesting question for discussion. I'm not going to comment on what I think the oil change interval should or should not be, or what oil or what filter or the dozen other rabbit trails that discussion can down.

My comment would be one of being very careful of the ever popular forum phrase and posts "regarding major engine failures and replacements". It was on the internet so it must be true right? The problem with all of that catastrophic dooms day information is that you rarely if ever get the whole story. The guy posting forgets to mention to he takes the car to redline everytime he accelerates. Forgets to mention that he and the last two owners have done every modification to engine that they can think of. Forgets to mention that he spent thousands upon thousands of dollars on his mods but won't shell out a few hundred dollars for usual and customary maintenance. Forgets to mention that he beats the s*** out of the car and then is surprised and aghast when something breaks. These M5's are basically street legal race cars. They are running engines that are insanely powerful with hair thin tolerances and margins for error. You start screwing with that formula or abusing it and consistently running to it's limits and surprise of surprises somethings gonna break. In fact, the percentage of people who experience major engine failures and replacements relative to the total number of cars produced is very very small. Who woulda thought??

Before someone gets all twitterpated and starts puking on the thread please understand that I'm not saying that ordinary engines driven by ordinary people in ordinary M5's don't break. That can and does happen. It also happens to every over car and truck that is manufactured in the world. We just aren't on their forums reading about it. My daily driver is a 2015 RAM 1500 EcoDiesel. I am on a forum for owners of that truck. If you went by some of the negative comments about that engine on that forum you would think that every EcoDiesel that has ever been manufactured is junk and failing. My experience is the exact opposite. Consequently I take everything posted there (and here as well) with a grain of salt.

If you like the car, can accept the maintenance history to date, understand that they are not inexpensive to maintain properly and if the third party inspection gives it a clean report then buy it and enjoy it as every other M5 enthusiast on this forum does. That's what owning an M5 is all about ... Enjoying it!!

I get great value from this forum and have gotten answers on questions I have had. But that said, I also don't believe that I read!

[Fletch61]

Meant to say "I also don't believe everything that I read!

[OneExtra]

Originally Posted by Snake doctor

I did not say or infer changing oil every 19k miles
What am saying is that get the Oil changed as required.

I have a 2015 with 25K miles and its had 3 oil changes and the spark plugs changed under the maintenance pack by BMW

You said changing the oil more often than BMW suggests isn’t really necessary which given BMW I drive says an oil change is circa 19,000 miles is exactly what you were saying.

[Snake doctor]

The idrive does not say change engine oil at 19k miles nor does the BMW technical manual

[OneExtra]

I had my oil changed and it said next change is in 19,000 miles