looking to get into M5 ownership..........few question

[tinysM5]

hi guys and gals

im very very tempted to get into an f10 m5 and have a few questions if you could help me out.

i dont like going into any car ownership without knowing possible costs i may be hit with. i plan on buying through the approved used scheme and will be looking at spending around £30k so will be a 14/15/16 plate car.

engine failure scares me to death, i drive a tuned impreza at the minute and i know that if worst comes to worst the engine will cost me around £5k for a fully forged build. would the engine be covered under the warranty providing i have is serviced as per the bmw schedule and i havent modified the car? im sure i read somewhere that the 4.4 v8 lump from bmw costs around £30k which is quite frankly............insane. has anybody had one of these engines built by a specialist? what was the cost?

if a rebuild wasnt too much to swallow i would possibly look at buying private and having a slush fund just incase that happened.

are the gearboxes pretty strong? replacement/rebuild cost?

i dont drive my cars hard all the time and nor do i mistreat them but i do like to give em a good spanking now and then

i do like to modify my cars (exhaust/intake/re-map etc) im guessing that those mods will kill any warranty claim. do any of you guys run a modded f10 m5 outside of warranty with no issues?

are there any good specialists around the midlands area (im in hinckley)

any other info you could give me would be great, i was looking at audi rs6 but they are another £10k+ on their approved used scheme which puts them out of my price range.

cheers guys

[Dwaynos]

Just a tip, don't expect to get to much help from this forum, it's dead at the best of times.

The F10 M5 is a fantastic car but does have it issues. Engines do go wrong, usually con rod/rod bearing related, I'm just about to carry out a preventative rod bearing replacement. An engine would cost you around £22k, I actually priced one up when i was looking for a warranty. You can get forge kits for approx £10k but then you've got gaskets and other things to think about plus labour. The best thing for this engine is correct warm up and cool down procedures and excess maintenance, like oil changes every 5k max, or 6 months.

As for the gearbox, they are usually pretty solid. If your going to be tuning to stage 2 then expect to replace the clutches for ssp ones, which are around 3k. They do also suffer gear-rod codes which from what I've read is due to dirty magnets and sensors inside the gearbox. When I serviced my gearbox I cleaned the ones I could get to but there are some you cant.

If you do get a warranty then none of this should be an issue to you, although if you do decide to carry out performance mods to the car your warranty would become invalid.

Good luck.

[tinysM5]

Originally Posted by Dwaynos

Just a tip, don't expect to get to much help from this forum, it's dead at the best of times.

The F10 M5 is a fantastic car but does have it issues. Engines do go wrong, usually con rod/rod bearing related, I'm just about to carry out a preventative rod bearing replacement. An engine would cost you around £22k, I actually priced one up when i was looking for a warranty. You can get forge kits for approx £10k but then you've got gaskets and other things to think about plus labour. The best thing for this engine is correct warm up and cool down procedures and excess maintenance, like oil changes every 5k max, or 6 months.

As for the gearbox, they are usually pretty solid. If your going to be tuning to stage 2 then expect to replace the clutches for ssp ones, which are around 3k. They do also suffer gear-rod codes which from what I've read is due to dirty magnets and sensors inside the gearbox. When I serviced my gearbox I cleaned the ones I could get to but there are some you cant.

If you do get a warranty then none of this should be an issue to you, although if you do decide to carry out performance mods to the car your warranty would become invalid.

Good luck.

hi and thanks for the reply

i would have thought it would be a hive of activity on here as the m5 is a popular car.

i am finding it hard to see why it would cost 10k for forged pistons/rods

am i missing something? once the turbos etc have been removed its just a v8 block so........

8 pistons
8 rods
bearings
crankshaft
timing gear
head gaskets

and a few other bits and bobs. i run mahle 2618 pistons in my impreza and they were around £600+ vat for 4 so one would assume that 8 pistons depending on model would be about £1500.

such a shame its not really catered for as its a stunning car. can the rod bearings be done without the engine being pulled? will you be changing your oil grade/weight?

thanks

[GiddyAssassin]

Originally Posted by tinysM5

hi and thanks for the reply

i would have thought it would be a hive of activity on here as the m5 is a popular car.

i am finding it hard to see why it would cost 10k for forged pistons/rods

am i missing something? once the turbos etc have been removed its just a v8 block so........

8 pistons
8 rods
bearings
crankshaft
timing gear
head gaskets

and a few other bits and bobs. i run mahle 2618 pistons in my impreza and they were around £600+ vat for 4 so one would assume that 8 pistons depending on model would be about £1500.

such a shame its not really catered for as its a stunning car. can the rod bearings be done without the engine being pulled? will you be changing your oil grade/weight?

thanks

As a new M5 owner take the highest you think a part could possibly cost, and then double it and that is how much stuff costs for this car haha.

[tinysM5]

Originally Posted by GiddyAssassin

As a new M5 owner take the highest you think a part could possibly cost, and then double it and that is how much stuff costs for this car haha.

i might go with a nissan gtr then lol

[GiddyAssassin]

Originally Posted by tinysM5

i might go with a nissan gtr then lol

I think it really depends what you want out of your car. Very different classes. For me, I wanted something that was a comfortable daily driver, 4 doors that could move some people around and be fun to drive at the same time. It definitely checks the boxes in that regard.

[Dwaynos]

Originally Posted by tinysM5

hi and thanks for the reply

i would have thought it would be a hive of activity on here as the m5 is a popular car.

i am finding it hard to see why it would cost 10k for forged pistons/rods

am i missing something? once the turbos etc have been removed its just a v8 block so........

8 pistons
8 rods
bearings
crankshaft
timing gear
head gaskets

and a few other bits and bobs. i run mahle 2618 pistons in my impreza and they were around £600+ vat for 4 so one would assume that 8 pistons depending on model would be about £1500.

such a shame its not really catered for as its a stunning car. can the rod bearings be done without the engine being pulled? will you be changing your oil grade/weight?

thanks

For 10k you get a crank and sleeves, ridiculous I know but that's what we call M tax. I'm sure you could save a little bit if you shopped around and used different suppliers for different parts.

I'll be creating a thread on the rod bearing replacement and will be in the general forum at the end of the month. The engine will not need to be removed for this. My oil grade will stay the same, 0w30.

[lotus49]

Originally Posted by Dwaynos

Just a tip, don't expect to get to much help from this forum, it's dead at the best of times.

The F10 M5 is a fantastic car but does have it issues. Engines do go wrong, usually con rod/rod bearing related, I'm just about to carry out a preventative rod bearing replacement.

Out of interest, how many miles has your M5 done?

[OneExtra]

My advice would be to buy no earlier than a 2014 car that is the facelift version and to make sure it always has a fully comprehensive warranty.

Running an M5 without a warranty would take the fun out of it for me.

If you tune it then stage 1 at around 700bhp should be no issue to the engine etc if it’s maintained properly and allowed to warm up/down etc.

They are great cars with huge performance but just remember it’s a £90k car and as such has expensive parts.

Running an M5 on a budget is a fools game, look after it properly and it will be fine for years to come.

Tune it to Stage 2 and thrash it all the time and service it on a budget and you can expect issues eventually.

If you are able buy a BMW AUC approved car and keep up with the warranty and you should have a lot of fun and a worry free experience.

[Dwaynos]

Originally Posted by lotus49

Out of interest, how many miles has your M5 done?

Just turned 47k miles.

[tinysM5]

Originally Posted by OneExtra

My advice would be to buy no earlier than a 2014 car that is the facelift version and to make sure it always has a fully comprehensive warranty.

Running an M5 without a warranty would take the fun out of it for me.

If you tune it then stage 1 at around 700bhp should be no issue to the engine etc if it’s maintained properly and allowed to warm up/down etc.

They are great cars with huge performance but just remember it’s a £90k car and as such has expensive parts.

Running an M5 on a budget is a fools game, look after it properly and it will be fine for years to come.

Tune it to Stage 2 and thrash it all the time and service it on a budget and you can expect issues eventually.

If you are able buy a BMW AUC approved car and keep up with the warranty and you should have a lot of fun and a worry free experience.

Hi and thanks for the reply.

I wouldnt be able to tune it to 700bhp as it would more than likely void the warranty.

Does the auc warranty cover pretty much everything or is it like most warranties and not worth the paper its printed on?

[OneExtra]

Originally Posted by tinysM5

Hi and thanks for the reply.

I wouldnt be able to tune it to 700bhp as it would more than likely void the warranty.

Does the auc warranty cover pretty much everything or is it like most warranties and not worth the paper its printed on?

The Comprehensive BMW warranty is very good but at about £1200 a year it should be.

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by tinysM5

hi guys and gals

im very very tempted to get into an f10 m5 and have a few questions if you could help me out.

i dont like going into any car ownership without knowing possible costs i may be hit with. i plan on buying through the approved used scheme and will be looking at spending around £30k so will be a 14/15/16 plate car.

engine failure scares me to death, i drive a tuned impreza at the minute and i know that if worst comes to worst the engine will cost me around £5k for a fully forged build. would the engine be covered under the warranty providing i have is serviced as per the bmw schedule and i havent modified the car? im sure i read somewhere that the 4.4 v8 lump from bmw costs around £30k which is quite frankly............insane. has anybody had one of these engines built by a specialist? what was the cost?

if a rebuild wasnt too much to swallow i would possibly look at buying private and having a slush fund just incase that happened.

are the gearboxes pretty strong? replacement/rebuild cost?

i dont drive my cars hard all the time and nor do i mistreat them but i do like to give em a good spanking now and then

i do like to modify my cars (exhaust/intake/re-map etc) im guessing that those mods will kill any warranty claim. do any of you guys run a modded f10 m5 outside of warranty with no issues?

are there any good specialists around the midlands area (im in hinckley)

any other info you could give me would be great, i was looking at audi rs6 but they are another £10k+ on their approved used scheme which puts them out of my price range.

cheers guys

I didn't purchase an M5 to worry about replacing/rebuilding the engine and shelling out serious money for repairs.I've had mine since March '17 and have had no issues at all.25k miles when I bought it and only had oil changes every year and brake fluid at 2 years.Like any cars if you drive it hard most of the time your maintenance bill will rise astronomically in consumables,brake discs and having plugs changed at dealer are some of the things we'd rather not think about.
Don't worry about engine in spite of some stories you read on here and you'll save a packet getting a '13 or a '12 with good history at around 45k miles.They are mechanically identical to the much overhyped 'lci's.The slightly later ones have the cut off bottom ringlets on the headlights and remember it's easy to get carried away and spend a lot on accessories.Mine has no mods as I think it's rapid enough
I don't bother with warranty as it's a waste of money and if you look after your car properly it's doubtful that you ever need it.Good luck in search.

[M5Rick]

@tinysM5. Just to add the first thing I would purchase is a decent GPS speed radar detector

[Dwaynos]

Originally Posted by M5theonlyone

I didn't purchase an M5 to worry about replacing/rebuilding the engine and shelling out serious money for repairs.I've had mine since March '17 and have had no issues at all.25k miles when I bought it and only had oil changes every year and brake fluid at 2 years.Like any cars if you drive it hard most of the time your maintenance bill will rise astronomically in consumables,brake discs and having plugs changed at dealer are some of the things we'd rather not think about.
Don't worry about engine in spite of some stories you read on here and you'll save a packet getting a '13 or a '12 with good history at around 45k miles.They are mechanically identical to the much overhyped 'lci's.The slightly later ones have the cut off bottom ringlets on the headlights and remember it's easy to get carried away and spend a lot on accessories.Mine has no mods as I think it's rapid enough
I don't bother with warranty as it's a waste of money and if you look after your car properly it's doubtful that you ever need it.Good luck in search.

Every word here is true, except the engines being problem free, they do have their issues, Correct maintenance will help avoid these though.

I'll never understand why people say DO NOT buy pre LCI.

[Dormermike]

Pre LCI have better looking headlights IMO, the LED indicators look more modern.

[tinysM5]

thanks for all the input guys, i am toying with a gtr aswell but @ 6ft 8 i think i may struggle.

can somebody explain the bmw warranty to me as i am getting a little confused.

if i were to buy a car through bmw it comes with 12 months warranty,i will try and haggle in another year or two with the deal but if not could i buy the warranty through them? what would the cost be?

some people have said that once the car reaches 60k mileage they wont cover you

ive also been told that if i pay monthly the premium will never increase regardless of mileage.

cheers guys

[OneExtra]

Originally Posted by Dwaynos

Every word here is true, except the engines being problem free, they do have their issues, Correct maintenance will help avoid these though.

I'll never understand why people say DO NOT buy pre LCI.

Pre Lci steering wheel is awful in my opinion

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by OneExtra

Pre Lci steering wheel is awful in my opinion

Though I agree the first steering wheel is not the prettiest I would not hold back on buying if the car was looking good.I was fortunate to have the later one already fitted to mine and some are keen to put Motorsport suede and Alcantara wheels on to further enhance what they've got.

[Dwaynos]

Originally Posted by OneExtra

Pre Lci steering wheel is awful in my opinion

You are absolutely right but the money people are asking for them is ridiculous.

[Grizzle34]

Originally Posted by tinysM5

thanks for all the input guys, i am toying with a gtr aswell but @ 6ft 8 i think i may struggle.

can somebody explain the bmw warranty to me as i am getting a little confused.

if i were to buy a car through bmw it comes with 12 months warranty,i will try and haggle in another year or two with the deal but if not could i buy the warranty through them? what would the cost be?

some people have said that once the car reaches 60k mileage they wont cover you

ive also been told that if i pay monthly the premium will never increase regardless of mileage.

cheers guys

Alot of people on here are filling your head full of negatives and misinformation.

buying an Approved BMW through the Approved Used Car scheme comes with 12months warranty and roadside assistance.

after 12 months you have the option to extend.

If the car is under 60k miles then yes the warranty renewal will be cheaper than if the car was over 60k miles.

Rough guide here

https://thumbsnap.com/f/5bpHZGyw

As for rod bearing failure that was all down to the oil pump failing in early cars.

[Dwaynos]

Originally Posted by Grizzle34

As for rod bearing failure that was all down to the oil pump failing in early cars.

You could not be more wrong. Very few were affected by oil pump issues. Rod bearing failures happen on all years including late ones. Most oil pumps were repaired before they failed and bearings are still failing, that should tell you everything.

I wouldn't let this make the decision for me though, the M5 is a fab car, I absolutely love mine.

Get one ASAP