Buying A BMW E60 M5 Isn't A Terrible Idea When It's A Unicorn

"Torque Affair" (torqueaffair)
10/02/2016 at 17:11 • Filed to: None

Well, after many exhausting hours of continuously searching for cars, when I could be doing many more productive things with my time, like counting the number of threads in my bedsheet, I have finally found my next car to own as part of my !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! program—a 2009 E60 BMW M5.

I know exactly what you’re thinking…

These were actual tweets I received when I hinted at the fact that I just bought an M5 and yes, I could very well be entering a world of hurt, but it may not be that bad and I’ll tell you why in a little while.

I’ve been wanting to own an M5 for a long time now, and have finally found one that wasn’t the typical E60 M5 that you see on sale with an ad that goes something like this.

2006 BMW M5 for sale. 90K miles, everything replaced including blown engine, transmission, driveshaft, water pump, interior, exterior with dollar store parts. In fact it’s not even an M5. It’s a Nissan Maxima that looks like an M5. Drive a $100,000 car for only $5,000.

Most M5s for sale are beat up with high miles and have the SMG transmission that I absolutely don’t want. 80-90K miles are not a problem for the vast majority of cars, but with the finicky BMW V10, rod bearings need to be replaced as the miles go up, and since these engines have the lifespan of bananas, they tend to disintegrate quickly.

Before I get into the details of the pristine M5 that I came across, I feel compelled to talk about Craigslist for a bit. Although I have professed my love of Craigslist many times in the past and have elaborated on my own Craigslist car buying !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! with my previous purchase, this time around, I tried really hard to buy a car from somewhere else. I looked at ads from dealers on Autotrader, online car-buying sites, asked random people on the roads if I could buy theirs, but it just so happened that a couple of weeks ago, someone posted an ad for a pristine M5 on a site that’s known for people trading broken laptops for window blinds.

And it’s not just buying cars where Craigslist has proven to be so great. I sold my last car, the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , on Craigslist as well. I did the whole Autotrader thing, paid for the best version of the ads, added all the enhancements but it still ended up being Craigslist where I found the buyer for the IS-F.

Most people are still shocked to find out that I keep buying and selling cars on Craigslist. They look at me weird with this thought stamped on their face: “Isn’t Craigslist for people that want to get rid of their moving boxes? Or a cat that they hate?” Most people can’t believe that I would buy and sell used cars on Craigslist costing over thirty thousand dollars.

Before I pulled the trigger on the M5, I came close to buying a C6 Z06 from a guy in Houston that I found on—you guessed it—Craigslist, but then a day later, I stumbled upon the ad for the M5. At first it sounded too good to be true— E60 M5 with a BWM Platinum warranty till May 2017, only 41k miles, a 6 speed manual, modified exhaust and aftermarket BBS wheels. What kind of a scam was this?

I would never consider owning an E60 M5 without a warranty given all the horror stories about engines blowing up, insanely expensive repairs, and happily married couples getting divorced over BMW reliability problems. The simple fact that this particular M5 had a warranty until next year is what sold me.

Also, this was a 6 speed manual transmission which I almost never see— and it had low miles . Yep, this was a unicorn. I couldn’t have imagined a better used V10 M5 to buy.

When I checked out the car in person, everything was as stated. The owner was incredibly nice—in fact—he was probably the nicest seller that I’ve ever encountered. The interior and exterior of the car were perfect and the car was truly amazing to drive. It felt almost new.

I bought the car from him for $34K, but before I got the M5, he had the front rotors and brakes replaced, the car inspected and a rear window switch fixed under warranty at the dealer which totaled to about $1800. The tires are in decent shape but will likely need replacement during my time of ownership but that’s ok. I’m planning on putting a lot of miles on this V10 before the warranty runs out so I’m sure I will go through at least one set of tires. This is one M5 that I will enjoy the hell out of.

In terms of E60 M5 ownership, this has got to be the least financially destructive, life-destroying M5 to own. The BMW Platinum warranty appears to cover just about everything and deductible is only $50. That is a miniscule amount to pay for repairs on a car where a blown engine could cost you $25K to replace.

In talking to the seller, he mentioned that he hasn’t had to do much of anything in terms of repairs on his M5 during his time of ownership. Is it possible that I could have a reliable M5 on my hands? No… what am I thinking ..that’s like saying sumo wrestlers are physically fit.

Anyway, we’ll see what this M5 has in store for me. It’s a bit like playing around with a venomous rattlesnake. It can clamp down on you at anytime and inject all that poison into your body, slowly draining the life out of you. But let’s hope that my V10 rattlesnake doesn’t do that and plays nice. All I can say for now is that t’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve had the M5 and I can’t stop driving it.

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DISCUSSION (27)

Matt Nichelson > Torque Affair
10/02/2016 at 17:41

Awesome car. Good luck with it! Maybe it won’t hurt the wallet too much since it has low miles on it.

kanadanmajava1 > Torque Affair
10/02/2016 at 18:14

Looks quite nice. I‘m slightly jealous.

Treat the engine tenderly when it’s still cold and it should last longer. I got instructions from my S38 to keep it below 3000 rpm until the oil temperature is at least 50 °C. Some S85 owners seemed to be even more careful with the warm up (<90 °C, <2500RPM).

TheDutchTexan > Torque Affair
10/02/2016 at 19:12

That is the unicorn right there indeed! And also the E60 the europeans didn’t get! Man that must be a hoot to drive!

itranthelasttimeiparkedit > Torque Affair
10/02/2016 at 20:45

I was so close to buying one 2 years ago...then we had a kid. hah

Torque Affair > itranthelasttimeiparkedit
10/02/2016 at 21:30

hah, find one with a warranty!

Torque Affair > TheDutchTexan
10/02/2016 at 21:31

it is! forgot how much I enjoyed shifting!

Torque Affair > kanadanmajava1
10/02/2016 at 21:33

yeah, you know what happens too is it just doesn’t want to run right. It’s like waking someone up and asking them to go for a run. The engine does take quite a bit of time to warm up so whenever i start it up in the morning i usually have really pissed off people behind me wondering why I’m driving 20 mph in a 50 mph zone!

But once it warms up it drives like a dream!

Torque Affair > Matt Nichelson
10/02/2016 at 21:34

Hopefully not! The plan is to keep it for 6-8 months and then sell - before all the problems start happening and the warranty’s expired!

Matt Nichelson > Torque Affair
10/02/2016 at 22:32

Smart man. Long enough to do a nice long term test but not so long that you’ll lose all money and sanity.

Torque Affair > Matt Nichelson
10/03/2016 at 07:13

Exactly! Here’s what I’m doing http://oppositelock.kinja.com/heres-what-ive-learned-so-far-in-setting-up-my-used-car-1786502254

Matt Nichelson > Torque Affair
10/03/2016 at 08:52

Awesome. I wish you the best with it then.

StndIbnz, Drives a MSRT8 > Torque Affair
10/03/2016 at 08:58

Awesome looking car, nice buy.

V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches > Torque Affair
10/04/2016 at 11:16

After this you need to go for a short term V12 Merc test...

Torque Affair > V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches
10/05/2016 at 06:07

only if there’s a warranty!

Torque Affair > StndIbnz, Drives a MSRT8
10/05/2016 at 07:55

thanks!

V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches > Torque Affair
10/05/2016 at 09:59

It’s not that bad...I’ve only put in $7900 since I bought mine last June (?).

Torque Affair > V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches
10/05/2016 at 19:59

oh man! What required the $7900?

V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches > Torque Affair
10/05/2016 at 20:29

Multiple suspension repairs, an intercooler pump, an accessory pulley, and a radiator.

http://oppositelock.kinja.com/if-were-doing-this-heres-everything-wrong-with-my-1-1784448154

All of this plus $2600(?) for some cooling issues (hose and the radiator) I’ve had over the last few months.

Torque Affair > V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches
10/06/2016 at 19:55

wow, thats a lot of stuff! glad you’re enjoying the car though

V12 Jake- Hittin' Switches > Torque Affair
10/06/2016 at 20:09

I love it to death. The V12 is intoxicatingly fun.

m07dlrs > Torque Affair
11/01/2016 at 14:02

I also have an black, 6-speed e60 M5 in Austin. I think you beat me to my vanity plate idea...

Even coming from a garage in the mornings my car has the same hesitation you describe. I thought it was an issue with the car, glad to hear its not just me!