I thought they were really unreliable, electrics especially spring to mind.
BMW and M Power Owners
- Thread starter panthro
- Start date
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
I don't think they were any more unreliable than any other BMW really, the later petrol engines had issues but were carried over to the F10 anyway.
And don't mention the 2 litre diesel...
Am I getting confused with the M5?
Now there's an E60 I wouldn't want to own...
A perfectly nice looking E60 M5 sitting on Michelin PSS tyres which ran and drove, but showing a gearbox fault, attracted no bids at just £5k and remained unsold at an auction i went to last week.
Shows peoples' appetites for them!
Ha, that's some serious infamy there.
The pill would be easier to swallow if we'd have got a manual option in the UK. It would make the M5 a genuine contender for me, but even without that issue I guess there's another slew of gremlins that will pop up.
You and me both. There was a CarWow YouTube video the other day, drag-racing an M140i v E60 M5 v 840d (I think) and the M5 is still impressive to this day. I didn't think it would take the M140i.
Such a shame no manual here - US got it. No doubt there are companies that will do a swap though. SMG just a bit crap and unreliable, had a ride in E46 M3 SMG convertible and although E60 is likely greatly improved would have been much better with just a torque converter like RS6 and E63 of the era. Just gets crapper with age.
But what an engine it has
It’s 170hp up on the M140i!
It's really impressive that a 507bhp V10 out accelerated a hatchback and a diesel coupe.
Said nobody ever
Yeah, let's gloss over the considerable weight differences.
It's really impressive that a 507bhp V10 out accelerated a hatchback and a diesel coupe.
Said nobody ever
Indeed, what planet are people on when they think a non M car is going to beat an M car, even if there's 10 years difference in it.
Guy in a 330D thought his remap made his car faster than my Z4M, we did a traffic light GP, it was no real contest. M series BMW's are next level and it's why I'm pained to move into a 35iS even though it's sensible, it's just not as special a car to me.
Depends what metric to measure "beat". Of course on a track the M cars are right at home, but 0-60 times there's very little in it nowadays (E60 M5 is around 4.6s, exactly the same as the M140i), it's the modern gearing that surprised me. If you pit the M140i against an E46 M3, the M3 wouldn't keep up (nor with the M135i, which were around 10 years apart).
Have you watched the video? In the rolling race there's little in it.
The E60 M5 wins because it's got 507hp yet weighs about the same as the 8 Series. However, if you drove them all properly the E60 M5 would be significantly faster than in the video. The tests in the carwow video are set up for where the E60 M5 performs worst - it's not a good car off the line due to 2005 launch control tech (that can't be really be used on the road due to sliding and wheelspin, as demonstrated in the video), and they start the 50 mph roll in 3rd gear.
In the M5 the engine has all the power high in the rev range, and 3rd does 100mph, you see in the video it takes a while to get to the power band and it's then it just drives away from the other two. The 50mph start in 3rd means the M140i has just topped 2nd gear and is perfectly ready to go in 3rd, whereas in the M5 50mph is only just out of 1st.. starting in 3rd means you miss almost the entire of 2nd gear out.
In the M5 the engine has all the power high in the rev range, and 3rd does 100mph, you see in the video it takes a while to get to the power band and it's then it just drives away from the other two. The 50mph start in 3rd means the M140i has just topped 2nd gear and is perfectly ready to go in 3rd, whereas in the M5 50mph is only just out of 1st.. starting in 3rd means you miss almost the entire of 2nd gear out.
Last edited:
Have you seen what an 8 Series weighs?
Probably, however I got the impression the video was quite complimentary to all the cars involved.
I hadn't, but have just checked. It's lighter than the E60, which really does surprise me! But the all wheel drive is where it has a shot at all in drag race element.
Soldato
- Joined
- 10 Oct 2006
- Posts
- 3,633
For the rolling race the M5 should have been in 2nd and would have pulled away immediately the 840d would have been quicker starting in 4th where it would have kept up with the M140 a little better.
Went to see this today, got there, they had taken it to fill it up with fuel and it ran out on the way to the petrol station, and the engine management light went on and limp home mode wouldn't turn off, so no test drive for me.
They made a decent offer on my car and the cost to change, but it was wrapped up in BMW finance and both some weird paint protection thing and gap insurance, and I got them to email me the figures, and it's not at all the cost I thought it was... feel a bit perplexed and mugged off but will speak to them again tomorrow.