E39 M5 advice

beermonster · 1 May 2008 at 22:30

After much careful thought, research and consideration i've decided that the time is right for me to purchase an M5, financially im secure job wise, have no other debts other than mortgage, and feel that my Japanese car run has come to an end, i love the 350z but 2 seats wont cut it R33 getting a bit too old for my likinng. R34 out my budget, so i have my eye on a facelift 2000 model with lots of extras, FBMWSH, 110K miles, 3 owners everything working recent clutch all original paint no acc damage, up for 13.5k but what is a realistic price, ive seen early facelfits from 10k - 18k with similar spec, are people just asking to much, some too little? i would think 12k would be about right. its my 1st venture in to german terriotory but ive always loved the m5 for its descreteness. from what i can see current market trends for this type of car is slow to move as its so specialised and with current tax/petrol prices. can i use this as a bargaining tool?

beermonster · 1 May 2008 at 22:49

[TW]Fox;11610996 said:
And I think it wont. £10k is absolute bottom of the M5 market - £10k ones tend to be high mileage prefacelift ones and/or shabby in some way. And you dont want anything other than a mint M5.

Besides - you want a facelift model anyway - October 2000 onwards. Make sure you get one with the Comms pack and without heritage leather.

the one ive narrowed down as mention in orignal post has the black with blue leather, breyer wood, upgraded dvd sat nav, most are high mileage but the price variance is the only thing that throws me, upto 8k for the same year model

beermonster · 1 May 2008 at 22:59

[TW]Fox;11611065 said:
Whilst I'm sure you love your XJR it's no M5, and this is a thread about the M5.

OP - the M5 is VERY price sensitive to mileage which accounts for some of the huge differences you are finding. The costs of potential failiure on an M5 are enormous so people tend to be more wary about higher mileage than they would be on other cars and this is reflected in the price. You need more than £20k for a mint low mileage 03 plate example yet a 99 with 120k on it is yours for £11k..

the milleage doesnt scare me that much, these are german engineered cars so 100k+ if fully serviced to me seems a better buy than a privately owned scrimped and scraped low miler, ive just never seen such variance in price on a car before, i guess i will have to tread very carefully and view a few to see the diference if any in the prices being banded around. cheers for the advice!

beermonster · 1 May 2008 at 23:07

lol you guys eat too much red meat, chill abit, i have 2 to look at this weekend i wont make any rash decisions its not like buying a ford focus i know that for sure,

beermonster · 1 May 2008 at 23:16

silverstone blue M5 is why its 9k horrible colour imo

beermonster · 1 May 2008 at 23:28

i have to agree with fox here, 9k for an m5 is way too cheap, it will definately be the runt of the family, looks are nothing when considering cars of this type, times are desperate but people that own these cars wont be in a hurry to shift them that cheap unless they're up the creek without a paddle

beermonster · 1 May 2008 at 23:35

ok this threads gone way off topic but the general idea is get a 2nd oppinion and anything too cheap usually is for a reason

beermonster · 1 May 2008 at 23:44

only R34 id considered is a GTR but way out my budget, i wouldn't consider any type of jaguar except a daimler double six but hardly practical

beermonster · 3 May 2008 at 00:12

the one i looked at today was le mans blue a beautiful colour, no dings dents a few stone chips on the lower bumper and leading edge of the bonnet but to be expected from an 8 year old car, full nappa leather, sat nav tv dsp, extra rear blinds, new clutch, headlights and fogs replaced it was imaculate inside, not a single scuff inside anywhere everything worked, stacked service history file, all the original purchase docs, manuals pristine, full tool kit, new tyres, brakes looked new. and the peformance wow, simply amazing, i dropped it into 3rd and floored it and the traction control kicked in! fantastic car. but not gonna get sucked in and gonna look at some more but, could not find a single fault, engined purred nothing squeaked, i could not find a single thing wrong with it, and i spent 2 hours goin over it and testing. so its top of the list so far.

beermonster · 3 May 2008 at 17:05

i plan to keep it 3 years at least so want a fairly tidy one, looked at another one today up for £10k and i can see why it was cheaper, it wasnt a nail by any standards but had scuffs and a few scrapes and a bit more wear than the one i looked at yesterday, had vanos rattle to that didnt go away, you dont wanna lift the bonnet on an M5 and it sounds like a diesel. i will pass on this one for sure but it was a nice car just not great.

beermonster · 3 May 2008 at 21:51

PeterNem said:
The whole point of a performance BMW is that it's as good as compromise as you can get really... it's meant to be used all the time.

If it's for weekend use only you sacrifice the comfort and get something like an Elise.

my thoughts exactly and the M5 IS an everyday performance car , no point buying it if its gonna be locked away , its such an involved drive (i only went on a half hour test drive) and has so many sides, great at cruising, docile in town, straight line performance, handling the twistys. cant wait to own one now, just need to check a few more out and make my mind up