Please talk me out of killing myself, M5 as first car!

No, no, no.

Start low, work your way up. You'll thank yourself in the long run because you'll be in a better position to enjoy the car.

The M5 is, virtually, a supercar. It's rare, it's exotic, it's a stunning drivers car and it's really rather special. Unfortunately, it requires somebody really rather special to drive it properly, and it requires a bank balance really rather special to run it properly.

You probably have none of this - no offence, I'm ready to put my hands up and admit I don't either.

Get yourself something reasonable, run around in it for a year, then start climbing that ladder.

Grab a years NCB in a Focus 1.6 or something, and then you move to a 523i or something, and then finally, when you've got the cash and the experience and a tad more restraint (It's an age thing, even I do it sometimes) you can buy an M5 and own and run it properly.

I'd love to suggest an RSAP Mondeo instead given it still looks like a sporty saloon, still has a nice interior, has a reasonably amount of power but has neutral handling, but I'd get lynched so we'll leave it at the Focus :p

I know what its like to want one - but I've said 'When im 25' before I get mine :p

Ok, loads of people will now come in and say OMG you can easily kill yourself in a Corsa, OMG i had a 500bhp Sierra RS500 when I was 17 and I didn't die, etc etc but the facts are against you - young + power invariably leads to problems. Heck, I had to think hard about whether I was ready for a 530i and I'm 22...

Yes, people here HAVE had powerful RWD cars soon after passing but the fact more than half of them have subsequently stacked them in some sort of oversteer related incident is rather telling :p
 
Last edited:
It will cost a fortune to keep on the road. It will cost a fortune to insure. You will probably crash it.

An M5 is not first-car material. An old one, especially not.
 
If it was my first car then I would have gone for it for sure... But, now I'm a little older I thank the gods I didn't. Honestly, get something fairly nifty and RWD but not that. What about a standard clean and nice RWD BMW and learn the ropes in that otherwise you will most likely end up with no car and serious injuries or death. A guy I know got a Skyline R34 as his first car and ended up going through 3 of them because he was too inexperienced to drive them. He's lucky to be alive. I had a Citroen AX GT when I was 18 and that was fast enough for then, if I had my 200sx (RWD 280bhp) back then I think I would have had frequent brown pants moments.

Leave it a year or two to learn then get something awesome. :D
 
I highly recommend not to get a spanky car as your first car especially if you want to keep it, you hate scratches and you just recently passed or had your license. You will certainly going to get scratches, knocks etc. especially if you get a powerful car. I've only got a 1.4 Clio and I've had a few scratches, its normal. Petrol is going to hurt as well. A tank for me lasts 2 weeks (I drive a lot and I live in london) and the car isn't all that quick.
 
can you afford to run it?

forgetting that you might not be experienced enough to drive it, could you really afford all that petrol and servicing / repairs?
tyres alone wont be cheap, neither would replacement alloys ;]
 
Same old story here.
Some people are naturally good at... spelling; some drawing and some are good at driving, would you believe!
I don't really believe in this mollycoddling attitude of progressing from a 1.0 Corsa to a 1.4 Focus, to a... whatever. Something which is true though, you WILL make mistakes in your first year of driving. It's probably best to make them in a shed. Is an old BMW a shed? Almost certainly but this is not the reason to buy a stone age M5 which will cost you the earth to maintain.

In short, buy something else :)
 
s0ck said:
some drawing and some are good at driving, would you believe!

And the ones that are not will not realise they are not until they are heading, backwards, at 110mph, for a big tree in their shiney M5 which, really, as a new driver, they had nowhere near the skills required to drive it.
 
Running an old M5 will cost loads most of them in lowest price bracket will have c200k miles on them and need lots replacing. These cars cost 40-50k new so parts and servicing is not cheap even if you use an independant your still be paying a lot and that doesn't include fuel, tyres etc
 
How about a regular 5 series, something like the 523 or 528? Youi'll get a nicer example, learn to drive an RWD car and are much less likely to get it horribly wrong. The M5, if you even wave your foot NEAR the throttle, this rather large amount of power is delivered to the back wheels and will catch you out if you ain't used to it.
 
to be honest i never have liked bmws, slept on it and gone off the idea now. I only really wanted it to show off at work with. Could probably afford to run one but don't want to spend 50% plus of my spare money doing so.

Going to have look at more sensible 2.0 accord later
 
If you really want an M5 then do it. I had a 2000 model M5 and the biggest problem is that you are going obscenely fast, but it's still quiet and refined in there. 70 is like 30mph in a normal car. You have to use the speedometer.

Also - do bear in mind that;

1. It's a BMW. Once it's done a few miles all the niggles are sorted out and they pretty much go for ever with regular servicing.
2. A main service is in the region of £1000, so make sure it's just had one.
3. The rear tyres will last 10,000-15,000 miles on motorways and 5,500-10,000 in the town, depending on how much you like being the first one away from the lights. You are recommended to replace them as a pair and you are looking at £300 each.
4. It'll do 11-20mpg in town. Honestly. On a long run you can get 30mpg.
5. The realistic running cost is about £1/mile. I know this because my old Finance Director showed me the bills for mine after 2 years and 80,000 miles.

Oh, and everyone will think you're a grandad as it looks like a 518i with big alloys.

Seriously - use your noodle man. Use your money as deposit on a Mini Cooper S and get the same real-world performance, similar interior space and much more credibility with your peers.
 
I suggest you purchase one, then crash it into a wall.

Thats the only thing you will do with the car, other than drive it for a few seconds :p

Save ya money.
 
Back
Top Bottom