E61 M5 Touring

[Daffy]

Does anyone know if there were any engine mods/revisions in the M5 Touring lineup?

I was just perusing the AUC website and noticed that the only 09 car has significantly better MPG figures than the 07/08 cars. However, no information i can find suggests any revisions...

Anyone got any ideas?

M.

 

[mmm-five]

I hope they put a bigger tank in it, as I couldn't get more than 200 miles to a tank on the one I borrowed for a couple of weeks. It was deceptively quick though.

I know they did small revisions to the gearbox software throughout the build cycle and some cosmetic/facelift stuff (mirrors, i-drive, etc.), but don't remember any engine changes. It could also simply be an AUC website error - as I've seen them claiming the Z4M is a 5-door, or a V8 in the past.

 

[Mitch89]

I expect gearbox software tweaks may have had an effect on average economy, what do you mean by "significant"?

 

[Daffy]

I hope they put a bigger tank in it, as I couldn't get more than 200 miles to a tank on the one I borrowed for a couple of weeks. It was deceptively quick though.

I know they did small revisions to the gearbox software throughout the build cycle and some cosmetic/facelift stuff (mirrors, i-drive, etc.), but don't remember any engine changes. It could also simply be an AUC website error - as I've seen them claiming the Z4M is a 5-door, or a V8 in the past.

I'm seriously considering one at the moment, but am quite terrified by the clutch/ general reliability horror stories!

I'm resigned to the mpg, but was surprised to see an 09 car quoting 26.3mpg extra urban...

 

[Andy]

I love the e61 v10 sooo much, epic car. Got a saved search on ebay so i see them every time they come up I'd love to get one & put it away for a few years.

All E61 V10s were 2007+ so were the "LCI" update, with the buttons below the idrive & different led tail lights but the only other changes I can find midrange are to do with the iDrive software, in the 09 you get the much newer OS and the hard drive, no longer DVD based.

Can't see anything about engine / emissions / economy changes tho

[youtube]LcEqOAWOWIo[/youtube]

 

[Wondermike]

Wow surprised to see it so close to the GTR - I thought on the first run the GTR driver had something caught under the throttle pedal preventing it from being fully depressed.



[Breaker]In the real world would a 535d be much slower though?[/Breaker]

 

[Guiseley]

Another fan of the e61 m5 here too - got a looky likey 525, but a debadged m would appeal greatly ( yet to convince the mrs though!)

 

[mmm-five]

I'm resigned to the mpg, but was surprised to see an 09 car quoting 26.3mpg extra urban...

I couldn't get above 20mpg, and that was taking it relatively easy (i.e. no more than 80mph, and no hard acceleration) on a 100 mile motorway drive. If I took the cross-country route - less miles, but more fun - I was lucky to get double-figures.

However, both of those poor figures could have simply been down to it being a new car to me (only borrowed it for 2 weeks from a friendly dealer whilst my e34 M5 was getting some work done), and not driving it the way you would once you were used to it's power delivery. Maybe I was in too low/high a gear - as I kept the gearbox in manual mode and used the paddles.

 

[Andy]

Very expensive to run & a high spec 520d or 525d 6cyl is such a good economical car it's hard to justify, but oh-so-cool.

If the Zed gets retired into a barn, I'd love a low-mileage Interlagos E61 M parked up next to it.

Having said all this, the 367bhp v8 550i Touring was also a very cool Q-car..

 

[mrlozzer]

The E60/61 M5s are just awesome. I just don't know how much of that power you would get to use on a day-to-day basis. The 535d is a superb car, as are the 545i and 550i.

I love the fact that my 545i is debadged. Anyone who knows their BMWs can see it's not an M5, but out on the road they presume it's a tarted up rep-spec 520d.... not for long though!

 

[flimper]

Are E61 M5 Tourings left hand drive only?

 

[mmm-five]

Are E61 M5 Tourings left hand drive only?

No.

 

[mrlozzer]

E34 M5 Tourings were LHD only. There was no production E39 M5 Touring model. E61s M5 available in RHD. Yippee!

 

[Daffy]

Yup, RHD and can be had for <£25k.

Sadly the one I had my eye on will need: brakes, service, brake service, and either a warranty or a clutch, or knowing my luck...both.

Brakes will be £1500, service will be £1500, warranty will be £1000, clutch would be £2700! That's a minimum of £4k to spend, possibly as much as 7 on a car thats only done 35k miles!

They're chuffing expensive to run!

Pondering my options time, me thinks.

E46 M3....nah,
E90 M3....would need to be DCT, and I don't have £31k
RS6....would have to be a C5....I don't think so,
RS4 avant.....again, £22k for a high ish miler....

What else is there?

 

[mrlozzer]

Yup, RHD and can be had for <£25k.

Sadly the one I had my eye on will need: brakes, service, brake service, and either a warranty or a clutch, or knowing my luck...both.

Brakes will be £1500, service will be £1500, warranty will be £1000, clutch would be £2700! That's a minimum of £4k to spend, possibly as much as 7 on a car thats only done 35k miles!

They're chuffing expensive to run!

Pondering my options time, me thinks.

E46 M3....nah,
E90 M3....would need to be DCT, and I don't have £31k
RS6....would have to be a C5....I don't think so,
RS4 avant.....again, £22k for a high ish miler....

What else is there?

...and there's the problem in a nutshell. They might not be £70k any more, but you've got to have seriously deep pockets to run them.

A decent E61 550i M Sport would be anywhere from £5k to £10k less to buy and substantially cheaper to service / repair... and still one hell of a car

 

[flimper]

E34 M5 Tourings were LHD only

I knew I'd read something recently, must have been confusing it with the E34 then

 

[Daffy]

...and there's the problem in a nutshell. They might not be £70k any more, but you've got to have seriously deep pockets to run them.

A decent E61 550i M Sport would be anywhere from £5k to £10k less to buy and substantially cheaper to service / repair... and still one hell of a car

True, but look at redisiduals on an e39 540i touring; they're now between £1500 and £4k, whereas a good M5 can't be had for less than £8k, with a low miles example being £10-12k.

Given the cost of entry for new M5s I think they'll start to stabilise.

 

[mrlozzer]

True, but look at redisiduals on an e39 540i touring; they're now between £1500 and £4k, whereas a good M5 can't be had for less than £8k, with a low miles example being £10-12k.

Given the cost of entry for new M5s I think they'll start to stabilise.

You've got a point there. I've just heard that far fewer indie BMW specialists do servicing work on the V10s than the older V8 E39 M5s, so it is probably easier / cheaper to get an old E39 'up to scratch' if it hasn't been properly cared for before than doing the same with a V10 E60/61. If prices settle around about the £10k - £12k - as with the E39s, and you can find a good garage, it's probably a good long-term investment.

I've just got a nagging suspicion that the E60s aren't that well screwed together. My 545i is a lot less solid than an E34 5er I had a few years back. You wouldn't bet against an E60 M5 becoming a bona fide classic though

 

[Mitch89]

Wish they brought V8 E61s here

 

[mmm-five]

Given the cost of entry for new M5s I think they'll start to stabilise.

If they follow the pattern of every other generation of M5, then they'll drop to £3k, be bought by people who can't afford to maintain them, and then be stripped for parts.

Then you'll get a couple where the owners look after them, but can't sell them as the market says they're only worth £3k - so they keep them.

Then the crap ones disappear and you start to see the well looked after ones rising in price - after about 20 years though.

However, the difference between the older M5s and the newer ones is the amount sold. In the UK there were only about 1000 e34 M5s sold (similar to Z4M numbers). So as a few were crashed/stolen/stripped the numbers still on the road dropped quite quickly. So if you wanted a decent one you had to look much harder, longer, and pay more - which increased asking prices.

I can't see that happening to the e39/e6x for a long time, as they were sold in much greater numbers in the first place.