All these problems scare me..but u know what? This has been my dream car for years and now that they are cheap I'm finally looking to buy one you only live once!!
they are not as unreliable as they say on RU-vid. i have one with 80k miles 2006 in priston condition. I don't ride hard, I don't push M botton like anyone else does (maybe few times a month). i did have to replace clutch 2 weeks ago $3200.. my bearings are perfect, my vanos lines are good, and i did replace SMG pump at 65k miles $4000. these cars are cheap nowadays but keep in mind maintenance is like carring for a $120k car. oil change every 3k miles $280 i do it myself. let the car get to the right temp before riding (no rpm over 3k). its a fun car but got to have some.money saved up for surprises. good luck!
Today is Feb 27 2019, my daily driver E60 M5 has been bulletproof reliable, normal stuff like an alternator and the feared throttle actuators have been the only normal replacement at 60k so far. (big deal) the actuators were cheap, get them from england at half the price and get a qualified local BMW specialist to do it in a morning for $500, you'll spend more on a Toyota Camry new set of shocks.
@@dzionisis maybe I just didn't believe the hype. I heard the same thing before I bought my E46 M3, and 1988 Porsche 911 Cabriolet, few issues if any. Many people who don't have the money or the balls to buy one of these cars, like to ruin it for everybody else, so they project their fears on others. Their thinking is "if I can't have it, no one will".. Take your time shopping, have our mechanic check it out (no seller objects to check ups as long as you pay for the $70) buy a car from a reliable owner, not some kid that red-lines it on a cold engine daily and you will be fine.
Can get a sl v10 can get a vw v10 can get an audi s8 v10 he'll can get v12s as well. It's not that hard to find a v10 more reliable. Its just people love bmws and I agree this particular v10 is immense. Just better on the wallet to get an s8.
"unreliability" ? the thing is been solid reliable since I bought it, if you take care of the car and do not do stupid things with it (like daily launches) the car is solid and dependable. Its my daily driver even in 8 degrees below zero weather.
Eh that's not really true. I own one as well. There is no fix for the rod bearings, SMG problems, other fairly expensive problem areas. Sure, you can just fix everything before it breaks, and you'll spend thousands and thousands a year anyway. I love my car, and I am hoping I don't have to sell it any time soon - but to pretend it's as reliable as anything else is just not true. And yes, I do daily mine, winter too. And I've got the repair bills to back up what I'm saying here.
I have to say something about all this. I currently own my 2nd E60 M5, both bought used. I, for safety sake had my rod bearings replaced at 72K, one had minor scuffing. I have read numerous posts/blogs, where they say the bearings are to soft. NONSENSE. Living just outside the Seattle area for issues I don't trust my skills on, I use two independent BMW shops, Strictly BMW in Bellevue Wa, and Eastside Bavarian in Issaquah Wa. Both, and the M division of Seattle BMW have all told me the same thing. People do not know how to warm this engine up correctly before accelerating correctly. They think the temp gauge is water, it is not, it is oil, on the head up display the tach will stay in the yellow area 4/4.5Krpm until completely warmed, many, many owners don't do that. This engines redline is about 8,400rpm, if you go anywhere near that number before it is thoroughly warmed up, you are going to damage bearings. It is always helpful to read the manual with the car, but being men, most don't, they start it up, hit the highway/freeway and kick it in the caboose.
Wow! Ferrari and F10 in the garage, e60 m5 as a "beater" talk about 1st world problems!!, good on you for looking after it though, these will appreciate as cars get more and more boring.
This video literally killed any hope of me buying a V10 M5/M6. I'd love to own one and don't mind DIY but this is just too much to worry over. (Love this channel btw).
The connecting rod bearings are part # 11247841702 and 11247841703, top and bottom. They were used on every single S85 V10 and S65 V8 car that BMW made. There were no revisions, so all cars will be affected by pre-mature bearing wear.
I own one, 2006, no issues, awesome vehicle, if you research you will see all serious problems and there is only a few of them can all be fixed within$2-$5K if you get one $70K discounted, say you pay $20, you area way ahead of the game! hell its the low price you can get them for right now that makes them so irresistible and great proposition. But if you are still scared, this car is not for you, there are always Honda Accords out there lol happy motoring!
Unplug the IBS Cable in the boot that's connected to your battery...it helps with loads of electric gremlins...I had a bmw m6 and did this...game changer...
I drive a 2005 Altima 3.5L with 142,000 all original miles on all shocks, motor, trans, ALL accessories, electrical parts, etc. Brakes, tires, oil, and use. 12 years of everyday back and forth. Seriously the most reliable car I've ever owned. It's not babied either.
most of the time the top bearings are more damaged compared to the bottom ones (they get all the force when the piston comes down). great job man, you can clearly see you love these cars. I have never seen a M5 E60 with no errors :)
Look at Exotic Car Play Place. He has figured out that the rod bearing issue is directly related to using oil that is too thick. The 10w/60 that BMW used and recommended for these engines is far too viscous for an engine that has internal tolerances as tight as the S-85 or S-65. He's not the only one who has determined that switching to 0w/30 or 40 will make that engine as reliable and durable as any Honda. This also effects the life of the VANOS pumps.
The E60 is awesomely sorted. Good idea to install 4 brand new wheel hub bearing assemblies with that mileage. It may surprise you how smooth the ride and handling improves.
Absolutely love the detail in your videos. Perfect for OCD and detail oriented people like myself. Damn though 80k on rod bearings your dad run 6000 rpm all day?
Thanks for the feedback! Actually, quite the opposite. It very rarely exceeds 4,000RPM. Most of it's live is cruising along on the highway at 80mph in 7th gear.
E39Source I guess my humor is too abstract.... I know it’s a bad design I watched the video lol. And I knew this before the video from another owner. I was just playing.
Omg 😲 I didn't buy an m5 e39 because of the maintenance but holy crap the e60 seems like a nightmare! I'm kool with my 525 and 540, wrenching on these cars is not to bad
SMG isn't bad at all IF you keep it in manual mode. I have driven mine in that mode since I got it new ('06) Just lift on the throttle a little bit when changing gears. Auto is just awful.
Ha! Totally thought that diesel noise at the end of the vid was HORRENDOUS Vanos noise on the e39 m5 and then i saw the delivery truck... great vid as always Ryan.
First off I must say, the best looking 06 M5 out there. Now, my question is the rod bearing job with the oil chain thing Vanos line and whatever for $3,200 was done in the dealer? Id guess not but would still like to get an answer from you. Thanks
$3200 wow. I was thinking you was going to say $5,000. When that engine came out I didn't like it because it was peaking too high to only make 500 hp. I had the chance to buy an 07 but I checked the oil cap and the sludge was milky. I thought the head gasket was weak.
Great looking car. I have a 2010 E-60. Just has 12K miles on it, garage queen big time. I bought it with 9K in 2012. No problem yet. I did just replace the battery and had the original tires replaced with the Pilot Sport 4S units. I used it for canyon fun runs to my sister in Acton so Angeles crest and Angeles forest hwy. Doing a track day at "Bimmerfest" at Cal. Speedway, my first track day tomorrow. Hope it does not let me down. Of about 60 BMW I'm the only E-60 on the rooster. Not a good sign. Oh well, I'm still going to hammer it.
Report on track day.......... 4 session, novice class, point by on 2 straight aways. Pushed hard, instruction at meeting told the crowd to turn on your driver aids on if you have them, so I did. Traction control light was on a lot in the corners. In the end I learn that it really hurts the drive out of corners by not letting the engine power up even if you have the pedal pressed.Light on dash had to go off that traction control off before engine was allowed to make good power. It would go into a limp mode kinda thing when light was on. I wanted to go fast from the get go so the cars electronics were saving me big time. I'm sure if anti lock and DCS were off I would had spun. If I do it again the DCS will be off and will have to learn the limits by slowing advancing my skills. Only one car needed a point by . It was a old M3 gutted with roll cage and he got me in the corners but I had him in the straights. Late braking was where everybody was blowing it. They broke way to early and I was hammering it. I was a blast. I have stock exhaust so very hard to ear shift points so I hit the rev limiter once. My new tires took a beating. If it means anything my time was 2:06 sec. I was hanging it out big time except in the nascar oval turn. 140mph in but hit the brakes slightly before the apex and little power out. Lost time by being chicken there. I'm sure the tires and car had more.
Thanks for the report! Sounds like you learned a lot about your car and had a fun time. I've never tracked mine or been in one on a track, I guess it's just not my thing. Definitely a good, legal, and relatively safe place to feel out the limits though.
Only put the best oil in! There are huge differences in oil film strength between what we think that should be a better oil, and what really is! There are huge variations across the same brand! Quiz... which one has better oil film strength/which one would you buy? Who can get 5 out of 5? The oil film strength across all of the oils below is as much as 5 times different. 1. Motul 8100 X-clean C3 5W40 or Total Quartz 9000 Energy 5W40 2. Castrol Magnatec C3 5W40 or Valvoline MaxLife 5W40 3. Mobil 1 New Life 0W40 or Mobil 1 ESP 0W40 4. Shell Helix Ultra ECT C3 5W30 or BMW TwinPower Turbo LongLife-04 5W30 5. Mobil Super 3000 X1 5W40 or Millers oils Nanodrive EE Longlife 5W40
Wow, really cool video. Regarding the rod bearings- I could have sworn there was an aftermarket solution that addressed the abnormally short wear. I suppose BMW wouldn't warranty that. Kind of sad though considering Honda has been putting 8000 RPM engines in cars 1/5th the price for 30 years. Nothing like an M5 though.
Lovely car but they are very tempremental. I had the E63 M6 for 18 months and it went back to the main dealer 8 times to have something fixed. Clutch Flywheel Clutch position sensor Parking sensor Power steering pump failure Throttle actuators Thermostat Lower radiator VANOS valves replaced Fortunately all under warranty but it made resent the car and ultimately get rid of it. They are EPIC when working though and that V10 is glorious at full chat but never again for me.
Beautiful, well-cared for example. Great looking car. Video does a great job of outlining why the value is where it is...too bad. That V-10 is a wonderful sounding engine.
The only thing I don't like about my LCI E60. If it has Bi-Xenons, then only one bulb/LED lights both rings and the way it's positioned, it illuminates the inner rings brighter than the outer ones. The Halogen headlights however, for some bizarre reason has separate bulbs/LEDs illuminating each ring.
What’s interesting to me is how the e60 M5 seems to get much more attention and wary attitudes from potential buyers than the e92 does which makes no sense at all. I still kind of want a 2002 m3/M5/z3 m coupe, and a 2008 variant of the same cars
hi I've the same E60 (2009 model), I;ve the same problem with the rear windscreen shield. May I know where can we find the rear windscreen shield online.
Excellent video. Thanks for sharing. I'm trading in my BMW for a totally different brand. Although they look fantastic and are extremely fun to drive, they eventually reach a point where they lose tremendous value (as you pointed out), and I can no longer justify the cost of repairs. It would be a tad easier if I was retired... I could do the work myself. But, I'm ready to move on.
Ok, I was REALLY wanting an E60 M5, but after watching this, forget about it... I'd be broke as a joke... Just like the old saying goes, "Nothing's more expensive than a cheap BMW..."
Same this guy in my area is selling his for 23000 with 65k miles on it. Not bad but after doing extensive research I unfortunately do not make the money to own this car and pay 3k every month. I'm going with a 2012 super bee 6.4. Much more reliable.
This car sucks with a manual, it’s meant to have 7 gears. In my opinion I think you should do a dct swap. Gintani has successfully dct swapped an e60 m5. If you’re serious about a trans swap, I think dct is the way the go. The manual isn’t great in the e60. It’s a 5 series trans, you loose cruise control and it’s never going to be the same, so if you’re willing to deal with that, might as well go with the dct swap. You could buy a salvage dct e90 m3 from the auction and source the trans from that, and then part out the rest of the car to offset the price a little
The manual came from the E39 M5, and was again used in the F10 M5. Cruise control wouldn't be lost. I've never driven an E60 M5 with a manual, but it has to make the driving experience better!
Systemic Lupus people have been suggesting since the car released the manual that came only after mass appeal from BMW owners club of America and only to the US that the manual wasn’t properly suited to this engine as it was never designed to have one and it limits your ability to enjoy running this engine out to its redline as often. While sure the gearing point is valid, otherwise the claim is largely speculation, Matt Farah has a video on a manual m5 that covers it pretty well
What in fucking Earth are you on about??? Have you even driven a manual m6 or m6?? That’s the piece missing with these raw and vicious machine! And it makes it timeless. I’m currently searching a trans for swapping my m6 after driving a manual one.
E39Source, LLC all smg to manual e46 m3s I’ve owned never had working cruise control, so that’s why I suggested that. But all in all, it would be fun, but I just didn’t enjoy the manual e60.
I was actually considering a Jaguar XFR over one of these or a E63AMG. That V10 going through rod bearings is just too much for me to consider one as a daily driver.
The manual transmission for the E60 M5s were nothing more than an afterthought, exclusively for the North American market. The transmission was carried directly over from the 550i. In early cars, you had to get a software update from the dealer to be able to fully disable DSC. The E39 was the last true manual transmission M5.
It was a correction to the design and function of the car. The transmission used was the same as an E39 M5 and any V8 6-speed BMW from that time, the Getrag 420g.
yes, a nice quality manual trans. indeed and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE BMW's version of manual, silky smooth and strong precise at the same time. However, I wanted 7 speeds, not 6 so I opted for the SMG which so far has performed flawlessly.
Great video, I live in Southern California (Rancho Cucamonga) can you recommend a good bmw shop to do my rod bearings? As I want to get mine done because I don't have any records to know if they've ever been done. New owner of my e60 M5 (1 month now) and I want to prevent ruining my motor. Any help would be greatly appreciated Thanks
That's sure in fantastic condition, love the color --I watch Exotic Car Play place and he does his share of E-60 vids, he also talks about rod bearing issue issues though he hasn't had any YET but he did the actuators, basically its an expensive to maintain 4 door toy and owners need to be prepared to take a huge loss when selling especially if they bought new. Sad such a beautiful car is plagued with some many 'issues' thus making resale very lowHow is the performance of the F-10 VS the E-60?
Use 5w50 weight oil for S85 and S65 10w60 is way tooo thick.. look up troyjeup.. you will not have an issue with rod bearing with a good 5w50 weight oil.
What rod bearings did you go with? If its not BE Bearings, is there a reason why you did not choose extra clearance? Do you think an aftermarket warranty would make sense with this car?
Factory rod bearings. Aftermarket parts are just a gray area. The OE ones are a known quality, even if they require replacement every ~80k miles. Owning one of these with any kind of capable warranty would be very wise.
Gary, just a quick question since you mention transmission, are you considering manual swap? Asking because someone with another channel feels that engine's power characteristics aren't really best suited for the manual transmission ratios, just your thoughts
I have heard that from a people as well. To me it sounds like somebody's reason to convince themselves that the 7-speed SMG is worth keeping. Eve if the gear ratios aren't quite as suiting, the driving experience and reliability of the manual would make it 100% worth it to me.
A very good and detailed video👍 I heard you say it's still for sale for a right price, and with all the maintenance that's been done to it would be probably well worth it. What's the sale price on it now. Please let me know as soon as you can. Thank you.
E39Source Yea $30 is a bit high since the 2013 F10 M5 is around $40 with higher millage like 80k on it now a days. Still worth it with all the maintenance that was done to it.
Yeah we don't expect to sell it for that, and even if somebody offered cash theres a good chance we'd still decline. Seeing that the last 12 months have seen over $11,000 in maintenance and improvements.
If I bought one of these at this point realistically I think I’d buy one with a bad motor for cheap and just put the saved money towards buying/installing one of the stroked out examples of these motors
Is it possible to change out the rod bearings without pulling the engine? This car can survive in So. Cal-anywhere else it would be junked. I live near Boston-and old Bimmers are never seen (they rot away due to wintertime slat).
Hey I also live in San Diego and own a 2007 E60 m5 with 101,000 miles on it and since I will probably be needing to change my rod bearings after I do an oil analysis. I was wondering where you went to get the rod bearings replaced for $3200.00. Also I was wondering your thoughts on getting aftermarket rod bearings? By the way you did an excellent job with the video. I look forward to your response. Alex
Hi Alex, we went to B&B Autohaus on Balboa avenue. I don't know if aftermarket bearings are even available. But if they were, I doubt that I'd use them. Even stock ones get a solid 75k, which is 6-10 years of normal driving.
Personally, I would have done an oil change, wait a couple miles and then do the test. 11,000 might not be an accurate reading. Correct me if I am wrong!
Quick question for you: How do I check if my suspension is still good on my e60 M5? I've had mine since new, an '06 as well, and I feel like they've hardened over the years. Thanks and great vids.
A visual inspection of everything is the best way to determine that. Get under the car and inspect the bushings for signs of cracks/leaking/wear. Make sure that struts rebound without extra bouncing too.
