GorGasm 561 Report post Posted February 28, 2017 (edited) Howdy, I thought I would share my E60 M5 and maybe some shots of my 130i as well. I picked it up late November last year, it's a 2006 with 70k on the clock. Black on black with a light wood trim which I am not sure is factory spec but I think looks kinda cool, lowered on H&Rs but otherwise stock. My last car was a modified Mercedes E55 which was easily more powerful than the M5 and was a truly stupid car to drive. The M5 is on totally different level dynamically though, there is no contest between the two and I am pretty happy with the swap. The only things I miss from the E55 is the wow factor from having 800NM of torque; taking people for a ride would generally result in wide open mouths or snapped necks, and the deep V8 muscle car exhaust tone. The M5 still has great torque and truly epic pull in the upper rev ranges. The only big negatives with the car are the gearbox at low speed, which I have learned to work with, and the horrendous fuel consumption in city driving. Seriously, it's worse than the E55. No plans for mods apart from changing out the mufflers. I don't think it needs more power for our roads. So far I have: Had the dealer replace a faulty ionic current module. Removed the black plastidip that the dealer put on. Replaced the front and rear windscreen rubbers which were stuffed. Stage 3 clean and restore by OCD. Headlight restore by OC - Amazing results as they were very degraded and are now near new. Replaced engine air filters. Replaced cabin air filters. And to do: Either recondition the wheels as some of the paint came off with the plastidip or get new wheels. Replace the factory mufflers, thinking of banging in some flow masters. Here's some pics: These were taken after OCD treatment: This was it before: We also have a 130i that we bought at 25km a few years ago and is up to 70km now. We have only had one fault, the DSC pump failing which we had reconditioned at a fraction of the cost of a new pump. Other than that it has been a very reliable and enjoyable car for us. It's an 07 in white with brown leather and I really like the colour combo. I might get some photos up of my TT Legacy as well, but it's currently sitting neglected in my garage while I drive the M5. Edited February 28, 2017 by GorGasm 8 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
treone 612 Report post Posted February 28, 2017 Nice M5! Agree with you abut the SMG it does take some getting use to! Interesting comments about your experiences with the E55 and M5. My neighbour owns an E55 and having had a drive of it I agree with your comparison. The supercharged V8 is something else but personally I prefer the M5 - to me it is more refined, has a better all round quality feel, ride and handling is out of this world for a family saloon. And it just looks soooo much damn better than the merc! Looking forward to see how you progress with your upgrades. Cheers! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NZ BMW 368 Report post Posted February 28, 2017 Looks really nice, that colour combo on your 130i is great too! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GorGasm 561 Report post Posted February 28, 2017 2 hours ago, treone said: My neighbour owns an E55 and having had a drive of it I agree with your comparison. The supercharged V8 is something else but personally I prefer the M5 - to me it is more refined, has a better all round quality feel, ride and handling is out of this world for a family saloon. Pretty much. I have previously owned an E500 and the E55 feels like the same car, but with double the power and bigger brakes. The rest of the car just can't handle the power. The M5 on the other hand, feels like the whole car is engineered to be fast. Thanks for the comments! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KwS 2373 Report post Posted February 28, 2017 The E55 is a true German muscle car. All power, no refinement in the chassis. They sound good though. Your M5 looks damn good, much better than the early photos with the black wheels. Silver wheels are a great contrast. Not sure on the wood grain personally, would be nicer if it was the dark poplar or something. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
m325i 705 Report post Posted March 1, 2017 Sick m5. Looks way better without the plasti-dip. (You could try the silver plasti-dip as a cheap fix in the interim?) Never driven this SMG, but the e46 version is way better once you get used to it. There must be some kind of 'computer' mod for the m5? The e46 upgrade is a... 'game changer.' I have to ask, how bad is the consumption? How many kms do you get to a tank? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
treone 612 Report post Posted March 1, 2017 I'm interested as well - mine seems to be stuck on 17.5l/100km regardless of urban/motorway . that's what the car tells me so I'm sticking with it haha Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GorGasm 561 Report post Posted March 1, 2017 Thanks! I think there is an SMG tune you can get, but on the whole it works OK as it is. Before I bought it I drove a M135i with the 8 speed and that transmission easily outclasses the SMG, it's really quite great. In fact the whole M135i package is great and sometimes I wish I picked one of those up instead. There's also an ECU tune available, but I am going to skip all performance mods on this car as I would rather save the cash for the next car while sticking to maintaining this as is. Fuel consumption at it's best on a long drive to Rotorua was about 13.5L/100km and it can go to 26L/100km in traffic. I have had 225km per tank worst and 450km per tank best and thats a full 60L tank. My computer also seems to report 17.5 average at the moment but it also thinks a full tank is 500km haha. Current tank is just over half way and I have only done 120km. The funny thing is when you fill it up and drive 5km home and you can actually notice that the gauge has already gone down a tick. I just try to ignore it . The trim is a little weird, the VIN sheet says aluminium trim, so not sure why it has wood grain. Maybe a Japanese fetish? 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aja540i 1896 Report post Posted March 1, 2017 My consumption sits at 18.5 ! But I am pretty sure the touring uses more gas because it has more awesome to move around!! 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
m325i 705 Report post Posted March 1, 2017 OK, so pretty bad, ~$2k more per year for me than an e46 m3. 40 =bucks more per week to have an insane v10. Hmmm, stop buying coffee and you are 'even Steven'. They seem amazing value if you get a warranty and can stomach the gas... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LemonHunter 583 Report post Posted March 2, 2017 Heck, makes me feel better about my V8 Landcruiser which sits around 18-20L/100k and doesn't seem to give two shits if I'm on the open road or driving around town. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KwS 2373 Report post Posted March 3, 2017 5 hours ago, EURO V8 said: Heck, makes me feel better about my V8 Landcruiser which sits around 18-20L/100k and doesn't seem to give two shits if I'm on the open road or driving around town. Not getting the same performance though, are you? 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Michael. 2312 Report post Posted March 3, 2017 But Landcruisers are boss Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aja540i 1896 Report post Posted March 3, 2017 The previous owner of my M5 traded it on a landcruiser, not a mistake I can see myself making!! 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Michael. 2312 Report post Posted March 3, 2017 Such a change in excitement levels 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TermiPeteNZ 1302 Report post Posted March 5, 2017 Looks waaaaaaay better with the wheels back to how they should be. Like the wood tone contrast on the interior. Were the lights re-clear coated or just restored? Heard opinions both ways... 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olaf 3236 Report post Posted March 6, 2017 18 hours ago, TermiPeteNZ said: Looks waaaaaaay better with the wheels back to how they should be. yep, what Pete said. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GorGasm 561 Report post Posted March 9, 2017 (edited) On 3/6/2017 at 0:36 AM, TermiPeteNZ said: Looks waaaaaaay better with the wheels back to how they should be. Like the wood tone contrast on the interior. Were the lights re-clear coated or just restored? Heard opinions both ways... Cheers, the plastidip had a terrible finish that actually looked better dirty as the brake dust covered up imperfections. Restored and clear coated. 5 year warranty apparently. OCD have a someone that comes in to do them. Still look perfect a month later. Edited March 9, 2017 by GorGasm Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TermiPeteNZ 1302 Report post Posted March 10, 2017 10 hours ago, GorGasm said: Restored and clear coated. 5 year warranty apparently. OCD have a someone that comes in to do them. Still look perfect a month later. I had mine done on the X5 (by TidyCar) and it was a huge improvement - $150 but no clear coat - they didn't think clearcoating was a good plan for some reason. Anyway, as of today I'm the proud owner of an E60 M5 - Silverstone II with black leather and Alu trim. Epic and ridiculous vehicles. Time to sell my 545i! 6 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CSET 564 Report post Posted March 11, 2017 Looks amazing Logan such an awesome car Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LemonHunter 583 Report post Posted March 20, 2017 On 3/3/2017 at 4:58 PM, KwS said: Not getting the same performance though, are you? That Depends, If we are talking financial performance, overall motoring cost per km, I'd probably be doing alright. Even with less than half the power and probably twice the weight, when it's on a nice dirt track in L4 it still feels plenty powerful. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
