GorGasm

Why? That's what their own website says they are. In regards to the article, yes the LK01 appears to be terrible, but it wouldn't be so bad if the scales started at 0. It's still near the back of the pack, especially in the wet, but they aren't the end of the world. Should you buy them? Up to you. Do you want to save money? Do you push the limits? Are you a careful driver?

Coils I reckon. It had a rough idle for a while and then got bad enough to misfire higher in the RPM range. New plugs fixed it, plugs aren't very old so I would hope it's not them.

You can road tune

A warranty on an M5 will be around $4k+ for 2 years. You are literally gambling. You could go with and older car and a warranty and then have no issues like I did, effectively paying 4 grand for nothing. Or you could have heaps of moderate issues and you get a decent return on your warranty investment. Or you could have a major issue which costs 20k to fix at which point your warrant only covers half of that. In my opinion the cards are firmly stacked in the insurers favour when it comes to M or other "exotic" cars. Better off stashing the money in the bank. The $1800 4 year warranty on our 535i is much better value IMO. Personally I would fish for the best $40-50k example and fix anything that breaks along the way.

A 20km car could have had the same usage as a 100km car. It depends on where and how it's used. With that in mind you can get munted low mileage cars and cars at 200km that feel new.

Maser has been fine since it's first issues with the dealer (12 months in). To be honest all my euros have been similar repair wise. (M5, 130i, 535i, E500, E55, S4). Maybe the Mercs were a bit cheaper. The Maser service costs are the most expensive though, mainly as there aren't any indy's here. Same with Alfa, I don't care for Winger Maser/Alfa at all. Winger Subaru I was happy with. After more browsing, it really does look like a 130i manual is the best/most fun BMW you can get for under 10 grand.

Failing to see the difference between that and a BMW?

Bored and browsing. Want! https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/alfa-romeo/auction-2637514215.htm?rsqid=05f9715a23cc4d9ea2977f652a1d4501-00

That's performance BMW life for you. Wait til your 130i/330i ABS/DSC pump fails. To OP, enjoy the 330i. A nice all rounder.

And that's why M cars are M cars.

Benz is no worse than BMW for costs. But I certainly wouldn't buy a c32/c55, just not fun.

Uhhh, you could just get a C55 instead? https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/mercedesbenz/auction-2582066460.htm?rsqid=fe496c989eae427bb642d23c466d7606-001

Haha 130i's representing. Looks like you could get a 130i, Z4 3.0, E9x 330i, E6x 530/545/550. Any of the 3.0 cars would be pretty good I guess, but I wouldn't be smiling every time I got in... A V8 with a tickled exhaust might fit the bill. Non-BMW: Buy an Audi: https://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/audi/auction-2636334185.htm?rsqid=c555cba4fc8e4d83bc2e3b88ca2cef7b-002 Honda Euro R's are immense fun as well.

I'd pay $1000. It sounds like a dick of a job and I would rather spend my time doing my job to pay for it. I sometimes hate the kiwi DIY attitude. Paying people to do jobs makes the world go round.

Change the wood trim to faux carbon or something else dark, give the leather a super duper clean and then I think it would actually look pretty nice. Wood trim has to go on dark interior color.

Try driving in Auckland traffic and watch it hit 18

You need a center muffler if you want to make it quieter. Resonators won't do sh*t unless they magically nail the right frequency. edit: I still think there's a gap in the market for someone that can crunch the math and make exhausts with hemholtz resonators to eliminate drone using standard materials to keep costs down.

To be honest, E60/E92 M car ownership isn't THAT bad provided you get one that isn't a bomb and you own it longer term. You could get one that doesn't need anything other than basic services for a few years, or you might be unlucky and get one where every single sensor decides to die and the bearings go, in that case you are f**ked. Given that my very tidy M5 went for $20k and only had 90km on the clock, add another 7.5k on it for for bearings and $5k for clutch and at $32.5k it's still a pretty capable and unique car for the money. The big worry for me is the perceived costs and reliability driving away potential buyers at resale, so you potentially are stuck with the car for a long while, or will have to lose a bunch on resale. If you are going to own long term then you may have to squirrel away $7.5k for bearings depending on mileage, but just factor that into the purchase and spread it over the ownership period. Mid length ownership is the potential trap in my opinion. You should own one for a very short time or a very long time to either avoid the risks or spread the cost out. /braindump. As for the cars themselves? Amazing open road vehicles. When driven through the country side there isn't much you could want to be honest. They're just a joy to drive.

In BMWs case they aren't flaws, they're features! I think I need to get a Japanese car again next to remember what it's like to have a car that never needs any work.

Probably about 5% gain at most. These cars are already highly strung.

Not everyone cares. The ad also says call for more information, which if you were a serious buyer, you would do.

Depends what you want the car for. If you want it for weekend fun then 100% manual. If you are gonna pootle to town and back and not much else then auto.

I also saw you while I was scooting around Auckland, only noticed it because of the stand out interior and thought darn that looks good.

In my opinion you are only partly correct. The E60 M5 is a technically amazing car. Performance, handling, comfort, everything, is huge. It's totally in line with what an M5 is, and its totally a drivers car. In fact non "drivers" would shy away from them. And there certainly isn't much marketing attached. Given the other cars released at the same time (E63 AMG and Audi RS6) the M5 excels as the drivers car by far. The issue is their fuel consumption, maintenance and perceived reliability. Now if I was to consider F10 and on-wards, then I perhaps start to agree with you more. M5, E63, RS6, RS4, Guilia, etc. all start to blur the lines.

Mine was near mint, 88km and sold for $20k...