GorGasm

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?

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!

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.

I see your point but on a personal level I disagree, I think the 335i is worth it.

NZ New or Jap import doesn't matter much apart from having to convert the iDrive. I have had sh*t NZ new cars. I have also had immaculate ex Japan cars. My two W211 mercs both had about 60-80km on the clock and were almost in perfect condition. What amazes me is how Jap cars can be 100% scratch free after 10 years and 60 thousand kms then 10 minutes of driving on NZ roads and they're like the surface of the moon. For $30k I would stretch and go for a newer 328i. http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-1269265719.htm Or if you are set on a 335i then I would look at cars closer to $25k all up. If low mileage is what you are after: http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-1203261574.htm or this, plus warranty would be under $25k all up: http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/bmw/auction-1252959591.htm

A little on the pricey side. You could probably get a better deal.

BM Workshop in Grey Lynn as been great with my M5 Burgers Motor Works in Glenfield has been great with my 130i

That CL600 looks great! I have pining after a facelift R129 SL500 for a while now. It would be a great work hack. Sadly I can no longer use one for a weekend car :(.

Nice car! I'm not quite old enough for an S8 yet but always liked that shape (Although I had an old man E55 hah!) I ended up with an E60 M5 instead. Interesting the Audi V10 gets a LOT better fuel consumption than the S85 V10, I assume due to tuning and FSI. Had a drive of an F10 5 series recently and they're a really nice car, although probably cost a good 10 grand more than the S8. The S8 comes in at pretty good value as it sits between the older E60, W211 and the newer F10 and W212. Enjoy!

I have claimed multiple times with AA. Each time the process has been great. I drop the car off to the AA centre, they do a walk around to identify the damage and then a week later I get the car back, happy times. I also have my cars on agreed value with AA, would have thought you could specify what you want for your 550i. I will be changing soon though, as they messed up my M5 policy. I added my wife to it (she has had some claims) and the premium was high. At the time I just went ahead with it. Now, I can't remove her from the policy without it going to a single driver only policy (no un-named drivers covered). Silly system.

Got your message thanks Glenn. Appreciate the recommendation. I spoke to them and I will be dropping the car off to them on Monday. Cheers, L.

My M5 needs a bit of a check up and I am wondering if anyone can recommend a workshop that has good experience with the E60 M5, or perhaps just M cars in general? I have the suspicion that my SMG box isn't as smooth as it could be (works fine, just a bit clunky). Diff is a bit noisey which I think is a fluid change. And I have an annoying imbalance somewhere when driving over 90, suspect it could be in the drive line somewhere. Cheers!

Strange, our 130i gets just over 10l/100km, give or take on the daily commute from West Auckland to the North Shore.

In theory the warranty should pay for the failure of 1 bearing... I might just have to fork out multiple excesses if more than one earing fails

Have just signed off on an E60 M5. V10 limiter bashing ahoy!! To be honest though, the mix of handling, luxury and x factor (V10, SMG, etc.)

It's a really good little car. I bought one for my wife over two years ago now and she really enjoys it. It feels good, handles well, has good performance and sound. It's a more sensible car than the R32 in my opinion. I think the overall quality of the car isn't amazing, but it is pretty solid for the money. Done 40,000k on in it now and it's up to 67km. Only issue we have had is the DSC pump failing which is over $3000 for the part alone. However Burger Motorworks managed to remove the unit, get it sent for repair and then refitted for $800.

Check out Hankook S1 EVO 2 or V12s. Always well rated. 18" RE003's were 1100 fitted for my E55 during the last 4 for 3 sale.

A quick update. Burger sorted out the repair, in and out it cost a total just over $800. Pretty happy with that and for Burger to go out of their way to send it off for repair. Would recommend them to anyone else needing this repair. Back to trouble free motoring (i hope )

Thanks for the help guys. I think Burger is sending it to Power Stop, have got the wife to drop the car in next week and should hopefully have it back by next weekend. If it all falls to pieces I might see if Pollen can help Otherwise, off to ecutesting!

I appreciate the replies but after further investigation it seems the Ebay pumps kits are not the same pump as the 130i. Mine as an ATE pump while the 4 cylinders appear to be Bosch or something along those lines. It does indeed appear to be a case of the brushes wearing down to failure and that would fit with the fact that it happened very rarely to start with, then more frequently and now permanently. The Ebay listing is also for E81, although in theory that would be the same as E87. Have currently got two options. Burger motors said they can remove the unit and send to Tauranga for repair at a "reasonable" cost, otherwise I can pull the unit and send to ecutesting.com in the UK for repair at ~200 pounds. Mildy miffed at the price BMW are charging :/ Oh well, the car hasn't had any other faults in the last 2 years so it's not all doom and gloom.

Says doesn't fit 130i :/ All the Ebay auctions say it's for 4 cylinders only, I am not sure why the pump would be different though. I was looking at the Ebay kits before but can't seem to find something that says it fits heh.

Hiya, Recently I have developed the dreaded hydro pump failure in my 130i. BMW want $3000 for it as usual. I have a part number 6776068 and 6779069 for the pump and electric module. Does anyone know of a good source for replacement units and whether slightly different part numbers will work? I know these modules came in a lot of things over that period. TIA!