Hopefully a new owner E61 M5

[Twistee 461]

Hi,

I'm about to pull the trigger an E61 M5 that has been through a couple of Bimmersport owners in the past. Currently sorting out the PPI. With any luck there are no significant issues and in 5 days I will be in Christchurch to take delivery. 

I'll post updated pics if I take delivery. Until then fingers crossed all goes smoothly.

Cheers.

 

[Twistee 461]

4 days to go, trying to squeeze a working week into 3 days and prep the trade in car - starting the drive down on Thursday. Many thanks to the offers of assistance with inspections etc. 

Cheers.

[han16 94]

Good luck with the purchase, I only just missed out on an E60 M5 from Cromwell. Had planned to fly down from Auckland with a mate to drive the car back, was really looking forward to the drive.

[Twistee 461]

Interesting day, drove down to Wellington to catch the ferry...... Stopped in Marton at Bridgestone as I needed two new tires, thanks NZTA for your amazing road maintenance. Right up until that point the trip to Christchurch was going great. So the car yard gets some new rubber on the trade in, never mind - chalk it up to a great story once I have collected the wagon and drowned my sorrows.

One trip over the cook straight and then on to Christchurch for pickup this afternoon. I'll be very happy if the rest of the trip is uneventful.

[aja540i 1906]

Just a heads up for the return trip, the M5 needs 98 octane and only has a 65 litre tank, so fill it every time you see a BP with blue nozzles at the pumps!!

[Allanw 1072]

1 hour ago, aja540i said:

Just a heads up for the return trip, the M5 needs 98 octane and only has a 65 litre tank, so fill it every time you see a BP with blue nozzles at the pumps!!

Has 65 Litre tank, but feels like 45 Litre tank 🤣

[*Glenn* 855]

10 hours ago, Twistee said:

I'll be very happy if the rest of the trip is uneventful.

Let us all know what it was like dodging all the potholes at 200 Kph on the way back

 

[E28E30 335]

6 minutes ago, *Glenn* said:

Let us all know what it was like dodging all the potholes at 200 Kph on the way back

 

And post photos! There with you on this adventure 🚘 

[Twistee 461]

Cheers folks, I'll take plenty of pics once I have the keys don't you worry. Regarding gas , being from Auckland I am not familiar with the 100+ NPD gas - is that suitable in the M5? Don't really want to destroy fuel lines from the first day. I'm assuming from an octane rating it's ok but are there any additives that are in it that an BMW fuel system will have issues with?

[Twistee 461]

Last update until the paperwork / trade in / collection.

Made it to Christchurch, discovered the lack of obvious toilet stop locations from Picton heading south..... a couple of bottles of water and energy drinks (plus 300ish kms )and I was more excited about finding the Z at Amberly than getting the keys to an M5!! Not that it really matters but adding to the details of this two day epic, I drove my wife's MK6 Golf GTI down for the trade in. Doing 1,000kms behind the wheel I remembered why I thought it would be a great car for her work commute, fast enough to get you out of or into trouble and safe so that when that truck overcooks it on a bend along the Desert Rd and nearly takes you out you'll survive. In all seriousness a flatbed going way to fast towards me and understeering into my lane came pretty close to ending this little trip in a big way - I have seen some shocking driving in the past 48 hours, no wonder we have such a high road toll. 

So back to being in Christchurch, had many hours to wait for the wagon to be detailed and to collect the significant other and junior from the airport so spent way too long doing a spray can wax job on the trade in. Assuming that the yard is good to their word then this GTI could be up for sale in the near future   

PS. Rather than smashing the "intro" thread, once life with a fuel tanker on call starts I'll create a new thread elsewhere with images etc - and with any luck absolutely minimal pothole antics. Anyone coming out of Picton off the ferry, I think at the first right hand turn in front of a Gull station there is a hole from the flooding that wouldn't just bend a rim, it would take the rim, hub, and anything else you care to name attached and remove it in one quick hit. 

[balancerider 778]

5 hours ago, Twistee said:

Regarding gas , being from Auckland I am not familiar with the 100+ NPD gas - is that suitable in the M5? 

My sense is that for high octane gas (by NZ standards) the order of preference is BP > Mobil (no added ethanol 98) > Gull. Not sure where the NPD fits.

[Twistee 461]

Ok, so I'm richer in one sense and poorer in another 😉 Honestly I got the car just before sunset then spent 20 minutes trying to learn where buttons are, yes this is my first BMW. Oh and first start the airbag sensor threw a code ROFL, because apparently it was fixed after PPI. Car is in serious need of wheel balancing, and the steering wheel up down button seems a bit buggered. Poor little me moaning aside , it looks amazing , needs big pipes though as the factory rear end is so quiet. Love the massive moon roof, the steering feel is very nice. Considering all I have done is 20 minutes in bumper to bumper peak hour traffic I like it. And no I haven't pressed the M yet, although I did almost empty my wife's can of drink on to her lap 😃 well I thought it was funny.... So I own an E61 M5, never thought that was going to be a thing. Thanks to everyone for the encouragement. I'll start another thread with pics etc once I actually have some. 

Cheers.

[aja540i 1906]

28 minutes ago, Twistee said:

Ok, so I'm richer in one sense and poorer in another 😉 Honestly I got the car just before sunset then spent 20 minutes trying to learn where buttons are, yes this is my first BMW. Oh and first start the airbag sensor threw a code ROFL, because apparently it was fixed after PPI. Car is in serious need of wheel balancing, and the steering wheel up down button seems a bit buggered. Poor little me moaning aside , it looks amazing , needs big pipes though as the factory rear end is so quiet. Love the massive moon roof, the steering feel is very nice. Considering all I have done is 20 minutes in bumper to bumper peak hour traffic I like it. And no I haven't pressed the M yet, although I did almost empty my wife's can of drink on to her lap 😃 well I thought it was funny.... So I own an E61 M5, never thought that was going to be a thing. Thanks to everyone for the encouragement. I'll start another thread with pics etc once I actually have some. 

Cheers.

Welcome to the club!!

[Ghost Chip 188]

4 hours ago, Twistee said:

Anyone coming out of Picton off the ferry, I think at the first right hand turn in front of a Gull station there is a hole from the flooding that wouldn't just bend a rim, it would take the rim, hub, and anything else you care to name attached and remove it in one quick hit. 

https://fb.watch/v/11Z2EleO-/

[Twistee 461]

Honestly I was a bit meh about the performance until I hit M..... And then immediately decided that the PPI did not include a road test or they would have said it needs a savage wheel balance and alignment. So off to get that done somewhere in Christchurch tomorrow. Any recommendations?

[Bandit 194]

Mag and Turbo on Fitzgerald Avenue. Professional and courteous crew. And there before 9am.

[Twistee 461]

Thanks Bandit I'll head there early tomorrow.

[treone 649]

10 hours ago, Twistee said:

Honestly I was a bit meh about the performance until I hit M.....

But which 'options' are dialed in when its in M-mode 😊... once you become more familiar 'M button set up' you maybe more pleasantly surprised 😎

Edited July 23, 2021 by treone

[Twistee 461]

Oh don't get me wrong, it was more a case of non M is so very sedate and what ever hitting M has been set with is soooo significantly different. In a very good way, I had the sun roof open at the time so it sounded great and instantly knew it was the right place to have spent money. Just driving it around this morning, it's so refined and quiet when not giving it the boot. I still want a loud exhaust 😁

I thought 400 HP would be a bit savage but it is so smooth that it just feels like a fast limo, I honestly thought that people were just over exaggerating the M change, lots of non G rated expletives belted through my head when I popped that cherry. So I sound like every other new M owner, cool cars.

[treone 649]

Totally agree! 500bhp and the noise is something else! I have to admit, when i had mine, i never had the balls to put it into the ‘launch control’ setting with the shifting mode n the secret sixth setting 🤣. 
glad to hear you are enjoying it and look forward to thepucs!

[Jun 233]

On 7/24/2021 at 8:49 AM, Twistee said:

Oh don't get me wrong, it was more a case of non M is so very sedate and what ever hitting M has been set with is soooo significantly different. In a very good way, I had the sun roof open at the time so it sounded great and instantly knew it was the right place to have spent money. Just driving it around this morning, it's so refined and quiet when not giving it the boot. I still want a loud exhaust 😁

I thought 400 HP would be a bit savage but it is so smooth that it just feels like a fast limo, I honestly thought that people were just over exaggerating the M change, lots of non G rated expletives belted through my head when I popped that cherry. So I sound like every other new M owner, cool cars.

Welcome to the rod bearer club  we hold our meetings every 50k to 100k kms, preferably nearer to 50k.  As usually beyond 100k kms you get promoted to the connecting rod club.

Yes the M button changes a bit, depending on your setting.  Usually the P500S (not P500) will make the throttle response much sharper.  The throttle body will now open 100% instead of 80-90% or something like that.  The intake sound will be more apparent, that is what you actually hear more and not the exhaust on P500S.  EDC will go level 2, to be honest that is too stiff for the public roads so my M button is only set level 1.  It would also put the steering I believe on a stiff setting (not sure, I maybe wrong but I do feel it).  DSC will go to M Dynamic Mode (in theory car will slip, but assist enough).  The archaic HUD changes to rpm (not really useful, seems slow and better to look at the real tach) but looks fun. It all depends on what you have M button set to, these are the supposed defaults.... oh yeah I forgot (this feature goes old after 1 time use) the seat bolster will move (delayed) when you turn on M mode.... I feel this is unsafe feature.  Imagine turning on M-mode for the first time, go into a corner first time... and suddenly the seats move?!?

I wish there as a P400S or something, 500 HP on public roads is over kill and not as enjoyable as lower powered car.  This also means less time on the upper range of the revs (it becomes a different car past 6,000 rpm).

On 7/24/2021 at 9:34 AM, treone said:

Totally agree! 500bhp and the noise is something else! I have to admit, when i had mine, i never had the balls to put it into the ‘launch control’ setting with the shifting mode n the secret sixth setting 🤣. 
glad to hear you are enjoying it and look forward to thepucs!

Yes I have never used S6, I feel really bad when the car is already on S5.  I have now learned to slightly back-off after the up shift, just before it engages the next gear and step on it after the gear is engaged.  Significantly makes the shift smoother in S3 to S5, and makes driving more engaging.  Another trick I learned from an owner at Christchurch, is just use the auto S1 (default, was super annoyed by this before) for the warm up.  It's great for this use case, as it's super aggressive in shifting up engine hardly touches 2,000 rpm.

Hope to see photos of your car, E61 is not something we usually see often.

[Twistee 461]

More details and images to come in above thread.