An M5... can/should I?
Discussion
Hello all, just joined.
Right, well, I'm here as I'm considering becoming an owner of an M5. I was hoping you guys might be able to help me make my decision process a little easier, as I'm a little overwhelmed by the wealth of information I'm finding, and also think I could benefit from some general advice from people who "understand" the M5 bug, and may have possibly been in a situation similar to mine.
Plain and simple, my first and only major obstacle on the way to an M5 is finances.
I could buy one. I'd be able to afford running one, as I wouldn't be covering that many miles, maybe in the range of 3000-4000 a year, providing no major things go wrong (I know about VANOS and it's making me very very apprehensive
)... The thing is that I have only recently managed to get rid of a large chunk of a debt (credit cards) I was trailing behind me for the last 3-4 years, and am now near the point where I'd be able to get rid of it completely soon, if I "behave". But on the other hand, I've always absolutely loved M5s, and until recently, I couldn't really realistically consider being able to own one. I'm 34 years old, and I know I could be sensible, and wait for my salary to go up (which it hopefully will, but only little by little), get rid of my debt, even save some money (heaven forbid! ), then buy one in 3-4 years time, but, guess what, I want one sooner rather than later 
! And it's not impatience (ok, there's probably a little bit of that too ), it's a number of things... I'm still childless, but that probably won't last much longer. Once kids arrive, I can forget spending that much money on a car, even now it's going to be hard convincing the girlfriend I "need" one... Another thing is... I'm looking at E39s (E60 is totally out of question). The ones I could realistically consider are 1999 or 2000 models... If I wait 3-4 years, they'll already be 10+ years old, and that's just getting to be a bit too old, and if I bought one then, I'd probably be looking at ever more frequent and expensive maintenance bills... Right now, they're still mostly around or just over 50000 miles, 6-7 years old, and that seems like a sweet spot to me. Or should I not be worried about cars with close to 100000 miles on the clock - providing they've been properly maintained?
If I decided to go for it, I'd have to sell or PX my beloved motorbike, a Suzuki Hayabusa - I simply can't afford both (and have now had Busas for 5 years, so I can say "I've been there, done that" ), sell my current car, a Peugeot 406 3L V6 (for peanuts), and borrow the rest, probably around £6000-8000. (For info, if I did this, I'd be in less debt than before, and even then, I had no trouble living with that debt, it was more of a psychological burden.)
So.
Do I do it???
Will it be all that I expect/hope it to be, and then some more and make me wonder why the heck I didn't do it before!?!?
Or should I stop dreaming and accept it's still unfortunately out of my league (financially)?
Thanks guys.
P.S. I've even considered going for as good an E34 as I could find, but not sure that would be a good idea.... As they're minimum 12 or so years old now, and yes, I could probably afford one without having to borrow any money, after I sell my bike and my car, but then, I'd most likely be looking at already mentioned frequent and expensive maintenance bills to keep the thing running...? And I just really love the E39, love its looks (still prefer it to the E60), its understatement, its purposefulness, everything about it really... whereas the E34 is now looking quite dated, and I'm not really into retro/classic - but no offence to any E34 owners here!
Disclaimer: Of course I know no one can tell me what to do, and only I will make the ultimate decision, this post is only really to see what other people might think about my dilemma, some must've been in a similar situation to mine, and there can always be something I failed to consider, or didn't consider properly, which someone may point out, and in that way help.
Right, well, I'm here as I'm considering becoming an owner of an M5. I was hoping you guys might be able to help me make my decision process a little easier, as I'm a little overwhelmed by the wealth of information I'm finding, and also think I could benefit from some general advice from people who "understand" the M5 bug, and may have possibly been in a situation similar to mine.
Plain and simple, my first and only major obstacle on the way to an M5 is finances.
I could buy one. I'd be able to afford running one, as I wouldn't be covering that many miles, maybe in the range of 3000-4000 a year, providing no major things go wrong (I know about VANOS and it's making me very very apprehensive
)... The thing is that I have only recently managed to get rid of a large chunk of a debt (credit cards) I was trailing behind me for the last 3-4 years, and am now near the point where I'd be able to get rid of it completely soon, if I "behave". But on the other hand, I've always absolutely loved M5s, and until recently, I couldn't really realistically consider being able to own one. I'm 34 years old, and I know I could be sensible, and wait for my salary to go up (which it hopefully will, but only little by little), get rid of my debt, even save some money (heaven forbid! ), then buy one in 3-4 years time, but, guess what, I want one sooner rather than later ! And it's not impatience (ok, there's probably a little bit of that too ), it's a number of things... I'm still childless, but that probably won't last much longer. Once kids arrive, I can forget spending that much money on a car, even now it's going to be hard convincing the girlfriend I "need" one... Another thing is... I'm looking at E39s (E60 is totally out of question). The ones I could realistically consider are 1999 or 2000 models... If I wait 3-4 years, they'll already be 10+ years old, and that's just getting to be a bit too old, and if I bought one then, I'd probably be looking at ever more frequent and expensive maintenance bills... Right now, they're still mostly around or just over 50000 miles, 6-7 years old, and that seems like a sweet spot to me. Or should I not be worried about cars with close to 100000 miles on the clock - providing they've been properly maintained? If I decided to go for it, I'd have to sell or PX my beloved motorbike, a Suzuki Hayabusa - I simply can't afford both (and have now had Busas for 5 years, so I can say "I've been there, done that" ), sell my current car, a Peugeot 406 3L V6 (for peanuts), and borrow the rest, probably around £6000-8000. (For info, if I did this, I'd be in less debt than before, and even then, I had no trouble living with that debt, it was more of a psychological burden.)
So.
Do I do it???
Will it be all that I expect/hope it to be, and then some more and make me wonder why the heck I didn't do it before!?!?
Or should I stop dreaming and accept it's still unfortunately out of my league (financially)?
Thanks guys.
P.S. I've even considered going for as good an E34 as I could find, but not sure that would be a good idea.... As they're minimum 12 or so years old now, and yes, I could probably afford one without having to borrow any money, after I sell my bike and my car, but then, I'd most likely be looking at already mentioned frequent and expensive maintenance bills to keep the thing running...? And I just really love the E39, love its looks (still prefer it to the E60), its understatement, its purposefulness, everything about it really... whereas the E34 is now looking quite dated, and I'm not really into retro/classic - but no offence to any E34 owners here!
Disclaimer: Of course I know no one can tell me what to do, and only I will make the ultimate decision, this post is only really to see what other people might think about my dilemma, some must've been in a similar situation to mine, and there can always be something I failed to consider, or didn't consider properly, which someone may point out, and in that way help.
Edited by vladman on Friday 9th March 17:29
Brilliant car for the money, but then that's for a reason. They are bloody expensive to run, don't let people tell you they're not. It's a 400bhp V8. They are heavy on all the consumables and it's not the sort of car that you can really skimp on in this area.
They are also quite hard to sell on. A good mate of mine bought one, but had a change of circs and sold it 3 months later and lost A LOT.
All that said, buy a good one, have a contingency pot for that big bill and you've got one hell of a car, but if you can only just afford one, and the thought of a £2K service worries you, then I'd wait a while.
They are also quite hard to sell on. A good mate of mine bought one, but had a change of circs and sold it 3 months later and lost A LOT.
All that said, buy a good one, have a contingency pot for that big bill and you've got one hell of a car, but if you can only just afford one, and the thought of a £2K service worries you, then I'd wait a while.
Keep the bike, summers coming :-)
I quite like the M5s but they are a bit of a Tank.
Buy something a bit smaller and more fun.
If you have to then get a well looked after one, but if your on shoestring possibly the temptation will be to get the 'Bargain' which in turn could be a bit of a money pit and theres no fun in having one of those
I quite like the M5s but they are a bit of a Tank.
Buy something a bit smaller and more fun.
If you have to then get a well looked after one, but if your on shoestring possibly the temptation will be to get the 'Bargain' which in turn could be a bit of a money pit and theres no fun in having one of those
Edited by brenmona on Friday 9th March 18:45
I've been thinking along the same lines as you for the last year or so, always loved that shape M5. Having read a lot of stuff posted on here about them I've come to a couple of conclusions.
1. They're a stunning piece of kit.
2. They're stunningly expensive to run.
3. I can't afford to run one, no matter how much I love them
My solution is to go for my other passion, the Z3M Coupe. About the same budget for me (15-16k) but not as nasty on the wallet to run. Plus I love the oddball look of them.
Good luck if you do go for one though (go on, you know you want to
)
1. They're a stunning piece of kit.
2. They're stunningly expensive to run.
3. I can't afford to run one, no matter how much I love them
My solution is to go for my other passion, the Z3M Coupe. About the same budget for me (15-16k) but not as nasty on the wallet to run. Plus I love the oddball look of them.
Good luck if you do go for one though (go on, you know you want to
) Edited by kramer78 on Friday 9th March 19:47
kramer78 said:
I've been thinking along the same lines as you for the last year or so, always loved that shape M5. Having read a lot of stuff posted on here about them I've come to a couple of conclusions.
1. They're a stunning piece of kit.
2. They're stunningly expensive to run.
3. I can't afford to run one, no matter how much I love them
My solution is to go for my other passion, the Z3M Coupe. About the same budget for me (15-16k) but not as nasty on the wallet to run. Plus I love the oddball look of them.
Good luck if you do go for one though (go on, you know you want to )
1. They're a stunning piece of kit.
2. They're stunningly expensive to run.
3. I can't afford to run one, no matter how much I love them
My solution is to go for my other passion, the Z3M Coupe. About the same budget for me (15-16k) but not as nasty on the wallet to run. Plus I love the oddball look of them.
Good luck if you do go for one though (go on, you know you want to
) Edited by kramer78 on Friday 9th March 19:47
Good choice with the Coupe, much more fun than the M5, not as many seats though
Edited by brenmona on Friday 9th March 20:59
I wouldn't scratch that M5 itch if I were you - running an M5 on a budget, and with the possibility of children in the near future, is just a recipe for disaster. You are looking at expensive insurance and the constant worry that something might go wrong which would spell possible big bills, and under those circumstances M5 ownership is just not that fun.
I bought a 2002 M5 which has been absolutely flawless, but looked at a number of older M5s and there are a lot of baggy, leggy ones out there.
Moreover, if you are just planning on doing 3-4000 miles in it, you are not really getting much pleasure of it (assuming this is to keep the fuel and servicing bills down).
However much I would like to say, "to hell with economic considerations, just go for it", I would say only buy one if you could afford 1) adding all running expenses (insurance, servicing, fuel, etc) + an unforeseen 2K bill without crippling financial consequences.
I bought a 2002 M5 which has been absolutely flawless, but looked at a number of older M5s and there are a lot of baggy, leggy ones out there.
Moreover, if you are just planning on doing 3-4000 miles in it, you are not really getting much pleasure of it (assuming this is to keep the fuel and servicing bills down).
However much I would like to say, "to hell with economic considerations, just go for it", I would say only buy one if you could afford 1) adding all running expenses (insurance, servicing, fuel, etc) + an unforeseen 2K bill without crippling financial consequences.
Hey, thanks for all the replies.
I'm still mulling it over... Spoke to GF last night, after some initial shock and resistance, she warmed up to it...
No, the reason I'd only be covering 3000-4000 miles a year isn't to save on fuel/servicing, etc. but simply because I don't commute to work in the car, but on my bike (the other one, which I'd keep, the Fazer 600). Therefore, the car only gets used on the weekends, and on an odd weekday night. If anything, this pattern of use would increase my enjoyment of the car, because it wouldn't be an everyday thing - you soon get bored of something you do every day... Happened to me in the past even with my Hayabusa, before I had the Fazer.
Oh, and the children are nowhere near, I'd say they won't appear on the scene in at least the next 3-5 years...
As I said, I could buy one for about £12-15k, without difficulty (just found out yesterday about lots of overtime coming in May - good timing! ), but as a couple of you said, I'd have to be prepared for a possibility of a big bill in the future, in, I don't know, a couple of years or so, I guess, if I'm lucky, or earlier than that if I'm not. I guess I could plan for that too... Incidentally, several of you have mentioned a £2k bill... Is this something specific, or just a coincidence several people mentioned that figure? I know about the £6-7k VANOS bill, and it's the thing that scares me the most, I guess I'd have to make sure I'm buying one which has had that done...
I know, this is all coming across as if I've already made my mind up... I haven't... quite... Yes, I'm trying to convince myself I could and should buy one... But I'm not going to jump right into it quite yet.
Can anyone recommend an insurance company which is more competitive than the majority on this car? Adrian Flux? Are there any discount schemes that anyone's aware of...? I know some other car forums have negotiated 10-15% discounts with some insurance companies...
Another thing I'm a bit worried about... How attractive are these cars to thieves? Mine would be parked in front of my building (right under my living room window), in a residential area, away from the main road... Do most of you keep your cars in locked and secured garages?
Thanks guys, some level-headed advice here, I hope I make the right decision, whatever it might be!
I'm still mulling it over... Spoke to GF last night, after some initial shock and resistance, she warmed up to it...
No, the reason I'd only be covering 3000-4000 miles a year isn't to save on fuel/servicing, etc. but simply because I don't commute to work in the car, but on my bike (the other one, which I'd keep, the Fazer 600). Therefore, the car only gets used on the weekends, and on an odd weekday night. If anything, this pattern of use would increase my enjoyment of the car, because it wouldn't be an everyday thing - you soon get bored of something you do every day... Happened to me in the past even with my Hayabusa, before I had the Fazer.
Oh, and the children are nowhere near, I'd say they won't appear on the scene in at least the next 3-5 years...
As I said, I could buy one for about £12-15k, without difficulty (just found out yesterday about lots of overtime coming in May - good timing!
), but as a couple of you said, I'd have to be prepared for a possibility of a big bill in the future, in, I don't know, a couple of years or so, I guess, if I'm lucky, or earlier than that if I'm not. I guess I could plan for that too... Incidentally, several of you have mentioned a £2k bill... Is this something specific, or just a coincidence several people mentioned that figure? I know about the £6-7k VANOS bill, and it's the thing that scares me the most, I guess I'd have to make sure I'm buying one which has had that done... I know, this is all coming across as if I've already made my mind up... I haven't... quite... Yes, I'm trying to convince myself I could and should buy one... But I'm not going to jump right into it quite yet.
Can anyone recommend an insurance company which is more competitive than the majority on this car? Adrian Flux? Are there any discount schemes that anyone's aware of...? I know some other car forums have negotiated 10-15% discounts with some insurance companies...
Another thing I'm a bit worried about... How attractive are these cars to thieves? Mine would be parked in front of my building (right under my living room window), in a residential area, away from the main road... Do most of you keep your cars in locked and secured garages?
Thanks guys, some level-headed advice here, I hope I make the right decision, whatever it might be!
Edited by vladman on Saturday 10th March 16:56
vladman said:
Hey, thanks for all the replies.
I'm still mulling it over... Spoke to GF last night, after some initial shock and resistance, she warmed up to it...
No, the reason I'd only be covering 3000-4000 miles a year isn't to save on fuel/servicing, etc. but simply because I don't commute to work in the car, but on my bike (the other one, which I'd keep, the Fazer 600). Therefore, the car only gets used on the weekends, and on an odd weekday night. If anything, this pattern of use would increase my enjoyment of the car, because it wouldn't be an everyday thing - you soon get bored of something you do every day... Happened to me in the past even with my Hayabusa, before I had the Fazer.
Oh, and the children are nowhere near, I'd say they won't appear on the scene in at least the next 3-5 years...
As I said, I could buy one for about £12-15k, without difficulty (just found out yesterday about lots of overtime coming in May - good timing! ), but as a couple of you said, I'd have to be prepared for a possibility of a big bill in the future, in, I don't know, a couple of years or so, I guess, if I'm lucky, or earlier than that if I'm not. I guess I could plan for that too... Incidentally, several of you have mentioned a £2k bill... Is this something specific, or just a coincidence several people mentioned that figure? I know about the £6-7k VANOS bill, and it's the thing that scares me the most, I guess I'd have to make sure I'm buying one which has had that done...
I know, this is all coming across as if I've already made my mind up... I haven't... quite... Yes, I'm trying to convince myself I could and should buy one... But I'm not going to jump right into it quite yet.
Can anyone recommend an insurance company which is more competitive than the majority on this car? Adrian Flux? Are there any discount schemes that anyone's aware of...? I know some other car forums have negotiated 10-15% discounts with some insurance companies...
Another thing I'm a bit worried about... How attractive are these cars to thieves? Mine would be parked in front of my building (right under my living room window), in a residential area, away from the main road... Do most of you keep your cars in locked and secured garages?
Thanks guys, some level-headed advice here, I hope I make the right decision, whatever it might be!
I'm still mulling it over... Spoke to GF last night, after some initial shock and resistance, she warmed up to it...
No, the reason I'd only be covering 3000-4000 miles a year isn't to save on fuel/servicing, etc. but simply because I don't commute to work in the car, but on my bike (the other one, which I'd keep, the Fazer 600). Therefore, the car only gets used on the weekends, and on an odd weekday night. If anything, this pattern of use would increase my enjoyment of the car, because it wouldn't be an everyday thing - you soon get bored of something you do every day... Happened to me in the past even with my Hayabusa, before I had the Fazer.
Oh, and the children are nowhere near, I'd say they won't appear on the scene in at least the next 3-5 years...
As I said, I could buy one for about £12-15k, without difficulty (just found out yesterday about lots of overtime coming in May - good timing!
), but as a couple of you said, I'd have to be prepared for a possibility of a big bill in the future, in, I don't know, a couple of years or so, I guess, if I'm lucky, or earlier than that if I'm not. I guess I could plan for that too... Incidentally, several of you have mentioned a £2k bill... Is this something specific, or just a coincidence several people mentioned that figure? I know about the £6-7k VANOS bill, and it's the thing that scares me the most, I guess I'd have to make sure I'm buying one which has had that done... I know, this is all coming across as if I've already made my mind up... I haven't... quite... Yes, I'm trying to convince myself I could and should buy one... But I'm not going to jump right into it quite yet.
Can anyone recommend an insurance company which is more competitive than the majority on this car? Adrian Flux? Are there any discount schemes that anyone's aware of...? I know some other car forums have negotiated 10-15% discounts with some insurance companies...
Another thing I'm a bit worried about... How attractive are these cars to thieves? Mine would be parked in front of my building (right under my living room window), in a residential area, away from the main road... Do most of you keep your cars in locked and secured garages?
Thanks guys, some level-headed advice here, I hope I make the right decision, whatever it might be!
Edited by vladman on Saturday 10th March 16:56
To be honest, mate, you'd be mad to buy an M5 unless you can either
(a) EASILY afford a £5k bill if something bad happens; or
(b) you buy one with a BMW warranty.
The BMW warranty on an M5 is £1800 a year. What does that tell you about running costs?
I'd wait. My mate has an '02 M5 and just got a service bill for £3500.
I run a 911, but with an engine coming in at £13,000 and a gearbox at £8,000 I budget £1000 a year for the warranty. I wouldn't be able to afford to fix a broken engine otherwise.
i agree with vesuvius..
if ownership is that marginal financially you'd be much better off going for something like:
the aforementioned e34 m5 and some money left over,
or something more normal like:
e39 540i manual (if you could find one)
e46 330i
or go a different direction..monaro?
impreza..?
if ownership is that marginal financially you'd be much better off going for something like:
the aforementioned e34 m5 and some money left over,
or something more normal like:
e39 540i manual (if you could find one)
e46 330i
or go a different direction..monaro?
impreza..?
Quite a lot of information was exchanged in this thread : www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?p=2&f=181&t=331076&h=0
Also on the insurance, I was ringing around for this year's renewal yesterday and the cheapest I could find so far was with Norwich Union @£690, fully comp,protected no claims and for business use. Next cheapest was A-Plan (on the renewal) @ £735. Direct Line, Swinton, Admiral were all £900+
Also on the insurance, I was ringing around for this year's renewal yesterday and the cheapest I could find so far was with Norwich Union @£690, fully comp,protected no claims and for business use. Next cheapest was A-Plan (on the renewal) @ £735. Direct Line, Swinton, Admiral were all £900+
vladman said:
Hello all, just joined.
Right, well, I'm here as I'm considering becoming an owner of an M5. I was hoping you guys might be able to help me make my decision process a little easier, as I'm a little overwhelmed by the wealth of information I'm finding, and also think I could benefit from some general advice from people who "understand" the M5 bug, and may have possibly been in a situation similar to mine.
Plain and simple, my first and only major obstacle on the way to an M5 is finances.
I could buy one. I'd be able to afford running one, as I wouldn't be covering that many miles, maybe in the range of 3000-4000 a year, providing no major things go wrong (I know about VANOS and it's making me very very apprehensive)... The thing is that I have only recently managed to get rid of a large chunk of a debt (credit cards) I was trailing behind me for the last 3-4 years, and am now near the point where I'd be able to get rid of it completely soon, if I "behave". But on the other hand, I've always absolutely loved M5s, and until recently, I couldn't really realistically consider being able to own one. I'm 34 years old, and I know I could be sensible, and wait for my salary to go up (which it hopefully will, but only little by little), get rid of my debt, even save some money (heaven forbid! ), then buy one in 3-4 years time, but, guess what, I want one sooner rather than later ! And it's not impatience (ok, there's probably a little bit of that too ), it's a number of things... I'm still childless, but that probably won't last much longer. Once kids arrive, I can forget spending that much money on a car, even now it's going to be hard convincing the girlfriend I "need" one... Another thing is... I'm looking at E39s (E60 is totally out of question). The ones I could realistically consider are 1999 or 2000 models... If I wait 3-4 years, they'll already be 10+ years old, and that's just getting to be a bit too old, and if I bought one then, I'd probably be looking at ever more frequent and expensive maintenance bills... Right now, they're still mostly around or just over 50000 miles, 6-7 years old, and that seems like a sweet spot to me. Or should I not be worried about cars with close to 100000 miles on the clock - providing they've been properly maintained?
If I decided to go for it, I'd have to sell or PX my beloved motorbike, a Suzuki Hayabusa - I simply can't afford both (and have now had Busas for 5 years, so I can say "I've been there, done that" ), sell my current car, a Peugeot 406 3L V6 (for peanuts), and borrow the rest, probably around £6000-8000. (For info, if I did this, I'd be in less debt than before, and even then, I had no trouble living with that debt, it was more of a psychological burden.)
So.
Do I do it???
Will it be all that I expect/hope it to be, and then some more and make me wonder why the heck I didn't do it before!?!?
Or should I stop dreaming and accept it's still unfortunately out of my league (financially)?
Thanks guys.
P.S. I've even considered going for as good an E34 as I could find, but not sure that would be a good idea.... As they're minimum 12 or so years old now, and yes, I could probably afford one without having to borrow any money, after I sell my bike and my car, but then, I'd most likely be looking at already mentioned frequent and expensive maintenance bills to keep the thing running...? And I just really love the E39, love its looks (still prefer it to the E60), its understatement, its purposefulness, everything about it really... whereas the E34 is now looking quite dated, and I'm not really into retro/classic - but no offence to any E34 owners here!
Disclaimer: Of course I know no one can tell me what to do, and only I will make the ultimate decision, this post is only really to see what other people might think about my dilemma, some must've been in a similar situation to mine, and there can always be something I failed to consider, or didn't consider properly, which someone may point out, and in that way help.
Right, well, I'm here as I'm considering becoming an owner of an M5. I was hoping you guys might be able to help me make my decision process a little easier, as I'm a little overwhelmed by the wealth of information I'm finding, and also think I could benefit from some general advice from people who "understand" the M5 bug, and may have possibly been in a situation similar to mine.
Plain and simple, my first and only major obstacle on the way to an M5 is finances.
I could buy one. I'd be able to afford running one, as I wouldn't be covering that many miles, maybe in the range of 3000-4000 a year, providing no major things go wrong (I know about VANOS and it's making me very very apprehensive
)... The thing is that I have only recently managed to get rid of a large chunk of a debt (credit cards) I was trailing behind me for the last 3-4 years, and am now near the point where I'd be able to get rid of it completely soon, if I "behave". But on the other hand, I've always absolutely loved M5s, and until recently, I couldn't really realistically consider being able to own one. I'm 34 years old, and I know I could be sensible, and wait for my salary to go up (which it hopefully will, but only little by little), get rid of my debt, even save some money (heaven forbid! ), then buy one in 3-4 years time, but, guess what, I want one sooner rather than later ! And it's not impatience (ok, there's probably a little bit of that too ), it's a number of things... I'm still childless, but that probably won't last much longer. Once kids arrive, I can forget spending that much money on a car, even now it's going to be hard convincing the girlfriend I "need" one... Another thing is... I'm looking at E39s (E60 is totally out of question). The ones I could realistically consider are 1999 or 2000 models... If I wait 3-4 years, they'll already be 10+ years old, and that's just getting to be a bit too old, and if I bought one then, I'd probably be looking at ever more frequent and expensive maintenance bills... Right now, they're still mostly around or just over 50000 miles, 6-7 years old, and that seems like a sweet spot to me. Or should I not be worried about cars with close to 100000 miles on the clock - providing they've been properly maintained? If I decided to go for it, I'd have to sell or PX my beloved motorbike, a Suzuki Hayabusa - I simply can't afford both (and have now had Busas for 5 years, so I can say "I've been there, done that" ), sell my current car, a Peugeot 406 3L V6 (for peanuts), and borrow the rest, probably around £6000-8000. (For info, if I did this, I'd be in less debt than before, and even then, I had no trouble living with that debt, it was more of a psychological burden.)
So.
Do I do it???
Will it be all that I expect/hope it to be, and then some more and make me wonder why the heck I didn't do it before!?!?
Or should I stop dreaming and accept it's still unfortunately out of my league (financially)?
Thanks guys.
P.S. I've even considered going for as good an E34 as I could find, but not sure that would be a good idea.... As they're minimum 12 or so years old now, and yes, I could probably afford one without having to borrow any money, after I sell my bike and my car, but then, I'd most likely be looking at already mentioned frequent and expensive maintenance bills to keep the thing running...? And I just really love the E39, love its looks (still prefer it to the E60), its understatement, its purposefulness, everything about it really... whereas the E34 is now looking quite dated, and I'm not really into retro/classic - but no offence to any E34 owners here!
Disclaimer: Of course I know no one can tell me what to do, and only I will make the ultimate decision, this post is only really to see what other people might think about my dilemma, some must've been in a similar situation to mine, and there can always be something I failed to consider, or didn't consider properly, which someone may point out, and in that way help.
Edited by vladman on Friday 9th March 17:29
Vlad - been there done it great step into proper car ownership.
You know you want to!
watch this space,
Been thinking about the same thing for a few weeks, been looking all last week, and Im about to try and do a deal on one for myself tomorrow!!!!!!
Even though Im a trader, this car would be for myself, and im quite excited.
Yes there are lots of other choices that give as good a drive for similar money, but I think there is something quite special about E39 M5's. Nowhere near as comman as say M3's.
Been thinking about the same thing for a few weeks, been looking all last week, and Im about to try and do a deal on one for myself tomorrow!!!!!!
Even though Im a trader, this car would be for myself, and im quite excited.
Yes there are lots of other choices that give as good a drive for similar money, but I think there is something quite special about E39 M5's. Nowhere near as comman as say M3's.
Ahh... So hard to make a decision...
A Monaro is an interesting alternative... Always liked them... But could only afford a normal one (not a VXR) and then again, I'd be thinking.... Ah if only I had a VXR...
Whereas an M5 is... an M5! There's nothing to aspire to after it - for me at least, in this life.
I'll keep thinking... until either my head explodes.. or I buy something... or I give up...
Thanks for your suggestions and opinions guys.
A Monaro is an interesting alternative... Always liked them... But could only afford a normal one (not a VXR) and then again, I'd be thinking.... Ah if only I had a VXR...
Whereas an M5 is... an M5! There's nothing to aspire to after it - for me at least, in this life.
I'll keep thinking... until either my head explodes.. or I buy something... or I give up...
Thanks for your suggestions and opinions guys.
They are great cars, but the prices are cheap due to the potential for big bills. I normally say it's not the sort of car you should buy with your last few £k. The sad thing is no matter how low values drop I don't see the costs of major repairs dropping so it will always be a case of not buying the car unless you can cover these big items should they go wrong.
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