USCGTO

Do you mind sending me more details of this B7? I am in Houston, TX.

Dadz63

You have a pm.

USCGTO

thank you sir, I have forwarded information to a friend who is looking for a black B7. this might work out for him.

Dadz63

No problem at all. As I said in my PM, if interested just give me a call and I will get you/your Friend on a call with the owner.

350driver

I had a 2006 M6, 2011 M3, and 2012 C63. If it were my money, I would do the C63 out of those three (pre-facelift of course). The low-end torque is just too much fun around town. The SMG is a pain for the M5/M6, but if you get a manual, then no problem. As others have said the V10 gets crap gas mileage, but the M156 is not much better. I do love the M3, and the DCT is an amazing transmission, but it has a weak low end. Again, as others have mentioned, a nice 335 could be a great option, as that with a few mods, you can get some serious power out of the N54 engine.

dchl21

e55 and have money left over for maintaince n mods ?

solekeeper

I lol'd at whoever said the n54 was reliable..


And I'm actually one of the very few people who loved my SMG. I heard the horror stories, but mine was flawless in 2 years of ownership. Loved how raw it was.

CarHopper

^ huh, weird. Let me guess, injectors, spark plugs or fuel pump issue? Other than that and the battery cable recall please enlighten me... I beat the living **** out of my 135i and it has yet to give me any kind of issues. It is a bulletproof engine and the tranny is quite strong too.

You probably loved the SMG because you were in vanos all the time and just chose to ignore the hard shifts in slow traffic. The whole, you know, "raw" feeling. The aim here is a daily driver and no doubt the M5 is an awesome car but for a practical sporty DD? No.

Opinions are opinions. But really why don't you think the n54 is reliable?

Superleggera123

the n54 is bulletproof for its output and potential.
the e60 m5 in my experience isnt the car for a daily driver.
its too fragile for stop and go situations and too expensive to maintain vs performance

ShaneN.

don't the 335i's have big issues with the turbos once you start making power out of the n54? can't remember what exactly what the issue was but i remember something like they can't handle the extra psi and seize or something along the lines.


edit: i just did a google search to refresh my memory and found enough stuff in the first 3 links that i'd be a little nervous to even think about the n54.

newhandle

I'm in South-Bay California so prices are high. Also, It just occurred to me that 45K out the door pretty much means I lose 8K as soon as I leave the stealership. This is accounting for the fact that warranty is costing me at least $4K on whatever used car I buy. I've thus decided that I should limit my "out the door" budget to $36K max. This means that no C63, M3, or newsih CLS could possibly make it, though I can talk my way into several 06 low mile M5's

I actually re-call test driving a 2010 550i last year and loved the paddle-shifts. I saw a couple of 535i m-sport today as well that were within budget.

Given the prices in my area, I can buy any of the following for $35K out the door.

- 06 CLS55 with < 60K miles
- 06 M5 < 40K miles
- 06 E55
- ~ 2010 535i w/ <50K miles
- 06 S65...

There's plenty of N54 variants out there within budget, but I don't want to be number 1,332,43534 to buy one, unless it's a 6spd wagon. Speaking of which, the last of the good V70R wagons are still up for grab.

Anyway, as of now, I'm bringing the M5 back to the table because it's still within budget and the "exclusionary" policy covers vanos and smg pump.

roadtalontsi

trust me if your budget cap is 35k$ you cant afford a 65 amg car. This is a 200k$ car, parts for it are not cheap because they are made for a 200k$ car. Just like buying that alpina. Id go find a nice loaded out e55 (try and get a distronic its awesome). Make sure you get a good extended warranty it will pay for itself quickly if the car wasnt maint'd regularly by a good/qualified tech. the only downfall of the cls is passengers in the back seat have no head room.

CarHopper

Google any car and x issues... They all have them

930chas

Given your new budget I would personally roll the nicest e55 you can find. Maintenance can really not be that prohibitive if you find a good indy shop. Plenty of mod potential and if you pick one up in the high $20ks that gives you extra $$$ to put aside for future upgrades.

SaphGreyC63

newhandle, I was in the SAME EXACT boat that you are in now. Not too long ago in fact, maybe a year ago. I'm also in So Cal, had a budget that mirrors yours and wanted an M5 because strangely, it was on of those luxurious, high horsepower, cars in that range.

I came close to pulling the trigger a couple times. Found three of them that had the very options and x amount of things I wanted at the right price. Despite that, I never could go through with it because EVERY SINGLE TIME I test drove one, the transmission was utterly unacceptable at low speeds and moving around town. I couldn't get over it that such an expensive, luxurious car was so clunky! and that's exactly what I knew my dad would berate me for once he got in.

Other than that, that thing doesn't sip gas, it doesn't drink gas. I would say it guzzles gas but that even seems to be an understatement. Then I did my research online and found out about how it likes to drink oil too. Top it off with the clutch going, tranny problems etc. I knew even with a warranty, at the time, I was not going to be able to afford this car. It presents TOO many what ifs to factor into budget honestly.

Again I hope this helps as I feel I was in the same exact situation you are going through now. My best advice may be to just wait a little more, save up a little more, and get something you really want. I was lucky enough to avoid what in my mind was my M5 MISTAKE and now I have my baby (who turned 11 months old today!!!)

JRSJR65

Simple spend 5K more and get an 09-10 lower mileage C63. BMW M5 no way. Drive both back to back and decide yourself. It will be an easy decision. I just did with an M6 and C63, very easy choice C63 blows it away.

02Drunkenup

Those are compromises I feel like I can live with if I actually love the performance aspect of the SMG and if you prefer the V10. On my test drive, I reset the gas mileage and to my surprise, it wasn't unlivable at 14 mpg with some spirited driving. Some see 20+ on highway.

My budget allows for CLS/E 55s, 08-10 C63s, and E60 M5s.. my advice is if you really want the M5 over the others and can live with the poor gas mileage and range, go for it. Find a 08+ with all the recalls done, a recent clutch change (which should be good for 60-70k if you're mindful about use), and a good warranty. IMO, the better handling and better interior/toys than the AMGs is worth the higher cost of ownership.

That said, I'm trying to enjoy all the great N/A engines before they're out of style.. so I'll be back in a facelifted C63 in a couple of years.

newhandle

So after 2 weeks of driving some AMGs and M's, I'm still not convinced any of the cars will give me exactly what I'm after. Even after upping my budget to $42K out the door, I'm still stuck with the same cars I started with. Having said that, and quite sadly, the M3 sedan is suddenly becoming a very strong contender on my list.

Given how I'm always tearing things apart and doing my own custom stuff, I don't think anything will really satisfy me, even though I promised myself the new car will remain unmolested.

I'm about to add one more car to the list. How about a E39 M5 with a supercharger? A cherry picked lowish miles E39 + SC will run me about $27K. We're talking about 600 horses here. Would anyone recommend this route? If looks were anything to go by, I'd pick a E39 M5 over any other BMW or Benz, including the CLS (which IMO has a ghetto look to it).

CarHopper

While the e39 is sweet I still wouldn't get an older car like that. If you want 600hp for 27k buy a honda, big turbo it, and enjoy the other 20k. I do get you though and you want hp/sport/luxury/high end etc...

With a 42k budget I don't see why a c63 couldn't happen reasonably. I don't, however, understand the beef you have with a 4 door m3. That is a nasty car that looks great and you don't need to molest it at all to have fun.

I will say though that I just drove round trip 600 miles in my c63 and loved every minute. I even got 23 mpg on my trip. Granted my mom was in the car for our little family get away and she is a **** when it comes to driving speed limits and such.

Anyways, I still think that either a c63 is going to bring the biggest smile to your face on that budget or a n54 based bmw 135/335/535 with light mods.

newhandle

I could have bought a 2008 C63 for $42K out the door with only 40K miles but the folks here scared me with the head bolt defect. My only gripe with C63 is its cheap interior, and somewhat slow gear shifts. Everything else about the car is super fun. Perhaps if someone can convince me that the head defect is merely blown out of proportion, I might reconsider a 63 engine.

On the bright side, I have crossed out the E60 completely. There's way too many on sale around where I live and with such a poor reliability record, it's the worst car I could buy right now. I'm with you on the N54 config though. Unfortunately I haven't found a M-package N54 5-series car yet.

Lastly, the M3 sedan is a great car no doubt, but it's extremely ugly, just like most BMWs. Also, my town is littered with M3's because too many tech geeks found a great job at Apple and the likes. You see what I'm trying to say? Make no mistake, If there's a low-mile M3 sedan out there in the budget, I will pounce on it. So far I haven't found any.

CarHopper

The headbolt issue is blown out of proportion. You will always hear horror stories on everything. It still wouldn't hurt to have a warranty though.

I bought the warranty and am going to get rid of it as soon as I replace my headbolts.

I'm surprised you find the interior cheap. The door locks are kind of cheap IMO but other than that the leather is awesome. I love it. To each his own though. The shifts are faster with a tune which isn't outrageously expensive. More power and faster shifts and you'll likely be able to keep a warranty too. Or at the very least flash to stock undetected for any time it is at the dealer.

So far good choice on the e60. I'll keep pondering

Jean Valjean

In my opinion, the C63 is a funner car to drive thru the backroad twisties then the M5. I am talking both the previous V10 and current generation V8 M5's. I have driven all 3 of these cars back to back on spirited backroads, and the consensus among the group I drive with is the C63 is a much funner car in this setting than the M5's. I think a lot of the reason for this is the pure larger size and weight of the 5 series variants. Despite the weakest gearbox of the 3, the C63 really shines because of the wonderful engine and the small wheelbase. Of the 3, the C63 feels closest to driving a Ferrari F430 thru the twisties and track. Nothing can replace the Ferrari-feel, but of the 3 choices, the C63 takes the cake.

SF_C63

Where are you located?

I would sell my '09 C63 with 37k and newly purchased 3yr MB extended warranty for $42k

The M3 is fantastic but such a different driving experience from the C63. Everyone I know that debated between the two had a clear obvious preference...largely dependent on whether they would take it to the track

LosUL15

I thought the C63 looked cheap on the inside as well... To much plastic. But the car was just too bad *** to pass up. Someone on this board pointed me in the rightndirection ansnsent me to MACarbon. These guys do great work and can give you all the carbon fiber you could use on the interior. completely changes our view of C63 interior . Check it out.

http://www.macarbon.com/index.php?op...k=1&Itemid=102

ShaneN.

That's not entirely true, just throwing that out there before people start thinking that the dealership can't tell you've ever flashed your ecu.