JohnLane

Those of us who live in the desert park the car when getting home... Coolant temp 190... oil temp 220. Start it the next morning for 160 degree coolant and oil temps. Lol.

kevm14

Of course. But that's because they have relatively few cold starts per mile, not because they all let their engines warmup when they do cold start. Cold starts are the roughest time generally. And some fluids don't warm up much or at all until you drive the car. In most cars it makes the most sense to pretty much drive off, unless it's way below freezing then maybe wait 30 seconds before shifting into drive. Drive gently until everything is warm. That's about it. Any car that can't handle that without premature demise wasn't designed properly.

johnnyrocket52

It’s all about the seals expanding and sealing optimum, fluids at optimum viscosity, prior to full throttle operation.

There’s nothing wrong with hopping in and hammer time right out of the gate.

Why is my car such a POS?

Easing on it until at operating temp extends the life of the machine. Fact of design to operate at its best at temp.

Johnny

kevm14

Driving gently until everything is properly warmed up is fine. Sitting there idling for 10 minutes is totally ridiculous.

johnnyrocket52

That’s the idea. Easy on it til at temp.

CQHall

Hi, all. I'm not subscribed to this thread so I'm just now reading this.

This is a seemingly well-maintained 40,xxx mile car. Real talk, knowing my track record with cars, I won't keep it until 80K or 100K miles. Especially with me working from home and the LX is the family workhorse and road trip vehicle. I think that I average about 1,500 miles/year on my fun/project cars.

That being said, I will do what those who know more about these cars suggest that I do (SMG, rod bearings, etc...) when they suggest that I do them. I have no problem spending money (or time) repairing my cars. Even if I don't drive them much.

For example, I bought my W211 E55 AMG for $8K or $10K (can't recall) and put another $15-17K into it...and only added 2K miles on it in about 1.5 years of ownership. With my W221 S63 AMG, I bought it for $19K and promptly put $5K into it and sold it 4 months later. For the M5, I've already had the oil and other fluids changed at the BMW dealership in Orlando immediately after I bought the car (like I drove from the used car lot to the dealership directly). I have an SMG/diff service scheduled at my local MB dealership for Monday. The Orlando dealership couldn't do it because they didn't have the fluid in stock.

As my MB service advisor said to me, "You really take car of your stuff. You are the kinda guy I want to buy a used car from."

Oh, and relatively speaking, BMW parts seem to be less expensive than Mercedes AMG parts. Also, the DIY community seems to be hyperactive compared to the MB/AMG community.

The S85 is so old and popular that it seems that all of the issues are sorted out and the fixes were found...then the less expensive fixes were found (like changing the rod bearings by going underneath by simply removing the oil pan or something like that). Not to mention exhaustive threads like this one dedicated to rod bearing pics with scores of rod bearing pics (with mileage) and 1,300+ comments: https://www.m5board.com/threads/comp...thread.298817/

Regarding warmups, I'm not a "hoonigan". I think I've done maybe one burnout ever...across all cars (hahahaha). Tires are too expensive for that ****. For years, I've practiced the "drive immediately but gently" warmup technique and I live deep enough in the suburbs that the cars are plenty warm before I get to any highway were they can stretch their legs. I can't see me revving to the 8,250 RPM red line very often. I'll drive the hell out of it, sure. But, I don't rag out my cars.

So, while the M3, M5, and M6 with the SMG and S65 and S85 variants of this motor have had their issues, I'm doing my best to get way ahead of any of them.

This platform reminds me of the W211 E55, where the platform is so old and popular that all of the issues have been long identified and the solutions sorted.

CQHall

And a general note about the reliability of the E60 M5, there seems to be this cult of perputating bad news and bad stereotypes about the car. It's really, really weird. There are so many YouTubers who buy the E60 M5 just the take a dump on it for content. They purposely buy bad cars.


Or in this case, a gem of a car...


Then burns up the clutch...as if he were trying to burn up the clutch:

Of course, this is how it all started. He single-handedly tanked the reputation of the car:

I've watched this happen for years now. I was interested because I had a 2008 E60 535i and had eye on the M5 of the same generation.

CQHall

Even the guy who famously mods Teslas is in on the action:


He just bought that a month ago...for content.

But, every BMW mechanic, service advisor, and enthusiast that I've talked to says that the bad reputation is unwarranted.

It's really weird to watch this happen.

kevm14

For the mileage you do plus your willingless to do whatever, I don't think you have anything to worry about. But, don't assume that every other used car buyer is in nearly your position.

Lastly, I would never compare the W211 E55 to an E60 M5. They are really different in every possible way, including the stoutness of their respective drivetrains. M113K + 722.6 is about the most reliable German powertrain I can think of, at least that produces power at these levels. I believe that the low resale value of the E60 M5 properly reflects the risk.

CQHall

The only reason that I mention the E55, and really W211s in general, is that it's a popular older car and all of the issues have been identified and fixes (if any) also identified.

I loved the M113K. It was amazing. The lazy (but reliable) transmission and the suspension are what let that car down. It could have been a sports car. But, instead, it's just a lazy luxury sedan with a muscle car engine.

kevm14

Yup. And I miss mine. That combo was exactly what I was looking for at the time. I have imperfect roads where I live.

CQHall

Oh, and to show what the E60 M5 is capable of in stock form, here it is in capable hands (this car is nearly identical to mine in spec):

johnnyrocket52

Hi Botus, I have ordered the VT Boost Box from Clark Rupp at https://www.v12icpack.com/ and will be installing next week to complete the new spark plugs and coil/pack replacement job.

I had the car for about two weeks, stored it, and went on the road for 3 weeks for work.

Will be back in town Friday and get to enjoy the car once more and then next week it’s going into LakeSide Mercedes for ABC rodeo flush, transmission fluid/filter, power steering pump flush, and differential fluid replacement.

I purchased the car without a service history based on the beautiful face value and feel compelled to replace all of the fluids, baseline the spark plugs/coil/packs, and VT box.

Johnny

CQHall

Back on topic, this is the scanner that I have being profiled by FCP Euro in a blog post: https://blog.fcpeuro.com/autel-mx808-obdii-scanner

BOTUS

need to be careful where you buy Autel kit from - they are meant to have free updates from Autel for 12 months - then big money paid subscriptions for future years / later model support - lots and lots of grey imports running fake software, with cut back or no features at all

in Europe they try to be very funny about imports which are often 1/3 of the price....

CQHall

True, and I agree about not buying tools that require subscriptions. But mine worked fine after the subscription ran out. Basically, my car was old and I didn't need updates.