Like i mentioned . Depends on your preference. M5 is a business class so interior would be more spacious but material quality the same? 2 doors will be a tad more rigid for OPs needs. In any case both great cars. Tidgy i liked smg with the updated software too. Only problem with these that as tbe car got older sensors start to fail and gave loads of problems. Mechanical e46 m car is a future classic IMO.

 

So confused- the pictures and praise of the M5 are speaking volumes to my heart!

 

Drive one and you will realise most of the negatives on this thread are written by people who have no idea of what they can do!

 

Stop tempting me! You're a bad person!

 

 

Stop steering **** , i know you love it

 

So true. I drive and tune performance cars for a living and have done for 15years. Had skylines, lancers, cosworths, various BMW's including the V10 M5 and all the usual stuff in between as my daily cars, yet the E39 M5 is still on the drive, the only time I've kept a second car as I couldn't bear to sell it.

 

In your opinion mate what's a realistic budget for one?

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...?atmobcid=soc3

I'd take a punt on this personally.

 

Mileage is a bit scary. Couldn't read it all as it wasn't loading properly.

 

Sorry, but I have no idea what you are on about. My opinion is that people who call them a barge and the likes have no idea of what they can do, a fact borne out by people that actually own them like Stewart here:

Couldn't agree more. I came within a whisker of owning one before the Merc, but I was gazumped ... I will have one one day. It's in the top 3 cars I have ever driven

 

Yeah mileage is high at 180k but it's a one owner car with full BMWSH. At the price I'd be checking it out if I were looking for one.

 

F1 the guy is talking about 7 track days a year car and you're saying its a perfect car. I have no doubt its a great car , as a road ocasional track weapon but 7 track days is a bit more tha average unless OP mentioned this without really understanding how much time it takes to prepare for all that.

 

The bit you missed was when he said he was not a mega hard driver. We don't all turn up to track days and try and drive like Ayrton Senna on a qualifying lap of Monaco every lap.

At the end of the day I didn't say it was a perfect track car, but I did say it would handle being used on track days although it will use up tyres and brakes quicker than some and I said that because it's true!

 

The short answer is yes, the E39 M5 is a wonderful, charismatic daily car that can handle a beating on a circuit if needed.

However, while the handling is outstanding and the car without doubt feels more nimble than its stats would suggest,there's no getting away from the fact that it weighs 1,800 kg and if you're going to be doing frequent track time you need to be prepared to pay for the privilege.

If you're doing 6-8 track days per year plus say 10k per year of daily miles, I would expect to go through 3-4 sets of rear tyres, 2 sets of fronts, 2-3 sets of pads and a set of discs per year. That's roughly £3k in consumables not including any labour charges.

Also you need to budget at least £2k on top of the purchase price of the car to fix the inevitable things that will need doing. So if £8k is all you have my suggestion is either save up a little more or you take your chances at the very bottom of the market.

 

Good advice thank you!

 

For the money you'll spend on consumables with the M5 you'd be better off buying a dedicated track car such as an MX5 or Clio 172 for circa £1k and ragging the **** off it, if you break it or bend it, bin it and buy another you'll still be quids in and probably have a lot more fun on track in a car you don't care about.

 

Yeah thats crossed my mind, but thats my plan for when I move in about 18 months. Whilst Ive got the disposable cash I'd rather get an M5 at the minute! While I can!