old blue car and the new blue car

[potassium3000]

Hello,

My M story began in 2009 when I decided to get my next car. I had saved up for a nearly new car for my daily driver, and having had enjoyed a previous E90 320d company car, went to a few showrooms to look at the bigger 5 series. Whilst there I noticed a few E60 M5’s near the £30k mark. It got me thinking of what I could get if I got an older model than planned, which led to…."What could I get if I got one slightly older, higher maintenance, lower mpg, but with a “bit” of power?”.

A test drive sealed my decision and I started hunting for an M5. Found a 4 year old one with OK mileage in Silverstone II Blue on Black leather from BMW Park Lane.



Smiled when I first drove it, and to my surprise, and what I didn’t expect, is that “OMFG” feeling of pleasure occurred every time I got into it, never mind the performance or quality of the beast.



Performance, you should all know by now, was mental. I could never bring myself to drive it slow, it seemed to goad me to put my foot down….all in my mind but looking back I never drove it slow….in fact I nailed it everywhere. When driving I no longer focused on the car in front but on potential flashing blues in the rear as far as I could see, and miles ahead again for anyone who dared impede my pace. Even ended up not listening to music to concentrate!

The quality of the car, in terms of build and driving, even though it was older, and up till its last days, always astounded me.

The car never ever broke down no matter what I did to it. I loved its brilliant steering and handling, (compared to normal cars in my past), which I can only describe as “when I asked it to turn with the wheel it just did exactly what I wanted, no faltering, guessing or estimating”…probably sounds daft.

Loved every minute of it, found myself taking long ways home, going out for a drive just for the sake of it, wanting to race others to contrast performance. Ooh and modding. I never ever had any inclination to do anything except drive a car as it came from the factory, but for some reason I ended up inflicted with what is known as “moddingitus” which has symptoms of self-justified spending of inordinate amounts of hard earned on anything to make it faster, stronger, better. It just brought out an enthusiast streak in me that I had never seen before.



It was my only car for work and home duties, and the family taxi, so used all day every day.

Now I say it never broke down, but it did….once…..some time in 2013. He passed away in a “blaze of glory” on the M40 near J10 services. R.I.P LG55 XYS, 166,000 miles old.





After that I got sensible and got a very nice top spec secondhand XF S – 3 litre diesel – lovely…for the quality…mpg not so much…but I liked it I guess. Got to say the B&W stereo is the best sound I have ever had in a car and the bass is “Max Power” loud.




Last year got my wife a new top spec Juke for various reasons and after getting a good deal on it over secondhand ones; it started me looking at other new car deals as I had never thought about it, as they seemed a waste of money.

Came across the 0% deals BMW Finance were doing on the M’s which also could be had with discount…..and it got me thinking again!

Anyway tired from typing and I’m sure you’re bored, so here it is…

M6 Gran Coupe 2014
(as new refreshed one comes out soon without the indicator LEDs under the headlights or silver trim on display which I would call 2015)
Registered on 15 plate
San Marino Blue outside
Black Merino Leather inside
Options are (not a lot)…
Full Leather
Comfort Access
Soft Close
Individual Piano Gloss black
Internet
Online Entertainment
Rear seat heating
Sun Protection
343M alloys instead of standard 433M

Most importantly, I smile again …but will miss music in the car.





Thanks for reading.

Posted up so I can share the new journey.

Kamal

[speedracerlo]

whoa glad to see you got out of that M5 ok
had this sort of thing happen to me in the 80s when I was a little kid and my father's Peugot exploded soon after we got out

[RichardP]

Wow, did you find the cause of the fire in the E60? That must have been a scary moment.

Love the F06 in San Marino, very nearly went for that colour myself, but went Sakhir Orange instead, was going to change my mind but found the car had gone into build 3 days after I ordered it!

Take care of the wheels, they are VERY easy to curb at the front due to being 9.5J (.5J wider than the F10 M5) with 265 tyres and they're pretty much impossible to refurb!

When was your car built? Was it after 28th Jan this year by any chance, or was it one from stock built last year on 20th October? If it was built this year, I'd love to know the first 4 of the last 7 digits of the VIN, so D879XXX for example.

[Roadrage]

Glad you got out safe and welcome with your new ride looks nice.

[potassium3000]

Thanks all!

Richard - I never did find out what the cause was but suspect oil leak. Saw oil pressure warning when driving (first time ever), stopped on hard shoulder then saw flames, then ran! Nothing left to investigate.

I see you are the stats man here - where do you get your info ?

Spot on for the build - Oct 2014.

D879262

Kamal

[RichardP]

I just pick up the data from a variety of sources, for example www.bmwarchive.org/vin/bmw-vin-decoder.html.

Top tip for UK M6 owners, as sson as you can, take off the wheels and grease the outside of the bearings/hubs with copper grease. If you don't they will go from this



to this



in a couple of months, much worse if you leave them longer. If you leave it the wheels will become rusted on and will be a bitch to get off when you need to.

[M6-Coupe]

Originally Posted by RichardP

Top tip for UK M6 owners, as sson as you can, take off the wheels and grease the outside of the bearings/hubs with copper grease. If you don't they will go from this

...

to this

...

in a couple of months, much worse if you leave them longer. If you leave it the wheels will become rusted on and will be a bitch to get off when you need to.

^^^ This
And furthermore you will experience bunch of annoying clicking , squealing, rattling,... noise and will complain about a 100k+ car with those noises

[potassium3000]

Cheers Guys - will get some copper grease on them the weekend

[TazOjla]

How would you say the rear leg room and boot size compared to the E60?

[potassium3000]

Originally Posted by TazOjla

How would you say the rear leg room and boot size compared to the E60?

Hey there...

Technically:

E60 M5 Dimensions-
CARGO AREA DIMENSIONS
Trunk Volume 14.0 ft³ (396 litres)
INTERIOR DIMENSIONS
Front Head Room 39.1 in
Front Leg Room 41.5 in
Front Shoulder Room 57.3 in
Second Head Room 38.1 in
Second Leg Room 36.0 in
Second Shoulder Room 57.2 in



F06 M6GC-
CARGO AREA DIMENSIONS
Trunk Volume 16.2 ft³ (459 litres)
INTERIOR DIMENSIONS
Front Head Room 40.6 in
Front Leg Room 42.1 in
Front Shoulder Room 56.7 in
Second Head Room 37 in
Second Leg Room 35.3 in
Second Shoulder Room 54.6 in




Personally:

Haven’t tried a full suitcase load but as M6GC has folding seats as standard I am not that fussed! (I didnt get that option in my M5) - but straight off the boot looks more spacious but the opening is higher and seems slightly narrower. Rear leg room is surprisingly good and certainly feels more spacious than the M5, but if you are tall you will hit the sloping roof…but as the seats are sloped more than the M5 you could slouch down a bit. Technically above it says its smaller in the M6 but you don’t notice it.

Summary:

Not much in it in real world terms for me with 2 kids and wife.

Kamal

[tab]

Originally Posted by potassium3000

Hey there...

Technically:

E60 M5 Dimensions-
CARGO AREA DIMENSIONS
Trunk Volume 14.0 ft³ (396 litres)
INTERIOR DIMENSIONS
Front Head Room 39.1 in
Front Leg Room 41.5 in
Front Shoulder Room 57.3 in
Second Head Room 38.1 in
Second Leg Room 36.0 in
Second Shoulder Room 57.2 in



F06 M6GC-
CARGO AREA DIMENSIONS
Trunk Volume 16.2 ft³ (459 litres)
INTERIOR DIMENSIONS
Front Head Room 40.6 in
Front Leg Room 42.1 in
Front Shoulder Room 56.7 in
Second Head Room 37 in
Second Leg Room 35.3 in
Second Shoulder Room 54.6 in




Personally:

Haven’t tried a full suitcase load but as M6GC has folding seats as standard I am not that fussed! (I didnt get that option in my M5) - but straight off the boot looks more spacious but the opening is higher and seems slightly narrower. Rear leg room is surprisingly good and certainly feels more spacious than the M5, but if you are tall you will hit the sloping roof…but as the seats are sloped more than the M5 you could slouch down a bit. Technically above it says its smaller in the M6 but you don’t notice it.

Summary:

Not much in it in real world terms for me with 2 kids and wife.

Kamal

Do you know how ground clearance compares? The official diagram doesn't really say. I am ditching a 2004 545 with a sport package for a new M6 GC: my informal look searches suggest that a 2016 M6 GC might have slightly higher ground clearance than the 2004 545 with sport package (like 0.6 inches lower than standard 545). I assumed M6 would be lower. Any idea? I live off a bumpy alley....

[potassium3000]

Originally Posted by tab

Do you know how ground clearance compares? The official diagram doesn't really say. I am ditching a 2004 545 with a sport package for a new M6 GC: my informal look searches suggest that a 2016 M6 GC might have slightly higher ground clearance than the 2004 545 with sport package (like 0.6 inches lower than standard 545). I assumed M6 would be lower. Any idea? I live off a bumpy alley....

Hi there

M6GC GC=4.2 in OR 107 mm

545 E60….no idea!

Kamal

[tab]

Originally Posted by potassium3000

Hi there

M6GC GC=4.2 in OR 107 mm

545 E60….no idea!

Kamal

Thanks. I found a BMW doc saying 3.9 for an E60 with sport package. That's good, my M6 won't scrape quite as much -- but it will hurt me more when it does!

[JustChris]

Wow glad you're ok, loving the new blue, epic motor!

[potassium3000]

Originally Posted by M Car Chris

Wow glad you're ok, loving the new blue, epic motor!

thanks…ditto!