Mr. Bitter has some advice for Cory (archive)

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You can't justify a toy. I came to that conclusion when I purchased my M5 2 years ago.

The fact that your father's M5 ruined you for other cars brings tears to my eyes. I remember this one rich kid in high school who drove his father's brand new e28 M5 to school every friday. God I hated that cock. He was smoking in it, picking up all his friends from the swimteam, and driving like a fool around campus. Oh, and don't forget about all the Bitches he was getting. (BTW, he's now working at a book store as a clerk and attending the local community college.)

Ween yourself off Daddy's money and get yourself a 1978 Buick Electra; see how that feels to you. That car had more soul than my M5. (I didn't say it was a good soul..)

First off let me say that I love the e28 M5. My dad bought one new in '88. It came with the ellipsoid headlights and 17" gold BBS wheels. Anyway, I turned 16 in 1990, and he would let me drive the car fairly regularly. I even took it to my Junior prom. He's a cool guy my dad. He sold the car in '93 with about 20K on it.

As a result of experiencing the M5 right out of the gate I have come to define what a sweet car is by how well it reminds me of my dads '88 M5. He has a Porsche 993 C4 Cabriolet now, and it just does not seem as fast (it is though...don't worry:-)

So having been scarred by this car I have decided that I ought to just buy one of the damn things. Here's where the trouble comes in. I cannot fully justify it. My thought process goes something like this...

Okay so I can buy an M5 with 130K-150K for ~$10K, but if/when the engine dies well a rebuilt one from a dealer is $13K!! Plus labor! Boom I have close to $25K in a 14 year old car with close to 200K miles on it. Hmm mabye I should just get a '95< M3 for the $25K in the first place. Then I could buy an extended warranty if I want. It's faster, newer, as good looking in it's own way. I'm sure I can get a 3.0l M3 engine for a hell of a lot less than $13K. Hey what about an S4? It's about as fast. I could get one of those w ~100K for around $14K, cheaper parts, AWD (it snows in Colorado), greater parts availability. Or hey how about I buy a GTI VR6 and supercharge it. I could probably pull that off for around $10K. 250hp in that light little car. I bet it'd be faster than the M5. And used VR6 engines are like $2500. Or I could spring for a lower mileage M5 and spend $15K-$16K. But it still feels like a time bomb, and at $15K-$16K, we're approaching M3 territory again.

So how do you all justify ownership? Is there a rational way to buy one or do you have to do it out of love? How do you make it work on paper? I already know the esthetic value of the car, and how I love it's soul. But really how long will the M5 engine hold out? And what will it cost to rebuild it? Who rebuilds them? What's the highest mileage seen on a non-rebuilt engine? Thanks for any responses and opinions.

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