Re: Money should play no part!! (archive)

Yes I love to work on my own cars. I even did it professionally for awile (saab/VW). I have over $1000 worth of tools I am sure. I would never even consider an M5 if I wasn't going to do all the work I could and buy parts at a discount. That's why for me it all comes down to the engine. I can't rebuild that. And I just read the article in the latest Bimmer magazine about a guy who goes through an horrific experience with his euro-spec 635csi...or was it an M6?

I am in Colorado by the way. Is there a recommended rebuilder that you know of around here?

Thanks for the response:-)

Cory

If you're considering an M5, money should not be an object, for starters. Don't go hog-wild and buy an immaculate $25k M5. Don't buy an $8000 beat up one, either. If you really, really want one, you'll have to pony up the dough. Yes, they're turning 13 and 14 years old, and they are still expensive. This is because they are so exclusive. There are a lot for sale, relatively, but there were only 22xx made for the whole world. The US got just over 1200 of them. In comparison, there were well over 17,000 E30 M3s and 30,000 US E36 M3s made! Not as exclusive. There were also a lot more E34 M5s made than E28s. This car is all about rarity, like the 2002tii.

A $12k-$13k M5 will get you by just fine, provided the car was treated well, has documentation, and has been thourghly inspected before settling on a price. Many people still pay more than they're worth, just because they really really want one. This drives the prices up. Maybe the coming economic downturn will help buyers. Maybe not.

An engine rebuild including installation costs $8k-$10k at Metric Mechanic. There are several places that are 10x better than the dealer for these cars. Where do you live? Korman is in Greensboro, NC, Metric Mechanic is in Missouri, Turner is in Mass, etc. All of these places will rebuild, upgrade, modify, and tune M5s, and they even clean the car and install the engine.

If you are worried about the maintenance, is it because you don't do it yourself? If you don't work on your own cars, don't buy an M5. Or at least never drive it. You'll pay out the nose for simple repairs. Get something with a warranty, like an S4, an M3, or whatever. Yes, the VW is powerful, but is it a BMW? Is it a Porsche? No, not by any stretch of the imagination. I'd bet you'll hate it compared to the "time bomb" M5. If you can do your own repairs, good. Buy about $500 in Crafstman tools, jack, jackstands, creeper, and misc other specialized tools, and you'll be able to do over 80% of the work. Talk about saving money. If I have to buy a special tool, I don't care, because it would have cost me more to take it to a shop.

James
james_535@yahoo.com
88 M5
88 M3

Follow Ups:

Shoot, you could rebuild the engine easily... JamesM 10:40 3/21/2001 (1)
- Thanks for the links! Excellent! Punk Ass Sponge 23:24 3/25/2001 (0)

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