BoostedM3

what would I gain besides a stick?

BoostedM3

Congrats on the m5 & c32.

masmole

Dude, get the 355!!! One of the best sounding ferraris ever made and definitely one of my favorites overall. What are the details on your friend's car? Buy it! Buy it now before he/she change their mind! I'm totally with you on that one... what I really want myself is an F430... but just can't justify spending $180K for a car at this time in my life. Maybe in a year or two so I can wait and see how the 997 Turbo will turn out first... after all, a $130K Porsche is much easier to justify because it still costs less than a house

Ever consider the upcoming Z06? 3130 lbs and 500 hp... that will own a Carrera S for $20K less, and probably own most ferraris as well. Dunno if I could ever get myself to buy a GM product though... doesn't matter, I way down on the bottom of a long list for that beast.

btw, did I mention that you should get the 355?

ilitig8

F355B '96, manual of course, Rosso Corsa over Crema, 18K. Will need the cambelt service later this year but has been dealer serviced and had the 36 month cambelt service like clockwork. He won't change his mind about selling me the car, he has long wanted me to "get" a Ferrari. He won't sell it unless I buy it, he has 3 other F cars and tends to accumulate cars instead of selling them.

I also love the 355, it is in many ways better looking than the Modena and the exhaust note is one of the best from a Dino 8, well except many the 288 GTO, which technically is a Dino 8.

As for the F430, I would love one but the waiting lists will be LONG unless you are willing to pay a huge AMV, it is hard to get in a 2003/04 Modena for 180K, the Spyders are still over 200! Bottom line I don't have the cash for a Modena or 430. The thing about the 355 is the prices have hit the bottom and they will likely never be cheaper than they are now. So you buy it and it doesn't depreciate BUT you have the running costs and my state has personal property tax on cars, though tax won't me more than a 997 S. Insurance is actually a bonus because you can get insurance for exotics, though it does have restrictions. As for the Porshe Turbo, I am not a big F/I fan, though a GT3 is certainly a possibility depending on what they do with it.

As for the ZO6, it is a whale of a car but just not for me. I picked the M3 over the C5 ZO6, even though it was cheaper and faster. I like the C6 in terms of looks BUT in pictures I am not feeling the ZO6 the hard edges of the ducts leave me cold.

In the end I will probably get the F355 since my friend (I call him a friend but he is more like an uncle) will give me a great deal on it and I won't have the issue of selling my E60 M slot at large. The 997 S is an incredible car, the Euro mags love it (ECOTY, PCOTY) but as a Ferrari F1 fan since the mid 70s I think it is time to get a Ferrari and quit putting it off.

Vandy

ClutchPerformer

Someday, I'll be able to participate in this discussion....

biker

Can the mods please fix the title - it should say E60.

Is this publication from the same folks that keep making the mistake that the E90 325 is going to be powered by a detuned 3l I6?

ilitig8

Though significantly OT I will share a car buying plan given to me from an ex-father-in-law. When he first started making money he drove his old car 4 more years, every month he invested the amount he would have paid for a new car, at the end of the 4 years he had significant cash buying power and has been able to drive nicer and nicer cars, paying himself instead of paying someone else for their money. I did this when I got my first real job and it has served me well. I have paid cash for every new car I have bought and been able to "raid" this account to pay for a second house on the lake, investment real estate, boats etc. I must admit this worked SO much better in the 90's when I got unreal returns and is less of a positive currently when money can be bought so cheap. Currently I only have one loan, a mortgage on my primary residence (just to keep credit alive) and it is only for 20% of its value. In the late 90's I went through a huge firm meltdown/breakup along with a divorce and a major illness in my family all at one time, had I been mortgaged/loaned to the hilt like most of my partners I would have lost everything, like several of them did. It was very nice to not worry about things because everything was paid for and my mortgage was rediculously low. In the end I was very fortunate and despite having to "give" my ex 50% nothing had to be sold, I just wrote a check. At your age I dreamed of the stable of cars I would own but alas life intervened, but I am happier being able to spend 4 months a year hanging out skiing/fishing and partying at the lake house than I would get driving a F430 but in the end the ability to do either was due in part to the "pay yourself" theory.

Vandy

Minch00

As will I.................

masmole

Vandy,
That is outstanding advice and I couldn't agree with you more. I myself am trying to adhere to similar principles. I haven't had to finance or lease a car since my first audi in '99 when I got out of school. Anything can happen in life and cars are never a good investment. And that is precisely what's keeping me from jumping into an F430 at this stage. Once I pay off my mortgage in a few years, then maybe I can talk ferrari turkey. And even though business is doing well today, I am preparing myself for potential downturns or unforseen events in the future. The sh!t can hit the fan at any time when you least expect it. Great post and thanks for reminding us all to live withing our means and with caution. I'm still relatively young and unmarried so I've got that going for me... but if by chance I were foolish enough and get married next year, it's out with the F430 and in with the Honda Odyssey for sure... also in with the pre-nup

Beltfed

Big difference between putting down a deposit and actually picking up the car.


Be depressed when they actually pick the cars up, not to say they aren't.

ClutchPerformer

True, true.... But based on what these guys already own, I'm pretty sure the M5 isn't too much of a stretch.

Thanks for the advice, Vandy!

chiawei

btw, it's E60 not E90 (E90 is the new 3).

Also, SMG is slower than manual. Depsite what BMW says, no one has been able to launch M3 SMG faster than manual.

chiawei

which dealer that would put you in the 1st spot if you only put your name on the list basically 3 months ago?

I have two spot wait listed. One was placed 2 years ago with help of a friend that bumped me to the front of line (well #2) with 20k deposit. The other slot i have is #16 with a 5k deposit.

As far as i know even small BMW dealers that gets probably at most 2 to 3 M5 per model year already has wait list of at least 4 to 5 people already.

BMW is only selling 1,000 M5 for 2006 model year. Which works out to be about 3 M5 per dealer (in other word big dealer will get probably 6 to 7 for 2006, and small dealer will get one for entire 2006). The wait list is probably significantly longer than than 1000 unit.

chiawei

???

SMGII never had major issues in the US. where did this come from?

biker

In general tranny failure rates are roughly:
MT 1.5%, AT 2%, SMG 2.5%

gavriil

Dude cant I take 12 days off?

gavriil

This is old news but it's never reported here and it's worth posting I believe.

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Crash woes for BMW 5-series - - Source: Autocar Mag





And from a subsequent article also from Autocar about the 1-series:

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Six goes into one - - Source: Autocar Mag

gavriil

Now you should note that crash safety scrores by Euro NCAP are of PARAMOUNT IMPORTANCE to the average European buyer. It's a major factor in buying decisiong there. So such a score for the 5 series (even with 4 stars) should be of a huge surpirse for both potential buyers, as well as BMW themselves.

Yumcha

Hmmm...Here's hoping Bangle gets ousted then...I really am not a fan of his designs...

CGTSX2004

iTrader: (1)

What does Bangle's design have to do with the crash rating?

Zapata

everything......he is the hellspawn

Dan Martin

My aunt is german and she won't drive anything with less than a 5 star rating. People look at that before they read anything else in a review.

gavriil

Yeap.

phile

If you, like I did on ogrish.com (which I will never do again), looked at some pics of what happens after car accidents, I think you would too. And I'm not talking about cars going at 100mph and then into brick walls, cause nothing can withstand those forces. But more "normal" stuff...some of these cars just fold up like tin cans.

gilboman

but on the NCAP website, the 5 series gets 4 stars

"The 5-Series has a very strong and stable passenger safety cage. It achieved a four-star rating after Euro NCAP allowed frontal, side and pole retests following improvements to the car’s steering column, footrest, door trim, door latch, airbags and software.
High loads were recorded by the driver dummy’s chest instrumentation in the frontal impact. Side impact protection was better, though.
An intelligent seat belt reminder operates for the driver and front passenger. Both child occupants were protected, but the car’s ability to protect pedestrians was dire."


Test Scores: Front 11 (69%) Side 16 (89%) Belt Reminder 2 Overall 29 Pedestrian 2 (6%) Child Protection 42 (86%)

Euro Accord (TSX) also got 4 stars

The Accord performed well in most areas but failed to match the best in its class. It drew criticism for the design of the area where driver and front passenger’s knees might strike in an impact. Too many hazards were present, said testers. Child protection was good and the restraints used met most of Euro NCAP’s performance benchmarks. The protection it gave pedestrians was good, if no match for its smaller range-mates the Stream and Civic, which each gained three stars. The Accord is bigger and so gains less from its windscreen’s ability to cushion adult heads.

Toyota had a couple of 5 stars (prius and avensis)

LessisBestmakingendsmeet

This is not good news for a car with already lagging sales.

ashran2

I dont think this has been posted before.....

HERE IS THE LINK TO BMW M5 STORY....




why dont honda make something like this and keep us all happy....

ashran2

try this link,,,,,

F23A4

Nice find.

bgsm1th

Nice!

Can't wait to get mine....

cM3go

I won't be getting one anytime soon

gavriil

Engines and performance of 5-series for 2005 in Germany:

Source: http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/d/73003

gavriil

The Touring models are the Station Wagons. The "xi" is of course the AWD models.

0-100 k/h = 0-62.5 mph.

I am guessing the 177HP engine is the 2.5 liter diesel engine, because the 2.5 liter gas engine in Europe makes 192 HP.

gavriil

There is also a 520i offered in Europe with a 2.2 liter inline 6 cylinder engine with 125 KW (170 HP) at 6100 rpm. 0-62.5 mph in 9.0 seconds with the manual.

biker

I think that 523 is a leftover from previous versions. All the diesels have a "d" designation.
There should be a 530d and 535d in there also. And of course starting later this year the 545 goes away and there'll be the 550 - although those are quite rare. 530 and 530d are the volume leaders.

It's kind of hard to tell around here - lots of folks take the no cost "debadge" option offered by BMW. It's pretty amazing that in a place where the MT rules (3/4 of cars are MT) in this particular car the AT rules like in the US (I guess folks who can afford this car have their gear rowing days behind them)

gavriil

Biker where is CH? In your location field that is.

biker

CH = Confederatio Helvetica = Switzerland

gavriil

Are you Swiss or American then? Personal question on a public forum, where are my manners?

Dan Martin

He's an American living in Switzerland.

ClutchPerformer

They don't get V8s in germany?