We all love supercars but affording one leaves it to just a select few well heeled Malaysians. Today I will reveal to you a supercar that has depreciated to less than 50% of its original value in just 5 short years allowing for some of you reading this to have one parked in your garage. The BMW M5 at launch in 2004 was the talk of the town with its high revving V10 engine, super quick auto gearbox and track ready drive electronics. It was the super sedan everyone and their uncle wanted. It brought Ferrari and Lambo speed and acceleration in a 4 door family sedan. New it will hit 100km/h from standstill in just 4.7secs. A governed top speed of 250km/h could easily be superseded up to 320km/h in the hands of the right tuner and still the 7-speed gearbox will not overworked. On the open road the M5 runs thru its paces in a spine-tingling experience. This is a high-performance five-seater that can be fine-tuned to meet individual preferences and driving styles.
This M5 invites you to calibrate the engine, transmission, steering, traction control, and damper characteristics. The 5.0-liter V-10 offers three performance programs: P400, P500, and P500 S, denoting 400, 500, and 500 horsepower in sync with an ultra sharp throttle action. The transmission wants to be told whether to operate in sequential or automatic mode and at which shift speed. The Servotronic steering can be quick or very quick. Stability control can be fully active at all times, set to allow a certain amount of tire slip, or switched off altogether. The EDC (electronic damping control) button chooses among three levels of suspension tautness: comfortable, normal, and sporty.
The only bad news is that you access the systems via iDrive, the onboard toggle button that has you working thru multiple submenus to get the P500S, Servotronic S, and dynamic traction control working right. Alternatively, you can just use the ‘M’ button. Push it, and the power output automatically jumps to 500 horsepower, the skid control system (DSC) switches to M Dynamic Mode (MDM), EDC stiffens up the dampers, and Drivelogic sets your preferred shift speed. You need to be computer literate to really exploit this car using its varied systems. Since its 1st arrival here in Malaysia in 2005 the gray market has flooded us with units at reasonable prices. From RM550,000 it started selling, the M5 has found many homes. Most owners have had nasty accidents as they drive it faster than the depth of their experience. This leaves many units in the market today as crash repaired and going cheap. There are still units being imported in till today, 2007 and 2006 models from as low as RM388,000. But the good news for someone looking to own one today is the used value of just RM288,000 for a 2005 model we spotted in a used car lot. Surprisingly it was accident free and was previously owned by a senior person with a fleet of cars.
Mileage was low and the possible reason for selling was the owner’s inability to truly enjoy the dynamics and settings provided in the M5’s electronics. At this price, one only needs to worry about road tax (it’s a V10) and running costs where simple workshop visits will see a minimum 4 figure bill. Buyer beware and make sure you are ready for high running costs if you intend to truly enjoy this car. Alternatives will be Ferrari, Porsche and Lambos all at higher used price, but with drop dead looks. This M5 will be a ‘sleeper’ of sorts.
