Jiawei Zhao

Since I was a young boy, the E60s had been my dream cars. My dad have a 535i back in China, and I really enjoy driving it.
And Now it comes to my turn to buy my own E60.
I live in Toronto and is looking for used E60s on autotraders.ca
Most of E60s out there in the market are 535i's Xdrive AWD, with only a few of 550i's and M5's.
I was aiming for M5 at the beginning, but was scared of the lack of warranty and high cost of fuel and maintenance.
I could find several M5's with around 100k km range from $30k CAD to $48k CAD depending on the year of the model and mileage.
Following are the links to them:
( 2010: 2010 BMW M 4dr Sdn for $46,000 in SCARBOROUGH | autoTRADER.ca
2009: 2009 BMW M SPORTS/SMG for $39,995 in Burlington | autoTRADER.ca
2008: 2008 BMW 5 Series 505 HORSEPOWER/ SMG/ EXECUTIVE/ HEADS UP for $32,800 in North York | autoTRADER.ca )

Then I started looking at 550i's and 535i's(xDrive).
They are about the same price varies from $20k to $25k CAD.
The V8 NA engine of 550i is definitely attractive to me, and I planned to add a supercharger on it if I ended up with 550i. However the supercharger costs about $10k, and with this price, I could buy a M5, but the high fuel costs is holding me back(20L/100km since I live downtown).
So, I am dreaming about adding a supercharger to a 550i plus some other mods to get a "near" M5 performance and better fuel costs.
After a lot of research, I checked this place
e60 550i supercharged - Page 4
He added a supercharger to his 550i and the results seems just okay, but this brings me to another problem, how about buy a 535i and do a lot heavy mods to get a good performance and even better fuel costs?

Please help me out, owners and experts!
I cannot decide between these three!
M5 is perfect but needs warranty and maintain, also is really thirsty of fuel.
550i has its V8 NA engine, but has less potential if moded (please point it out if I am wrong)
535i I don't know if the xDrive models are good to be moded. and how good they will be after mod (from what I have seen, it is still not that near M5)? In addition, since they are all used ones with 100k km clocked, will mod, like JB4, Dinan, shorten the engine life?

With the money in my hand, there are so many choices, but I still like the E60s, although they are old, they always seem as stunning as I just saw them 10 years ago!
Your input is really important, please help this crazy E60 lover!
Regards

Kaane

535i with about $2000 worth of mods can easily do 450whp, which is way more than even 550i with a supercharger. Xi models are a pain to work on, but plenty people have made 500whp+ with upgraded turbos. 535i is definetely the best bang for the buck. I paid 16K US for my 50K mile 2008 535i.

Jiawei Zhao

Thank you so much for your post!!
I am thinking about the 535i's now, but, probably since always snowing in Toronto, almost all the 535i's are xDrive models. I heard a lot in terms of handling and moding, the xi models are kind of inferior.

Did you do any mods to your 535i?? How do you like them?

Kaane

Xi handling is not bad, but it is heavier by a decent amount. I have Downpipes and a MHD tune right now. Going to run E40 soon, and upgrade my FMIC. Once that is done I should be north of 400whp. Probably around 370whp right now.

I really like my 535i. I would stick to Xi if i lived in Canada and had to drive in the winter.

Jiawei Zhao

Yup, I will go 535i then. Easier to modify and save a lot more gas.
How is your gas usage after mod?

Kaane

Regular driving gas mileage is not really affected. Still averaging 18-23mpg depending on the mix of freeway or city driving.

When I stomp it, its easily 15-20% worse, but that is to be expected due to the power gain.

JDeezyNYC

exactly what this guy said. He nailed it.

rice_rocket88

Being a native Canadian myself.. I would urge against the RWD unless you have a different winter car. Toronto can be bad. But.. as mentioned, if you have the extra $$$ you can basically clone yourself an AWD M5 to boot. I'm in Boston now, and the Xdrive is just a monster in the snow. All I have are AWD vehicles (except the family minivan). I love, love the M5.. but if it's a daily driver.. no way. In Calgary I have never seen an M5 driven in the winter.. although with the rock chips etc I would also cringe since it's such an expensive car.

I'm a cheapo.. I almost always buy second hand, and I always believe that with the huge chunks of $$ saved you can make yourself something better. I considered an M5 here just because I saw one cheap. like 25K.. but found a very nice 2008 535xi for 15K out the door. I've certainly only did the minimal mods, but I have so much money in the pocket, plus it's a daily driven car. Handling is not bad.. it still feels really great, and I can light up the tires anyways, especially with traction control off. Face it, you're probably not going to track that car enough to make a difference that the M5 suspension stuff is going to give you. Forget the 550, either go all the way.. or 535xdrive. Plus.. yeah gas mileage is a ton better.

Storslagen

Here is an article with a compelling argument for the 535i.
10 Reasons The E60 535i Is Better Than The M5

ucsbwsr

The E60 M5 can be a challenging daily driver with it's poor fuel economy and lack of torque. The S85 noise is special though.

I have no personal experience with the 550i.

Yes, a 535i/xi with a couple grand can get to 450hp. Throw 8-10 grand at it and you will have a legitimate F10 M5, GTR, C7 RS6 rival. My E61 (535xi) is Full-Bolt-On with some hybrid turbos and an upgraded fuel system. I make around 550awhp 510awtqwhich to put is perspective the same as a Lamborghini LP670, but with an additional 100lb/ft of torque!

Evan