This has been something that has been going on since the car came out. Magazines nit pick on the car and rank AMG's as better overall. I for one feel the M5 is the best sport sedan money can buy no questions asked.

I see so many for sale on Ebay, on Autotrader, Swapalease etc.


Why do owners want out of their cars so soon with barely any miles racked on? Are these cars mechanical nightmares? Is it too much car for some people? Everyone made alot of hype over SMG how rough it is in traffic and in auto mode but i never felt this to be an issue after several test drives in NY. And now they have a 6 speed manual and its obvious the car was not designed for this gearbox from the get go.



Any thoughts?

Today there are 129 2006 M5s listed in the U.S. for sale on autotrader.com. Average asking price $76,449. Most listings show mileage of 15-20,000.

So, 3% of model year 2006 M5s are for sale (there were approximately 4,150 sold in the U.S.). I don't think it sounds outrageous, and it's probably not out of line with Porsches.

By contrast, only 57 BMW 2006 550s are for sale. But this is out of total sales of just 3,124 (the 2006 MY 550 was sold only for 6 months as the 2007 MY came out in March 2006). So this is about 2% for resale. The average asking price is $52,750.

The M5 is a very special exotic-like car, and some new owners didn't get what they expected - so they went back to Porsche or whatever. But it doesn't really look like they are flooding the market.

And the ~$25k price difference between a used 550 and a used M5 is about the same gap as when they were new. So I don't think the M5 has experienced depreciation outside the norm.

You must be an analyst!

I owned an E60 545i sport and now have a 08 M5 - both 6speed sticks...
The M5 is a beast - sure the 545 sport was fast and handled well...
The M5 has smooth power that keeps coming - needles to say how you feel behind the wheel of a "dream car".
The key difference between the 545 and the M5 is knowing that you are driving BMWs best.
If you can afford the M5 go for it...

Why do so many people hate the M5?
well for start itis not a day car and it cost too much to run.
but I would not say no to 1.

Compared to it's competition - the E63, it's a stunning success. E63's are going for less than sticker price almost since introduction this year. M5's are still running close to list price. And the car is by far the best performance sedan on the planet.

It is a polarizing car, with the styling and the technology, BMW has alienated a lot of people. Hopefully they will return to their roots as the best performance sedan company in the world. Overall, I still can't think of a car I'd rather have.

I disagree : the 545i imho is the best E60 . Overall .
Tested the sedan and the Touring M5, both on the road and on track .

The M5 is too heavy (+150 kg than a 545i) and the V10 have the same torque of the 550i .
On track you can feel the major weight just entered in the pit lane .

545i/550i has a better mileage, the same torque, cheaper service costs .
But, most of all, 545i/550i has the max torque at 3500 rpm, the emmy at about 5500-6000 : to drive decently the M5 you have always to reach 6-7k rpm . And on the road it isn't possible .

And a modded 545i/550i (400 HP on 1600 Kg), imho, is better than an M5 .

The only thing from M5 I envy ?
The 7 gears: I would like to have another gear after the 6th :) .

Can't explain why others hate the M5, but owners (by and large) love their M5's. As far as the E60 goes, the M5 is definitely king. 545/550 don't match up, but are a good compromise.

On the track (where you use the engine beetwen 5500 and 8500 rpm), not on the road (where you use 2-3-4k rpm) .

If you upshift at only 7000 rpm with the M5, a 550i could be faster . imho .
Finally, the M5 in P400 mode is slower than 545i/550i (my impression on track) .