Like many car enthusiasts, I spend a little too much time browsing classified ads. I’m also a sucker for a deal, especially when it involves scooping up a great car for a fraction of its original price. So, when a 2018 BMW M5 popped up for sale at a BMW dealership in Ohio for just $30,999, I was intrigued. Why so cheap? Well, it turns out that one legendary driver managed to put 191,064 miles on the clock of this super sedan in a little over five-and-a-half years. That’s more than 33,000 miles a year on a 591-horsepower highway missile. Jaw, meet floor.
If your corner of the automotive kingdom isn’t exactly close to the F90 M5, allow me to give you the run-down on BMW’s previous generation businessperson’s express. Launched for 2018, it was the first all-wheel-drive M5 ever, and it came with a party trick — press one digital button in the iDrive system, and this 591-horsepower twin-turbocharged V8 all-weather sedan would disconnect drive to the front axle, turning into a tire-smoking rear-wheel-drive hooligan. It was an instant hit. While further models like the 617-horsepower M5 Competition and lightened M5 CS would turn up the wick, this is where it all started.
Whoever ordered this M5 wasn’t just an early adopter, they were an early adopter with taste. They kept things understated by ticking the box for Silverstone leather to bring the ambiance up a touch, dropping $4,900 on the Executive Pack which included ventilated and massaging front seats, and spending some serious coin on a banging stereo — the optional Bowers & Wilkins surround sound system.
In fact, you can tell they weren’t shy about spending money because this M5 appears to be almost entirely dealer-serviced since new. So, what does an F90 M5 need to hit nearly 200,000 miles? Surprisingly, not much. Carfax service records show little more than regular maintenance, with only a few things standing out above the usual fixed scheduled servicing intervals. The key fob battery was replaced at a whopping 148,579 miles, the rear brakes got new pads at 104,765 miles, and that’s really it, according to the Carfax.
Mind you, the Carfax also reports that this M5 didn’t chew through 191,064 miles unscathed. Minor rear-end damage was reported in November of 2019, meaning the rear bumper of this M5 likely got acquainted with something firmer than air and raindrops. So, not a squeaky clean history, but not a particularly bad one either.
If anything, it would be somewhat hard to tell that this BMW M5 has such insane mileage just by looking at it. The off-white Silverstone leather still looks off-white, and the only real sign this thing’s only two years away from genuine moon mileage is the worn steering wheel. Still, it doesn’t look horrendous, and should come up nicely with a re-dye.
Are you the absolute hero who drove this 2018 BMW M5 nearly 200,000 miles? If so, we want to hear from you. What was the ownership like, what did you replace it with, and how many miles were spent smiling from ear to ear? Likewise, this car is a bit of a performance bargain based on where it’s currently priced, so if any of you end up becoming the second owner, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Oh, and for the rest of us, if this isn’t a reminder to drive our cars, I don’t know what is. To the individual who deployed the devastating pace of BMW’s outgoing M5 mile-after-mile, we salute you.
(Photo credits: BMW Toledo, Carfax)
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The key is to put the miles on quickly, before the car notices.
This reminds me of the CFO of a company I was working for in the late ’90s. The company had relocated the HQ from DFW to Houston a year or two before I worked there, but the CFO refused to relocate. He drove his silver E39 M5 between DFW and Houston several times a week (he lived on the north side, so roughly 300 miles each way). I think his car was an early 1998, and by the end of ’99 he was already over 200,000 miles on it. I remember asking why he didn’t get a cheaper car for commuting, and his response was basically “I like to drive, so I might as well drive a car that likes to be driven”. He had ordered another E39 M5, in blue this time, when I left the company in early 2000. He was my hero.
This is not remotely surprising. If you take care of these cars, they will take care of you. They are intended to be driven.
I maintain that newer direct injection engines are like two strokes in that they love to be flogged over long distances. Burns up any carbon buildup and gas in the oil.
I already ran into that car, I also want to meet the hero who drove it almost 200k miles!
Also interesting how people put N63 all together in their minds, ignoring the many variants. This specifically is the t4 if I remember correctly, which is perfectly fine.
I have an x5m with the second generation s63. Its issues are basically two cooling pipes that are too close to the engine, but those are pretty fast, easy and cheap to replace. I’m posting a diy on bimmerpost soon.
I’ve out 180k miles on three bmws, incidentally all 200x cars, one being an m3, and they’ve been just fine. I currently own two different bmws with over 100k miles each. My dad has a 2009 740i with 150k miles, it still passes the dealership ista/inpa test with zero errors. No oil leaks, etc.
Cooling pipes are not bore scoring issues or other things you read about. People need to relax a little. I couldn’t imagine putting 180k miles on some reliable shitbox, what a waste of my time on this planet.
Also, to the writing: you need to get a BMW buddy to show you the dealership information on the car, that will tell you what has been done. The carfax is useless, it could have had 6 engine replacements and it wouldn’t come up.
The early iterations of N/S63 were bad, specifically due the the heat from the hot vee config and bad injectors, among other stuff, but once BMW figured out some things they are quite reliable engines if well cared.
If you find one of the early engines that didn’t suffered too much, you can retrofit injectors and heat shields in some cases to try to avoid doom.
Still, I really think that these german cars were engineered to autobahns, and if driven frequently, tend to be excellent cars.
Problem is that is more expensive to be part of the club than getting into it, so tend to postpone maintenance instead of fixing things on the first signs of something going wrong, before a catastrophic failure.
The first owner will enjoy factory warranty, and if they keep the car after, probably will be well cared, but if it was bought after the depreciation kicked in and become “cheap”, probably will be neglected, than people will complain that is a problematic car.
Not true. Parts and decent labor are expensive on these cars when compared to regular stuff, that’s why this something like this M5 is so surprising. If this has clean records regarding maintenance, they owner probably spent at least 2 Corollas worth of maintenance.
I’d like to see a more in-depth look at how a car like this can handle that kind of mileage, even in a relatively short period of time. I’ve always shied away from the M cars just because of what I know from friends who’ve had to maintain them. If this really represents what we can reasonably expect out of these cars, then I’d like to know what it is that BMW started doing so differently.
Maybe there’s an article there…..?
BMW has been focusing a lot more on mechanical reliability after the approx. 2005-2015 fiascos with some of their engines. One of the reasons why Toyota agreed on using the B58 engine and drivetrain for their Supra. Toyota doesn’t play with risking their reliability perception.
I myself own a 5 Series G30 (non M version of this chassis) and it’s been absolutely bullet proof. Think of it as the BMW of the 80’s and 90’s where electronics were the only worry and it’s still not too bad anyway.
How long will this motivation will last? Nobody knows. For now these are very solid machines. Not surprised to see them reaching high mileages without major issues.
There have certainly been plenty of very solid BMW engines. I’ve gone over 200K miles on an E30, an E36, and an E90, none of which had any significant engine problems. I currently own an M240, partly because of the reliability of the B58. It’s the M-cars I was talking about (and sorry if that wasn’t clear). They’ve used engines closer to those in racing cars that are much more highly stressed (and therefore more prone to issues) than the non-M cars.
The key here is that it’s only a 2018. This goes to further show how a lot of miles fast is easy on anything where even an M5 can shrug it off and I’ve observed this with nearly every car I’ve owned myself (and one very low original mileage 260Z I had a ton of problems with and not just the notorious carbs, but the electrical). I’d trust buying this over one with only 2k miles and that’s before factoring in that it would be a lot cheaper, too.
I once had a discussion with a guy who had a few old Lamborghinis (the one at the show was an Espada, which I love) and I mentioned a Jarama that I saw overheated on the side of the road coming in. He nodded and said that’s what happens when you don’t drive them and nobody drives them or they buy it because it’s cheap (non-Miura or Countach old Lamborghinis were at the time) and can’t afford the scheduled services, so they end up with a bad reputation. He said his were barely any different than a regular car in terms reliability and almost never needed anything between services because he drove them and never hammered on them until they were thoroughly warmed up.
My godfather did 30k largely trouble-free miles in a year in a TVR Chimaera which kinda proves the point. By the time he got to 45k miles the dealer had run out of service routines as they hadn’t expected one to go so far so soon.
Back in the day, this car would have been advertised as having “highway miles”, the idea being that driving at steady highway speeds was less destructive overall on a car. I don’t know if that was true, or if it still holds, but I’m still less frightened of a 6 year old car with 200k than a 15 year old car with 200k.
I mean, to a certain extent I might not fear either. If you say a 15 year old car with 75,000 miles, well now you’re talking 5,000 a year. Is that too low? Very well might be. But 200k over 15 years sounds…reasonable. Average.
Touro or Uber black (Lyft, etc) is my first guess. Or maybe one of those “rent a car for track day” companies.
Yep, it’s a car: drive that shit!
I always get confused by the fact that enthusiasts still equate BMW with unreliability. Their modern engines are fantastic and it’s not that uncommon to see M cars with high mileage, although 200,000 is definitely outside the realm of normal. The N63/S63 in particular are very robust, and as I always do I am once again going to remind everyone that the N63 in the M550i, X5 M50i, etc is essentially just a detuned version of the full M mill. They’re been in production since 2009 and are very well sorted at this point.
Of course God’s own engine the B58 and its cocaine addled S58 sibling are stellar as well. Anyway, now that there’s a new 5 series there’s a decent chance we see M5s and M550is of this generation continue to depreciate a bit and become relatively affordable. Hell, I see nice enough M550is in the 40s all the time. As far as depreciated enthusiast cars go you could do way, way worse.
Will they be as care free as a Lexus? Of course not, but they’re not the mechanical nightmares that a lot of 2000s Bimmers were. I frequently see certified X3Ms in the high 40s/low 50s and boy do they tempt me. You’d have to deal with a rough ride and absolutely appalling fuel economy….but a powertrain that’s that special in what’s essentially a lifted hot hatch for the price of a highly spec’d Highlander is one of the most slept on enthusiast buys out there, and I hope it stays that way because I might scoop one up eventually.
I was a BMW dealership tech from 2020-2023. Those who equate BMW with being unreliable are correct.
Fair enough, I’ve been decisively called out for this being a bad post so I will not mention BMW and reliability in the same sentence again. My bad, everyone. I’ll go watch some engine tear downs and gawk in horror when I have a minute.
Did you just call the N63 “robust”!? Are you actually insane? Although I partially agree that BMW does not always deserve the unreliable moniker with which it has been saddled, as some chassis/engine configurations are rather good, the N63/S63 is literally the worst engine BMW ever made. It’s probably the worse V8 engine ever made from any major car manufacturer. I don’t know a single person, BMW aficionados included, who would classify the N63 as anything other than a colossal dumpster fire of an engine.
The N63 makes the N62 look reliable (I actually owned an E60 with the N62, and it was a really nice engine from a driving perspective but a huge pain to work on.) The N63 inherited the valve stem seal issues from the N62, the timing chain guide and chain issues from the M62, and added a ton of direct-injection related problems in addition to a wildly unreliable turbocharger setup. In every chassis, it was crammed into the engine bay with absolutely no room to work, requiring intense disassembly or complete removal for even routine maintenance.
Alex from Legit Street Cars just did two really informative videos on his E71 with the N63. I would recommend viewing those to better familiarize yourself with the engine before making outlandish claims.
Because someone may bring it up, the N63TU improved in a few areas, but those changes were about as effective at improving reliability as throwing a deck chair off the Titanic would be to prevent it from sinking.
A simple “hey you’re wrong and here’s why” would’ve sufficed
I was referencing that your handle is a pun on insane, but I fear my sarcasm went undetected and I apologize for attacking so vociferously.
Nevertheless the idea that someone might defend the N63 rather shocked me and I consequently reacted passionately!
You are totally good! I come here to learn and I think your knowledge on this matter surpasses mine. I also love BMWs and am constantly trying to rationalize buying a used M car so I appreciate it when people try to talk some sense into me.
The E39 M5 is probably the most “reliable” M car and the one I would recommend to most people. It is also my favorite M car of all time and imho the most beautiful. The S62 has timing chain and guide issues just like the M62, but they are not too difficult to replace and parts/tools aren’t too expensive either.
The E46 M3 is probably the cheapest way to get into a proper M car, NA E36 M3 notwithstanding, but I am not a fan of the S54 and it has rod bearing issues. I currently own an E46 and imho an E46 with the M54B30 is a better all around car than the M3 and faster around town because the larger M54s have more low-end torque. My E46 has the M52TU B25 and it’s honestly a blast despite not being fast.
What about the S58?
I don’t know much about the more modern BMWs (F-series or later), so I am not sure. I think the B58 has proven to be pretty reliable, however. I am not really a fan of the direction BMW went starting with the F series so haven’t paid much attention to anything built using those engines.
A lot of my apathy for those cars stems from the electric power steering and the fact that the fast, hot versions (or sometimes the only versions) of the cars I like – 5 series, 6 series, and 7 series – were untouchable because of the N63.
The B58 is excellent. I’ve driven a few cars with it and the combination of power, efficiency, sound, and smoothness is in a league of its own. I think it’s worthy of the hype it gets. The internet is definitely in love with the S58 and I’ve seen several takes about it more or less being one of the best ICE swan songs.
I don’t necessarily know what to think. I do see high mileage S58 powered cars with normal CarFaxes pop up somewhat regularly, and I trust BMW to know what they’re doing when it comes to a straight 6. It’s more or less a B58 that lifts weights and has been on a cocaine bender as well, so it has good bones.
I also only drive about 6-8,000 miles a year, so whatever I wind up in isn’t usually too stressed outside of an occasional track day. Really my only issue with it on paper is that the fuel economy is ghastly and if I’m sucking up mileage in the mid teens I’d rather do so with more cylinders.
Every time I get E39 lust again, I remind myself how hard the experience was for me the first time. It nickel-and-thousand-dollared me to death.
That said, as good as yhe E39 M5 was, I can’t see it being worth the premium over a 540i6. Perhaps others can educate me, but I felt I was underutilizing the 540. An extra hundred horsepower would have been lost on me.
There was a guy on one of the forums who swapped a 4.8 into his 540i6 after having it worked on a bit. It was apparently spectacular.
If I could find one, I would love to get a 528iT with the 5 speed and work in swapping in a US-spec M3 engine. That would be a sweet spot, I think.
If you weren’t doing all of the maintenance yourself, I can definitely see how owning an E39 of any kind could be prohibitively expensive.
I’d rather own an E39 with the M54B30 and put a supercharger on it like Sreten did instead of own a 540i. The 540i variant doesn’t have the special engine, interior, suspension, etc. that the M5 gets, but it does have the steering box because it’s a V8. A supercharged 530i will make more power than a 540i with rack and pinion steering.
You’re going to have to replace all of the suspension at some point anyway, so that’s the time to upgrade components. You can get close enough to M5 for my wants.
I will agree that the R&P steering is more surgical, but the 540I is still bloody good.
Oddly enough, mine really reminded me of my Thunderbird SC in terms of driving feel. It was just way better, faster and more fuel efficient.
Olds 350 diesel included?
or the Cadillac 8-6-4?
HAHA no and no, although probably close to both. I was thinking of more modern engines post malaise era.
Isn’t the Northstar V8 an abject disaster as well? I’ve heard numerous horror stories of the Audi turbo 4 liter as well but we have some folks on this site who’ve said it’s not that bad if you can do a lot of your own maintenance.
Yes on the Northstar and a lot of the 4.2 L N/A Audi V8s had timing chain issues, and the timing chains were on the back of the engine.
Both are more reliable and easier to work on than the N63 by a wide margin.
Another big problem with the N63 is the insane expense for components. Shockingly, the block is incredibly cheap in the US due to a lawsuit, but that doesn’t include things like the fuel injectors and HPFP, which can run around $8,000 just for those parts alone.
I watched those vids, and they really highl8ght how BMW gets you. Both Alex and his editor keep saying how nice the car is, how great it is to drive…while it’s getting 12 mpg on.premium, and Alex is saying it’s the worst engine ever.
Alex also had an E39 M5 with 400k miles on it for a while.
I can’t figure out how the fuel economy could be that bad. Around the same time, Mercedes came out with the M278, and those had some issues as well (although nothing like the N63), but they are lauded by owners for getting amazing fuel economy for a twin turbo V8. How BMW managed to make the N63 burn so much more fuel than the competition is beyond me.
I have a 2015 S 550 Coupe with the M278, and can reliably get 27 or 28 MPG on the interstate. I think it’s incredible.
That’s awesome and in line with what I’ve been hearing! The C218 guys are regularly able to crack 30 MPG since those cars are a bit lighter than the S-class. It seems like a really awesome engine, but the piston scoring issues on cylinder 5 really scare me.