M5 E60 at rock bottom
Bet you didn’t you know you can buy a V10 BMW M5 for less than £20k. BMW’S 2005 to 2010 E60 500bhp super saloon has hit the bottom of its depreciation curve and I think it’s headed for future greatness. Brutally unhinged, the fourth-generation M5 is the fastest and most refined of them all and good for an unlimited 204mph – plus 0-124mph takes 15 seconds and 60mph comes up in just 4.5.
But the V10’s future stature isn’t just about numbers. Not having electronic power steering or BMW’S horrid hard-riding run-flat tyres means this M5 has incredible handling poise and near-perfect controllability. The torque doesn’t arrive in wild lumps like the previous V8 but comes in a precise and manageable flow. Running on Continental Sport tyres the grip is huge, allowing minute steering corrections with balletic precision. This is one of the best drift cars ever.
Sports and Prestige in Bath has a 2005 in blue with 61k and FBMWSH for £15,995 while Boss Motors in Birmingham has a 50k 2008 in red, also with full history, for £19,950. And let’s not forget there will never be another V10 M5 – the current legislative climate in Europe will never allow such defiant excess – so the E60 is an end-of-an-era BMW, the pinnacle of every M Series model that came before.
It has the world’s most powerful automotive ECU, three-stage electronic damping, seven-speed SMG ‘box, launch control, 11 different transmission settings and even a stainless steel exhaust. And that V10 is simply glorious. Start it up and the ECU limits the engine to 400bhp, but hit the M power button, boot the throttle and the floodgates open, letting an extra 100 horses thunder through the drivetrain.
The auto-only SMG gearbox (only the US got a manual option) isn’t as quick-witted as Audi’s DSG but shift by paddles and the changes are fast enough. The encyclopedia of steering, suspension and gearbox toys available gives a level of refinement control that you’ll never experience in any other car.
Compared to the £70-100k you’d now need to buy a low-mileage first generation M5 the E60 is incredible value. This is the classic case (if you’ll pardon the pun) that older doesn’t always mean better. The E60 is the M5 to have. It’s the world’s only V10 200mph saloon that’s now available for the price of a new Fiesta 1.0-litre. Just don’t leave it too long before deciding to buy one.