Thinking about selling my 11 E90 M3 DCT for a manual E60 M5.. opinions?

Hi everyone! I currently own my beloved 2011 BMW E90 M3 DCT. Pretty much the spec I had always wanted, with all the convenience features I required. The car has proven to be an absolutely amazing daily driver as well! This was my first M car which was quite an amazing experience.
I truly love the M3 a lot, but it's legendary V10 older sibling simply cannot be ignored. No matter how much people knock on E60 M's, it has always been lurking in the back of my mind.
At the moment, I have a very good opportunity to sell my M3 for good money, and move into a 2008 E60 M5, 6 speed manual, with all the big ticket items dealt with (Vanos system, Rod bearings, water pump, DSC module, TA's and more). The car is up there on mileage at about 170k kilometres, while my M3 is at 110k kilometres, with a new engine from BMW at 53k kilometres.
I am extremely mixed on what to do - need some people to chime in.. TIA!

New engine at 53K. Seems like no matter what's addressed with those cars, they find a way to break down one way or another. I'd stay away.

bmwm3fanatic wrote

Hi everyone! I currently own my beloved 2011 BMW E90 M3 DCT. Pretty much the spec I had always wanted, with all the convenience features I required. The car has proven to be an absolutely amazing daily driver as well! This was my first M car which was quite an amazing experience.
I truly love the M3 a lot, but it's legendary V10 older sibling simply cannot be ignored. No matter how much people knock on E60 M's, it has always been lurking in the back of my mind.
At the moment, I have a very good opportunity to sell my M3 for good money, and move into a 2008 E60 M5, 6 speed manual, with all the big ticket items dealt with (Vanos system, Rod bearings, water pump, DSC module, TA's and more). The car is up there on mileage at about 170k kilometres, while my M3 is at 110k kilometres, with a new engine from BMW at 53k kilometres.
I am extremely mixed on what to do - need some people to chime in.. TIA!

If you don't plan to daily it, I believe you should be fine. If you do plan to daily the M5 make sure those pockets in your denim are deep, or you are mechanically inclined

While the S85 is intoxicating, especially when coupled with an Eisenmann race exhaust, it's far less reliable than the e9X platform.

My buddy had 2006 in 2010, and while it was a hoot to drive and garnered a lot of attention from guys and gals, it was a nightmare once he hit 60k for him. He soon parted ways with it out of fear it would put him in a financial hole.

What happened to the M3's original motor?

SpacegrayMe90 wrote

bmwm3fanatic wrote

Hi everyone! I currently own my beloved 2011 BMW E90 M3 DCT. Pretty much the spec I had always wanted, with all the convenience features I required. The car has proven to be an absolutely amazing daily driver as well! This was my first M car which was quite an amazing experience.
I truly love the M3 a lot, but it's legendary V10 older sibling simply cannot be ignored. No matter how much people knock on E60 M's, it has always been lurking in the back of my mind.
At the moment, I have a very good opportunity to sell my M3 for good money, and move into a 2008 E60 M5, 6 speed manual, with all the big ticket items dealt with (Vanos system, Rod bearings, water pump, DSC module, TA's and more). The car is up there on mileage at about 170k kilometres, while my M3 is at 110k kilometres, with a new engine from BMW at 53k kilometres.
I am extremely mixed on what to do - need some people to chime in.. TIA!

If you don't plan to daily it, I believe you should be fine. If you do plan to daily the M5 make sure those pockets in your denim are deep, or you are mechanically inclined

While the S85 is intoxicating, especially when coupled with an Eisenmann race exhaust, it's far less reliable than the e9X platform.

My buddy had 2006 in 2010, and while it was a hoot to drive and garnered a lot of attention from guys and gals, it was a nightmare once he hit 60k for him. He soon parted ways with it out of fear it would put him in a financial hole.

What happened to the M3's original motor?

SpacegrayMe90 wrote

bmwm3fanatic wrote

Hi everyone! I currently own my beloved 2011 BMW E90 M3 DCT. Pretty much the spec I had always wanted, with all the convenience features I required. The car has proven to be an absolutely amazing daily driver as well! This was my first M car which was quite an amazing experience.
I truly love the M3 a lot, but it's legendary V10 older sibling simply cannot be ignored. No matter how much people knock on E60 M's, it has always been lurking in the back of my mind.
At the moment, I have a very good opportunity to sell my M3 for good money, and move into a 2008 E60 M5, 6 speed manual, with all the big ticket items dealt with (Vanos system, Rod bearings, water pump, DSC module, TA's and more). The car is up there on mileage at about 170k kilometres, while my M3 is at 110k kilometres, with a new engine from BMW at 53k kilometres.
I am extremely mixed on what to do - need some people to chime in.. TIA!

If you don't plan to daily it, I believe you should be fine. If you do plan to daily the M5 make sure those pockets in your denim are deep, or you are mechanically inclined

While the S85 is intoxicating, especially when coupled with an Eisenmann race exhaust, it's far less reliable than the e9X platform.

My buddy had 2006 in 2010, and while it was a hoot to drive and garnered a lot of attention from guys and gals, it was a nightmare once he hit 60k for him. He soon parted ways with it out of fear it would put him in a financial hole.

What happened to the M3's original motor?

Thanks!

My M3 has quite a hell of a backstory - part of it was one of the many previous owners drove the absolute crap out of it (never warmed it up, brought it to the highest possible RPM's to 'warm it up'), eventually 50k kilometres of abuse later, it blew up. When I bought the car, I pulled the records from bmw and found out the engine was replaced entirely. That was a great day.. LOL

bmwm3fanatic wrote

Hi everyone! I currently own my beloved 2011 BMW E90 M3 DCT. Pretty much the spec I had always wanted, with all the convenience features I required. The car has proven to be an absolutely amazing daily driver as well! This was my first M car which was quite an amazing experience.
I truly love the M3 a lot, but it's legendary V10 older sibling simply cannot be ignored. No matter how much people knock on E60 M's, it has always been lurking in the back of my mind.
At the moment, I have a very good opportunity to sell my M3 for good money, and move into a 2008 E60 M5, 6 speed manual, with all the big ticket items dealt with (Vanos system, Rod bearings, water pump, DSC module, TA's and more). The car is up there on mileage at about 170k kilometres, while my M3 is at 110k kilometres, with a new engine from BMW at 53k kilometres.
I am extremely mixed on what to do - need some people to chime in.. TIA!

Go drive one first before you pull the trigger. Like you, I've always loved the E60 M5 (also always been a fan of the design since the beginning), so when my friend offered me the chance to drive his LCI 6MT Alpine White E60 M5, I jumped on it.

Let me put it this way, that was probably the last time I truly lusted after one. If I didn't already own an E92 M3 6MT, maybe I would have been more impressed. I'll list the positives and negatives:
+ Sounds good, although quiet just like the e9x in stock form
+ Sedans are cool
+ Only BMW V10 ever made
- Didn't really feel faster than my E92 M3, the weight kind of negates any power advantage
- This is just me personally, but I don't think the S85 is that much better than the S65 when you consider how much more maintenance it needs IMO.
- If you take the same year E60 vs an E9x, the electronics seem to be more robust on the e9x platform from what I see
- Since you'll be DDing it, your fuel consumption will be going up too

I would only pull the trigger if it's more of a weekend cruiser and if you needed a bigger 4 door to bring the family along for fun. I'd consider adding an E60 M5, or E63 M6 Convertible, but otherwise, I'd never replace my E92 with one of those.

W/// wrote

Go drive one first before you pull the trigger. Like you, I've always loved the E60 M5 (also always been a fan of the design since the beginning), so when my friend offered me the chance to drive his LCI 6MT Alpine White E60 M5, I jumped on it.

Let me put it this way, that was probably the last time I truly lusted after one. If I didn't already own an E92 M3 6MT, maybe I would have been more impressed. I'll list the positives and negatives:
+ Sounds good, although quiet just like the e9x in stock form
+ Sedans are cool
+ Only BMW V10 ever made
- Didn't really feel faster than my E92 M3, the weight kind of negates any power advantage
- This is just me personally, but I don't think the S85 is that much better than the S65 when you consider how much more maintenance it needs IMO.
- If you take the same year E60 vs an E9x, the electronics seem to be more robust on the e9x platform from what I see
- Since you'll be DDing it, your fuel consumption will be going up too

I would only pull the trigger if it's more of a weekend cruiser and if you needed a bigger 4 door to bring the family along for fun. I'd consider adding an E60 M5, or E63 M6 Convertible, but otherwise, I'd never replace my E92 with one of those.

Spot-on!

W/// wrote

Go drive one first before you pull the trigger. Like you, I've always loved the E60 M5 (also always been a fan of the design since the beginning), so when my friend offered me the chance to drive his LCI 6MT Alpine White E60 M5, I jumped on it.

Let me put it this way, that was probably the last time I truly lusted after one. If I didn't already own an E92 M3 6MT, maybe I would have been more impressed. I'll list the positives and negatives:
+ Sounds good, although quiet just like the e9x in stock form
+ Sedans are cool
+ Only BMW V10 ever made
- Didn't really feel faster than my E92 M3, the weight kind of negates any power advantage
- This is just me personally, but I don't think the S85 is that much better than the S65 when you consider how much more maintenance it needs IMO.
- If you take the same year E60 vs an E9x, the electronics seem to be more robust on the e9x platform from what I see
- Since you'll be DDing it, your fuel consumption will be going up too

I would only pull the trigger if it's more of a weekend cruiser and if you needed a bigger 4 door to bring the family along for fun. I'd consider adding an E60 M5, or E63 M6 Convertible, but otherwise, I'd never replace my E92 with one of those.

Totally agree!

OP like u I've lusted after the S85 V10 for years. On top of everything that was posted above, what I didn't like most about the E60 M5 when I finally drove one was its sheer size. I just didn't feel that it wrapped around me like my M3 did. So go drive one first and see if you like it.

W/// wrote

bmwm3fanatic wrote

Hi everyone! I currently own my beloved 2011 BMW E90 M3 DCT. Pretty much the spec I had always wanted, with all the convenience features I required. The car has proven to be an absolutely amazing daily driver as well! This was my first M car which was quite an amazing experience.
I truly love the M3 a lot, but it's legendary V10 older sibling simply cannot be ignored. No matter how much people knock on E60 M's, it has always been lurking in the back of my mind.
At the moment, I have a very good opportunity to sell my M3 for good money, and move into a 2008 E60 M5, 6 speed manual, with all the big ticket items dealt with (Vanos system, Rod bearings, water pump, DSC module, TA's and more). The car is up there on mileage at about 170k kilometres, while my M3 is at 110k kilometres, with a new engine from BMW at 53k kilometres.
I am extremely mixed on what to do - need some people to chime in.. TIA!

Go drive one first before you pull the trigger. Like you, I've always loved the E60 M5 (also always been a fan of the design since the beginning), so when my friend offered me the chance to drive his LCI 6MT Alpine White E60 M5, I jumped on it.

Let me put it this way, that was probably the last time I truly lusted after one. If I didn't already own an E92 M3 6MT, maybe I would have been more impressed. I'll list the positives and negatives:
+ Sounds good, although quiet just like the e9x in stock form
+ Sedans are cool
+ Only BMW V10 ever made
- Didn't really feel faster than my E92 M3, the weight kind of negates any power advantage
- This is just me personally, but I don't think the S85 is that much better than the S65 when you consider how much more maintenance it needs IMO.
- If you take the same year E60 vs an E9x, the electronics seem to be more robust on the e9x platform from what I see
- Since you'll be DDing it, your fuel consumption will be going up too

I would only pull the trigger if it's more of a weekend cruiser and if you needed a bigger 4 door to bring the family along for fun. I'd consider adding an E60 M5, or E63 M6 Convertible, but otherwise, I'd never replace my E92 with one of those.

I really appreciate the write up!

I have arranged to drive the specific M5 in my post - will follow up soon!