Parallel imported E60 M5's

[k3nny]

Hey guys, Now with the current gloomy economic condition, alot of parallel import car dealers are throwing their prices and suddenly the E60 M5 is an attractive proposition at RM5xx,xxx as opposed to BMW Malaysia's price of RM898,888 or RM798,888? There are a few dealers advertising at the RM55x,000 range which means one can drive away the car at very low 500's. With the attractive interest rates as well, its become quite tempting. After some survey and test driving the Silverstone II E60 M5 from BMW Malaysia and viewing some of the parallel imported ones, the only difference of course is that the BMW Malaysia one is the LCI facelifted E60. Comparing the car apple to apple, it would also seem that the BMW Malaysia ones have higher spec? I know this seems odd but there was no alcatara type headliner in some, no HUD, no extended leather package(stiched leather dash etc)..I found the parallel imported ones abit lacking on the options compared to the local ones. Surprising i know. The parallel imported ones come with 1 year warranty, at their workshop of choice. If you press the prices hard enough, they might sell it to you AS IS. No warranty. Ive had that with Naza before. Any problems to be expected with the E60 M5 that is common and a real pain in the @ss to fix? My experience with the E46 M3, short as it may be is that its rather trouble free, nice car to drive and relatively okay to maintain unless something goes wrong with the SMG II? What about the E60 M5? Would appreciate everyones thoughts on this car. im hoping the prices go down even further in the next 2 months or so! Thanks in advance for all feedback.

 

[alpina b5]

as long as there is that v10 there, thats the most important

 

[azzy-CSL-wuzzy]

yes, that is common among grey imported M5s, no HUD, no extended leather package and no alcantara roof lining. Apart from that, a grey imported M5 is as good as an authorised BMW dealer M5. Nothing suprising about it since grey importers target those who want to buy an M5 but not at the dealr prices, so they have to make do with lower options.

As for the problems, i do not know if there are ay problems with the M5, but people i know who own them seems to say it is problem free. however a grey importer is akin to an individual who goes to a BMW dealer in another country, buys an M5 and brings it in. therefore if there were any recalls, they would not have done it, because it entails sending the car back overseas. i know there was a problem with the 2003 e46 M3s where BMW recalled and rectified the problem. so if you have a grey imported M3 you won't get it rectified. hence why people in Malaysia always say the E46 M3 all has con rod problems. it is a problem, but it was rectified.

my 2 cents worth

 

[tinman]

my humble 2 cents.

most grey market m5 are 05 or 06 .old stock that been sitting in their showroom for long time, plus no proper software updates, early 05 06 m5 have smg problems, this i can confirm it .most owners are to proud to talk bad about their car. another problem wit grey import for such high end cars is you will not know if the duty is paid in full. AP also shaddy. there is a blue M5 07 , at ab glenmarie wit warranty goin for 600k. makes more sense than trusting grey market cars which could also be stolen from jap or uk

 

[k3nny]

asl_csl_wuzzy: thanks for the info man.

i was told that very same thing, that the ones BMW malaysia bring in are of the highest available spec unless you go BMW Individual. The ones from the PI's are somewhat lower spec.

So far there are no recalls on the E60 M5 so no concern there YET.

its very tempting but the ones i see so far have very suspect mileage when compared with wear and tear of interior?

i wonder if anyone has come across this before? mileage is low, yes, but the wear on the leather, plus the accelerator pedal rubber is worn slightly just doesnt tell the same story.