Shadowing Practice: BMW E60 M5 Ultimate Buyers Guide - Learn English Speaking with Video

Oh, what's that?

You want to buy yourself a BMW E60 M5?

Well, imagine finding your dream E60 M5, only to discover a ticking time bomb under the hood after you've signed the papers.

But what if I told you the E60 M5, with the right knowledge, can be a surprisingly reliable car, even in 2025?

Today, we're breaking down the ultimate pre-purchase inspection checklist,

empowering you to make a bulletproof buying decision and drive away with confidence not regret.

Right, so first things first, this car that we're standing in front of right now is a 2005 model, so it's 20 years old right now.

Now I've owned this car for approximately seven years.

I've owned many BMWs over the years.

I've owned nothing but BMWs for the last 16 years

and I can tell you right now that this is one of the most reliable cars I have ever owned.

now I've been running this YouTube channel for approximately the same length of time

that I've owned this e60 m5 and during

that time that's exposed me to a lot of conversations with other e60 m5 owners around the world

and the majority of feedback that I get from all of them

which is overwhelming is the fact that they've found the same

that the car is incredibly reliable now this might seem in contrast

and contradict all the information that you've probably read out there or you've heard from YouTube car reviewers, this type of thing, you know.

But the reality is the feedback that I've had on these cars and how reliable people have found them

has come from people that have actually owned these cars in the real world.

It's real world experience.

They've lived and breathed that ownership experience.

Now, there is one caveat to what I'm telling you here.

If you do own one of these cars, you do have to look after it properly,

which I'll get into in more detail when we take a look at that big V10 engine.

Now secondly these cars did come in a variety of colours.

There's burgundy, silver, blue, grey, black, white and a few others and they did come with some awesome options too.

Optional extras such as seats with active bolsters, heated seats, even cooled seats.

You could get dynamic

headlamps alcantara headliner a rear blind and many other options available too

but now that i've said all that forget all that

because you don't want to go into buying one of these cars just based on the color

that you like or the spec

that you like you don't want to buy them on spec

you want to buy one of these cars on condition alone

because these cars have been around a long time now they've been around the block a few times

and there's many out there that ain't been looked after

that very well they're pretty ropey condition right then let's get into it

and let's first start off by taking a look at

that big 5 liter v10 screamer of an engine right let's have a look in the engine bay

and let's take a look at this engine and oh boy what an engine the s85

5 liter V10 absolute screamer of an engine revs to 8

250 rpms took inspiration from the formula 1 design at the time

and even the engine blocks were manufactured in the same factory

that the formula 1 V10 engine blocks were during this era how awesome is

that now it's an incredibly well-built engine and an incredibly strong engine and it can withstand a lot of hammer

likes to be revved out and it likes to be driven hard

and again this car's 20 years old and in the nearly seven years

that i've owned this vehicle never had any major problems with this engine now

that might sound contrary to all the information out there on

these cars these engines do frighten a lot of people

but it's a very well built engine and if you look after it properly and be mindful

of what it is you shouldn't have any real issues with the engine nothing major and these engines

are designed and manufactured slightly different just to the regular BMW engines the straight sixes or whatever

when you dig deep into one of these engines you can just see how well made they are to put

that in perspective like I say this car's 20 years old

in my ownership this engine has had zero oil leaks nothing

from the timing system nothing from the rocker covers nothing from

the oil pan all right the oil pan gasket has been

changed in the past through a maintenance procedure nothing from the rear main seal nothing zero oil leaks in

that time which you can't say about a regular non-m bmw engine okay i'm saying all this

so you might be thinking to yourself all right m tech guy I've heard

or I know about some of these engines out there

that have had catastrophic failure in the real world

and of course a lot of that talk always comes down to the rod bearings

and I've heard it all before I've heard all the talk

about all the rod bearings the tolerances are too tight

and that's why they fail and BMW designed it incorrectly

and people are going through and redoing the rod bearings

and putting ones in there with extra clearance

because yeah some dude in his garage knows way much more than the guys who designed this engine right Yeah, righty-o.

What you've got to remember is, this is a V10 engine with a reasonably heavy crank, and it's a long crankshaft operating 10 pistons,

which isn't normally a big deal unless you're revving it out to 8250rpms.

Now, them conrods and the rod bearings are under an immense amount of pressure.

If you've got too much slop in there, too much clearance, it's going to upset the balance, it's going to upset the wear and cause a whole number of other issues.

They were designed like that for a reason.

Now there's only two things that you can do to these vehicles to cause the rod bearings to fail.

Number one, use the wrong oil if you're not using the fully synthetic 10W60.

It was recommended from the factory due to its sheer strength.

So it's going to hold up to them high RPMs and all that pressure.

And as long as you change it regularly, you should be fine

if you try switching to a thinner oil with this mindset

that oh it's going to flow better

because then tight tolerances on the bearings it will cause accelerated wear

because that thinner oil can't hold up to the sheer strength

that it needs and secondly

and probably the number one cause of rod bearing issues with

these cars is people revving the engine out from cold you've

got to be mindful of this isn't an everyday engine it's

not an everyday car it's pretty much a supercar engine you're not driving a ford fiesta

so don't jump in the car from cold

and rev the guts out of it because

that 10w60 is like treacle it is thick oil

and it needs to warm up properly to flow properly to give them bearings the protection

that they need under high load

when you take the car out let it warm up properly before you rev the engine out

and listen i drive this car hard pretty much every time

i take it out i always every journey pretty much let

it rev out to 8 250 rpm that's what it's all

100

about with this car i love the sound of this engine

101

and after nearly seven years i have not got tired of it is an absolute phenomenal engine

102

but you got to let that oil warm up first

103

so normally drive the car keep it under 3000 rpms until

104

that oil temperature gauge is sitting more

105

or less in the middle then you're good to go

106

and this engine and the rod bearings will take all the hammer

107

that you can give it but

108

if you're going to rev it out from cold you're you're going to wear them rod bearings

109

and eventually it's going to spin a bearing.

110

So if you keep them two things in mind, use the proper Tendalview 60 oil,

111

change it regularly and don't rev it out from cold and you shouldn't have any issues with the rod bearings.

112

Now even though it is a tough engine, it certainly isn't without its quirks and all the common issues

113

that can happen with this engine will happen by now the car's 20 years old they're very well understood

114

and there are solutions out there to pretty much anything

115

that can slightly go wrong with these engines

116

so let's walk through some of these issues

117

that can happen with these vehicles due to the age of the vehicle all right

118

so let's start at the top

119

and let's start with the cooling system now unlike many bmws

120

the cooling system is pretty robust in these vehicles in very rare cases expansion tank can crack

121

but it is very rare so it is worth just casting your eye over

122

that if you're looking at a vehicle let's check the hoses

123

but they should look okay mine are all still the original hoses as it left the factory

124

but the main thing that normally fails with the cooling system on these vehicles is the thermostat

125

which lives just under there luckily it is designed to fail open

126

when it does fail

127

so all that's going to mean is the car is going to take forever to warm up

128

so that's a good way of telling right off the bat

129

if you take the car for a test drive from cold

130

that temperature isn't coming up in sort of five to ten minutes it's taking way longer then that'll tell you

131

that it's more likely the thermostat is stuck open

132

and these engines for some reason love to eat thermostats

133

so it's not unusual to find one with a failed one the other thing is the temperature sensor

134

which sits in the via the engine

135

they can fail also whether that fails or the thermostat

136

or both they normally throw fault codes it's normally not difficult

137

to diagnose the issue water pumps i've never seen one fail

138

on one of these cars they are pretty robust you want to go through

139

and change it when you do your thermostat so be it

140

while all the coolant's drained out well mine's still got the

141

original one in 20 years old 130 000 kilometers still going all right

142

so far the radiator is all aluminium no plastic tanks

143

on either end like many vehicles nowadays

144

so you shouldn't have any issues with it leaking unless it's

145

had a hole poked in the front of it by some

146

debris just cast your eye down there you'll soon know

147

if it's leaking

148

but as a whole they're a very robust radiator moving on from there you want to make sure

149

that the original ear boxes are in place a lot of

150

design has gone into these they work incredibly efficiently feeding the plenums

151

and these have five trumpets in each a bit like velocity stacks on a sort of angle

152

and the way this air feeds into there it creates a

153

reasonable amount of charge pressure in there feeding the engine now just you want to make sure

154

that these are in place

155

and they haven't been changed out for some cold air intake

156

it is going to draw in hot air into the engine

157

and not going to work as efficiently as the original ones

158

that are fed from these ducts down here

159

and then filters in normally the cotton type which are oiled and

160

that oil will contaminate your mass airflow sensors it's going to

161

cause your engine not to run at the optimal settings so

162

if they're on there just plan to get rid of them get the proper air boxes in there

163

because they're there for a reason there's been a lot of design gone into them

164

and it's there to work in conjunction with the engine properly

165

right moving on next up the plenums these are built from

166

solid plastic like i say they've got them trumpets inside of

167

there very robust they don't really break you might find some

168

cars have been changed out for the carbon fiber type ones that's a much thinner material

169

and it's normally that vibration that gives it that unique noise

170

that people are looking for when they change them out

171

but be aware especially some of the earlier designed ones

172

that carbon fiber would start coming apart

173

and it can end up getting inside the engine personally i don't like them this is

174

so well built and it operates

175

so well all right it doesn't sound like a carbon fiber one

176

but it certainly gives off an amazing induction noise i like this

177

because it's the proper one normally the only issue i've seen with these is

178

if a garage has been working on these engines in a

179

lot of cases each side they haven't been refitted properly Now each side has got its own rubber boots,

180

so they've got five on each and they connect to the individual throttle bodies.

181

Now it can be quite tricky to position them in place perfectly

182

and what will happen a lot of the time is you might get one or two of the boots, it'll catch the edge of that rubber boot and it'll peen it up like that.

183

You won't have a full seal right the way around and it is quite hard to see there.

184

So a lot of the time, a garage will just plonk that on, sort of force it in position.

185

You might go on to rubber boots peened up, and then they'll just do up the jump jubilee clips, but then you could end up with a bit of a vacuum leak, so it might run a wee bit lean.

186

You'll soon tell that when it's idling, it's not running right.

187

And believe me, that issue is way more common than most people realise.

188

If you want information on how to remove and install these plenums, I do have a video on that previously.

189

Go check it out.

190

They're moving down into the engine.

191

The throttle bodies themselves, they're normally good as gold.

192

I've never really seen any issues with them other than the boot issue.

193

And operating them throttle bodies is the throttle actuators.

194

The design of them, they work incredibly well.

195

The way they're geared and they're sprung, even though this car has a drive-by wire and there's no throttle cable,

196

it makes that throttle input very instantaneous compared to a lot of drive-by-wire single throttle bodied BMWs.

197

And like I say, it's due to the way they're geared and they're sprung, but they are under a lot of tension and them gears are made of plastic.

198

Because of the load that they're under, they do wear over time.

199

The teeth get all rounded out.

200

Normally when that happens you'll get fault codes for one bank of throttles

201

and a lot of times it will trigger a specific fault code to the throttle actuator.

202

If it's caught early enough you can remove them and you can buy replacement gears in the aftermarket, put the new gears in there and they're good as gold.

203

If you leave them

204

and the car's been operated too long with the worn out gears then it can affect the electronics also.

205

Still rebuildable but it is a bit more involved for the regular DIY mechanic.

206

you can buy exchange units that have already been rebuilt that's normally the way to go

207

or you can still buy the genuine brand new ones so

208

if you're looking at one of these vehicles

209

and the throttle actuators have never been done

210

and there's a reasonable amount of kilometers miles on the engine it's more than likely it'll be worn

211

and it'll be due for rebuild

212

or replacement now underneath the throttle actuators are the idle actuators

213

now these very rarely go wrong in comparison to the throttle actuators now these are like little miniature throttle bodies

214

that control your idle but it is more than an idle actuator

215

because up until a couple of thousand rpms you are actually

216

driving the car on the idle actuators you've got to think about it

217

you've got 10 individual throttle bodies and if they're open just 10 percent

218

because the amount of them

219

and the accumulation of the amount open throttle bodies that's a lot of air

220

that the engine sucking in so to reduce

221

that their main throttle bodies the 10 of them will remain

222

closed the car will be running on the idle actuators

223

which are like a miniature throttle body one for each bank very rarely go wrong very rarely wear out normally

224

when they do fail it's the wiring that goes to them

225

and unfortunately unlike the throttle actuators they are very difficult to rebuild

226

so normally in most cases the solution is just to replace them also be obvious

227

if they are failing be throwing fault codes in relation to idle quality

228

and you'll see it right off the bat

229

when you drive the car low rpms moving on from the idle actuators 10 fuel injectors

230

and these are pretty good but over time what can happen is

231

when they're closed they won't seal off properly when they start getting old

232

and worn and then what can happen in some cases is

233

when the car shut off and you leave it overnight

234

because they're not shut off properly there might be one

235

or maybe multiple fuel injectors like that that fuel pressure that's in the fuel rails the two rails

236

that'll bleed off through that open injector that's not sealing off properly where's

237

that fuel going to go it's going to go into the cylinder now

238

if enough fuel leaks in there what happens

239

when you go to crank it over you're just going to hydro lock the engine

240

because it won't compress that volume of liquid fuel

241

because it's not atomized like when it's in operation

242

and most cases you'll bend a rod you'll usually score the cylinder bores

243

and as it's turning you're going to wreck the rod bearing

244

or the crank as well in some cases

245

so this is probably the number one thing that's going to

246

destroy one of these engines of course you don't want to wait till it gets to

247

that stage but it's a well-known issue

248

and the solution is to change them out preventatively the car's

249

got 60 000 miles on it 100 000 kilometers you could probably stretch it out to 100 000 miles

250

but that'll be more

251

or less the time you want to change these out 60

252

000 miles 100 000 kilometers some people have had trouble getting

253

replacements out of there they are getting quite rare there are

254

still the genuine ones out there i actually replaced mine out with aftermarket ones

255

but don't seem to be a huge amount out there at the moment

256

but you can still get the genuine ones genuine being all your ones

257

but they are expensive so if you're looking to buy one of these cars

258

and the fuel injectors have never been changed out you definitely want to factor in the cost of getting

259

that done because that is probably the number one risk to destroying one of these engines and

260

if there's a reasonable amount of service history with the car

261

you should be able to see frequent oil changes there

262

if any have been missed or it's been ran for a long time

263

or they haven't used the correct oil then of course there could be issues with the rod burns

264

but the only thing with the rod bearings is there's no way

265

of knowing what type of wear there is on them until

266

you pull the oil pan off you pull them out

267

and they're staring you in the face and when you get to

268

that stage you might as well just replace them all

269

so that's probably the one of the biggest things with these engines other than the fuel injectors

270

if they've never been replaced you don't really know what kind

271

of life the car's had it's probably had multiple owners at this stage in its life

272

and even when it was new a lot of them new owners revved them out from cold

273

and they only stuck to the factory oil change intervals

274

because the car was under warranty i believe that's a bit

275

too stretched out i like to do about 5 000 kilometers

276

approximately 3 000 miles whatever just do them way more frequently

277

than what the service interval actually is for these cars

278

and you can't go wrong but yeah you don't know

279

if they've been revved out from cold multiple times you don't know

280

if they've used the right oil you don't know

281

if they've stretched them oil intervals out so when you're getting into one of these cars

282

you just got no idea what kind of life them rod bearings have had

283

and that's probably the sticking point with these cars now most of them have got to the age now

284

or the kilometers the rod bearings have been changed out preventatively exactly for this reason

285

because you don't know what type of wears on them now you can get an oil analysis done

286

but you really need to get that done over a long period of time

287

and get multiple analysis is done and then that'll give you a trend

288

and you can see exactly how much bearing wear material is in

289

that oil if if any

290

if you're looking to buy one of these cars you can't just take one sample

291

and take a look at it doesn't work like that

292

if the rod rod bearings have never been done my recommendation

293

would be to factor in getting them done as soon as you get the car

294

and then it'll give you

295

that peace of mind as long as you let the car

296

warm up properly use the correct oil you'll be good as gold for years to come

297

and you'll know exactly what the state of them bearings are

298

because they'll be brand new now another system

299

that can cause issues with these vehicles is the vanos system the variable valve timing system

300

so you've got a high pressure pump down the bottom there

301

and that's actually got an internal hose early models did have issues with

302

that hose leak and i think they'll revise the part a bit later on normally

303

when they leak you'll get a load of vanos codes

304

but the only way to change it is pulling

305

that oil pan off

306

and replacing the hose now just before i bought this vehicle

307

seven years ago the dealer was selling this car was experiencing an issue with

308

that hose so what they did they had to replace it before they sold me the car

309

when they had the oil pan off luckily the technician

310

that was working on it knew these cars well i think he owned one himself

311

so he replaced the hose and he put a new set of rod bearings in there

312

so that's really the way to go

313

if you're getting into the ownership for one of these cars

314

pull the pan off replace the rod bearings replace the high pressure vanoss hose

315

and while everything is apart inspect the vanoss pump also because they can cause issues

316

they have a bearing inside there and it can crack the race

317

but you just want to make sure everything's looking okay with

318

that pump if things are looking a bit dodgy then it's a perfect time to get it replaced

319

but then races can get damaged and leak fragments there's something to keep in mind

320

so do the rod bearings do the hard pressure vanos line check out the pump replace it

321

if necessary they are expensive sometimes you can get away with

322

a good second hand one it's in good condition bear in

323

mind there are two different pumps they've got different teeth profiles there's an early type

324

and a late type so just want to make sure you've got the correct pump

325

if you're going down

326

that route then moving on from the bottom of the vanos

327

system up to the top here You've got Vanos keys here driving the camshafts, and you've got two Vanos solenoids on each bank, four all together.

328

The solenoids can fail, as with any electrical solenoid.

329

Now, the early type had a black body on them.

330

The later type had a metal, silver-looking body.

331

So you'll be able to see straight away if they've been changed out, because they'll have been changed out with the silver-bodied ones.

332

Two of mine have been replaced.

333

Two are still original, 20 years old, and I think the only reason the two that have been replaced were replaced

334

was part of the diagnostic process

335

that they were going through before they got to the point

336

where they realized it was the hose leaking inside the oil pan

337

so they're pretty robust normally it's just the o-rings that are leaking

338

so if you do have vanos issues

339

that do get diagnosed get to get traced back to the

340

solenoids themselves it is worth just chucking some new o-rings on there initially it's usually

341

that that's leaking and letting the vanos pressure by and they do run at an incredibly high pressure.

342

Now the gears themselves, there are an early type and the late type.

343

It's the exhaust gears.

344

They've got a spring in them.

345

Now the early type, they were prone to rattling, will give off that classic S85 V10 engine noise that you'll see in pretty much all of my videos.

346

It's not a big deal.

347

It does frighten a few people.

348

It doesn't sound good, but it is completely normal and it's not a big deal and it's not a problem.

349

If it really bothers you you can change it out for the later exhaust gears

350

but I just live with it and I kind of like the noise

351

because it's all part of the character of these engines the

352

vanos system as a whole is a very noisy system of

353

course you've got two gears here meshing together there's no chain it's not chain driven just gears meshing

354

so you're going to hear all that wearing away it's going to make a noise

355

and then if you've got the early type like me you're going to hear

356

that exhaust gear giving off that classic s85 rattle also

357

so the main things to look out for with s85 v10

358

engine headlamps in most cases like most e60s you'll probably find

359

that the lenses got all uv damaged and the standard yellow

360

and get worn put our mine over on the left hand side unlike the early e46 b

361

and we usually can't just replace the lens easily they're bonded onto the body of the headlamp itself

362

so it can be done but it is messy

363

and to be honest with you they're never the same again they never seal up properly

364

when you've cut it all away sealed it

365

and replaced them can be done

366

but the solution really is to replace the whole headlamp

367

which is super expensive or alternatively just go through

368

and restore the plastic give it a bit of a sealer on there a bit of uv protectant

369

and it should be fine our headlamps themselves have got the

370

xenon bulbs most of the m5s came specced with the dynamic headlamps

371

so not only will they adjust up and down

372

but also side to side as you're cornering it's an awesome feature i found it very useful

373

when i'm taking this out for a spin at night time on the mountain roads

374

and you can really see it doing its thing

375

but they are driven by a little actuator inside the headlamp there

376

and they're controlled by a little dynamic headlamp controller these can

377

fail over time can be a bit tricky to diagnose

378

but you will get a headlamp fault up on the dashboard there it'll just look like a bulb

379

so if you are looking to buy one of these vehicles

380

and that warning's up on the dash don't be fooled

381

that you're thinking oh it's just a bulb

382

that wants replacing you can go around check all the bulbs easily and if they're all lit up

383

okay in most cases it's either the controller or the actuator that's failed

384

so factor that in to the cost if you're looking at a vehicle

385

that does have that fault

386

and with the fuel system feeding them 10 fuel injectors of

387

course you start the back of the car at the tank and you've got an in-tank filter and an in-tank fuel pump.

388

The fuel pumps can fail over time.

389

If you there is some service history with the car, it would be nice to see that the filter has been changed out.

390

If it hasn't, factor that in to your ownership if you're going to get into the car.

391

The pump's never been done.

392

It might be worth changing it out at this sort of age as a preventative item.

393

They do fail.

394

They are a two stage pump, low pressure and a high pressure all in one pump.

395

So either the low pressure will fail and it just pretty much won't be running.

396

Or it'll be the high pressure that fails.

397

So the car will look like it runs sweet at low pressure

398

if you take the car out

399

and you're absolutely caning it you're revving it out we'll come up with a fuel pressure fault

400

because it can't reach it can't maintain that high pressure

401

and moving on from the pump you've got the fuel lines down the side here

402

and it comes up and feeds the injectors like that from

403

that left hand front wheel arch now inside there is your

404

fuel pressure sensor they can fail also the car's got fuel pressure issues in a lot of cases it's either

405

that or the pump most cases it's the sensor itself the car is running reasonably well the charcoal canister

406

which lives under the right and rear wheel well here can fail

407

and what that will cause is excessive vacuum to build in your fuel tank

408

because it won't be able to vent to atmosphere properly

409

and then what

410

that will cause over the long term in some cases in the worst case scenario is

411

that vacuum can pull your tank inwards

412

and cause it to collapse then you need a new fuel tank they ain't cheap

413

and it's a reasonably labour intensive job to change it out.

414

Now an easy way to tell that charcoal canister has failed, if you open the fuel door here, take off the fuel camp, if you hear a big whoosh of vacuum,

415

it's gasping for air, you know in most cases it's the charcoal canister that's failed.

416

Not hugely expensive parts and not too hard to get at, you've just got to take the wheel liner off to gain access to it,

417

but it is something you want to factor in before the

418

fuel tank gets destroyed you are going to get into the

419

vehicle there are also two purge valves inside the V of

420

the engine there will purge valves in some cases they can fail

421

but you'll soon know about it because they'll be coming up with emissions fault codes

422

so it should be relatively straightforward to diagnose they're not too

423

expensive not too hard to access it once the plenums are

424

off suspension these cars came equipped with the EDC suspension it's awesome setup for these cars you see the connectors

425

here for them on top of the strut towers.

426

You've got three settings.

427

The system works awesome but as these cars age if there's a lot of kilometres on the car

428

or even getting to this sort of age 20 years old

429

they're going to be running a lot weaker than they were

430

when they were brand new and because that way is

431

so accumulative in small stages over time It's not something that an owner really notices.

432

Now I got the front shocks changed out on mine.

433

The genuine BMW EDC shocks.

434

And it made a hell of a difference to the way the car rode.

435

But them shocks are super, super expensive.

436

Now why did I get them changed out?

437

Because they were leaking.

438

And although they're pretty tough shocks, they are made of aluminium.

439

And if they have had a lot of hammer, especially in the stiff setting.

440

If you've been going over a lot of potholes, a lot of holes in the road, a little damaged roads, this type of thing and they've got a lot of hammer that can cause them to leak.

441

So if you're looking at one of these vehicles, just go around and just poke your nose in the wheel arches through the wheels

442

and just make sure that they're not leaking.

443

If they are, you're going to have to factor in cost to replace them.

444

Over here in New Zealand, if they've got a reasonable leak, that is an annual inspection failure, a WAF failure, like an MOT in the UK.

445

So it might be something you'll have to get done just to make your car legally roadworthy.

446

So they are expensive, there are aftermarket alternatives out there, but none of them ride like the original ones when they're brand new.

447

Most of them are a tiny bit stiffer, but they work out a lot cheaper, and there are some good brands out there.

448

So there are different options.

449

You don't have to go and splurge thousands and thousands of dollars on the genuine ones.

450

Now, as you look in the engine bay here, there's no battery, because that's positioned in the boot.

451

You've got some jumper points here in the front.

452

One thing I will say with these cars, if it's got an older battery in there, If the car doesn't get driven that often and the battery's at low voltage,

453

it can cause all kinds of electrical issues.

454

So if there is any electrical issues whatsoever, the first thing to always do is check the battery.

455

Any doubt, replace it if it won't charge properly, if it's got to that stage in its life.

456

Because like I say, they only have to drop slightly in supply voltage

457

and they can cause all kinds of issues and fault codes.

458

And then along with the battery, the alternator, voltage regulators can fail also the alternators just like any alternator they will last a reasonable amount of time

459

but it's normally the voltage regulator that's on the back of the alternator normally fails

460

so it's not charging properly if you've got a charging fault

461

if the car you're looking at will come up with a charging fault

462

when you start up from cold even if it does start

463

and run okay it's more than likely

464

that voltage regulator on the alternator it's quite an involved job to replace it

465

so if you are going to go to

466

that extent then you might as well just put a new alternator in there

467

and forget about it for another 10 years or so however long it may last.

468

Now starter motors like any starter motor they will wear and fail over time.

469

Anything with this engine the starter motor is bolted inside the back of the V of the engine

470

and unfortunately some of the bolts that mount

471

that to the bell housing come from the gearbox side

472

so it's just about impossible to undo them bolts from the engine bay here.

473

In a lot of cases you'll have to drop the gearbox down slightly to get access to them.

474

there is a cheat away you can do it you can

475

disassemble the starter motor from its sort of main body that's bolted to the bell holes in

476

and just put the guts out of the new starter motor

477

and bolt all that up but

478

if you want to replace the whole thing it is a very labor intensive job to do the job properly

479

so if it has got starter motor issues the one the car

480

that you're looking at just keep

481

that in mind it's not as straightforward as it's not just

482

on the side of the block like most cars huge amount

483

of hours involved in replacing it all right the smg gearbox the gearbox

484

that seems to frighten everybody i don't know why people are

485

so concerned about the smg3 because it is a fantastic gearbox

486

and again car's 20 years old i've owned it for just

487

about seven years never had any issues whatsoever with this smg gearbox

488

and it shifts absolutely beautifully now i hear a lot of people comment normally people that have either never driven one

489

or usually YouTube car reviewers that have only driven the car for an afternoon

490

and all of a sudden they're an expert on it saying that the gearbox shifts clunky.

491

I certainly wouldn't call it a clunky gearbox.

492

If you try

493

and drive it like a modern eight-speed ZF automatic then yeah

494

maybe it is going to feel a little bit more clunky than something like

495

that but I've never found it any more clunky or notchy than say GM TH350 automatic transmission from the 1970s.

496

You'd find in a lot of American cars from that period

497

but that's driving this in automatic mode

498

but what you've got to remember is this is not an automatic gearbox and that's the mistake a lot of people make.

499

It's a seven speed manual gearbox but you've got no clutch pedal

500

and you've got no actual real shifter connected to anything because that's looked after by a hydraulic system.

501

So you've got hydraulic solenoids for the whole shift pattern and the same for your clutch actuation.

502

Yep you can set it up to drive in automatic mode

503

and has an incredibly smart computer looking after things

504

so yeah you can set it up in automatic mode you

505

don't have to worry about any shifting will go up

506

and down the gears all by itself but just remember

507

that it is a manual gearbox with a real clutch single clutch just like any just regular manual gearbox

508

but that computer is going to look after the shifting

509

so it's not like an automatic transmission with a torque converter

510

so it's never going to run as smooth as an automatic transmission.

511

It's only ever going to run as smooth as a real manual gearbox.

512

But the difference between this and a regular manual gearbox is this can shift incredibly quick compared to a human being.

513

Now, you can alter the shift settings.

514

You've got five different settings to choose from, from lazy to incredibly fast banging it through the gears, and you can even go up to a sixth shift setting if you turn the traction control off.

515

so what you'll find when you're driving it

516

and banging it through the gears if you're really revving it out

517

and you've got it in an aggressive shift setting it will absolutely slam through the gears

518

but don't worry

519

because this gearbox can take it it's an incredibly strong it's a big seven speed manual gearbox

520

and it's built like a truck gearbox it can handle it

521

so you've got automatic mode manual mode you can either shift with this make-believe shifter

522

which is not actually connected to the gears it's just basically a switch

523

or you've got the paddles on here

524

but as you shift through it is actually a manual gearbox

525

shifting through them gears it's just been shifted via them shift solenoids

526

so you've got seven speeds it works incredibly efficiently

527

but you can't get in this car

528

and drive it like an automatic you've got to have the mindset

529

that you're driving a real manual gearbox

530

because that's what it is underneath all the hydraulics so

531

when you take the car for a test drive just make

532

sure with the accelerator pedal you're driving with some intention

533

and you're shifting with intention

534

because you as a human being has still got to tell the computer what you want

535

and that's got to try and anticipate what's happening so

536

if you're just dawdling and pootling along the computer doesn't know whether you're coming or going

537

so it is going to shift a bit out of sync

538

it might feel not precisely how you want it to

539

so it's an incredibly strong and i've found an incredibly reliable gearbox

540

and if you drive it properly it's an absolutely beautiful gearbox to drive i love the smg3

541

and i'd go with this over a regular manual six speed

542

any day of the week now i know in america these cars

543

and the m6s were spec with the manual six speed out of the v8 m3 at the time

544

but what you've got to remember is the gear ratios in

545

that gearbox are very very different to what are in the seven speed smg

546

and to be honest the gear ratios are a bit out of whack to the v10 engine

547

so what you've got to keep in mind is this seven speed smg gearbox was designed

548

and built specifically to be used with this v10 engine now

549

how many cars out there can you say the same thing about

550

that where the gearbox and the engine were built

551

and designed together to work in unison

552

so don't just listen to the reviews out there listen to

553

information people have never driven these cars take one for a drive yourself drive it with intention

554

and drive it hard and you'll see

555

that this is an incredibly amazing gearbox paired with this engine

556

but of course anything mechanical can go wrong

557

and as these cars age getting to 20 odd years old now things can start to wear

558

and deteriorate so what can go wrong with the smg3 well

559

if anything's going wrong with it the computer is very very sensitive to any issues

560

and it'll throw a fault code be an orange

561

or red gear on the dashboard there on the display so

562

if the car you're looking at has got a warning sign

563

on the dash then you want to get the car scanned just see

564

if you can decipher what's going on with it common issues

565

with the smg3 probably the most common issue is the hydraulic pump as an electric motor to drive it

566

that electric motor can wear

567

and fail over time now they're really early ones especially in

568

a car like this 2005 they were built without facility for the dust from the brushes

569

when they get worn to exit the motor

570

so they just get clogged up blocked up

571

and also there's some stampings on the side of the brushes

572

which make them a bit too thick and they couldn't slide properly

573

and they caused issues most of them have been changed out

574

under recall now most of the m5s with murder issues have all been changed out now

575

so you'll probably find that it's not on the original one

576

but the brushes do wear over time they can fail it's very unlikely

577

that the actual pump itself will fail sometimes the seals can deteriorate

578

if it's gotten really hot at some point they can be replaced that's not a big deal

579

but pump failure to be honest i've never actually seen full-on

580

pump failure myself where the whole pump needs replacing it's usually the motor

581

that drives the pump not too expensive it's not a huge job to change it out just consider

582

that if it's not building pressure other thing is the actuator where it stores

583

that hydraulic pressure can start to fail over time

584

and an easy way to see if the the system's not holding pressure is

585

when you first unlock the car you'll hear that hydraulic pump running just like this.

586

now depending on how long it runs if it's running

587

and going on and on and on then obviously

588

that pump's trying to make up a leak somewhere

589

or some major pressure loss so that'll give you an indication

590

that something's going on with the smg system but it's not building

591

and maintaining the pressure the way it should do

592

so it could be the accumulator that's letting by more than likely especially with the cars being this age

593

if it's been ran really hot all the o-rings on the solenoids

594

or the shifts and your clutch actuation they can become hard aged

595

and brittle they're no longer pliable so they won't seal properly

596

so what it'll do is it'll let

597

that hydraulic pressure past the seals it won't build pressure properly

598

and then eventually it's going to cause shifting issues

599

and it's going to throw one of them warning cog lights the other thing is especially

600

if the car won't start properly when it's in neutral

601

that can be any number of issues

602

but a lot of the time the car has been this

603

age it can be the wiring on the side of the gearbox

604

which basically goes from the main harness to the shift block at the top insulation breaks down over time

605

and what happens is then wires start shorting out

606

so easy fix for that is to remove the harness from the gearbox

607

and just basically sleeve all the wires put it back in

608

it should be good as gold one caveat i would say

609

with this is from some reports from some of my viewers

610

especially over in the states there they do say they don't

611

experience the same sort of shift style as we do with the european vehicles

612

so mine's got my smg's got the european software

613

if you've got the american software looking after it due to emissions regulations it might shift slightly different

614

and it won't feel as smooth

615

or as nice as the ones with the european software so

616

if you're looking at a car in the states

617

and it hasn't had the software reflash to the european style it is worth considering getting

618

that done if it's legal to do so in the state

619

that you live in because it will improve your shifts no end

620

but other than the electric pump motor failing one of the

621

other most common issues with these is the slave cylinder failing

622

which is bolted of course to the bell housing there what

623

that can do it can leak your bypass clutch hydraulic pressure

624

and what that can do is leak into the bell housing

625

and contaminate your clutch unfortunately a bit like the starter motor

626

to replace it the bolts go from inside the bell housing

627

so you basically got to remove the gearbox to replace the slave cylinder

628

but to be honest with you you'd want to do anyway

629

because you want to check that clutch make sure it's not contaminated

630

if it is it's a good time to put a new clutch in there flywheel make sure

631

that looks all right and the other thing

632

that can cause issues is a clutch release bearing early versions

633

were a greased metal type later versions were like a plastic lined version

634

which shouldn't have any grease on but some garages

635

when they're replacing the clutch did grease them now this can cause issues normally you can tell

636

if it's an issue or if it's failed or if it's failing

637

when you drive the vehicle and if it's not making up

638

that clutch as you're pulling away at takeoff if it's juddering

639

or if it's just just

640

if it just doesn't feel as smooth as it should do then normally it's

641

that but release bearing you've also got the fork they can wear

642

and the wee pivot the fork is plastic the original ones they can wear over time

643

if it's been changed out for a brass one at some point they'll cause even more issues

644

so if you do go in there you want to replace with a proper plastic one

645

but to be honest unless it's just the pump motor that's causing an issue

646

if any of the hydraulic solenoids need replacing or the o-rings need doing

647

if you need to do the wiring to the shift block

648

if you've got anything to do with the clutch slave the clutch itself

649

and any of the mechanisms

650

that operates the clutch you're going to be taking the gearbox out

651

and at that stage it would just be worth going through the whole gearbox resleeve the wires

652

go through

653

and replace all the solenoid o-rings maybe put a new seal inside the pump consider replacing the pump electric motor

654

and the clutch itself and the mechanism that looks after the clutch

655

and you'll be good as gold for years to come

656

and you'll have resolved some of the not so common

657

but some of the issues that can happen with these gearboxes right the sunroof

658

when you're heading down the road just listen for any wind noise coming from this area

659

because it's very common as these cars are getting to this

660

age now for the sunroof seal to get hard to get aged

661

and shrink won't seal properly you'll get a lot of wind noise coming through there so

662

if you are hearing a bit of noise just factor in

663

the cost of a new sunroof seal they're not expensive

664

but it is something you want to get taken care of

665

also another common sunroof issue is a rattle from the metal wind deflector

666

that sits underneath there so when the sunroof is fully open you've got this wind deflector

667

that comes up like that

668

but in the closed position like it is now as the car gets old the hinges will wear on

669

that wind deflector and you'll hear it banging against the glass

670

so it'll sound like a carassel heading down the road going

671

over the bumps now it can be quite hard to diagnose this but

672

if you do hear a rattle open the sunroof screen have

673

a listen up here you can actually get your fingers in there

674

and grab a hold of it either push it up there

675

or pull it down a wee bit

676

if the rattle stops then you know what it is it's

677

an easy fix i have made videos on this previously general wear

678

and tear inside the interior check the seats the seat bolsters

679

these m5s were specced with merino leather it's a soft supple beautiful leather

680

if i wear on the bolsters can be quite expensive to repair it

681

if you did want to do so also check the alcantara headliner

682

if it was specced with it it's all hanging down

683

and whatnot it might cost you a a little bit more

684

than just getting a regular headliner repaired same with the c b

685

and a pillars and with the seats you've got the whole mechanism

686

that operates it all the electric motors the switch gear

687

and whatnot just make sure all that works usually the thing

688

that fails is the thigh support as we gear inside there

689

rather than replacing the whole motor itself you can just buy

690

a replacement gear it's not a big deal to replace it very cheap so if they're not working properly the solution

691

isn't a big deal

692

and I've made videos on this previously both of mine have been done the iDrive screen can fail

693

so just make sure it looks all right it's functioning okay these can be expensive

694

and getting a second hand unit can be quite hard to

695

track down the system's rubbish it's aged quite badly to be honest with you

696

but I don't really use it I just drive the car

697

like a car I've got a cd changer this one even came spec with a mini disc player

698

and just remember the quirks of this side driver are all part of the character of the car from this era.

699

Steering wheel is specific to the M5 even though it looks like a regular 5 series M Sport wheel

700

because it's got the M stitching around the inside there.

701

If there's any issues with this you might want to get it recovered the same

702

or finding a replacement that was an M5 or an M6 wheel can be quite difficult.

703

These shift paddles they can break I don't know how easy they are to obtain nowadays they're not hugely expensive

704

but you might have to find a used one

705

or you might have to buy a whole wheel just to

706

obtain the shift paddle they bolt to the back of the steering wheel.

707

The mirrors most of these m5s were specced with the electro

708

chromatic glass they don't wear very well over time the liquid

709

inside of them can discolour they go like a golden brown colour

710

They are expensive pieces of mirror glass to replace and now they're no longer available.

711

So unless you find some place that's still got some in stock, it's going to cost you a fortune.

712

So I found one of mine when the solution was just to replace it with the non-electrochromatic glass.

713

It's a lot cheaper.

714

They are still readily available for the genuine ones.

715

And then to be honest with you, because the electrochromatic ones fail so easily and so often, you fit these and it's kind of a set and forget.

716

You put electrochromatic ones in there even

717

if you can find one you're going to pay a fortune

718

and eventually it's going to fail again anyhow so

719

if the car you're looking at has got the electrochromatic glass

720

and it is failing there is a reasonably cheap easy solution check out the parking sensors make sure they're working properly

721

if there are any faults with the system it will normally come up on the dash normally in most cases

722

if there is a fault it's usually one of the sensors

723

that have failed that's an easy fix in some cases it can be a wiring fault

724

or the module that looks after the parking sensors the oil cooler they can leak oil believe it or not

725

so there's a connection over this side on the right hand

726

side of the oil cooler where the hoses connect there's a wee flange there

727

and that's normally where it leaks from in most cases it's just the o-rings in between

728

that connection between the oil cooler itself and the hoses

729

that we block there but in some cases it is actually the little pipes

730

that take off to that flange they can start leaking

731

if that's the case need to replace the whole oil cooler

732

if not and then it's just the o-rings

733

but normally i'd start with the o-rings

734

and go from there check out the brakes make sure the calipers aren't leaking make sure they're operating properly

735

and check out how much wear the discs

736

and pads have got on them now brake wear isn't a huge deal it's not a huge concern

737

but if the brake discs in particular are heavily worn on the vehicle

738

that you're looking at you know they're a solution simple you just replace them

739

but look at the size of these things they ain't cheap

740

it can be super expensive to do a full set of discs

741

and pads on these cars so if the brakes on the m5

742

that you're looking at are heavily worn just factor in the cost of replacement

743

and while you're checking out the brakes make sure there's no abs

744

or dsc faults up on the dashboard

745

if there is it could be something as simple as a

746

failed wheel speed sensor worst case scenario it could be the

747

dsc unit that's failed not too much of a big deal on the later models

748

because you can get the units rebuilt but the earlier models not

749

so much there's not many services out there

750

that will look at the very early models the 2005 models

751

they were unique to this year they did change the module

752

for the rest of the model run on the 60 m5 and the 2005

753

units are extremely rare you do well to find a used good second hand one

754

and the new ones are all on back order with BMW they're not even manufacturing them at this stage so

755

if there's any DSC faults on the dashboard could be something

756

simple it could be something more involved even a steering angle sensor

757

so just keep

758

that in mind the rear axle the differential in these cars it's a very robust unit

759

but the limited slip setup is an old school setup uses clutch plates I really like

760

that but them clutch plates can wear over time

761

if you're looking at a car that's got like 200,000 miles

762

on the clock then them clutch plates are going to be pretty worn out

763

but even on a low mileage car in its normal operation you will find

764

that when the differential is cold at slow speeds

765

when you're making tight turns you will get a bit of

766

a scraping noise from the rear end it's completely normal

767

if the differential fluid hasn't been changed in a

768

while probably going to be more pronounced

769

but fresh fluid with a limited slip additive usually resolves it up to a certain extent

770

but a bit of scraping noise is normal it's just them limited slip clutch plates doing their job

771

so i won't be too worried about that but

772

if the diff's clonking on tight turns or it's whining

773

when you go down the road then them sounds will be letting you know it's time for a rebuild

774

and as with any car you're looking at to buy just make sure the body's nice

775

and straight there's no obvious accident damage main thing i like to check with the bonnet

776

and the boot open make sure the chassis rails are nice

777

and straight and the exterior body on the m5s it's pretty much all steel apart from the bonnet

778

and the two front wings they're aluminium so just make sure they're nice

779

and straight in particular because they can be very expensive to either repair

780

or replace all right guys

781

so there we have it that's pretty much everything you're going to need to look out for

782

if you're looking at getting into one of these cars and

783

if you follow the simple steps in this video you should

784

be able to avoid the majority of headaches with these vehicles

785

and it can be an absolute awesome ownership experience now

786

if you found a video interesting

787

or useful don't forget to give it a like make sure you go

788

and check out the rest of my youtube channel for more bmw e60 m5 content consider subscribing

789

if that's your cup of tea i'm mtech guy thanks a lot for watching

Wat is de Shadowing-techniek?

Shadowing is een wetenschappelijk onderbouwde taalleermethode die oorspronkelijk is ontwikkeld voor professionele tolkentraining en gepopulariseerd door polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. De methode is eenvoudig maar krachtig: je luistert naar native Engelse audio en herhaalt het onmiddellijk hardop — als een schaduw die de spreker volgt met slechts 1–2 seconden vertraging. In tegenstelling tot passief luisteren of grammaticadrills, dwingt shadowing je hersenen en mondspieren om echte spraakpatronen tegelijkertijd te verwerken en te reproduceren. Onderzoek toont aan dat het de uitspraaknauwkeurigheid, intonatie, ritme, verbonden spraak, luisterbegrip en spreekvaardigheid aanzienlijk verbetert — waardoor het een van de meest effectieve methoden is voor IELTS Speaking-voorbereiding en echte Engelse communicatie.

Shadowing Practice: BMW E60 M5 Ultimate Buyers Guide - Learn English Speaking with Video

Why Practice Speaking with This Video?

Grammar & Expressions in Context

Common Pronunciation Traps

Wat is de Shadowing-techniek?