Some of you may recall me trying my friend’s F10 M5 for the weekend from the other thread. Well, guess what, I bought it
Bhpian utkarshmohan86 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:
THE M5 DREAM:
No, it wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment, spontaneous decision. The BMW M5 has been my dream car, perhaps since the original E39 guy Ritchie/Madonna Film and definitely since the Top Gear feature on the E60 (the one with the M button). Yes, I dreamed of Alfas as a child, but the M5 formed my teenage dreams.
This obsession was so thorough that I had even planned to buy an M5 based on BMW 5 series product cycles. So in 2008, when I started work, I calculated that a new M5 would come out in 2011, 2018 and 2025 (which did happen, F10, F90 and G90 respectively). My hope was that by 2025, just on the cusp of my 39th Birthday, I would have the means to buy a new 2025 BMW M5.
Two things happened. One is that I am not a fan of the touchscreenification, hybridisation and general gadgetry/heavy weight philosophy of the modern car industry. So I have no desire for a G90 M5. It also costs a cool S$750,000 (Rs. 5 Crores, yes, this is not a typo) in Singapore. So even if I loved it, it was never going to happen.
The second thing that happened is that my irrational love for the E60 M5 was slowly replaced with a love for the F10. Initially I disliked the F10 when it came out in 2010, as it was (at the time) reviewed to be heavy and less of a drivers car, but 15 years later, it suddenly seems reasonable, weight wise, given what else is out there and through experience, I have realised that high revving V10 engines and single clutch autos only make sense in car magazine fantasy land. In the real world, the torque of a turbo and the usability of a DCT are much better.
A WEEKEND IN THE M5
So 2025 came and the F10 M5 was on my radar, side-lined a little bit by my desire to get a convertible ( I will talk more about this in a different thread). Coincidentally, at a similar time, a very old colleague friend of mine (his MK V Golf GTI was the first ever performance car I ever drove back in 2009. Why he trusted me back then? Who knows?) was looking to sell his M5, due to a change in life circumstances.
Turns out a M5 is great when you have two kids, but when you have three, you need something more spacious. I can’t argue with that.
He asked me if I was interested, but I told him I was really contemplating something more like an M6 or an Alpina B4 Convertible. Nonetheless, since I make car videos for fun, he asked me to have it for the weekend and document the car. Which I did, and the result is here
Video: Link
I gave back the car to him, but I was forever changed. By a couple of things, an interesting confluence of heart and head was tugging away at me
THE HARD TRUTH ABOUT BUYING OLD PERFORMANCE CARS:
Old Performance cars often look like bargains compared to new ones. The new BMW M5 is a cool $750K (Rs. 5 Crore) here, an early F10 M5 is a sliver over $100K (Rs 65 L), but what one has to always account for is:
1) The work the car will need to bring it up to its top form
2) The number of previous owners the car has had
As I lay in my video, this particular F10 M5 was a home run on both fronts. It had been owned for four years by my friend, who is the CEO of a large company and no boy racer, a BMW enthusiast (he used to own an E34 before he was transferred out of Singapore, and then he came back and got the M5). And because he is a responsible adult with some financial means and not a boy racer, the car was not only well taken care of, driven with mechanical sympathy, but also ravaged the best possible wear and tear and preventive maintenance treatment. I will lay all of this out with records shortly.
But the key point of this. My weekend with the M5 had convinced me that this was no ordinary dream; the M5 was the real thing. Completely different from a normal BMW, a sporty BMW, an M Light BMW, or even an Alpina. I have owned all four, so I have a reasonable frame of reference. I am not saying it’s a better everyday car (again, I refer you to my previous thread), but it is most definitely a more special thing. And I loved it.
And it struck me that while there was a fair supply of F10 M5s kicking around in Singapore, most of them had little to no history, and I knew nothing about the owners. This is sadly a car that has been favoured by unscrupulous wannabe boy racer car dealer types who can barely afford the car and road tax, who thrash it for a few months and then sell it on with false advertising (I will make a separate post on the state of second hand dealers for performance cars here in Singapore. It is dirty)
So if I ever had to buy an M5, it had to be this one. Owned by one of my oldest petrolhead friends for four years. Everything ( I mean everything) is done to it in terms of mechanical maintenance. And I knew I loved the car because I had driven it extensively over the weekend.
So yes, I made him a reasonable offer, and the deed was done.
Now on the car, PROJECT ZEUS:
I will be making a monthly VLOG update on this car. For this first one, let’s talk about what the car is, current mileage, what has been done to it, what I plan to do to it, and why I call it Project Zeus. You can either read on or watch the video. I don’t discriminate between media habits
Video: Link
WHAT IS THE CAR
It is a 2012 F10 BMW M5 in Individual Moonstone Metallic with a Black Merino Leather Interior. Options List is below, but some highlights (for me) are the factory carbon fibre boot spoiler, Shadowline, sun roof, Hi Fi premium stereo, basically Harmon Kardon. They started putting the logos in 2014. I should mention the colour was a $15K option when the car was new in 2014, and I will say it again, it is the perfect BMW M5 colour.
The bimmer work car description of the car is below
WHAT ARE THE MODS:
The car has been modified with some very expensive parts by the previous owner. Some are to my taste, some are less
Akrapovic Evolution Exhaust:
Love. Transforms the car. Best sounding car I have ever driven by a mile
BC Forged HCA 195, Step Lip Forged Modular Wheel:
Love. Pictures do not do justice to the wheels. It looks black and one-dimensional. In real life, it is this beautiful smoked almost gunmetal grey and remarkably three-dimensional. It does transform the car
KW V3 Coilovers:
Neutral. The car has had KWs installed to provide a superior dynamic package to the M5 competition, addressing the key complaints of the F10 M5 being boaty. I find it a touch stiff for me, and will be adjusting the setting. More on this in the later section
Carbon Fibre Rear Diffuser and Wing Mirrors:
Love. Works incredibly well together with the Moonstone. It is the best-looking BMW F10 M5 in my eyes.
Carbon Fibre Interior Trim:
Neutral. I am more of a wood guy. I guess I can get used to it
Carbon Fibre Flat Bottomed Steering Wheel:
Neutral. Love the flat bottom. Dislike the Alcantara. Yes, I know, I am weird
WHAT MAINTENANCE, WEAR & TEAR WORK HAS BEEN DONE:
This is where things get interesting. The car has done 146K km, but the engine was comprehensively rebuilt at 135K, it has all new absorbers, a new aircon, a completely serviced DCT and a lot more. As my brother commented when he saw the list of work, everything that can be done to the car has been done.
Let’s go through it one by one. The eagle-eyed amongst you will be counting the cost of work done, but let me save you some time and tell you that it is more than $50K (Rs 33 L ) worth of preventative maintenance and wear & tear
Engine Rebuild- $37K:
Jul 2024 (roughly at 135K km)
Rebuilt by Renown Powerhaus, a BMW M Specialist here in Singapore. Everything has been done with all original BMW parts.
New Suspension (KW V3+ BMW absorbers-$5K:
Jul 2024 (roughly at 135K km)
Installed and tuned by Renown Powerhaus. The objective, as the previous owner told me, was to install the best aftermarket solution to provide a superior dynamic package to the M5 competition. If you research F10 M5 forums, you will see KW V3s pop up. I do have to comment that the setup is a touch stiff for my taste, so I will going back to Renown to tune it to my taste. The KW’s are very adjustable
New Aircon Compressor and Parts ($2.5K)
Probably the most important maintenance item in the tropical heat of Singapore
Others (Sensors, Solenoids, Battery, Injectors, Seals, too many to list ) $10K
As my brother said, everything that needed to be done, has been done
New Michelin PS4 Tyres ($2K)
When I see Michelin PS4s in a car, I instantly like the owner. For tyres, you always go with the best. Cheap out on cosmetics if you need to, but never on tyres
So as you can tell, this car was essentially made mechanically a new car at about 135K km. So it’s done about 10K km since then. It feels great, too, but I do need to resolve some cosmetic issues, which I will get into in the next session
WHAT DO I PLAN TO DO?
Not a lot. But essentially complete the job the previous owner began of making this the best F10 M5 in Singapore
Firstly, Why Project Zeus
The name is inspired by the Wheel Design, which does look like Zeus’s (or Jupiter’s) thunderbolts. I will also say that the character of the car is in line. I wouldn’t call my BMW G30 540i Zeus, as it doesn’t quite have that gumption. This M5 has a sheer force of character that demands a larger-than-life name
MY PLANS:
1) Fix all the sticky rubber on the door handles and the worn trim surrounding the rear AC vent
F-series BMWs suffer in hot climates and end up with sticky door handles. I have had them in my F30, my F06, and now this F10. I can’t stand them, but luckily, it’s a simple fix. Already ordered
2) Revert the Leather to as New
I am a stickler for the Interior condition of cars. The car’s interior is a strict 8/10, with 9/10 going to the back seats and the front seats suffering at 7/10. Well, to be clear, the bottom of the front seats where the leather has worn. Luckily, there is a specialty leather shop in Singapore that usually repairs high-end handbags and shoes, but they also do car leather on request. This will be updated in the next video
Note for those who saw the video: I had mentioned swapping out the leather entirely for a different colour, as I don’t like black interiors. However, I enquired with a few shops and found out that they could not execute my vision as I wanted it. Also, the embossing on the seats cannot be replicated exactly locally. So if I can’t get exactly what I want, I would rather keep it original.
3) Adjust the KW V3s to my taste
When I first saw the car was lowered, my plan was to revert it back to the original BMW adaptive dampers. However, in the period since I decided to buy the car, I have been doing extensive research in the F10 M5 forums. As it turns out, no one has much praise for the stock adaptive dampers, and a lot of folks recommend swapping out to KW V3s anyway. This was also the line of thinking of the previous owner and was recommended to him by the BMW M Specialist. The best part of the KW V3s is that they are adjustable for damping, rebound, and also for adjusting ride height. So I have a session booked to get it adjusted to my taste. The car will become higher and softer, but I like it like that.
4) Maybe. Rewrap the Alcantara Wheel in Leather
My preference is leather, but I am going to give Alcantara a try. Let’s see.
Alright, folks, this has been the first update on Project Zeus. The F10 M5 is quite a sweet spot for performance, price, and character, but it does need looking after, so I plan to keep this thread going for anyone who wants a good reference about these vehicles, particularly a reasonably high-mileage one.
Would love to know your thoughts, and feel free to ask any questions in the thread
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