QP or M5 feedback

Hello all,

Does anyone have some insight into the pros & cons of this comparison for a 2nd car. 2006 vs 2006. This would be a 2nd car to an suv. I am concerned about transmission issues in both, should that be a concern for both? I read clutch issues for both.

They seem to be depreciating about the same % or close.

Has anyone spent much time driving both? Or owned both?

Thanks so much for any help

Doug

 

i was in line for an E60 M5 and unfortunately (or rather, fortunately) BMW delayed it so much that I went with an QP. You hear clutch issues on M5 board than on Maserati board. The issues, by percentage and by incidents relative to owners, are more for the M5. young kid with an M5 down the street spend more time in the shop than my QP. it is relatively (to M5) trouble free.
the Sport GT's transmission is more crisp than the regular QP. go for it if u can.

depreciation, i would imagine would be higher in a QP.

exclusiveness, is a lot more on a maserati than a bmw.

bmw m makes good cars. make your own decision after you test drive them.

 

after a few hiccups my wife adores her QP, so much so that she wants to keep it after her allotted 3 year term. As a drive car she carts 2 teenage children around, and it handles the situation quite well. I enjoy the occassional drive when i'm allowed.
We initially had a clutch issue which has been resovled, brakes were an issue an now resolved. The only downer is fuel consumption is high and in regards to depreciation........lets wait and see, compared to an M5 i still believe the QP should stand up better. Look at the previous model M5 and how it dropped but the 3200 series Maserati has held up better. Hope this assists.

 

QP is a rolling work of art both in looks and in engine spirit.

 

true,
but the transmission leaves it a bit stale

 

I wentet through the same problem for months on end earlier this year. I had owned an e34 and e39 M5 and loved them both...but after 6 years 111k virtual trouble free miles miles it was time for a new daily driver . I drove several new e60 M5s as well as two QPs...I ended up buying an M5 in April 2006 and now have 11k miles and have only had one issue... the A/C needed reprograming which was done while I waited...other than that the car has been perfect. My main three reasons for picking the M5 over the QP: 1) the M5 has more interior room, especially in the back seat...with three young children I needed a daily driver that would seat five in comfort which is not possible with the QP...the middle rear seat in the QP has limited headroom and is just too small for anything but a midget...the QP rear leg room is a little tight too; 2) I liked the fact that the M5 comes with 4 year 50K mile free service that covers everything but the tires...even the brakes and clutch are covered...so if I any problems, its at BMWs cost not mine; 3) The M5 is just faster and handles better; and 4) I was afraid of the expense and reliability of a Maserati based on my over 20 years experience with various other Italian cars...I need a reliable daily driver and none of my previous three BMW M cars had never left me stranded so I have confidence in their reliability...unlike my experience with the 8 Italian cars I have owned... Now I must admit that the QP does sound a little better than the M5, but not by much...the M5 V10 sounds pretty awesome when shifting at the 8250rpm redline! As far as message board posts, you have to remember that the average German car owner doesn't buy for any "mystic" value so is much more critical of any problems whatsoever with his/her car. Us Italian car fans will overlook a lot of reliability and maintenace issues with a shrug and say oh well that's the price you pay to own an Italian car...German car owners are not so forgiving...and, there are a lot more M5s sold which statistically will result in more problems based on the higher numbers of cars as well as the fact that there are more M5s that are used as daily drivers and thus are driven more miles in worse conditions...plus, for the most part, only people who have a problem will post...it is rare that someone will post just to say he/she loves the car and has had no problems whatsoever.

 

lol., it was more than months that this guy was undecisive about getting a QP.

Many of the M5 problems happen not because it is a daily driver and not any worse conditions, and definitely not many more miles. Most are already happening very early in the ownership during normal driving conditions. you freqent the M5 board so you know what it is about.

as for "German car owners are not so forgiving", this is laughable. i think anyone spending close to $80-100k on a M5 or QP or E55/63 are just as critical and not forgiving on issues like transmission errors and breakdown on the road.

and for the part about rare that people says they love the car and no problems... this is again laughable. there are many M5 and QP owners who praise their cars.

and as far as 'handles better', ROFLMAO.

 

I admit that I took a long time to decide between the M5 and QP...that was because I really wanted an Italian daily driver, but it had to seat 5 in comfort and be suitable for 20k+ miles per year...the long time I debated with myself was beacuse I was trying to convince myself to take the plung with the QP...in the end I just couldn't justify the risk...and FChat is replete with owner's posting about their problems and how expensive parts and maintenance cost yet still brag about how they love the experience they get with their Italian car...in fact, I'm that way too. I have owned 8 Italian cars over the last 25 years or so 6 of which were Ferraris...they were all maintenance hogs that cost a lot of money to own, maintain and repair...but, I still have loved owning them and will own others in the future...maybe a C4 soon...if the German, Japanese and American cars I have owned had cost as much to own as my Italian cars I would never had bought another...that was in part my point...the fact is the average German car owner has different expectations on what he/she wants out of the car than the average Italian car buyer. And if you don't think the average German car owner drives his/her car more miles per year than the average Italian car owner, you must have never looked at the for sale section of various car market advertisments...you rarely see a 20 year old German car for sale with 11k miles...yet that is common in Ferrari, Maserat, Lambo, ect ads...! Again, as far as chat room posts about problems, it is a numbers game...if 10% of both German and Italian car owners have a certain problem there will be tens of times as many German car owners to post about it simply because there are so many more German cars sold...along with the fact that the Italian car owner will consider certain problems as mere idiosyncracies that you just have to live with to own an Italian car...like the hard shift to 2nd in a mid engine Ferrari when cold...if that happened with an M5 or Audi or even VW the owners would explode with anger...yet us Ferrari owners have just learned to live with a 1st to 3rd shift until the tranny warms up on everything from a Boxer to a 355! You can disagree all you want, but those are truisms my friend...and your comments just prove my point...

 

my comments just prove that you still check out the maserati boards for no reason. go drive your M5 and hope we dont see your posts with SMG problems. you need to change your mind about italian cars. you are the one that constantly mention your friends with the biturbos. yes, those are the 20 year old italian cars.

go to your truism and tell me if those E60 M5 problems happen as daily driver that are more than a year old, or in worse conditions than QP's are driven? they all happen within a few months of ownership with average miles.

 

Word around the camp fire is that Maserati will introduce a proper torque-converter automatic transmission soon.

And besides, when a car looks that good, why go for anything else?

 

very true, i adore M5 owners justifying their depreciated purchase on the "german thing"

 

You guys should rent a boxing ring somewhere or is this a substitute for that?

That or get married already.

 

All cars do depreciate except for the very rare exception...however, I have been well please with the resale value of M cars. I bought my previous e39 M5 for $69,900 in March 2000, owned it for 6 years and 111k+ miles and sold it for $28k...you do the math...not too bad considering the miles driven...good luck on getting that percentage back from a QP... As far as my current e60 M5, the depreciation scale has yet to be determined...but, since my company leased it for my use...it is of no real concern to me. You guys are unreal sometimes...I know M5s are nor perfect...12mpg and 1500 miles per liter of oil come to mine...but neither is the QP...why does anytime someone is critical of a car you love, own or want to own your response is to attack the messanger...you sound like a bunch of Democrats...'he doesn't agree with me so he is wrong, a bad guy and I hate him'...unlike Maserati owners, BMW owners have voiced their criticisms to BMW over the years and gotten real results...such as the importation of the e36 M3...the decision to bring back the M5 with the e39 and more. So, if us Italian car owners would be a little more critical of the cars we are given to buy, the Italian car companies may just improve them...if you continue to just accept problems as idiosyncracies necessary to own an Italian car, those Italian car companies will continue to sell us cars that are not suitable for daily use in the USA...

 

I agree..there have been some early 2006 M5s that have suffered from the red cog of death SMG problems...but, BMW has seemed to solve it with reprograming...but, M5 clutches are not burning out in 10k miles and if they did, BMW will replace them for 4 years/50k miles...will Maserati?....as far as changing my mind about Italian cars...why?...I love them...I have owned 8 and am in the market for another...a C4...but, just because I love them doesn't mean I cannot admit that certain cars have certain problems...and my experience and observations have been that more German cars in general are used as daily drivers, driven more miles and driven in worse conditions than the average Italian cars...just look around you...for example, I'm going to the FRC Car Show today and there is a 30% chance of rain...if it rains before the show starts most of the Italian car owners will either not show up or decide to drive their other car...likely a Porsche, BMW or Benz...in fact I do the same thing...if it is sunny on the weekend I will take my Boxer to run erands, ect...if it is raining I will drive my M5...I suspect almost all other Italian car owners are the same...in any event, I love the way the QP looks and may just buy a used one in a few years as an occasional car...not as a daily 25k miles per year driver...

 

How BIG are your young children? I could comfortably accomodate 2 adults and 4 young kids in the back of my QP with no headroom or legroom problems.

 

Why do these sorts of posts continually pop up?
Is it trolling, boredom?....what?
Why ask such a question?
Do you really care what other people think when it comes time to buying a car?
Did you ask your friends if it was ok to f**k some babe, or hang out with some wonderul lady, or marry the woman of your dreams?
WHY do you care what other people think?

This is a second car to an SUV......buy with your heart, period.
Forget all the cr@p about depreciation, depreciation?...what's that?....who cares?!
If you can't afford to play...don't. It is NEVER about depreciation when it comes to cars like these...it is about passion...if you don't see it, don't have it, then don't come here.....because we do see it, and love it, and don't really give a cr@p when it comes down to it.

Sorry....just pollishing off an awesome supercold martini......4 olives too!

Money...who cares...someday you'll be dead.

 

Right on Maseratifan!

 

1) my children are 8, 10 and 12...its the middle back seat that is the problem..the two outside seats are plenty big. 2) regardless, I would never put 4 people in the back seat even if they would fit as there is only 3 seatbelts...not only is that dangerous...it is illegal as well...

 

QP

 

How is it every time there is good productive discussion going on someone has to pipe in with some idiotic statement. What a load of ridiculous comments by maseratifan!

I almost cannot believe I am wasting the time to replay but I could not help it.

His questions and comments:
Why ask such a question? -Because I am looking for real word experience from people who may have owned or spent time in either or both cars! I really appreciate the other posts and feedback. Everyone has been very helpful except for this guy.

Do you really care what other people think when it comes time to buying a car?
Did you ask your friends if it was ok to f**k some babe, or hang out with some wonderul lady, or marry the woman of your dreams?
WHY do you care what other people think? Wow, what a jerk. Did you read my question? I was not asking the people on this forum: What do you think I should buy?

Forget all the cr@p about depreciation, depreciation?...what's that?....who cares?! Ok Mr. Gates. Some people with money do care a little about depreciation. It is sometimes just one of the factors in buying a car.

If you can't afford to play...don't. It is NEVER about depreciation when it comes to cars like these...it is about passion...if you don't see it, don't have it, then don't come here.....because we do see it, and love it, and don't really give a cr@p when it comes down to it. - Another unbelievably statement. It must be great to be have so much money you can make a statement like this without people laughing at you.

Sorry, I am not drunk like maseratifan but his post did make me a little angry.

Thanks again to all the other people who took the time make some great points.

 

lol. your kids a little overweight to fit in the back of a QP?

 

Real world experience....so if some person here says they didn't like the tranny...you wouldn't buy the car? Come on....
You were soliciting opinions on which car might be better (pros and cons), if not to buy, then for what...an article you are writing for the local paper?
Depreciation is not the issue, you know this.
I'm not drunk, first and only martini on a saturday night.
I was challenging you, nothing wrong with that, maybe you should examine why you would seek such advice.
Nothing personal, don't get hot.

 

we can fit 2 adults in the back of a QP easier than a 530i oops M5. and if the maser is so bad why does the Italian PM have one as the official car.

i can understand where you come from in your admiration or love of BMW's however there are others out there in auto world that buy qp's because they are different and not the staid sterile kraut look, sure an m5 performs great but the QP is a great performer, and i dont see that female chancellor being driven around in a 525i, she has an s600 (which is probably worse anyway).

to the punter looking at the QP driving along the street to a M5, they see the QP as an exotic car with no poverty pack base model thrown in to confuse the issue unlike BMW which has the pov pack base 5 series which is not too different in looks to the M5.

 

I had M5 and had Qp rented for a week in LA.
Loved the M but you could not pay me enough to sit in the back seat in that car (6'5" , 215lbs)
A friend of mine drove the Qp to dinner one night(similar size as myself) and being a Gentleman I let his girlfriend sit in front.
Sat behind the driver with my wife to the right and had no problems with either leg- nor headroom whatsoever.
Qp has a lot more space(then M5) period,end of story.
Tranny and power on the other hand ,is a totally different story.....

 

i think italian car companies are listening and suitable for daily use in the USofA. really... they even got picnic tables in the QP so that ppl can feed mcdicks to their overweight kids.