Llew's F90 M5

[TBP88]

Lol, the funny thing is how in JHB it's so easy to build massive garages, meanwhile a 500m2 plot in nicer suburbs of cape town is considered wildly big. Haha

Looking cool!

 

[Eust]

Looking forward to seeing the final fit and finish👌

Yeah, CT is another level. Percentage-wise my CT Property investments have performed the best because I got in early there. Buy now though and your yield is smashed.

For reference I just bought a 1600m2+ ERF with a 5 bedroom house in a prime golf estate in Fourways for the same price as a proper 2 bed house in Atlantic Seaboard.

We should start a home renovation thread as it seems a few guys are keen on property on here 👍

 

[TurboLlew]

The prices of properties in CT are nuts... and what is more nuts is how much money you need to sink into them still even at those prices. I have a few friends who have now done the semi-grating thing. Everyone needs to renovate or upgrade the properties in some way. Those who are smiling are the ones who have had property there for some time and also benefitted from lower building/renovation costs. I was watching the costs rise almost in real time for my renovation last year and the building this year.

I am reevaluating the multiple property thing... I have two colleagues with tenant horror stories recently (Started with late payments, currently 3 and 6 months with zero payments and sob stories). What was worrying was how helpless you are as a landlord in such a situation. I also have a tenant very keen to buy so it seems like the stars are aligning for me. The thought of vetting/risking new tenants in the environment we are in is not something I have the appetite for. I don't think the yields are great anywhere (again unless your portfolio is quite old).

 

[Yulz9081]

The prices of properties in CT are nuts... and what is more nuts is how much money you need to sink into them still even at those prices. I have a few friends who have now done the semi-grating thing. Everyone needs to renovate or upgrade the properties in some way. Those who are smiling are the ones who have had property there for some time and also benefitted from lower building/renovation costs. I was watching the costs rise almost in real time for my renovation last year and the building this year.

I am reevaluating the multiple property thing... I have two colleagues with tenant horror stories recently (Started with late payments, currently 3 and 6 months with zero payments and sob stories). What was worrying was how helpless you are as a landlord in such a situation. I also have a tenant very keen to buy so it seems like the stars are aligning for me. The thought of vetting/risking new tenants in the environment we are in is not something I have the appetite for. I don't think the yields are great anywhere (again unless your portfolio is quite old).

I had the same thoughts a year ago and offloaded my investment properties.

The risks with tenants just don’t match the reward unless you sat on these properties for many years and capital appreciation has been something to write home about. My personal view on this.

I don’t have that luxury being 33 so decided to cut my losses and rather risk it on ETF’s and buying cheaper properties, renovating and flipping. Taking a small hiding on the ETF’s currently but chances of recovery are far greater than a tenant causing R50k damage to a R1.5m apartment.

My old man has horror stories of tenants stealing aircons and pool pumps from some of his properties which he also now offloaded barring the foreign ones where landlords are actually protected by the law.

Anyway sorry for the derail. Garage is looking lovely Llew! This is garage goals…one day.


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[individj]

The prices of properties in CT are nuts... and what is more nuts is how much money you need to sink into them still even at those prices. I have a few friends who have now done the semi-grating thing. Everyone needs to renovate or upgrade the properties in some way. Those who are smiling are the ones who have had property there for some time and also benefitted from lower building/renovation costs. I was watching the costs rise almost in real time for my renovation last year and the building this year.

I am reevaluating the multiple property thing... I have two colleagues with tenant horror stories recently (Started with late payments, currently 3 and 6 months with zero payments and sob stories). What was worrying was how helpless you are as a landlord in such a situation. I also have a tenant very keen to buy so it seems like the stars are aligning for me. The thought of vetting/risking new tenants in the environment we are in is not something I have the appetite for. I don't think the yields are great anywhere (again unless your portfolio is quite old).

ya the prices for renovations have sky rocketed...I think as long as you can get into a great area and the house is neat which it is most of the time youre doing ok...most times in the Nice older areas youll have a throwback home but it'll be neat...if you can do the renovations over time its ok youre still in the right area. Your garage is going to be epic...its giving Rari 360 money hahaha

 

[modocrat]

A 458 Speciale would sure look good in there

 

[swazi85]

So after much deliberation, say hi to the replacement for my bahnstormer: the Bahnbreaker: BMW F90 M5 in Marina Bay Blue

Non competition but a few boxes have been ticked:

Active Cruise, Ambient air package, M seat belts, Seat heating for the rear as well as the front, some of the usual things like soft-close doors/fold down rear seats etc, B&W sound (which I think most if not all have) and M Driver's Package.

OH

And the M Performance Exhaust system and lots of carbon which sealed the deal!

Considering car prices getting this high (a C class replacement for my wife was not going to be far off the price of this F90) and how highly strung and costly the italians (within range) are, the F90 was really the only way to go for me and with the ever-escalating prices, I wasn't going to hold out for an LCI (as well as a colour combo I wanted).

This also breaks my "monochrome" colour streak nicely LOL. There are times this reminds me a lot of Interlagos blue which is perhaps my favourite colour of all time for a BMW.

I'm curious how's your reliability been in the last couple years?

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[TurboLlew]

You can read the thread and get most of it but (as with my F10), it has been a pleasure to own and it is nearly on 50000km now. Ultimate family car for me and it will be for some time to come since I can't afford the new one (in all likelihood) and if I could, I would rather just keep my F90 with 'only' 50000km and get something exotic. My plan was only expiring May 2024, but I've already extended to May 2025 and may lock it in for the Max +2 years come December. If you look at my F10 thread, I extended as well and owned it with no plan/no warranty for 2 years as well. The current owner is on 175000km still on the same map/motor/box/clutches.

I have not had anything major go wrong. Of the minor things:

1. The recent coolant issue. The leaking coolant lines on my F10 were an annual/every 15000km thing. It got to the point where I could literally smell the warning light coming. The F90 has nothing similar to this kind of 'attention seeking behaviour'. I just had the bottle as a once off issue and at 48000km. I hadn't picked this up in my searches since I was searching for much younger/newer cars 2/3 years back and hence this wasn't a thing. However another fanatic noted that many have had the bottle replaced with an updated unit past 40000km.

2. Front PDC was sporadically triggering and I had once instance of the front driver assists being temporarily unavailable. There was a couple of hundred rands fix for this... my numberplate tape was loose on the one edge and it was causing enough movement to trigger the sensor on that side, especially when stopping. Vashan knew exactly what this was when I took the car in (I was expecting some huge bill) and I genuinely thought he was taking the piss when he said its my numberplate moving/flapping! My car does not have the black flat numberplate holder (I didn't want it screwed into the bumper ). Anyway Gorilla tape to the rescue.

3. I guess this is not an issue with the car, but because it is 5x112 PCD none of the space saver spare wheel kits that come up for decent prices used fit the F90. The new mobility kits are IMHO a step down from the ones in the F10s. These are nice to have for peace of mind on longer trips/more rural trips. I still need to get around to finding one/buying new.

4. Clicking noise from wheel when turning, progressing into a rotational noise: there is a kit of grease and shims that fixes this issue. I was not convinced again when Vashan told me what they were doing, having had a similar noise several times and 4 hubs later on my F10... However the fix has worked long term (this was approx 20000km ago on the F90). It is indeed different to the F10's issue which required replacement of the hubs/bearings, despite the sounds being very similar.

I think it's early days yet on the transmission, but so far no issues. The good news is unlike the Getrag transmission in the F10, this is 'just the normal' (albeit Hellcat-ish spec ) of the ZF8 transmission with local support and diagnostics available.

I'm curious how's your reliability been in the last couple years?

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[swazi85]

You can read the thread and get most of it but (as with my F10), it has been a pleasure to own and it is nearly on 50000km now. Ultimate family car for me and it will be for some time to come since I can't afford the new one (in all likelihood) and if I could, I would rather just keep my F90 with 'only' 50000km and get something exotic. My plan was only expiring May 2024, but I've already extended to May 2025 and may lock it in for the Max +2 years come December. If you look at my F10 thread, I extended as well and owned it with no plan/no warranty for 2 years as well. The current owner is on 175000km still on the same map/motor/box/clutches.

I have not had anything major go wrong. Of the minor things:

1. The recent coolant issue. The leaking coolant lines on my F10 were an annual/every 15000km thing. It got to the point where I could literally smell the warning light coming. The F90 has nothing similar to this kind of 'attention seeking behaviour'. I just had the bottle as a once off issue and at 48000km. I hadn't picked this up in my searches since I was searching for much younger/newer cars 2/3 years back and hence this wasn't a thing. However another fanatic noted that many have had the bottle replaced with an updated unit past 40000km.

2. Front PDC was sporadically triggering and I had once instance of the front driver assists being temporarily unavailable. There was a couple of hundred rands fix for this... my numberplate tape was loose on the one edge and it was causing enough movement to trigger the sensor on that side, especially when stopping. Vashan knew exactly what this was when I took the car in (I was expecting some huge bill) and I genuinely thought he was taking the piss when he said its my numberplate moving/flapping! My car does not have the black flat numberplate holder (I didn't want it screwed into the bumper ). Anyway Gorilla tape to the rescue.

3. I guess this is not an issue with the car, but because it is 5x112 PCD none of the space saver spare wheel kits that come up for decent prices used fit the F90. The new mobility kits are IMHO a step down from the ones in the F10s. These are nice to have for peace of mind on longer trips/more rural trips. I still need to get around to finding one/buying new.

4. Clicking noise from wheel when turning, progressing into a rotational noise: there is a kit of grease and shims that fixes this issue. I was not convinced again when Vashan told me what they were doing, having had a similar noise several times and 4 hubs later on my F10... However the fix has worked long term (this was approx 20000km ago on the F90). It is indeed different to the F10's issue which required replacement of the hubs/bearings, despite the sounds being very similar.

I think it's early days yet on the transmission, but so far no issues. The good news is unlike the Getrag transmission in the F10, this is 'just the normal' (albeit Hellcat-ish spec ) of the ZF8 transmission with local support and diagnostics available.

Thanks for that. Currently trying to find one with atleast a couple years plan in place.

Most I have looked at so far aren't in great condition.



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[TurboLlew]

Thanks for that. Currently trying to find one with atleast a couple years plan in place.

Most I have looked at so far aren't in great condition.



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There is a lot of junk in general.

The cars available under R1.3M are visible train wrecks just from the pics. Some of the kits/carbon people have fitted are absolute junk-grade on what is still an expensive car. This also makes some of them look odd if the quality of the rep is not great so you might have to 'see through' some of that... Interiors that didn't have film applied look like trash on neglected cars... much more easily than on the F10s... as there is so much shiny plastic to deface.

This car is also from the time period where at least some people still thought that some mods were undetectable to BMW. The cars collect and transmit all sorts of data and many owners received 'surprises'. There was a running joke about 4 years back with another fanatic and I counting the cars being sold with no plan (this was during my search window for mine LOL). As always, take the car for a quality check and M Plan transfer ASAP if it comes from untrustworthy dealerships. If at all possible just buy straight from BMW for cars with Motorplan.

Alot of the guys who have looked after them and are sitting with the 'good' '18-'20 cars are keeping them through the cycle/period of mileage vs. monetary value/motorplan length in which they would normally let them go (I used to hunt in this cycle too). We also lived through a period where there was a mileage slump for most people where (eg in my case) there is no sense in my selling mine at this point and spending R1M+ on a newer version of the same car that still isn't brand new in my spec with full plan (LCI also has some bits that I don't like), or equivalent RS/AMGs/Porsches. 21/2 M8s become more attractive even just for the change in looks/feel (and mileages are low on these)

 

[swazi85]

There is a lot of junk in general.

The cars available under R1.3M are visible train wrecks just from the pics. Some of the kits/carbon people have fitted are absolute junk-grade on what is still an expensive car. This also makes some of them look odd if the quality of the rep is not great so you might have to 'see through' some of that... Interiors that didn't have film applied look like trash on neglected cars... much more easily than on the F10s... as there is so much shiny plastic to deface.

This car is also from the time period where at least some people still thought that some mods were undetectable to BMW. The cars collect and transmit all sorts of data and many owners received 'surprises'. There was a running joke about 4 years back with another fanatic and I counting the cars being sold with no plan (this was during my search window for mine LOL). As always, take the car for a quality check and M Plan transfer ASAP if it comes from untrustworthy dealerships. If at all possible just buy straight from BMW for cars with Motorplan.

Alot of the guys who have looked after them and are sitting with the 'good' '18-'20 cars are keeping them through the cycle/period of mileage vs. monetary value/motorplan length in which they would normally let them go (I used to hunt in this cycle too). We also lived through a period where there was a mileage slump for most people where (eg in my case) there is no sense in my selling mine at this point and spending R1M+ on a newer version of the same car that still isn't brand new in my spec with full plan (LCI also has some bits that I don't like), or equivalent RS/AMGs/Porsches. 21/2 M8s become more attractive even just for the change in looks/feel (and mileages are low on these)

I had a look at a couple at bmw midrand recently. Couldn't believe how rough they were for cars that were a couple years old.

Literally sold my m6 today. So going to have to scratch the itch soon.

To be honest I'd pretty much only buy from bmw direct.

The pre lci models are great value. Love the look of the 2021+ models.



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[TurboLlew]

What I would really like from the LCI is just the tail lights and the CS bonnet (@FiRi@Rennzport may have to sort me out on that one since they are over 220K for OEM after Deago's magic LOL so no hope of retrofitting or anything like that being feasible)

I had a look at a couple at bmw midrand recently. Couldn't believe how rough they were for cars that were a couple years old.

Literally sold my m6 today. So going to have to scratch the itch soon.

To be honest I'd pretty much only buy from bmw direct.

The pre lci models are great value. Love the look of the 2021+ models.



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[TurboLlew]

Been a bit of slow going but the Merc is back, I have a floor in for the most part (Still rough in these pics) and all 3 cars are now comfortably parking inside. There was some research required on the spec and reinforcement for the floor concrete. I have the material for the plastering but sale of my other property is dragging on a bit and there's more travel coming in between. Hoping to still be done in 3 or 4 weeks and approx 100K to go... then the fun bits begin (realistically probably from Jan) with cabinetry and getting set up.

I ran some polls on Instagram for my door, floor and wall options already. Apart from the floor, opinions are very much equally divided

Probably going with a Charcoal fluted aluminium door OR a tinted polycarbonate and charcoal frame door
Floor will likely be epoxy and I got a good quote from Epoxy Brothers
Wall I will likely do a custom wallpaper of sorts for the 'long' feature wall

https://imgur.com/cQNQXrp

I did manage to get some other minor things done like starting with the 'generic' paving around the rest of the house so that it no longer looks like a war zone. This also helped me get a better idea of if I really want a fancy paver for the driveway or something more simple. Not a cheap exercise and not a simple one to undo if you wish you had spent slightly more or a lot less after the fact.

F90 still a champ...

I have some new acquisitions so might be looking to sell some die-cast models soon to keep things at bay...

More updates probably in November.

 

[MR_Y]

Updates of a non-automotive kind

One of the things that has needed drastic attention at my house has been the garage. It was quite small and needed LOADS of work - to the degree that improving it was pointless. Received many comments about what on earth is happening with it when people have caught glimpses of it!

This is at odds with my old garage which was quite spacious but of course could only house 2 cars (and a third via a drive through carport).

There is a reason I haven't really done much in the way of detailing as well recently because there simply isn't the space or ability to create a good workflow, which I had managed despite some space challenges.

Having resigned myself to not being ready for a GT3 RS or 458 for my 40th, the garages will have to do...

A few things I am doing are basically what I've recommended to everyone doing a project like this in the past:

Multiple plug points
In-floor drainage
Provision for compressed air and central vacuum
Provision for proper lighting (still TBC on final look - needless to say Firi is involved...)
High ceilings
Extra height door
Natural light via windows and sliding doors
Vermiculite in the slab top layer for thermal management
Extra length by 2m
Max width allowed by building lines (It might seem that it isn't all that much wider but that extra 65cm or so is actually significant when you have very wide cars)

@Neven is doing the build for me (Home Car Pro) and I used Lynette Harding for the design. There were a few engineering challenges presented by one of the architectural features which is a large suspended concrete eyebrow (which will be revealed when it is in a more finished state) which also acts as a structural element. What I really appreciated is on one hand the communication and transparency but that attention to detail and having the engineer coming over and also explaining things for the foundation, inspecting the build as well as this complex steel/concrete element. It really does give peace of mind that things are done right.

Thank you to the guys who reached out on the garage door... Moeketsi has already been over, removed the original door and will submit a quote as well. Great guy to chat to as well.

Out of the project management 'triangle' I picked "fast" and "good" but it also hasn't been a killer cost wise just yet... we will see when the finishing starts.

This inspired me to get my garage extended - well, rather build a new garage. Met with the architect today to get the ball rolling. Given it being year end, will only start on this next year.

 

[TurboLlew]

This inspired me to get my garage extended - well, rather build a new garage. Met with the architect today to get the ball rolling. Given it being year end, will only start on this next year.

If you need any help/advice or even just to come see mine (finishing touches now) just whatsapp me.

 

[TurboLlew]

Last few items to go which are mostly scheduled between this week and next:

finishing electrical (it's probably half a day's work left),
garage door (should be next week),
front drain,
painting (in progress)
paving (started with areas in dire need).

I will probably only tile/epoxy coat the floor next year.

 

[MR_Y]

Looking good 👍
Apologies if you already mentioned this before - how long did it take to get council approval?

 

[sash]

Lovely..., so much space.

 

[Nish_H]

Coming along nicely Llew. Await the finished product

 

[FiRi@Rennzport]

Dream size garage

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