Ferrari 575M

Ferrari’s 575M accelerated the ground-breaking 550 into a more modern age with the option of F1 transmission and a more accessible nature. For some, this makes it less desirable than the 550 – but the market sees it another way. Here’s how to buy a great one Story by Nathan Chadwick Photography by Michael Ward

FERRARI 575M BUYERS’ GUIDE WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT OWNING A TOP END CLASSIC BUYERS’ GUIDE

All you need to know about Ferrari’s V12 GT

To tell the story of the 575M, first you have to reference the 550 Maranello, which celebrates its 25th birthday this year. It was a glorious return to front-engined big-league Ferraris, evoking memories of the Daytona while providing a much more modern, more useable GT that was just as adept at everyday commuting as blasting along European autoroutes. Despite tipping the scales 1700kg, it handled like a car half its weight. The 550 was a transformative car that did much to inform cars like the Aston Martin Vanquish and even forced wild children such as the Lamborghini Diablo to have their rough edges removed. As such, the 575M, launched in 2002, sought to bring the essential rightness of the 550 package up to date.

There was no need to alter the styling radically – for the uninitiated, it might be a challenge to see where the pen of Pininfarina’s Lorenzo Ramaciotti’s hit the paper. Look closer and you’ll notice Xenon headlights, a larger bonnet intake, restyled front spoiler and new five-spoke alloy wheels. Though the restyling touch was light, the full weight of Maranello’s efforts lay under the skin.

The Tipo F133 naturally aspirated V12 was expanded from 5.5 to 5.7 litres, now packing a 515hp punch at a vertiginous 7250rpm and a chunky 434lb ft of torque at 5250rpm. All this extra bigness led to smallness in all the right places – all out you’d hit an F40-beating 202mph after kissing goodbye to 62mph in 4.3 seconds.

The big news, however, was the option of the F1- style paddleshift semi-automatic gearbox. The 550’s six-speed manual always boasted a fantastic gearshift, but usually only after half an hour. More and more customers were looking to the relative ease of the automated transmissions with paddleshift control, something that really clicked with buyers of the 575M. Out of 2056 examples built between 2002 and 2006, just 246 had a clutch pedal.

The F1 transmission and a softening of the 575M’s suspension via an adaptive system led to some criticism that the car had gone a bit squidgy for the company flagship, though it’s worth noting that this was largely voiced by those who didn’t live with the car long term. The ‘soft’ view was based on very early cars, and the problem was soon rectified with the Fiorano pack, which transformed the car (see the chassis section for more details). Most 575Ms having been updated to Fiorano spec, they are easily the equal of the 550. The later GTC handling package introduced Brembo carbon ceramic brakes, a tauter suspension, a freer-flowing exhaust and bespoke 19-inch wheels. In 2005 Ferrari launched the Superamerica, a convertible version of the 575M that used a highly tuned F133 V12 that produced 540hp. The roof was an electrochromic glass panel built on a carbonfibre structure that rotated 180 degrees to lie flat over the boot. Some 559 were built, of which just 43 were manuals.

ONTHEROAD

Starting with the 550 as a basis is about as good as it gets for a long-range GT. The revised interior boasts excellent ergonomics. There’s plenty of room for most body shapes and plenty of adjustability to make your journey just-so. The only real fly in the ointment is a gear selector that looks, and to a certain extent feels, like something you’d put in the top of a cocktail. This soon drifts from your mind as the full majesty of the V12 roars into life. Much like the 550, it’s not an expressive machine in the modern Ferrari mould, but there’s noticeably more zing to the 575M’s low-speed grumble.

The 575M is also notably softer to drive than the 550, certainly at low speeds, which is no bad thing. In the corners, with some speed applied, there isn’t quite the same level of connectedness you get with the 550, but it’s still an entertaining steer, with sharp, direct responses.

What might irk some is the F1 gearbox. It’s now almost two decades since this car first appeared and transmission technology has advanced massively in that time; modern dual-clutch gearboxes feel so much sharper in comparison. The F1 gearshifts feel quite long (200 milliseconds) and can be jerky at low speeds. If you use the paddleshifters, you’ll also need to recalibrate downchanges to what you might be used to on a more modern car.

There’s another way to look at it: unlike modern dual-clutch transmissions, where changing gear has all the tangible involvement of switching a TV channel, there’s a level electro-mechanical engagement to the system that makes it fun to use and, most importantly, to master. Such are the reserves of torque, you don’t actually need to chase the redline in normal driving but we’re happy to report that full-bore gearshifts are near-seamless, and provide an encouraging thump in the back. It still doesn’t compare to the manual gearbox in terms of meaty engagement, though. The Fiorano and HGTC packs inject some of the rabid element of the 550’s psyche back into the 575M (at the expense of ride comfort).

The 575M might not have the best reputation, but there’s a disparity between received wisdoms and what owners say. Certainly nearly all of the early press criticisms were soon rectified from the factory. The 575M doesn’t quite offer the ultimate hardcore thrills the 550 does, but it’s a more easy-going companion on long journeys, and far easier to manhandle around cities and hotel car parks. After all, those massive European road trips have such things as destinations.

ENGINE&TRANSMISSION

Overall, the V12 engine is very strong. One issue is the cam seals, which can weep oil onto the timing belt. The bigger question is the cambelt – Ferrari originally gave a three-year shelf life to the cambelt, but changed the design for the 612 Scaglietti so that cambelt life extended to five years. Because the engine is fundamentally the same design, some 575s have been fitted with the updated 612-spec cambelt. Make sure that you know precisely which version of the cambelt has been fitted.

While there are no real issues that afflict the engine, it’s important to keep on top of all the auxiliary drive belts and cambelt. Depending on the mileage, items like the radiators and pipes may need replacing but there are no common reported problems.

Both gearboxes are strong with no common problems, although in rare cases some have had to be rebuilt. Broken gears and input shaft failures have been seen on both, while the F1 system has more to go wrong due to its hydraulic system. Manual clutches tend to wear progressively, getting heavier and heavier – most owners don’t tend to notice until the car becomes near-undriveable and are amazed how light a ‘normal’ clutch is. On F1 gearboxes, you can plug in a diagnostic and get a wear figure – given the cost of replacing a clutch, even before you figure in the possible extras (see below), this is a very important thing to do in your buying negotiations.

CHASSIS&BODY

The bonnet and boot are aluminium, and they can corrode underneath where the water drains and there isn’t any wax. Other that that there aren’t really many problems with traditional rust, it’s largely the aluminium panels that start to go crusty. At this age, most cars are likely to have received some paint – and not all paintjobs are the same, so check for overspray and ‘orange peel’ finishing.

At launch, there were complaints that the ride was too wallowy, with notable pitching on acceleration and deceleration. In fairness to Ferrari, its market research indicated that 550 owners wanted a more compliant suspension, and so introduced the Sachs Mannesmann Skyhook suspension system. After some pretty damning reports from UK magazines, and testing the car on the same roads, Ferrari agreed to work with its UK arm on the Fiorano pack, with the aim of producing a ‘stiffer’ car. According to Ferrari, “a very small number of cars” were found to be particularly soft because there was too large a production tolerance on the damper units, which was soon rectified. The Fiorano ECU also changed the compression and rebound damper settings. From chassis number 130396 onwards, the Fiorano pack ECU was fitted as standard, while Ferrari offered it as a free upgrade to cars built beforehand. However, retrofitting the Fiorano Handling package (which involved different springs, anti-roll bars, brakes and suspension tuning; and from 2004 a steering position sensor was added) was chargeable to the customer – check the service history carefully to see just what has been installed and when.

Otherwise the suspension is fairly strong, though leaking damper units and actuator failure has been known. Some parts can be tricky to find, such as the damper top mounts and anti-roll bar drop-links. However, specialists can make these things up. Unlike the magnesium wheels on the 550, the 575’s alloys don’t suffer from corrosion.

The HGTC pack’s carbon brakes are particularly expensive, but given the 575M is unlikely to be tracked as much as its mid-engined brethren it’s less likely to need replacement. The bigger issue is the steel bolts that hold them in place – taking your car to a hand car wash means exposing them to all sorts of exotic chemicals that strip the coating, and then cause corrosion. This has led to MoT failures for rusted bolts.

Other than that, the carbon discs are long-lasting, and only really need replacing when damaged. They are quite tricky to change, and need a specific Ferrari code to clear the fault code on the dashboard, for which there’s an associated cost.

INTERIOR

The 575M suffers from the usual Italian wear and tear on the leather bolsters, but the main problem is sticky black plastics on the soft-touch finishing. This can be rectified: for instance, Emblem Sports Cars uses a company called Car Plastics in the Czech Republic. The big issue is getting the coating off without damaging the plastic, and removing the signifiers of what the button actually does. When the items come back the lights can shine through the plastic, so the signifiers have to be laser-etched back on.

The dashboard leather at the front of the windscreen around the air vents can shrink back – it’s a labour-intensive job because it’s a hard area to get to, and some people have had the whole dashboard re-leathered.

RUNNINGCOSTS

Most owners budget between £2000 and £4000 per year, although this does depend on intended use. An annual service at Emblem is £954 but this increases at certain points. The 6250-mile service is £1260, the 18750-mile one is £1620, 31,250 miles costs £2034 and at 43,750 miles it’s £4140. A cambelt change is £1140, while a basic clutch replacement is £3210. If you need a new clutch release bearing that’s an extra £948, while a new flywheel is another £1050 on top.

This is a heavy car so the hefty brakes have hefty costs to match. Steel front discs are £299 each, while carbon HGTC discs will set you back £2706 each. Standard steel front brake pads are £297 each, Fiorano-spec pads £468 and carbon pads £650. When the 575M first appeared, the well-heeled had to shell out £160,845 to become suitably well-wheeled. Like all big front-engined Ferraris, prices dipped (lows of £40k-50k) then surged (£100k+) and are now settling back a little to around £80k-100k for F1 paddleshift cars.

PRICES

Despite the clamour for clutchless travel back in the early 2000s, it’s the rare manuals that are most in demand today, with significant premiums over the F1 models. The Fiorano package doesn’t hold too much allure over the standard car in F1 models, as most cars were upgraded in period (although they might not carry the Fiorano branding per se); on manuals there’s a slight premium, but nowhere near as much as the HGTC pack.

TYPICAL PRICES

• 2002, 74k miles, black, LHD – £59,995
• 2003, 23k miles, silver, LHD – £75,990
• 2004, 24k miles, blue, Fiorano Package, RHD – £88,850
• 2003, 17k miles, blue, RHD – £99,950
• 2004, 7k miles, red, HGTC, RHD – £149,950
• 2003, 29k miles, black, manual, Fiorano Package, RHD – £169,995
• 2005 Superamerica, 15k miles, red – £229,950

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS FERRARI 575M

• ENGINE: 5748cc V12
• MAX POWER: 515hp at 7250rpm
• MAX TORQUE: 588Nm (434lb ft) at 5200rpm
• TRANSMISSION: Six-speed manual or F1 semi-auto
• KERB WEIGHT: 1760kg
• TOP SPEED: 202mph
• 0-62MPH: 4.3sec

Many thanks to Myles at Emblem Sports Cars for his help with putting this guide together. Contact 01202 722247 or www.emblemsportscars.com

“There’s a disparity between received wisdoms and what owners actually say ”