E39 M5 Facelift question

[minimatan]

And ...

How many with booster + glass sunroof + through load?

[minimatan]

Thanks. So my odds of finding a good one, are not very high.

I wonder if this had been one of them...

http://www.yourbestcar.co.uk/used-cars/bmw-m5-4-9i...

[minimatan]

I thought that through load was folding rear seats?

[minimatan]

If I spec an ideal car, would you be able to identify how many were registered in the UK?

[minimatan]

Granted, but that line of thinking would preclude one having maintained a thorough database, so we could approach this on a hypothetical basis...

[minimatan]

You guys certainly know a lot, it is interesting the the vanos and additional O ring were introduced in March 2000.

Is consumption of 1.2L in 5,000 miles unusual for this engine? This is for a 70,000 mile vehicle that makes a high proportion of short journeys.

[minimatan]

Sorry, I didn't realise that 'post 2000ish' translated as March 2000!

[minimatan]

Total loss said:

Another resource for all M cars, although relying on owners to add the individual vin. info. for the registry, so by far not complete
http://www.bmwmregistry.com/registry.php
E39 M5
http://www.bmwmregistry.com/models.php?id=33

Nice one. For some reason when I visited this site, it only showed me US and Canada cars.

[minimatan]

olly22n said:

I made a clear distinction that the engine revisions were pre facelift.

Granted, but my query was related to the specific build date of July 2000, in which instance your answer was welcome, though not as detailed as 'March 2000', which answers my question nicely.

[minimatan]

RichardM5 said:

It's from a database I have put together of all the RHD E39 M5s that were made, still working on the LHD cars! You can get the data for an individual car from places like http://www.bmwarchive.org/vin/bmw-vin-decoder.html if you know the VIN although sometimes the data is incomplete or merged with another vehicles options. It's taken a while to put it all together.

A site with a summary of the similar information is http://www.m5portal.com/forum/e39m5_main_index.asp... I think they basically did the same thing, but you can't run a generic query on the data as I can, just view the numbers for each option.

Richard, can a VIN be found from a registration number?

[minimatan]

That's excellent, Richard. What a labour of love!

[minimatan]

Richard,

Did this vehicle CB37589 come with double glazing?

Also, did M5s come with heated wing mirrors, at all?

Michael

[minimatan]

Thank you oh M5 sage.

Was there only one type of double glazing offered with M5s?

[minimatan]

So does the protection glazing also insulate sound? As in, is it and enhancement to the sound insulated double glazing?

[minimatan]

I see. What is mobile phone preparation?

[minimatan]

That would be a nice touch 2stis.

What is DSP?

[minimatan]

It seems to take up a lot of use-able boot space, that's for sure!

Can the phone prep armrest be switched for an armrest without the tray?

[minimatan]

minimatan said:

Hi all, time for the big reveal!

http://www.gumtree.com/p/bmw/bmw-m5-2000x-61000-mi...

I went to see this car, at considerable inconvenience to myself, which was communicated to me as being a good honest vehicle that was totally original. It transpires that it had aftermarket straight pipes, pipercross air filters and a sticky gearbox, probably attributable to lots of burnouts and aggressive gearchanges. There was no glass sunroof (I asked specifically) and the rear heater element did not work (small fry).

All in all I wasted my time going to see this vehicle, key elements of which were not communicated to me despite numerous and detailed email exchanges over a number of days. It was clear that this was being sold as an original spec low mileage vehicle and that I was after a largely unadulterated model.

It is a shame as the bodywork was nice and the interior was good too. The comfort seats are very nice and yet still supportive. The stereo sound was excellent.

The issue is that the previous owner was a 25 year old guy who lightly modded it and thrashed it. Shame for the car and shame on the seller for trying to sell a mechanically inferior vehicle as being something tip top, which it is not.

I wish any interested parties all the best, but be prepared for some expenses in getting this vehicle back to spec, which should be considered in the negotiated price.

So now, this same vehicle is being sold via his mate's garage. The pipercross air filters are conveniently missing from the photo of the engine bay...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2015...

[minimatan]

humpbackmaniac said:

Wont hear a bad word said about that garage, always looked after my M5 for 100k plus miles and always been bloody good service even when I had to return the courtesy car with a large dent in it (not my fault but still felt rather guilty!)

That is fair, as I am not judging the garage; however, their camera skills and attention to detail in the description could be improved.

[minimatan]

Can misted headlights be repaired? According to BMW, the price of replacement headlights is £550+VAT each!