Potential E39 M5 purchase
Discussion
Well I made it to Scotland without any issues. The car ran beautifully although the temperature gauge stayed on the cool side of the dial (I assume this may be the thermostat requiring replacement???)
I did a gentle overnight run using the cruise control set between 65-70mph for 95% of the journey and notched up an impressive 28.7mpg, confirmed by the OBC indicating 431 miles range after filling up at Southwaite services near Carlisle.
I swapped the analogue tuner with a hybrid tuner to regain the TV function (£300 on eBay for a genuine BMW unit). Very pleased with the car so far and it's getting new tyres all round next Saturday.
I did a gentle overnight run using the cruise control set between 65-70mph for 95% of the journey and notched up an impressive 28.7mpg, confirmed by the OBC indicating 431 miles range after filling up at Southwaite services near Carlisle.
I swapped the analogue tuner with a hybrid tuner to regain the TV function (£300 on eBay for a genuine BMW unit). Very pleased with the car so far and it's getting new tyres all round next Saturday.
That looks a stunner. Its a shame Kent has lost an M5 but it looks like its gonna be well looked after 
I have had my 01 M5 8 years now and its been totally reliable abeit after some mods. Its never broken down and I still love it to bits.
One weakness does seem to be rod bearings. I had mine done as a precaution at 130k and they was well worn and were caught just in time. Its not a big job and one of the M specialist can handle it so its worth considering if the car is a keeper.
I have had my 01 M5 8 years now and its been totally reliable abeit after some mods. Its never broken down and I still love it to bits.
One weakness does seem to be rod bearings. I had mine done as a precaution at 130k and they was well worn and were caught just in time. Its not a big job and one of the M specialist can handle it so its worth considering if the car is a keeper.
Thanks,
The car looks great and drives well. I'll look into the rod issue you mentioned. The car has a stack of paperwork, so I can check what's been done maintenance wise to date in more detail. I'm from Kent originally and will be returning in 2-3 years after my current project finishes up in Aberdeenshire.
The car looks great and drives well. I'll look into the rod issue you mentioned. The car has a stack of paperwork, so I can check what's been done maintenance wise to date in more detail. I'm from Kent originally and will be returning in 2-3 years after my current project finishes up in Aberdeenshire.
Congratulations on the car. I hope you enjoy it as much as I am mine.
Have only had mine 16 months so far. Did a pretty full round of preventative maintenance at the start, and have been paid back by having just had MOT and check/service done for under £90! New tyres at the end of the year so a cost to come, but I love every drive, so don't mind in the slightest.
Did a return trip to Nurburgring in mine last year (hiring cars at the track rather than taking mine on), and actually got over 400 miles from one tank too. Very pleasantly surprised, especially with 3 in the car and averaging 80mph much of the time.
Have only had mine 16 months so far. Did a pretty full round of preventative maintenance at the start, and have been paid back by having just had MOT and check/service done for under £90! New tyres at the end of the year so a cost to come, but I love every drive, so don't mind in the slightest.
Did a return trip to Nurburgring in mine last year (hiring cars at the track rather than taking mine on), and actually got over 400 miles from one tank too. Very pleasantly surprised, especially with 3 in the car and averaging 80mph much of the time.
58warren said:
I swapped the analogue tuner with a hybrid tuner to regain the TV function (£300 on eBay for a genuine BMW unit). Very pleased with the car so far and it's getting new tyres all round next Saturday.
Can you give me some more detail on this please (procedure and parts). I would be interested in this for my 2001 car (with Individual Audio). Thank you.You just need a BMW 'hybrid' tuner box from eBay or similar. Main dealers want serious money for them new.
No other parts are required at all and it's a straight swap taking about 5 minutes in total to undo the blue and white wiring plugs and aerial connection. These plugs have a black 'lever' that needs to be slid from its vertical locked position to the horizontal position to 'unlock' and remove each plug and vice versa to lock them back in position again once each plug is reattached to the new tuner.
Next remove the single securing bolt that is located through the protruding silver metal tab of the tuner unit, slide the old unit out and replace with the new.
I found the sat nav unit makes it quite tight to get out straight away, so I slightly bent over the projecting metal tab mentioned above before sliding the existing unit out and then similarly bending the one on the replacement unit to allow it to go back into place before bending straight again and reaffixing the securing bolt and reconnecting the aerial, the blue plug and finally the white plug. To make sure it's a genuine hybrid tuner (analogue and digital tuner combined) it must be one of the following part numbers (printed on the label on the unit).
6126251
6908079
6956832
6962190
6962212
6966615
6966696
6988906
9112837
9118577
9126252
9147138
9147139
If you go down the route of getting an aftermarket digital tuner, then you'll need adapters and separate aerials on the rear screen, which is a pain and spoils the look of the car.
No other parts are required at all and it's a straight swap taking about 5 minutes in total to undo the blue and white wiring plugs and aerial connection. These plugs have a black 'lever' that needs to be slid from its vertical locked position to the horizontal position to 'unlock' and remove each plug and vice versa to lock them back in position again once each plug is reattached to the new tuner.
Next remove the single securing bolt that is located through the protruding silver metal tab of the tuner unit, slide the old unit out and replace with the new.
I found the sat nav unit makes it quite tight to get out straight away, so I slightly bent over the projecting metal tab mentioned above before sliding the existing unit out and then similarly bending the one on the replacement unit to allow it to go back into place before bending straight again and reaffixing the securing bolt and reconnecting the aerial, the blue plug and finally the white plug. To make sure it's a genuine hybrid tuner (analogue and digital tuner combined) it must be one of the following part numbers (printed on the label on the unit).
6126251
6908079
6956832
6962190
6962212
6966615
6966696
6988906
9112837
9118577
9126252
9147138
9147139
If you go down the route of getting an aftermarket digital tuner, then you'll need adapters and separate aerials on the rear screen, which is a pain and spoils the look of the car.
Edited by 58warren on Wednesday 22 April 13:42
Correctamundo... As said, it's a simple 5 minute job at most and you'll receive all the Freeview channels. When you retune, it takes a while to search for all the available channels, but it'll get there. Some of the tuners have been recoded so they can receive TV in motion, but it probably isn't wise to have this option and I'd imagine moving at much above 30 mph, the signal would keep dropping out.
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