E39 M5 buying advice

[YamR1V64motion]

im looking at getting one of these beasts and just needed to know what to look out for, i would be buying one for no more than about £12k so very likely out of warranty, i just wanted to know what tends to fail on them and at what sort of milages etc, what the signs are that something is going to go when looking around one etc, any help and advice much appreciated.

[Neil.D]

This is quite a good starter...

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/gassing/topic.asp?h=0...

[YamR1V64motion]

thanks for that, im trying to find one thats got the facelift and sat nav etc but registered before march 2001, there are a few out there but tricky to find one, yours looks great by the way.

[damianw]

Few things that I remember when I looked for one - check for loud VANOS unit, although I think for the year you are looking at you'll be fine. Later cars got an oil accumulator or something that helped cure dreaded VANOS issues. When you take the car for a test drive do a full bore 2nd gear acceleration (once the car is warmed up!) to check the clutch. I tested one car that drove fine until I tried hard acceleration, then the clutch started slipping. Check every electrical gizmo you can think of, my only complaint of the car so far is that the electrics seem a little unreliable and often have a mind of their own. Check the onboard computer by pressing the right hand knob on the rev counter at standstill. Should say "CHECK CONTROL OK".