Should pre face lift M5 be avoided?

[968CSReading]

Thought this looked nice, low miles and a decent spec.

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/724031.htm

Should pre facelift cars be avoided or will they be OK if the car has a full SH?

Im serioulsy tempted by an M5 because as much as a I love my RX8 a bigger car would be helpfull at times. Im also used to rubbish MPG so thats not an issue.

Are there are M Power/BMW specialists in Hants who could do inspections?

[supermono]

I think the main difference is the revised oil control ring on post-facelift. If you don't mind pouring mobil 1 into the beast I wouldn't be too worried but they can use it at an alarming rate.

Oh hang on you have an RX8. As you were, no problem

SM

[E30M3SE]

supermono said:

Oh hang on you have an RX8. As you were, no problem

SM

[Neil.D]

No reason to avoid them at all. The front headlamps are easy to replace if youre that worried.
My post FL still burns some oil but who cares. The steering wheel can be changed, again if your that worried, the widescreen sat nav is more of a mission I am told.

[drivin_me_nuts]

Opie Oils is your soon to be friend. They drink a bit the early ones 10w60 up to i litre every 700ish miles.


Personally I think it is over priced

[rassi]

If the only reason to avoid a pre-facelift is the oil consumption, then no. All M5s use oil (though my facelift 03/2002 uses very little, at around 1 litre every 5000 km), but it is more a question of whether you would want to update the front and rear lights + steering wheel + GPS = £££ in which case you would be better off with a facelift from the beginning.

[ASBO]

E30M3SE said:

supermono said:

Oh hang on you have an RX8. As you were, no problem

SM

In fairness, that's as much internet heresay as the excessive oil consumption on pre-2000 M5's.

In both cases, the problem is not nearly as common as keyboard hero's will have you believe.

[968CSReading]

OK, thanks for the replies.

TBH I dont pay for my oil for fuel so it doesnt bother me. I only check the RX8 oil about once a month or if I have been increasing my miles.

[supermono]

ASBO said:

E30M3SE said:

supermono said:

Oh hang on you have an RX8. As you were, no problem

SM

In fairness, that's as much internet heresay as the excessive oil consumption on pre-2000 M5's.

In both cases, the problem is not nearly as common as keyboard hero's will have you believe.

My facelift one was getting through a litre every 12-1400 miles before I sold it. Interestingly when I got the car with 20k on it was using a litre in like 2k+ miles and constantly increased its thist all the way to the 40k (IIRC) it had when I sold it. So I'm not an armchair expert, I've actually had one.

No problem though, that's just the way they are. I imagine the pre-facelift ones must use a bit more with the old oil control ring.

SM

[Trellis]

I'm surprised no-one has mentioned VANOS on the pre facelift. I am reliably informed by people in the trade that whilst prefacelift vanos failures are over hyped via such forums as this - they do occur. Whereas post facelift its pretty much unheard of. (I can't explain the technical reason - oil feed to the units?)

Certainly speaking to owners of pre-facelift, you can find a fair proportion have required vanos.

I didnt hear of a facelift vanos failure during my 2 years of ownership.

[drivin_me_nuts]

NOt unheard of - 3 early models I know of all had theirs replaced at around 40k - mine included. Rather an expensive cost.

[Hedgetrimmer]

I suspect the vanos issue is more to do with age as I have a post facelift car on which the units actually properly failed. This cost BMW £15k under warranty in 2006 as the pistons and values decided to get intimate with each other.

[stuthemong]

pre-facelift the vanos doesnt have the oil accumulator - this is like a little resevoir that shoots oil into the vanos on startup IIRC, as without it they can starve for oil a little. A lot of pre-facelift cars will have had the accumulator ifttied after having work on the vanos if it has failed, and some even fitted them as preventative maintenance.

There are some very cheap facelifts around, so if buying a pre make sure it's for the right money

[SuperchargedVR6]

drivin_me_nuts said:

Opie Oils is your soon to be friend. They drink a bit the early ones 10w60 up to i litre every 700ish miles.

Would that be the 10W/60 "For special BMW M Engines", or the regular 10W/60 "Edge Sport" ?

Either way, it's a brilliant "band aid" oil for engines that like to drink a bit of the slippery stuff.

I take it the E39 M motor just "uses" it at such, rather than very obviously burning it with clouds of blue smoke?

drivin_me_nuts said:

Personally I think it is over priced

Glad I found this thread. Been thinking about getting an E39 M5. What would a normal prefacelift value be? £7,500?

I'll probably be hunted down and set on fire by dungaree wearing, pitch fork wielding country folk for saying this, but my long term plan for the M5 would be to lose the BMW engine and fit a Chevy LS2 V8....if it'll fit.

It's more the chassis / car I'm interested than the engine itself to be honest, but I'd put up with BMW's V8 for a while :-)

Oh, and is it possible to make the engine in the E39 sound like it does in the Ascari?

[drivin_me_nuts]

SuperchargedVR6 said:

drivin_me_nuts said:

Opie Oils is your soon to be friend. They drink a bit the early ones 10w60 up to i litre every 700ish miles.

Would that be the 10W/60 "For special BMW M Engines", or the regular 10W/60 "Edge Sport" ?

Either way, it's a brilliant "band aid" oil for engines that like to drink a bit of the slippery stuff.

I take it the E39 M motor just "uses" it at such, rather than very obviously burning it with clouds of blue smoke?

drivin_me_nuts said:

Personally I think it is over priced

Glad I found this thread. Been thinking about getting an E39 M5. What would a normal prefacelift value be? £7,500?

I'll probably be hunted down and set on fire by dungaree wearing, pitch fork wielding country folk for saying this, but my long term plan for the M5 would be to lose the BMW engine and fit a Chevy LS2 V8....if it'll fit.

It's more the chassis / car I'm interested than the engine itself to be honest, but I'd put up with BMW's V8 for a while :-)

Oh, and is it possible to make the engine in the E39 sound like it does in the Ascari?

exhaust bit - look at youtube for clips on Tubi exhausts. They sound damned fine.

(just had a look in the garage: Castrol Edge.. doesn't say anything about sport or special for M ... Mine has run 160k on the stuff from Opie 5 cases of 4 litres in my time .. it likes a drink )

[ASBO]

supermono said:

ASBO said:

E30M3SE said:

supermono said:

Oh hang on you have an RX8. As you were, no problem

SM

In fairness, that's as much internet heresay as the excessive oil consumption on pre-2000 M5's.

In both cases, the problem is not nearly as common as keyboard hero's will have you believe.

My facelift one was getting through a litre every 12-1400 miles before I sold it. Interestingly when I got the car with 20k on it was using a litre in like 2k+ miles and constantly increased its thist all the way to the 40k (IIRC) it had when I sold it. So I'm not an armchair expert, I've actually had one.

No problem though, that's just the way they are. I imagine the pre-facelift ones must use a bit more with the old oil control ring.

SM

I'd say that's about on the money. Note I did use the term 'excessive'. It's a performance engine, not a Micra. They will and do use oil. It's predessesor was the same.

However, if I'd be interested to know which oil you were using?

Also, oil consumption seems to vary depending on how the cars have been run in.

[maddernj]

I have a 2001 Facelift with 54k miles....I use Castrol 10w-60w (For M cars) and am using about 1l every 2-4k miles....Depends on how it is driven.

[Trellis]

drivin_me_nuts said:

NOt unheard of - 3 early models I know of all had theirs replaced at around 40k - mine included. Rather an expensive cost.

early facelifts?? (perhaps you misunderstood my post)

[Neil.D]

Yes it is just 'Edge' not the 'Edge Sport' as this is the wrong stuff.

[SuperchargedVR6]

drivin_me_nuts said:

5 cases of 4 litres in my time .. it likes a drink )

I always stock up on Edge Sport (10W/60) when Opie do their 15% off days :-) My engine likes a drink of it aswell!

You have to expect high oil consumption with high performance engines, but so long as it doesn't belch out embarrassing blue smoke screens, I don't care.

Does this engine have forged pistons by any chance? Do they slap a bit when cold?

Not sure I want to be going down this road....again!!