e39 M5 - My Temporary Smoker....Or Is It?
Discussion
With the recent threads on all things e39 M5 related, I thought I'd share the progress made on with my car.
Most of you probably know this from my ramblings on other threads, but here's a brief history.....I'm one of those insane people who have just bought a new M6 (Competition Pack....very important that bit
), but even more silly is that I traded in my current M6 to do so. Yep, that was also a current F13 shape (although non-Compatition Pack) version....some of us are beyond help. My 'old' M6 went a couple of weeks ago, new one doesn't arrive until September.
Now, the M6 was a big surprise to me....a surprise how good it was and how much I liked it so I am very excited about the new versions' imminent arrival. However, I'm also surprised just how much I like my 'temporary' M5, which is especially impressive given I've just stepped out of an über modern, state of the art GT and into a 12 year old, 127k mile car!
History lesson over....what about my M5? Well, I found it on eBay as a classified sale and it looked Ok in the pics but promised to have a very good history and a tight, solid drive. And so it proved, the history is comprehensive (I think most receipts since new are present in the thick folder I have), fully stamped service book and it drove very well. It didn't seem to rattle in the engine area (not compared to other M5's I've seen anyway) and it drove very, very well - it felt tight and totally free of knocks, clonks and rattles. It tracked straight and true, it pulled noticeably harder at 4k rpm and also when the sport button is pressed so, with my limited knowledge, I decided it was mechanically sound. It also had four very good Continentals on it and MOT/ticket until December.
The not-so-good was a noticeable dampness underneath but on investigation I saw one of the rocker covers leaking so that didn't scare me in the slightest. I also noticed a vibration when braking so knew I'd need new brakes (but didn't know at the time just what that meant in terms of a financial impact!!). Finally, it had been fitted with a short-shift box which i found awful, truly evil. I have since found the SS kit fitted is on sale on eBay for £30, although I'm not sure you get what you pay for in this respect or if this is typical for a SS kit
The car was a state though, a cosmetic wreck. The trader I bought it from was lazy in preparing it and the previous owner clearly didn't pay much attention to how it looked. Now, I'm usually extremely fussy and am surprised at myself for being able to see through this and consider it for it's mechanical strengths. I did, and even saw it as a challenge to get it to 'my' standard, which largely means 'like-new'!
I used the horrendous 'box and poor condition to get it for a price that I thought was cheap for a facelift car (under £6k) but, even though I've spent considerably more than 50% of that again to get it to the standard it's at now, I am utterly delighted with the result. Here is what I've done in my pursuit of perfection:
Cosmetics:
- Full machine polish and detail
- Wheels refurbed in OEM smoke chrome finish
- New badges and front grills as the originals had worn badly
- Renovation of exhaust tips (these were so bad that they took me 4-5 hours to get them to a reasonable, if still not perfect standard)
- Steering wheel recovered (done by Royal Steering wheels in new OEM-spec leather and tricolour stitching; it looks brand new)
- New OEM illuminated gear lever and gaiter (from BMW)
- Cleaned and treated all the door and window seals so, apart from minor wear, they all look as-new and don't cause any creaks as is often the case with old cars and worn rubber seals (you don't immediately notice it when they're bad, but it's really is amazing how having these parts cleaned up improves the appearance of the car)
- New windscreen wipers
- Recondition of all leather so it all looks reasonably matt in appearance - OK, it's not brand new looking, but not bad overall
- Re-clouring of the leather on driver seat so it now has little/no wear showing where before it was full of deep scratches
- An almost complete strip of the interior, including seats and any easily removable trims and switches so I could get it properly clean - it really does look fantastic inside
- Dash pixel repair - typical e39 problem, now professionally repaired by Cartronix
- New centre armrest parts to replace work/tired looking parts
- New genuine carpet mats
- Upgraded MK4 sat nav with latest V32 software and 2013 maps
- Boot light replaced
Still outstanding:
- It has 4 areas of minor bubbling paint. I am contemplating whether to have these done or not but you can see the extent of this on the pictures below. Would you bother???
- Rear view mirror has a bubble in it so the auto-dimming doesn't work - I have ordered a new glass from that chap in the States and will attempt to repair - it myself when the part arrives
- Factory-fit TV no longer works as it's analogue only - I have no intention of upgrading to digital for use in a car!
Mechanically:
- Oil leaks....oh dear, this is where I got it a bit wrong. I diagnosed the rocker covers alright but was mortified when it was still leaking oil a couple of days after I had them fixed. The 'other' leak was from the sump gasket, a 7 hour job as it meant the removal of the front subframe and vrious other bits
A week after I've had that repaired, it's still thankfully dry underneath!
- Removal of horrid short shift gear lever and fitted a new OEM one. The trader I bought it off had no idea so, in an attempt to try and fix the horribly notchy gear change caused by the short shift, he put in some of that Royal Purple gearbox oil (rather than the cheaper option of changing the gear lever back to standard!). Now though, the combination of the very good lubricant and the proper gear lever means it has a wonderfully fluid gear change
- New brakes - oooweee! New genuine discs and pads front and rear was not cheap!
So, not a lot of mechanical bits to do that I didn't expect, but they were quite big jobs. I've also invested a considerable amount of time and effort to get it looking like I want it to and whilst this could be deemed a waste of time and money (given the short period that I planned on owning it), I've enjoyed it and I now have a stonkingly good M5 to smoke around in for the next few weeks. After all that effort I neither want or need to give it away but will consider selling it for the right offer.
Or.....should I? Given it's now top-rate condition (especially if I choose to have the few bits of bubbling paint fixed), is this car going to be an appreciating classic anytime soon? I will have absolutely no need for it in a few weeks but I have become somewhat attached to it!
The good bits....
The very few (currently) remaining bad bits...
Most of you probably know this from my ramblings on other threads, but here's a brief history.....I'm one of those insane people who have just bought a new M6 (Competition Pack....very important that bit
), but even more silly is that I traded in my current M6 to do so. Yep, that was also a current F13 shape (although non-Compatition Pack) version....some of us are beyond help. My 'old' M6 went a couple of weeks ago, new one doesn't arrive until September.Now, the M6 was a big surprise to me....a surprise how good it was and how much I liked it so I am very excited about the new versions' imminent arrival. However, I'm also surprised just how much I like my 'temporary' M5, which is especially impressive given I've just stepped out of an über modern, state of the art GT and into a 12 year old, 127k mile car!
History lesson over....what about my M5? Well, I found it on eBay as a classified sale and it looked Ok in the pics but promised to have a very good history and a tight, solid drive. And so it proved, the history is comprehensive (I think most receipts since new are present in the thick folder I have), fully stamped service book and it drove very well. It didn't seem to rattle in the engine area (not compared to other M5's I've seen anyway) and it drove very, very well - it felt tight and totally free of knocks, clonks and rattles. It tracked straight and true, it pulled noticeably harder at 4k rpm and also when the sport button is pressed so, with my limited knowledge, I decided it was mechanically sound. It also had four very good Continentals on it and MOT/ticket until December.
The not-so-good was a noticeable dampness underneath but on investigation I saw one of the rocker covers leaking so that didn't scare me in the slightest. I also noticed a vibration when braking so knew I'd need new brakes (but didn't know at the time just what that meant in terms of a financial impact!!). Finally, it had been fitted with a short-shift box which i found awful, truly evil. I have since found the SS kit fitted is on sale on eBay for £30, although I'm not sure you get what you pay for in this respect or if this is typical for a SS kit
The car was a state though, a cosmetic wreck. The trader I bought it from was lazy in preparing it and the previous owner clearly didn't pay much attention to how it looked. Now, I'm usually extremely fussy and am surprised at myself for being able to see through this and consider it for it's mechanical strengths. I did, and even saw it as a challenge to get it to 'my' standard, which largely means 'like-new'!
I used the horrendous 'box and poor condition to get it for a price that I thought was cheap for a facelift car (under £6k) but, even though I've spent considerably more than 50% of that again to get it to the standard it's at now, I am utterly delighted with the result. Here is what I've done in my pursuit of perfection:
Cosmetics:
- Full machine polish and detail
- Wheels refurbed in OEM smoke chrome finish
- New badges and front grills as the originals had worn badly
- Renovation of exhaust tips (these were so bad that they took me 4-5 hours to get them to a reasonable, if still not perfect standard)
- Steering wheel recovered (done by Royal Steering wheels in new OEM-spec leather and tricolour stitching; it looks brand new)
- New OEM illuminated gear lever and gaiter (from BMW)
- Cleaned and treated all the door and window seals so, apart from minor wear, they all look as-new and don't cause any creaks as is often the case with old cars and worn rubber seals (you don't immediately notice it when they're bad, but it's really is amazing how having these parts cleaned up improves the appearance of the car)
- New windscreen wipers
- Recondition of all leather so it all looks reasonably matt in appearance - OK, it's not brand new looking, but not bad overall
- Re-clouring of the leather on driver seat so it now has little/no wear showing where before it was full of deep scratches
- An almost complete strip of the interior, including seats and any easily removable trims and switches so I could get it properly clean - it really does look fantastic inside
- Dash pixel repair - typical e39 problem, now professionally repaired by Cartronix
- New centre armrest parts to replace work/tired looking parts
- New genuine carpet mats
- Upgraded MK4 sat nav with latest V32 software and 2013 maps
- Boot light replaced
Still outstanding:
- It has 4 areas of minor bubbling paint. I am contemplating whether to have these done or not but you can see the extent of this on the pictures below. Would you bother???
- Rear view mirror has a bubble in it so the auto-dimming doesn't work - I have ordered a new glass from that chap in the States and will attempt to repair - it myself when the part arrives
- Factory-fit TV no longer works as it's analogue only - I have no intention of upgrading to digital for use in a car!
Mechanically:
- Oil leaks....oh dear, this is where I got it a bit wrong. I diagnosed the rocker covers alright but was mortified when it was still leaking oil a couple of days after I had them fixed. The 'other' leak was from the sump gasket, a 7 hour job as it meant the removal of the front subframe and vrious other bits
A week after I've had that repaired, it's still thankfully dry underneath!- Removal of horrid short shift gear lever and fitted a new OEM one. The trader I bought it off had no idea so, in an attempt to try and fix the horribly notchy gear change caused by the short shift, he put in some of that Royal Purple gearbox oil (rather than the cheaper option of changing the gear lever back to standard!). Now though, the combination of the very good lubricant and the proper gear lever means it has a wonderfully fluid gear change
- New brakes - oooweee! New genuine discs and pads front and rear was not cheap!
So, not a lot of mechanical bits to do that I didn't expect, but they were quite big jobs. I've also invested a considerable amount of time and effort to get it looking like I want it to and whilst this could be deemed a waste of time and money (given the short period that I planned on owning it), I've enjoyed it and I now have a stonkingly good M5 to smoke around in for the next few weeks. After all that effort I neither want or need to give it away but will consider selling it for the right offer.
Or.....should I? Given it's now top-rate condition (especially if I choose to have the few bits of bubbling paint fixed), is this car going to be an appreciating classic anytime soon? I will have absolutely no need for it in a few weeks but I have become somewhat attached to it!
The good bits....
The very few (currently) remaining bad bits...
Edited by Palmball on Tuesday 30th July 22:44
tjk123 said:
Almost identical to mine aside from the two-tone leather. I'd keep it.
That steering wheel looks nice, but quite thick. Do Royal Steering Wheels do them in standard thickness. I hate overly chunky steering wheels (just a personal gripe).
It is the standard thickness, or it's certainly the same as the wheel that came off it. M cars do tend to have thicker wheels than the normThat steering wheel looks nice, but quite thick. Do Royal Steering Wheels do them in standard thickness. I hate overly chunky steering wheels (just a personal gripe).
although it's quite possible that the pre-facelift wheel isn't as thick.
I can't believe how popular and revered these cars are! I bet my new M6 doesn't get as popular a reception when I whack some photo's of that up next month!
Saying that, I am impressed every time I drive this car - a few dated aspects apart, that it compares so favourably to some state of the art cars of today means it must have been epic 10-12 years ago.
I think I will get the bodywork done as it's one of the very few visuals that let it down.
As for before pics, unfortunately not - I'm terrible at remembering to do them. I have these three pics which were from the advert and thats it - I wish I took some of the interior as that has been transformed. Doesn't look too bad on the advert (good enough for me to go and see it anyway!). If you look hard enough, you can just about see how much better my seats look now and of course the wheel and gear knob are brand new. The wheels are a big difference when viewed side by side too.
Saying that, I am impressed every time I drive this car - a few dated aspects apart, that it compares so favourably to some state of the art cars of today means it must have been epic 10-12 years ago.
I think I will get the bodywork done as it's one of the very few visuals that let it down.
As for before pics, unfortunately not - I'm terrible at remembering to do them. I have these three pics which were from the advert and thats it - I wish I took some of the interior as that has been transformed. Doesn't look too bad on the advert (good enough for me to go and see it anyway!). If you look hard enough, you can just about see how much better my seats look now and of course the wheel and gear knob are brand new. The wheels are a big difference when viewed side by side too.
Edited by Palmball on Thursday 1st August 00:47
It looks fantastic, your list of things done to the car is basically what I want to do to mine to bring it up to standard. For what it now owes you, I would keep it and enjoy it for the times you want something a little more retro compared to your (new) new M6!
Its not bad, just I know where there are things looking a bit tired. Bloody house costing me a fortune at the moment so the poor M5 is having to wait a little while
Its not bad, just I know where there are things looking a bit tired. Bloody house costing me a fortune at the moment so the poor M5 is having to wait a little while
quavey said:
It looks fantastic, your list of things done to the car is basically what I want to do to mine to bring it up to standard. For what it now owes you, I would keep it and enjoy it for the times you want something a little more retro compared to your (new) new M6!
Its not bad, just I know where there are things looking a bit tired. Bloody house costing me a fortune at the moment so the poor M5 is having to wait a little while
Spent £420 on mine today - two rear tyres and oil and filter.Its not bad, just I know where there are things looking a bit tired. Bloody house costing me a fortune at the moment so the poor M5 is having to wait a little while
Hopefully the GY F1 Asymmetric 2's last a while!
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