150k mile E39 M5... daily
Discussion
Thanks all 
Not sure on the N-E heritage - I'll have to dig through the paperwork!
Yes, the paintjob on the sills is holding up admirably. I keep meaning to get it done properly, but, well, there's always something more important to do. Like the wheels. Ah yes, the wheels - the 'professional' job has turned out completely s
te and has started peeling off in sheets, so they look pretty crappy now. Colour match should have been a clue, I guess 
Still, it's had a complete Lemforder suspension arm refresh in the last 12 months which has totally transformed things, and I've just got it back from my local indie who has replaced the camcover gaskets, TPSs, and refreshed a load of crusty & leaking PAS pipes. Now I can drive it without getting an oil-fume-induced headache and leaving embarrassing puddles everywhere I park
TBH, I don't mind that it looks a bit ropey. There are so many immaculate M5s turning up for insane prices at the moment it's quite refreshing having one that looks a bit well loved, especially when I know it's in tip top condition underneath.
Not sure on the N-E heritage - I'll have to dig through the paperwork!
Yes, the paintjob on the sills is holding up admirably. I keep meaning to get it done properly, but, well, there's always something more important to do. Like the wheels. Ah yes, the wheels - the 'professional' job has turned out completely s
te and has started peeling off in sheets, so they look pretty crappy now. Colour match should have been a clue, I guess Still, it's had a complete Lemforder suspension arm refresh in the last 12 months which has totally transformed things, and I've just got it back from my local indie who has replaced the camcover gaskets, TPSs, and refreshed a load of crusty & leaking PAS pipes. Now I can drive it without getting an oil-fume-induced headache and leaving embarrassing puddles everywhere I park
TBH, I don't mind that it looks a bit ropey. There are so many immaculate M5s turning up for insane prices at the moment it's quite refreshing having one that looks a bit well loved, especially when I know it's in tip top condition underneath.
A combination of children, house renovations, lack of time and a switch to working from home all compounded to mean the M5 hasn't been getting much use recently, and ended up sitting in the garage for several weeks over winter while I drove around in the Land Cruiser instead. As usual I had a bit of a compiling list of things needing attention, so I spent a few days over Christmas playing discount roulette on Autodoc. Lo and behold, come early January a few nice orange boxes showed up...
These included a pair of TPSs (in an ongoing effort to refresh all sensors in the car), new camcover gaskets (I've reached the point where I'm replacing things that have already been replaced in my ownership
), and a new set of front discs and pads as they'd been thrown up as an advisory for the last few MOTs and really I should get round to replacing them
I did the discs and pads myself (a process during which I took precisely zero photos) and then gave it to my local indy to complete the rest. They managed to identify a couple of other oil leaks which were also rectified, and also replace a load of perished PAS pipes which were looking a bit crusty. Add in the usual 6-monthly sump full of 10w60 and it emerged in a rather lovely state. Particularly given I no longer got an oily headache while driving it for more than an hour
As if to celebrate this new-found roadworthiness, I was invited to go and visit some friends for a few days near St Malo in Brittany. The Ryanair flight to Dinard isn't flying at the moment, which naturally meant the only way to travel was to drive. For about 30 seconds I considered whether I should take the safe option and plod over in the armchair-like Land Cruiser, but - well, we all know where this is going.
From my home in South Oxon it is, near as damnit, 500 miles each way including about 120 miles of monotony getting to Folkestone. The M5 is right at home on the autoroute though and frankly surpassed all my expectations - it really is a fantastic way to cover that sort of distance quickly and will quite happily sit at "French motorway speeds" for hours on end.
St Malo is lovely, by the way. I won't bore you with holiday pics, but check out a couple of nice little spots.
Citroen quadricycle thing. Looked very cool.
Timewarp Polo!
Quick wee stop on the way back. It's bloody good this thing:
1000 miles of continental bug-killing
Your boarding group, monsieur
Mileage now sits at 176k and change after that little jaunt. Three-and-a-bit tanks of super, a half-litre top up of 10w60 and about 15 hours of podcasts later, the old girl didn't put a foot wrong and I got to have a lovely time blasting around the French countryside for a few days. Mileage is going to increase pretty slowly from now on, I suspect - a new job means I'm based at home most of the time, and the paraphernalia that comes with kids inevitably means the LC gets used for family trips. The paintwork is still crap, as are the wheels, but I still don't really mind that on balance. It'll get sorted at some point.
These included a pair of TPSs (in an ongoing effort to refresh all sensors in the car), new camcover gaskets (I've reached the point where I'm replacing things that have already been replaced in my ownership
), and a new set of front discs and pads as they'd been thrown up as an advisory for the last few MOTs and really I should get round to replacing them I did the discs and pads myself (a process during which I took precisely zero photos) and then gave it to my local indy to complete the rest. They managed to identify a couple of other oil leaks which were also rectified, and also replace a load of perished PAS pipes which were looking a bit crusty. Add in the usual 6-monthly sump full of 10w60 and it emerged in a rather lovely state. Particularly given I no longer got an oily headache while driving it for more than an hour
As if to celebrate this new-found roadworthiness, I was invited to go and visit some friends for a few days near St Malo in Brittany. The Ryanair flight to Dinard isn't flying at the moment, which naturally meant the only way to travel was to drive. For about 30 seconds I considered whether I should take the safe option and plod over in the armchair-like Land Cruiser, but - well, we all know where this is going.
From my home in South Oxon it is, near as damnit, 500 miles each way including about 120 miles of monotony getting to Folkestone. The M5 is right at home on the autoroute though and frankly surpassed all my expectations - it really is a fantastic way to cover that sort of distance quickly and will quite happily sit at "French motorway speeds" for hours on end.
St Malo is lovely, by the way. I won't bore you with holiday pics, but check out a couple of nice little spots.
Citroen quadricycle thing. Looked very cool.
Timewarp Polo!
Quick wee stop on the way back. It's bloody good this thing:
1000 miles of continental bug-killing
Your boarding group, monsieur
Mileage now sits at 176k and change after that little jaunt. Three-and-a-bit tanks of super, a half-litre top up of 10w60 and about 15 hours of podcasts later, the old girl didn't put a foot wrong and I got to have a lovely time blasting around the French countryside for a few days. Mileage is going to increase pretty slowly from now on, I suspect - a new job means I'm based at home most of the time, and the paraphernalia that comes with kids inevitably means the LC gets used for family trips. The paintwork is still crap, as are the wheels, but I still don't really mind that on balance. It'll get sorted at some point.
I've had a few enquiries over the years, but ultimately I think it's worth more to me than it is to a potential buyer. If someone waved something north of £20k under my nose (which - to be clear - I don't think it's worth on the open market) I might be tempted as it's not getting used so much anymore, but even then I don't know what I'd replace it with 
. Go with with gold 
Brace yourselves: pic heavy post incoming!
So, yes, I’ve finally given into peer pressure and the flakey old Style 65s have ben whipped off and taken down to Platinum Wheels in Swindon (thanks for the recommendation, akirk – they certainly seem to know what they’re talking about).
But the eagle-eyed amongst you might have noticed something else missing – other than the wheels – in the previous picture.
Rust.
Let’s rewind a few weeks. You may remember, when I had the sills & jacking points rebuilt a while back, the application of a ‘temporary’ rattle-can paint job. This now-semi-permanent fix was in danger of becoming a long-term fix, and with the steady advancing of some of the other oh-they-all-do-that-sir rust spots it was a job I could no longer ignore.
Here’s our starting point. It doesn’t look too bad from here, right?
But, if we look closer…
As ever, finding someone suitable for the task at hand wasn’t easy once you filter out the suspiciously cheap and the “we’ll only do a full respray for ten grand mate” outfits. Failing to find anywhere local, I reached out to the owner (and previous M5 owner) of Silk Mead bodyshop. I’ve seen plenty of his work via Instagram over the years and, after chatting with him, he definitely had the right attitude towards working on something like this.
So, a solid second-hand set of front wigs was procured, and one Saturday evening we loaded up and hit the highway. Well, the M25.
Night delivery:
The guys at Silk Mead set to work quickly, and the following Monday I was sent the usual selection of “oh fk” pictures once the car started coming apart…
The metal in the rear arches had pitted, so some fresh metal was welded in to prevent any surface rust coming back:
New metal welded in here as well…
The front bumper clearly has some stories to tell. This is three layers of black and one layer of silver lurking under the Silverstone blue
More progress shots. This one gives a good view of the bits that have been painted – both bumpers, bootlid, rear section, front/rear arches, rust repair by the fuel filler, both sills.
We ended up having to blend the doors in as well, as new Silverstone Blue and 20-year-old Silverstone Blue weren’t exactly a 100% match the first time round
That’s a bit more like it:
Full disclosure, the doors are also a little frilly along the bottom, but budgetary constraints mean they’re going to have to stay put for now. Over time I’ll source a solid set of second-hand doors and get these painted and fitted too, but given they’re just bolt-on parts I’m a bit less worried.
Collection day!
So, yes, I’ve finally given into peer pressure and the flakey old Style 65s have ben whipped off and taken down to Platinum Wheels in Swindon (thanks for the recommendation, akirk – they certainly seem to know what they’re talking about).
But the eagle-eyed amongst you might have noticed something else missing – other than the wheels – in the previous picture.
Rust.
Let’s rewind a few weeks. You may remember, when I had the sills & jacking points rebuilt a while back, the application of a ‘temporary’ rattle-can paint job. This now-semi-permanent fix was in danger of becoming a long-term fix, and with the steady advancing of some of the other oh-they-all-do-that-sir rust spots it was a job I could no longer ignore.
Here’s our starting point. It doesn’t look too bad from here, right?
But, if we look closer…
As ever, finding someone suitable for the task at hand wasn’t easy once you filter out the suspiciously cheap and the “we’ll only do a full respray for ten grand mate” outfits. Failing to find anywhere local, I reached out to the owner (and previous M5 owner) of Silk Mead bodyshop. I’ve seen plenty of his work via Instagram over the years and, after chatting with him, he definitely had the right attitude towards working on something like this.
So, a solid second-hand set of front wigs was procured, and one Saturday evening we loaded up and hit the highway. Well, the M25.
Night delivery:
The guys at Silk Mead set to work quickly, and the following Monday I was sent the usual selection of “oh f
k” pictures once the car started coming apart…The metal in the rear arches had pitted, so some fresh metal was welded in to prevent any surface rust coming back:
New metal welded in here as well…
The front bumper clearly has some stories to tell. This is three layers of black and one layer of silver lurking under the Silverstone blue
More progress shots. This one gives a good view of the bits that have been painted – both bumpers, bootlid, rear section, front/rear arches, rust repair by the fuel filler, both sills.
We ended up having to blend the doors in as well, as new Silverstone Blue and 20-year-old Silverstone Blue weren’t exactly a 100% match the first time round
That’s a bit more like it:
Full disclosure, the doors are also a little frilly along the bottom, but budgetary constraints mean they’re going to have to stay put for now. Over time I’ll source a solid set of second-hand doors and get these painted and fitted too, but given they’re just bolt-on parts I’m a bit less worried.
Collection day!
Right. Where were we?
Ah yes, the wheels!
Now they really were letting the side down, so I’ve whipped them off and sent them away for a once over. That means I’ve got a freshly-painted M5 sat on axle stands for a week, so I’ve broken the habit of a lifetime and broken out the cleaning gear
No progress shots, because I’m a clot, but here’s where we stand. Any old paint (bonnet, doors etc) has been clay barred & machine polished, the whole car has had two coats of wax, and I’ve given the interior a once-over with leather cleaner and restorer. Professional detailers, look away now.
So there we are. More pics next week, hopefully, when the wheels are on
Ah yes, the wheels!
Now they really were letting the side down, so I’ve whipped them off and sent them away for a once over. That means I’ve got a freshly-painted M5 sat on axle stands for a week, so I’ve broken the habit of a lifetime and broken out the cleaning gear
No progress shots, because I’m a clot, but here’s where we stand. Any old paint (bonnet, doors etc) has been clay barred & machine polished, the whole car has had two coats of wax, and I’ve given the interior a once-over with leather cleaner and restorer. Professional detailers, look away now.
So there we are. More pics next week, hopefully, when the wheels are on
Blimey, it's busy in here
I'm not deliberately keeping you all in suspense; I'm currently on shared parental leave so doing a lot of this in half-hour patches while the little lad is asleep!
Yes, they're shadow chrome, which is surprisingly difficult to photograph as it turns out
There's a massive variety of factory shadow chrome finishes so Platinum basically give you a scale and say "how light would you like them?". I've gone for a mid-dark finish as I like the contrast on a Silverstone Blue car - so yes, in some lights they look almost ferric grey, and in sunlight the chrome effect really shines. Or it would, if we had any bloody sunshine.
Anyway, I'm going to ceramic coat them later today/tomorrow before they go back on the car, and hopefully over the next few days the weather will cease to be so completely minging and I'll get some shots of it looking spangly
I'm not deliberately keeping you all in suspense; I'm currently on shared parental leave so doing a lot of this in half-hour patches while the little lad is asleep!
Yes, they're shadow chrome, which is surprisingly difficult to photograph as it turns out
There's a massive variety of factory shadow chrome finishes so Platinum basically give you a scale and say "how light would you like them?". I've gone for a mid-dark finish as I like the contrast on a Silverstone Blue car - so yes, in some lights they look almost ferric grey, and in sunlight the chrome effect really shines. Or it would, if we had any bloody sunshine.
Anyway, I'm going to ceramic coat them later today/tomorrow before they go back on the car, and hopefully over the next few days the weather will cease to be so completely minging and I'll get some shots of it looking spangly
Another pic in slightly better light. It is shadow chrome... But looks to me like it's too light on the 'chrome' and too heavy on the 'shadow'.
Bums.
I'll have a chat to Platinum tomorrow, see what can be salvaged. To be fair, I asked for 'mid-dark' shadow chrome as I wanted to avoid a chintzy silver, but after getting it out in the sunlight it's clearly too dark. Shame really, as the finish is fantastic quality.
On the plus side, the body paint looks lovely and I've done the best part of 200 miles in two days just for fun. So it's nice to be out driving it again
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff