150k mile E39 M5... daily

[TheAngryDog]

PowerslideSWE said:

Angrydog: Are you sure about the grills? I read somewhere that all M5's regardless of year had the bigger grills, not the flush one. It matters very little however, I like the look of the flush one on OP's car.

Im 99% sure.

[TheAngryDog]

I could be wrong though, just that all the preface M5's I've seen have had the preface lift grills.

[helix402]

Grilles:

[wjb]

A true "hero car" well played op

[Pickled Piper]

Superb thread. My E39 528i was one of the best cars I ever owned. I still miss it today. An M5 was always a dream but now worryingly achievable.

I will watch this thread with much interest.

[seiben]

wjb said:

A true "hero car" well played op

Thank you!

Pickled Piper said:

Superb thread. My E39 528i was one of the best cars I ever owned. I still miss it today. An M5 was always a dream but now worryingly achievable.

I will watch this thread with much interest.

Thanks. Same - my old diesel E39 sofa was a wonderful car, and I was very pleased to find this is just as relaxing to pootle around in. It's a lot more fun if you stamp on the loud pedal though

Not much to report just yet. I've replaced the knackered fronts with a set of Eagle F1 AS3s, and the rears will be done later this week along with a full four-wheel alignment.

I also said 'au revoir' to my trusty old Subaru. Not 'goodbye' - it's going to a friend so I'll be seeing it regularly. I've told him I need first dibs when he eventually sells

2017-09-18_05-40-46 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr

To make myself feel better, I gave the new bus a good polish and wax as it was clearly lacking. I also find this is a good way to get to know a new car - as expected, it's had a bit of paint here and there, but overall I'm pretty pleased with it. It's not a complete dog, but also not so immaculate I'll feel guilty parking at the station.

2017-09-18_05-41-06 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr

I'm still undergoing new car nerves as I get to grips with everything, but I'm (really!) hoping it will look after me.

[SebringMan]

e30m3Mark said:

Personally I think buying on condition means more than mileage. Car is looking great.

This.

If you look at NS's interior on the 200k car it looks better than a few cars with half that! That and to get to that mileage things have to be replaced.

I know on a few low milers odd issues have happened on my cars. Easy to sell yes, but not necessarily trouble free as people and speculators would have you think.

It looks lovely does your car. It's a great colour for an M5.

For the mirror look up MirrorJohn ; the glass is about £110 delivered and if you are handy with a soldering iron it can be done in 30 minutes. I did a step by step guide to compliment MirrorJohn's guide on my thread, but I'll show the blog pics for now. Getting a secondhand one is tricky ; the original ones will fail due to a defect in all of the glasses. It's best to get it changed sooner rather than later ; if the dimming goo leaks out of the mirror it can eat up the interior plastics and hole them!

https://theleylandlegends.wordpress.com/2017/07/26...

[seiben]

dumab said:

Did you do a garage build thread and have a 7 type kit car?

No to the garage (it came with the house, luckily!) but I did have a Westfield until until recently: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=14...

[seiben]

SebringMan said:

For the mirror look up MirrorJohn ; the glass is about £110 delivered and if you are handy with a soldering iron it can be done in 30 minutes. I did a step by step guide to compliment MirrorJohn's guide on my thread, but I'll show the blog pics for now. Getting a secondhand one is tricky ; the original ones will fail due to a defect in all of the glasses. It's best to get it changed sooner rather than later ; if the dimming goo leaks out of the mirror it can eat up the interior plastics and hole them!

https://theleylandlegends.wordpress.com/2017/07/26...

That is super useful. Thanks!

[akirk]

I have just done 800 miles in mine in the last 4 days - such a fabulous versatile car - from London traffic, to long distances on the motorway, to country roads, it eats them all in comfort!

[Spitfires]

This is all kinds of awesome. Bookmarked!

[Fury RS]

seiben said:

Many brave pills have been taken.

2017-09-13_08-33-44 by Ben Edwards, on Flickr

What have I done?!

Hi seiban, did you buy this off Paul near Kettering?

[seiben]

Nope, bought it from a chap in Basingstoke. Before that I believe it was in Poole.

[Fury RS]

No problem, I apologise if I seemed a little nosey it's just I sold my M3 to a guy 10 days ago from Basingstoke funnily enough and his mate Paul who came with him to go over my car has had many guises of these 'M' cars and he commented that he had just sold a 150k mls E39 M5 several days prior. He seemed a very knowledgeable tidy guy fair play. It just seemed such a coincidence with the mileage and same colour.
Good luck with it, like I said prior it looks a tidy car

Edited by Fury RS on Sunday 24th September 21:44

[seiben]

Fury RS said:

No problem, I apologise if I seemed a little nosey it's just I sold my M3 to a guy 10 days ago from Basingstoke funnily enough and his mate Paul who came with him to go over my car has had many guises of these 'M' cars and he commented that he had just sold a 150k mls E39 M5 several days prior. He seemed a very knowledgeable tidy guy fair play. It just seemed such a coincidence with the mileage and same colour.
Good luck with it, like I said prior it looks a tidy car

Edited by Fury RS on Sunday 24th September 21:44

Ah yes, that's the chap. Seemed genuine enough. Fingers crossed

[Carlton Banks]

Good car choice.

I had this for a year, one of the last ones made!

[PowerslideSWE]

Carlton Banks said:

Good car choice.

I had this for a year, one of the last ones made!

That is just fab. Oxford green over caramel is a very tasty combination

[alpinab3]

I hope it was cheap. Looks like some penny less losers have owned in the past. Nice to see it going back in the right hands.

[seiben]

alpinab3 said:

I hope it was cheap. Looks like some penny less losers have owned in the past. Nice to see it going back in the right hands.

Er, thanks. I think

'Cheap' is all relative, but to get into an M5 for less than this currently owes me (purchase price, a four wheel alignment and a full set of Eagle F1s) I'd be looking at a pre-facelift with even higher mileage. I'm under no illusions that it's not going to be a bit spendy (it will) but my priority is to make sure the mechanical side is ok before I go trying to make it look pretty.

I'm away on holiday at the moment which has given me a rare opportunity to gather my thoughts before getting stuck in. New tyres and balancing has almost (but not quite) cured a slight shimmy at motorway speeds, so that'll need looking at. I had a good poke around underneath when it was getting the tyres fitted - mercifully it's all very clean under there, but the diff is weeping a little. That, along with some perished auxiliary belts will be the first job. Oil consumption seems to be minimal after 600 miles, but I'll keep an eye on that still.

I'm still a bit nervous about it, if I'm honest - I think I need to get some decent miles under its wheels to bond with it properly. Plenty of time for that, though

[JonJon2015]

A comprehensive suspension refresh should be high on your 'to do' list as part of your planned mechanical overhaul. Diagnosis of the cause of the classic E39 shimmy in your particular car is near impossible over the internet but replacing worn bushings, control arms etc will transform your enjoyment of the car. Sticky calipers can also contribute to the shakes.