150k mile E39 M5... daily
Discussion
Blimey, just realised I've not updated this in a while! It's about time we had a quick update on leggy E39 world, despite it looking like this for a couple of weeks recently...
First up was a full set of Goodyear Eagle F1 AS3's to replace the s
te rubber that was on there. These, along with the alignment, have made a huge difference to the car and serve only to reinforce my view that cheap tyres are a mug's game. It's so much more sure-footed now, particularly in the wet.
Mileage has dropped off a bit of late, the brakes needed attention (particularly the rears) and an EML prompted a visit to a local BMW indy who confirmed a number of other items that wanted a refresh.
These were, in approximate order:
I've also bought and fitted a replacement mirror from mirrorjohn - thanks for the recommendation!
Other plans for new year? Well, I'd like to start sorting the cosmetics out - those black wheels are gopping and I've picked up a correct M5 lower front grill to cure the "why's it got a Sport bumper on it?" comments. I'm going to have a go at re-furbing the wheels myself in a gunmetal silver metalic - yes, I know this won't give the correct shadow chrome effect, but it'll be a big improvement and a damn sight cheaper! I'll look at getting them refurbished properly somewhere down the line if needs be.
I managed to pick up a cheap winter shed which is keeping the worst of the salt off the M5 and will allow it to be off the road for certain periods of time. It's not much fun, but it's bloody massive and on winter tyres was unstoppable in the recent snow
Oh, and I had a practice at refurbishing wheels using the stock road wheels from the track RX8. Obviously the M5 won't be getting the same colour, but I was pretty happy with the finish and learnt a few useful lessons along the way
First up was a full set of Goodyear Eagle F1 AS3's to replace the s
te rubber that was on there. These, along with the alignment, have made a huge difference to the car and serve only to reinforce my view that cheap tyres are a mug's game. It's so much more sure-footed now, particularly in the wet.Mileage has dropped off a bit of late, the brakes needed attention (particularly the rears) and an EML prompted a visit to a local BMW indy who confirmed a number of other items that wanted a refresh.
These were, in approximate order:
- Auxiliary belts perished
- Thermostat, coolant sensor and O2 sensor (bank 1) need replacing
- Rear discs and pads lifed
- Front pads worn
- Both rear upper suspension arms need replacing (bushes have play)
- Rear drop-links need replacing
- Diff pinion seal leaking
I've also bought and fitted a replacement mirror from mirrorjohn - thanks for the recommendation!
Other plans for new year? Well, I'd like to start sorting the cosmetics out - those black wheels are gopping and I've picked up a correct M5 lower front grill to cure the "why's it got a Sport bumper on it?" comments. I'm going to have a go at re-furbing the wheels myself in a gunmetal silver metalic - yes, I know this won't give the correct shadow chrome effect, but it'll be a big improvement and a damn sight cheaper! I'll look at getting them refurbished properly somewhere down the line if needs be.
I managed to pick up a cheap winter shed which is keeping the worst of the salt off the M5 and will allow it to be off the road for certain periods of time. It's not much fun, but it's bloody massive and on winter tyres was unstoppable in the recent snow
Oh, and I had a practice at refurbishing wheels using the stock road wheels from the track RX8. Obviously the M5 won't be getting the same colour, but I was pretty happy with the finish and learnt a few useful lessons along the way
It’s been a while since I updated this, and in the last 3 months I’ve not done nearly as many miles as I’d have hoped. As per my last post I had some work done before Christmas (sorting the brakes was the biggest issue that was ticked off the list) and the car was running better, but a number of irritating niggles were taking too long to sort and, with the crappy weather we had as well, I got a bit dispirited. The M5 is supposed to be my daily but, over the last few months, I’ve done almost twice the mileage in the old 400 quid Volvo V70 that was supposed to be a general runaround to see us through the worst of the winter!
First up was a selection of assorted incontinence – it was using oil at an alarming rate (even for an S62), the new thermostat was leaking and the diff pinion ‘seal’ wasn’t living up to its name. Having been backwards and forwards with the local BMW specialist – who, I’ve concluded, are good for small jobs but not big projects – there were still a variety of bits that needed attention and nothing was happening very quickly. Add to this a persistent EML, headlights that pointed to the floor, rear suspension that still needed attention and a selection of corroded brake pipes, I was starting to feel like there was no light at the end of the tunnel!
Drastic action was needed, so, having spoken to a couple of local-ish owners and checked the interwebs for reviews, I spoke to Phil at CPC in Amersham. Phil can be quite tricky to get hold of at times (I generally view it as a good sign when specialists are busy!) but he happily talked me through my options and I agreed to drop the car off a few days later, the idea being we’d end up with a check-list of ‘things that need urgent attention’ and ‘things that will need attention in future.’
News was mixed, really – the EML was traced to a stretched timing chain & worn guides (the originals on 155k) which had thrown the timing out. This in turn means the VANOS (which has had the seals replaced in the past but has otherwise been untouched) needed attention. On top of this were an exciting selection of oil leaks (as expected), crusty brake pipes, a handful of duff sensors, rusty exhaust brackets and the leaky diff I already knew about. On the plus side Phil was able to confirm that, bar some unsightly surface rust, the car was very solid overall – it’s just suffering from a severe lack of major servicing over the last few years.
I want this car to be a keeper, and buying as I did at the very bottom of the market this pretty much expected. Much of this work involved overlapping sections of the car, so Phil got cracking and a week later I was there to collect. The bill was, as expected, pretty eye-watering (enough I suspect to pick up a ropy 540i!) but – finally – I have an M5 that drives as an M5 should
The way the market is behaving (weirdly, mostly) I’m still happy that finding a car with all this work recently done would be an expensive affair in its own right, but it still smarts a bit. Still, the work by CPC was top notch and the old beasty does drive beautifully now.
We were even rewarded with some decent weather, so having neglected cleaning duties for some time it was time to give the fleet a good seeing to!
So, is that it? Of course not! My intention is to get the car mechanically sound before worrying too much about cosmetics, and I’m sure there will be other issues that arise. In the meantime I’m just going to drive it as much as I possibly can (particularly as the OH’s Alfa has come over all Italian, so she’ll be using the Volvo) – I’ve missed out on several weeks of bonding time, but even the last couple of days have reminded me just what a special car it is. I just hope the next update will be a less expensive one
First up was a selection of assorted incontinence – it was using oil at an alarming rate (even for an S62), the new thermostat was leaking and the diff pinion ‘seal’ wasn’t living up to its name. Having been backwards and forwards with the local BMW specialist – who, I’ve concluded, are good for small jobs but not big projects – there were still a variety of bits that needed attention and nothing was happening very quickly. Add to this a persistent EML, headlights that pointed to the floor, rear suspension that still needed attention and a selection of corroded brake pipes, I was starting to feel like there was no light at the end of the tunnel!
Drastic action was needed, so, having spoken to a couple of local-ish owners and checked the interwebs for reviews, I spoke to Phil at CPC in Amersham. Phil can be quite tricky to get hold of at times (I generally view it as a good sign when specialists are busy!) but he happily talked me through my options and I agreed to drop the car off a few days later, the idea being we’d end up with a check-list of ‘things that need urgent attention’ and ‘things that will need attention in future.’
News was mixed, really – the EML was traced to a stretched timing chain & worn guides (the originals on 155k) which had thrown the timing out. This in turn means the VANOS (which has had the seals replaced in the past but has otherwise been untouched) needed attention. On top of this were an exciting selection of oil leaks (as expected), crusty brake pipes, a handful of duff sensors, rusty exhaust brackets and the leaky diff I already knew about. On the plus side Phil was able to confirm that, bar some unsightly surface rust, the car was very solid overall – it’s just suffering from a severe lack of major servicing over the last few years.
I want this car to be a keeper, and buying as I did at the very bottom of the market this pretty much expected. Much of this work involved overlapping sections of the car, so Phil got cracking and a week later I was there to collect. The bill was, as expected, pretty eye-watering (enough I suspect to pick up a ropy 540i!) but – finally – I have an M5 that drives as an M5 should
The way the market is behaving (weirdly, mostly) I’m still happy that finding a car with all this work recently done would be an expensive affair in its own right, but it still smarts a bit. Still, the work by CPC was top notch and the old beasty does drive beautifully now.
We were even rewarded with some decent weather, so having neglected cleaning duties for some time it was time to give the fleet a good seeing to!
So, is that it? Of course not! My intention is to get the car mechanically sound before worrying too much about cosmetics, and I’m sure there will be other issues that arise. In the meantime I’m just going to drive it as much as I possibly can (particularly as the OH’s Alfa has come over all Italian, so she’ll be using the Volvo) – I’ve missed out on several weeks of bonding time, but even the last couple of days have reminded me just what a special car it is. I just hope the next update will be a less expensive one
M cars = bills. Simple. 
That said, when you get on top of things (as you clearly are) you soon forget about them and just enjoy owning a really special car. Obviously I'm speaking from similar experience.
Am looking forward to some summer sunshine to really enjoy it too.
So what's next on your 'to do' list?
That said, when you get on top of things (as you clearly are) you soon forget about them and just enjoy owning a really special car. Obviously I'm speaking from similar experience.
Am looking forward to some summer sunshine to really enjoy it too.
So what's next on your 'to do' list?
Thanks Mark. It'll need a new alternator soon as the current one is a bit grumbly (a victim of those oil leaks ). There's also no evidence the plugs have been changed recently so I'll throw a new set of those in. I might even do this myself
Other bits that need attention?
). There's also no evidence the plugs have been changed recently so I'll throw a new set of those in. I might even do this myself Other bits that need attention?
- Front wings are starting to bubble a bit, as is the boot lid. Bodywork can wait though, I'd like to enjoy it through the summer first!
- Pixel repair needs doing
- There's still a bit of wheel wobble at motorway speeds. I'll try getting the wheels re-balanced on the off-chance this is the cause, but I imagine there will be some more suspension work needed at some point.
- MOT in a couple of months
- handful of reversing sensors need replacing
e30m3Mark said:
M cars = bills. Simple.
can depend - but I think that as the OP says - if you choose to buy at the lower end of the market, then you spend at least some of the difference on bringing it up to standard - a bad one, you probably spend more / never get it to the same place - a good one it can work well - sounds as the OP may have that...I have done 10,000 miles in mine in the year I have owned it, and it has drunk 3 litres of oil (and had an oil change), and needed new tyres (planned) and new rear brake pads. It still feels immaculate and like a new car - but that is the difference in buying at the other end of the market...
Edited by akirk on Monday 26th March 13:54
olly22n said:
akirk said:
e30m3Mark said:
M cars = bills. Simple.
can depend - but I think that as the OP says - if you choose to buy at the lower end of the market, then you spend at least some of the difference on bringing it up to standard - a bad one, you probably spend more / never get it to the same place - a good one it can work well - sounds as the OP may have that...I have done 1,000 miles in mine in the year I have owned it, and it has drunk 3 litres of oil (and had an oil change), and needed new tyres (planned) and new rear brake pads. It still feels immaculate and like a new car - but that is the difference in buying at the other end of the market...
will edit my post
def. not drinking a litre of oil every 300 miles!It is a daily driver, though one of several
seiben said:
Nope, bought it from a chap in Basingstoke. Before that I believe it was in Poole.
Yes, it was based in Poole in August 2011. This is an extract from a spreadsheet I compiled at the time when looking for an E39 M5.Mileage 100,000; Current price £6,950; Reduced from £7,950; Year 2001; Location Poole; Colour Silver/Blue; Reg No. X161 NNK; Advertiser Route One (T)
Good luck with the car. I think it was Clarkson who said something to the effect of... owning an E39 M5 is like having a two year old child. Exasperating, annoying and very expensive; but you'd kill anyone who tried to take it away from you.
If anyone can recollect the exact quote, rather than my paraphrase effort above, I'd be interested to read exactly what he said.
johnao said:
Yes, it was based in Poole in August 2011. This is an extract from a spreadsheet I compiled at the time when looking for an E39 M5.
Mileage 100,000; Current price £6,950; Reduced from £7,950; Year 2001; Location Poole; Colour Silver/Blue; Reg No. X161 NNK; Advertiser Route One (T)
Thanks John, that's a nice little insight. Amazing how the values have changed since then!Mileage 100,000; Current price £6,950; Reduced from £7,950; Year 2001; Location Poole; Colour Silver/Blue; Reg No. X161 NNK; Advertiser Route One (T)
Well I'm certainly enjoying it at the moment - it recently took me on a ~400 mile round trip to Liverpool. It really is an epic thing to cover long distance in, I made it each way without stopping (aside from the obligatory fuel stop on the way up!) and emerged fresh as a daisy at either end - despite the best efforts of the M42!.
Still, I'm sure the money spending will begin again soon. MOT time next week
helix402 said:
Have you checked if you’re steering wheel airbag needs changing under the recall? Best way is speaking to your local BMW dealership, the online checks can be iffy.
Thanks for the heads up. The online checker doesn't bring anything up, but I'll have a chat with the nearest dealer 
It’s been an eventful couple of months for the big old beasty. After our last update I booked it in for the MOT, but had one last long-ish journey to cover before hand – a trip up to Sheffield. I’d been meaning to leave at around 4pm to get up there in decent time, but work got in the way and I didn’t hit the road until gone 7. All was well for a hundred miles or so, but when we hit the M1 I thought I noticed a little flicker in the corner of my eye.
Hmm.
A couple of miles further on, and there it was again – the battery light. Not what you want to see in the middle of the 50 limit roadworks with no hard shoulder. Arse
I managed to make it to Donington services without anything untoward happening, but unsure how long it would go whilst down on electricity I didn’t want to risk being left stranded. What followed was the worst clusterfk of a recovery from the RAC (who will absolutely not be getting my renewal next year!), and after several hours of phone calls, chasing, not having my calls returned etc I was eventually greeted at 1.30am by a contracted recovery driver who cheerily told me he could only take me 40 miles to the next services because his hours were running out.
Great.
Still, we got the car loaded up, and trundled off
Unloading at the next services (still the wrong end of the M42!), we noticed the battery light had gone out. Hmm. This left me with a conundrum – did I want to wait until 4am (yes, you read that right) for my next flatbed, or should I risk it for a biscuit and see how far I got? Patience was wearing pretty thin at this point, so I opted for the latter.
I made it 15 miles before the battery light came back on again, so I slowed and prepared to pull into the next services in 10 or so miles time. What I then discovered was the battery light would come and go depending on engine and road speed , and – if I kept at a constant speed of 58mph in 6th – it would pretty much stay out. It was both a dull and tense drive home but eventually I made it back at about 4am, shortly after receiving a call from the second flatbed I’d cancelled, via the RAC, a couple of hours earlier. Poor guy – honestly, if this is the way they treat both their customers and contract partners the RAC really are a fking shambles.
I managed to extend my booked MOT slot to troubleshoot the issue, and as expected the alternator was found to be the culprit. This was replaced for a very reasonable price (thanks to Haynes Car Care in Wallingford, who I heartily recommend), and then put through the MOT. Which, naturally, it failed.
Still, it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, failure reasons being both headlights pointing in the wrong direction, and the headlamp washers not working. Haynes had a furtle around and managed to sort the latter pretty easily, but the headlights were to be a little more involved. The usual E39 headlight adjuster tabs had broken – CPC had managed to repair one side which just needed adjusting, but the other was deemed too far gone for repair. Not wanting to pay the extortionate amount BMW wanted for a new headlight unit, I hit eBay and managed to find a second-hand unit described as ‘full working order.’ Naturally the adjusters were also broken, but – crucially – the threads were still intact. I picked up a set of replacement adjusters and spent an evening watching YouTube tutorials. It seems there are two options – bake the light and split off the front cover, or engage in a fiddly keyhole surgery operation going through the lamp holes. I opted for the latter.
Getting the old lamp out was pretty straightforward:
And, after a very frustrating but ultimately successful two hour operation:
Yes, it’s cleaner than the other light. No pics of the operation I’m afraid. I was in the zone
There were also a couple of advisories mentioning the start of dreaded tinwork along the sills. That’ll need some attention fairly soon, but having had a poke around it doesn’t seem too extensive just yet. I’ll chat with a couple of recommended local bodyshops and come up with a plan of attack.
So, there’s rust to sort out, horrible black wheels to refurbish, and (possibly) a clutch that will need attention soon. So I took the only logical course of action, and had these…
…chopped off, and replaced with these:
Unnecessary? Yes. Childish? Absolutely. But I don’t care, because OH MY GOD THE NOISES
Tune in for the next instalment, where I can regale you with tales of fending off neighbours with pitchforks after one too many cold starts
Hmm.
A couple of miles further on, and there it was again – the battery light. Not what you want to see in the middle of the 50 limit roadworks with no hard shoulder. Arse
I managed to make it to Donington services without anything untoward happening, but unsure how long it would go whilst down on electricity I didn’t want to risk being left stranded. What followed was the worst clusterf
k of a recovery from the RAC (who will absolutely not be getting my renewal next year!), and after several hours of phone calls, chasing, not having my calls returned etc I was eventually greeted at 1.30am by a contracted recovery driver who cheerily told me he could only take me 40 miles to the next services because his hours were running out.Great.
Still, we got the car loaded up, and trundled off
Unloading at the next services (still the wrong end of the M42!), we noticed the battery light had gone out. Hmm. This left me with a conundrum – did I want to wait until 4am (yes, you read that right) for my next flatbed, or should I risk it for a biscuit and see how far I got? Patience was wearing pretty thin at this point, so I opted for the latter.
I made it 15 miles before the battery light came back on again, so I slowed and prepared to pull into the next services in 10 or so miles time. What I then discovered was the battery light would come and go depending on engine and road speed , and – if I kept at a constant speed of 58mph in 6th – it would pretty much stay out. It was both a dull and tense drive home but eventually I made it back at about 4am, shortly after receiving a call from the second flatbed I’d cancelled, via the RAC, a couple of hours earlier. Poor guy – honestly, if this is the way they treat both their customers and contract partners the RAC really are a f
king shambles.I managed to extend my booked MOT slot to troubleshoot the issue, and as expected the alternator was found to be the culprit. This was replaced for a very reasonable price (thanks to Haynes Car Care in Wallingford, who I heartily recommend), and then put through the MOT. Which, naturally, it failed.
Still, it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, failure reasons being both headlights pointing in the wrong direction, and the headlamp washers not working. Haynes had a furtle around and managed to sort the latter pretty easily, but the headlights were to be a little more involved. The usual E39 headlight adjuster tabs had broken – CPC had managed to repair one side which just needed adjusting, but the other was deemed too far gone for repair. Not wanting to pay the extortionate amount BMW wanted for a new headlight unit, I hit eBay and managed to find a second-hand unit described as ‘full working order.’ Naturally the adjusters were also broken, but – crucially – the threads were still intact. I picked up a set of replacement adjusters and spent an evening watching YouTube tutorials. It seems there are two options – bake the light and split off the front cover, or engage in a fiddly keyhole surgery operation going through the lamp holes. I opted for the latter.
Getting the old lamp out was pretty straightforward:
And, after a very frustrating but ultimately successful two hour operation:
Yes, it’s cleaner than the other light. No pics of the operation I’m afraid. I was in the zone
There were also a couple of advisories mentioning the start of dreaded tinwork along the sills. That’ll need some attention fairly soon, but having had a poke around it doesn’t seem too extensive just yet. I’ll chat with a couple of recommended local bodyshops and come up with a plan of attack.
So, there’s rust to sort out, horrible black wheels to refurbish, and (possibly) a clutch that will need attention soon. So I took the only logical course of action, and had these…
…chopped off, and replaced with these:
Unnecessary? Yes. Childish? Absolutely. But I don’t care, because OH MY GOD THE NOISES
Tune in for the next instalment, where I can regale you with tales of fending off neighbours with pitchforks after one too many cold starts
I've got an E39 Touring to sell that needs the headlight adjusters doing, if you wouldn't mind, could you give me the links to the YT videos you found most helpful? I think I'm going to attempt the keyhole surgery as I too bought 2nd hand headlights that were claimed to be in "great condition" but ended up being worse than the ones I already had and resulted in a lengthy and protracted PayPal dispute.
No probs - this is the one I ended up following: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnRPg5o45Ik
A couple of tips I also picked up:
Make sure you use the correct size one-piece Torx screwdriver - I tried using a generic socket driver with a Torx bit, but the socket join was too fat to get to the screw on the second adjuster.
Also, this is a US video - UK lights have a round plastic access panel in the top you can remove, which makes getting to the second (more fiddly) adjuster a whole lot easier. Good luck!
A couple of tips I also picked up:
Make sure you use the correct size one-piece Torx screwdriver - I tried using a generic socket driver with a Torx bit, but the socket join was too fat to get to the screw on the second adjuster.
Also, this is a US video - UK lights have a round plastic access panel in the top you can remove, which makes getting to the second (more fiddly) adjuster a whole lot easier. Good luck!
seiben said:
No probs - this is the one I ended up following: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnRPg5o45Ik
A couple of tips I also picked up:
Make sure you use the correct size one-piece Torx screwdriver - I tried using a generic socket driver with a Torx bit, but the socket join was too fat to get to the screw on the second adjuster.
Also, this is a US video - UK lights have a round plastic access panel in the top you can remove, which makes getting to the second (more fiddly) adjuster a whole lot easier. Good luck!
Many thanks!A couple of tips I also picked up:
Make sure you use the correct size one-piece Torx screwdriver - I tried using a generic socket driver with a Torx bit, but the socket join was too fat to get to the screw on the second adjuster.
Also, this is a US video - UK lights have a round plastic access panel in the top you can remove, which makes getting to the second (more fiddly) adjuster a whole lot easier. Good luck!
nurseholliday said:
seiben said:
No probs - this is the one I ended up following: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnRPg5o45Ik
A couple of tips I also picked up:
Make sure you use the correct size one-piece Torx screwdriver - I tried using a generic socket driver with a Torx bit, but the socket join was too fat to get to the screw on the second adjuster.
Also, this is a US video - UK lights have a round plastic access panel in the top you can remove, which makes getting to the second (more fiddly) adjuster a whole lot easier. Good luck!
Many thanks!A couple of tips I also picked up:
Make sure you use the correct size one-piece Torx screwdriver - I tried using a generic socket driver with a Torx bit, but the socket join was too fat to get to the screw on the second adjuster.
Also, this is a US video - UK lights have a round plastic access panel in the top you can remove, which makes getting to the second (more fiddly) adjuster a whole lot easier. Good luck!
Minor update:
Hayward & Scott exhausts still sound blimmin epic, and I've managed to enjoy a very pleasant few weeks in the sun making awesome V8 noises. A few little niggles need sorting (the wiper self-park is slightly out, so I've got a replacement relay to go in, and the driver's door lock can be a bit 'lazy' at times) but overall I've had a blast for the last 10k miles
I find myself in the slightly odd situation whereby I may need to sell before it's completely 'done,' which is a shame - a house has come up for sale which is a massive punt, but if it goes through I can ill afford to have an old uber-barge to run at the same time. More on that if it happens, I guess, but it'll be a massive shame to take a bath on the costs of getting it up to scratch mechanically because I've not had time to sort the scruffy body-work out
Hayward & Scott exhausts still sound blimmin epic, and I've managed to enjoy a very pleasant few weeks in the sun making awesome V8 noises. A few little niggles need sorting (the wiper self-park is slightly out, so I've got a replacement relay to go in, and the driver's door lock can be a bit 'lazy' at times) but overall I've had a blast for the last 10k miles
I find myself in the slightly odd situation whereby I may need to sell before it's completely 'done,' which is a shame - a house has come up for sale which is a massive punt, but if it goes through I can ill afford to have an old uber-barge to run at the same time. More on that if it happens, I guess, but it'll be a massive shame to take a bath on the costs of getting it up to scratch mechanically because I've not had time to sort the scruffy body-work out
Minor fettling this weekend - the windscreen wiper self-park was gradually getting worse, to the point the wipers would bounce back up 2-3 inches before stopping. After scaring myself with the possibility of dismantling the wiper rack, I did some further Googling which suggested the wiper relay was a good place to start:
As we started - wipers in annoying 'slightly up' position. The relay is under the passenger side cabin filter:
Things were removed...
Drain was, unsurprisingly, blocked - out with the Titan!
That's the bugger!
Thank god for my bendy tool....
Great success!
As we started - wipers in annoying 'slightly up' position. The relay is under the passenger side cabin filter:
Things were removed...
Drain was, unsurprisingly, blocked - out with the Titan!
That's the bugger!
Thank god for my bendy tool....
Great success!
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