E39 M5 Individual

[J_51dhu]

Last June I purchased an E39 M5. Its been one of the best cars I've owned and brought it full well knowing it would be a bit of project.

Prior to purchase, I'd had owned an E61 M5 touring for a short period so following that, after driving a close friends E39 M5 it was decided. It had to be the next car.

On the FB M5 Owners club I saw this car in Feb 2019 and sent the owner a message to say if he ever looked to sell, to let me know. It wasn't something I usually do and I didn't get a reply but for me, an E39 M5 in Velvet blue with Champagne interior was perfection. (I actually wanted this combination in an E46 M3 coupe but suits the E39 better)

The car then came for sale and long story short the rest was history. It took a few months to actually get it with it being 420 miles away during lockdown.

So here it is.. my 20 year old fancy V8 5 series:



The eagle eyed will recognise Peetee7's 335d

The car had been owned by 10 years by a car enthusiast who was big into his fast fords, it had been maintained very well mechanically throughout the 160k miles of its life but the bodywork looked like it could do with a fully body respray at some point as well as getting them wheels back to OEM shadow chrome.

So the plans with this car:
Get the car onto ramp with local BMW specialist
Powertrain related works / full service & flush all fluids
Suspension
Cosmetics - Full body respray/jacking points and interior freshen up

I'll go into detail of the last 15 months ownership in my future posts, but this one has been overdue so its a start.

Its best I leave some of my initial impressions:
The engine is still a masterpiece even after 20 years, it has so much torque from idle and still keen to rev out, albeit the 6.5k rpm rev limit feeling like it should be higher. On top of that, the N/A power delivery is incomparable to anything //M turbocharged.
It also has the right amount of power for the road and feels so stable/unflustered at any speed. Hydraulic rack and manual gearbox just to make it a pleasure to drive at any speed.
The previous owner has done a back box delete to release that V8 theatre which I'd look to tame down a little in the future, as it drones a bit around 2k rpm.
It handles suprisingly well, its had suspension refresh in the past 7-10 years and the plan is for me to do another.
Looking at the MOT history, there was a mileage discrepency back in 2008 but the service history stacked up and when taking to a local BMW wizard, doing some further digging into the ECU's for the different modules in the car etc. It all ties up with the mileage shown.
I planned to buy the car regardless though, even if had done 300k miles. I purchased it for a good price and I don't intend to ever sell the car, it will be restored and enjoyed as intended. I've done 4k miles in it so far, most of which has been this year as lockdown has lifted etc.

More to follow!

Edited by J_51dhu on Wednesday 1st September 18:43

[CarPrintGuy]

Awesome machine, congrats!

[Tommie38]

Looks brilliant, nice to have an Individual car.

Keep us up to date, we need details man, details.

[Aluminati]

Nice combo

[ Hydraulic box]

[Bright Halo]

That looks awesome.
Still regret selling mine 9 years ago.

[peetee7]

“Velvet” couldn’t have gone to a more passionate petrol head and nicer guy. Famous last words before setting off ‘let’s take it easy on our drive back home …. ‘

Do keep us entertained on your ownership, following

Edited by peetee7 on Wednesday 1st September 19:24

[Hereward]

Nice one. BMW absolutely nailed the brief with this car. Okay, maybe they should have coaxed another 50 horse power out of the engine but it's the torque and throttle response of the motor that impresses. Enjoy.

[Court_S]

That’s gorgeous. Any more pictures?

The E39 is such a perfect shape.

[g3org3y]

LIKE

[cerb4.5lee]

That is so nice.

Enjoy it.

[surveyor]

Superb. Mate has one that's done 250k. mechanically as strong as an ox, his body also needs attention.

[Sf_Manta]

Glorious. that is all

[2 GKC]

Lovely. Prompted me to have a look on Autotrader, some silly prices being asked for these now.

[emmetb]

Superb car, BMWs best ever M car IMO. Good luck with it and above all else enjoy it! I so nearly bought one, but went or an SL55 instead... I still feel I made the wrong choice!

[cerb4.5lee]

emmetb said:

Superb car, BMWs best ever M car IMO.

Agree and it is definitely one of the best for me. I also loved the fact that it was manual only, and it didn't muddy the water between 2 and 3 pedals.

[ds666]

Rev limit is 7k . Peak power at 6.6k

[Mr Tidy]

That is just stunning, especially in that colour combination.

[0a]

Stunning!

[n3il123]

Lovely ,I had a e39 535i in that combo and loved it, wish i hadnt sold it...

M5s a bit out of my price bracket these day

[J_51dhu]

Thanks for the comments, I'll try my best to keep this thread updated! The car had spent the last 10 years in Aberdeen so as you can image, it was rusty.
It looked like the car hadn't had a polish in a long time, so the orange rust stain had spread. A light polish made it look much less of an eye sore and its never come back. I just wanted it to be more presentable whilst the mechanicals are getting done.
As I've mentioned, plan with this car is to get a full body respray, jacking points rebuilt as well as change any panels/trims in the process. If anyone can recommend any decent body/paint shops around the Midlands, do let me know!
The car has been to the Nurburgring once upon a time, it will be going there in the future for sure but for now the sticker had to go!

Interior was dirty so gave that a light steam clean. Drivers seat came out OK but looks like its been dyed in the past, rest of the seats came out very well. The drivers seat will get more attention in the future, maybe a professional re-dye but I'm always put off by the loss of texture this leave nappa-style leather as it can feel a bit plasticky from (bad) experience.

Edited by J_51dhu on Saturday 4th September 13:06