E39 M5 Specialist in Fife or Edinburgh?

[eztiger]

Hi Folks,

I'm starting to think about scooping up an M5 in the next month or two. If it's an E6x then it will be AUC from a dealer + warranty so no problem.

If I go down the E39 route - does anyone have any recommendations of a decent specialist or indy who knows them well in the above areas?

Worst case it can go into the dealers as well I guess, but I can't imagine the bills will be pleasant.

Ta for any suggestions..

[sherman]

Im not sure where Fluffnick on here gets his Alpina serviced but it is somewhere round Edinburgh. If youu send him a PM he should be able to enlighten you.

[fluffnik]

Hi!

Got your PM but having mail probs in Alps...

I was using the Mill Garage in Longniddry but Andrew who would collect and return my car to Embra is no longer there.

...so I'm looking at other options myself.

More will follow!

[Rockatansky]

I hesitate to call this a recommendation as I have never used them, but you could try the Village garage in Blackhall, Edinburgh: http://www.villageedinburgh.com/index.php

Robert & Bruce who run this place are friends of a friend, and I believe them to be good at what they do. It's a well established business too FWIW.

[eztiger]

To follow up - I couldn't justify the cost of an E60 just as a weekend toy (well..*I* could, the OH brought more sense to the table ) so picked up an E39.

I popped it along yesterday to Motor Technik in Kirkcaldy for a 'start with a clean slate' inspection 2 and good look over.

Very friendly bunch and professional workshop / admin side. Happy with the work and from chatting with the folks there they seem to know their business. Very busy with some interesting metal in whilst I was there - which bodes well too!

Perhaps a bit far for the folks south of the bridge but worth keeping in mind regardless.

Edited by eztiger on Wednesday 8th August 10:38

[Terzo123]

How does the E39 M5 compare to the Monaro?

I've always been seriously tempted by the Bmw

[eztiger]

Terzo123 said:

How does the E39 M5 compare to the Monaro?

I've always been seriously tempted by the Bmw

Good question. I'm not sure I'm overly qualified to answer yet given I'm some way from fully knowing the M5 yet. I should also caveat that the M5 has twice the miles my Monaro had and there is no guarantee that my particular M5 is a 'good one'. Although it seems mechanically sound enough.

Power wise it feels the same. I've yet to go through the fuel flow tests etc to see if all the sensors are delivering me the full oompfh but bum on seat - it doesn't feel far off. Not surprising as it has the same horsepower as the monaro.

But it revs higher. I don't get the sense of 'immediate go' the Monaro had. The M5 wants to be rev'd just a little bit more. Gearing is different as well, much higher rpms in 6th at 70 etc.

I don't find it as refined - which surprised me - it wants you to drive it hard and whilst the ride is comfortable I do find road and cabin noise worse. I have a wheel bearing on the way out, haven't replaced the diff + gearbox oil yet and the monstrous rear tyres are cheap ones - all of which may be causing a bit more cabin noise than should be there. The Monaro purred like a kitten in comparison.

Long waffle aside, here's a quick pro's / cons of the m5 over the monaro

+ As quick. Possibly more once you know how to wring it's neck.

+ Waaay more grip. It's not comically under tyred like the Monaro. I have wads more traction in the M5 with it's cheap ditchfinders on the rears than I ever had with the Monaro on it's expensive Dunlop's. This may, though, be a bad thing if you like the Monaros twitchy character.

+ Traction control that actually works and doesn't decide to think about kicking in until you're upside down, backwards in a ditch.

+ All the toys in the cabin and upgrading is trivial thanks to the modular bus nature of the the audio and nav kit.

+ Half the price.

+ Parts are trivial to source. Very strong aftermarket sector, mountains of web pages and you tube videos for DIY.

+ Dealer network will still look after them if you want. They won't think you're talking about a Movano / there aren't only a half dozen approved specialist dealers in the UK to look after them. Loads of BMW specialists about. In summary - dead easy to get them looked after even if you don't live next to a monkfish.

+ Ignoring the Monaro being tail happy - much more assured chassis. Feels very planted but does feel like a heavy car. I'm not as worried diving into corners as I was in the Monaro.

+ Much easier to live with day to day. This will be preference I guess but without the sport button pressed (so slacker throttle response, full power steering assist) the M5 is completely docile around town. Easy to forget what's lurking under the bonnet it's so manageable. Coupled with better all round visibility and it's much easier to handle in tight spaces. Perfect for my OH to just tootle around in and, if I'm honest, me for parking as well.

+ Revs higher so makes a fantastic noise once you get up the range. The Monaro growled this things roars. * stock exhausts on both the cars.

+ Bigger boot

- Feels like an old car. I don't know if this is just the miles on mine, but it just feels less modern than the Monaro. Odd as I think the platforms are actually pretty much the same age? I do have the wood interior trim though which perhaps makes it feel older than it should . Pipe and slippers are in the glovebox.

- I personally get on well with lots of lowdown grunt. Having to rev the M5 higher is something I'll have to get used to. This doesn't mean the M5 is slow down the rev range but it's different.

- As above doesn't feel generally as refined as the Monaro. This is the biggest surprise; I thought there would be far less drama with the M5.

- Doesn't look as good

- Potentially much more expensive to run. Far more complex than the Monaro.

- Not as rare or as special as the Monaro. Far more people know what an M5 is so you may get more reaction but the Monaro tended to catch proper enthusiasts who were very excited at seeing one.

- I thought the Monaro had problems with rust...nothing on this.

Not sure if that helps. I didn't get on with the Monaro because it was billed to me as 'costs 10p to run, parts are dead easy'. I actually found I forked out a reasonable chunk keeping it on the road and had to scrabble for some parts myself. That's probably reflected in the above positives for the M5 - the fact I can just throw this at one of the many BMW indies and / or have dozens of next day delivery uk parts outlets to pick from is a big bonus to someone like me who will never spanner it themselves. It was never a huge problem with the Monaro but my expectations were set from the off and it fell short which never quite sat right.

I'd be careful if you're thinking of swapping, they're much more different than I anticipated. I couldn't say one is better than the other as I think other than having 400bhp V8's they're quite different cars.

The M5 is a great car though and it's overall ease of ownership and driving (if not the cost!) means I'll get on very well with it.

The Monaro was a great car too though, just in different ways. Definitely drive the e39 if you find yourself thinking about changing.

[eztiger]

Blimey that was long. Sorry.

[Kieranrob]

Good sum up on the Monaro and E39 M5. One thing about the Monaro is it's very fussy on tyres!! Am running the expensive Dunlop's and although there great on Jags and Beemers there crap on the Monaro!! I also find my car can be very twichy at the back end! I had Eagle F1's before and they were much better!

[Terzo123]

Thanks for the detailed reply.

I sold my Monaro back in March, but prior to buying it i nearly pulled the trigger in an E39 M5. The only thing that stopped me was the horror tales about things going wrong.

In the end i was lucky that i had a warranty with the Monaro, otherwise i would have shelled out thouands. It's funny how you mentioned about sourcing parts. Only today i received a cheque from my local vauxhall dealer, because i had to source parts for the car that they couldn't. This was Oct/Nov last year and thats me only now getting the cash back months after having sold the car. And you joked about Movano, one of the times i took the car in to get new suspension parts, that's what they had lined up as replacments parts.

I'm currenlty running about in a Polo which cost me £400. I'm hoping that early next year i can upgrade a bit. Maybe not as much as what i paid for the Monaro, but enough to get me into an E39 M5 or an E36 M3.

We shall see. One way or another i'll get something that will allow me back into the Ph runs ;-)

[Terzo123]

Kieranrob said:

Good sum up on the Monaro and E39 M5. One thing about the Monaro is it's very fussy on tyres!! Am running the expensive Dunlop's and although there great on Jags and Beemers there crap on the Monaro!! I also find my car can be very twichy at the back end! I had Eagle F1's before and they were much better!

I found the Dunlop sport max's to be really good on my Monaro. When i bought it, it had P Zero's fitted. Initially i just thought it was the power of the car, but i could spin the rears so easliy in first and second. After fitting the Dunlops, i really had to act like a fanny to get the back end lit up. Maybe it didn;t help that the P Zero's were down to the limit, but there was some difference in grip levels when i changed to the Dunlops.

[Kieranrob]

Terzo123 said:

Kieranrob said:

Good sum up on the Monaro and E39 M5. One thing about the Monaro is it's very fussy on tyres!! Am running the expensive Dunlop's and although there great on Jags and Beemers there crap on the Monaro!! I also find my car can be very twichy at the back end! I had Eagle F1's before and they were much better!

I found the Dunlop sport max's to be really good on my Monaro. When i bought it, it had P Zero's fitted. Initially i just thought it was the power of the car, but i could spin the rears so easliy in first and second. After fitting the Dunlops, i really had to act like a fanny to get the back end lit up. Maybe it didn;t help that the P Zero's were down to the limit, but there was some difference in grip levels when i changed to the Dunlops.

I can see what your saying and I was maybe a bit harsh with my words about the Dunlops, there a good tyre but I have had them slipping on me a couple of times when I was least expecting it and I was not driving hard and the conditions were not to bad? Am sure Evo Magazine said the Bridgestones were a better tyre than the Dunlops on these cars? They have done good job up till now and are better than some of the other big brands but I will be thinking about something else when I come to renew them.

Would be good to see you back on a PH run Terso

[eztiger]

Terzo123 said:

I sold my Monaro back in March, but prior to buying it i nearly pulled the trigger in an E39 M5. The only thing that stopped me was the horror tales about things going wrong.

The market for e39's is quite interesting and you can more or less pick and choose how much you want to spend. I'm of the (perhaps horribly incorrect) opinion that you're no less likely to be bitten by an example at the bottom end of the market than one that is commanding top money.

So there is an argument for spending little on the car and either basking in the money you've saved, or using the money saved to do any remedial work and so knowing it's been done and you no longer have to worry about it.

Certainly there seem to be a lot of people on here and other places that pick them up for beans and get many years of enjoyment from them relatively trouble free.

Terzo123 said:

In the end i was lucky that i had a warranty with the Monaro, otherwise i would have shelled out thouands. It's funny how you mentioned about sourcing parts. Only today i received a cheque from my local vauxhall dealer, because i had to source parts for the car that they couldn't. This was Oct/Nov last year and thats me only now getting the cash back months after having sold the car. And you joked about Movano, one of the times i took the car in to get new suspension parts, that's what they had lined up as replacments parts.

One conversation I had, with a vxr approved dealer, went something along the lines of :

'Hi, I have a monaro and..'
'You mean Movano?'
'No..a Monaro'
'I'm sorry, we don't make anything with that name'

I eventually managed to convince them they did.

Parts wise - similar story. The local indie I use for general spannering insisted they'd just get the parts for it through their own vauxhall supply chain. I got a sheepish phone call a couple of hours later saying they couldn't find anything for the car - I'd have to sort it out myself or give them contact details of someone who could.

Thank our blessings for Monkfish though even they have limits.

Terzo123 said:

I'm currenlty running about in a Polo which cost me £400. I'm hoping that early next year i can upgrade a bit. Maybe not as much as what i paid for the Monaro, but enough to get me into an E39 M5 or an E36 M3.

As above, look into what the markets doing. You could take a gamble and come out on top. Whatever else happens at least you can go in eyes wide open.

If you're ever over this side of the country and want a nosey just give me a shout.

[eztiger]

I found the dunlops generally ok in the dry unless you were really making an effort to have them let go.

But any hint of dampness or a slight drop in temperature and they quickly made their way to the opposite end of the grip scale.

First time I've been truly appreciative of tyre dynamics on a car. Knowing that, come autumn, when leaving my house I would have to gingerly negotiate the two roundabouts leading out of my estate because the tyres wouldn't be warm enough to have decent grip was an eye opener.

Coming back to the house with warm tyres - no problem at all. But the outward leg was to be treated with caution.