Tracking an E39 M5

[SignalGruen]

Yay or nay ? Got a trackday at Donington this weekend. Going to be taking my E30 325i Touring (which is basically a rusty old banger but has had some recent suspension mods) but if it's going to be tipping it down I'm tempted to take the M5 since Donington is a bit of a trek for me. The car is absolutely bog standard - good or bad idea ?

[NickXX]

Will be fine - I did Donington in my e46 M3 as my 318iS was being used by my brother at the time.

The brakes will need a bit of nursing, but otherwise, it will be a hoot.

[ortontom]

dont do it, the bills for the e39 brakes are horrid......M5 is too heavy for track work..... i managed 1/4 lap of the ring in mine before i bailed due to fading brakes..

[belleair302]

The 'ring is far from heavy on brakes....so long as you do a warm up lap or two at Donington and a warm down lap after a couple of quickies you will be fine. Just don't park and leave the hand brake on!!!! The E39 is excellent on track if you respect the weight and laws of physics.

[naefeart]

Not enough information tbh. What condition is your car currenty in, when was it serviced and how much life is left in your brakes?

You might want to renew your brake fluid if it's a couple of years old before hitting the track.

[ortontom]

still on a fast road the brakes fade, wouldnt do it in an m5

[SignalGruen]

Thanks for the input. Car is in decent order, was serviced around 4k miles ago. I'm 90% certain that I'll be taking the E30 jalopy - I'd only consider taking the M5 if it's going to be wet all day which would presumably be slightly easier on the brakes ?

Cheers.

[Beardy10]

I went on a BMW M/// track day organised by BMW back in 2004 I think.....it was basically E46 M3's with a few E39 M5's.....have to say the M5's really struggled.....the extra weight they had was very,very obvious in the corners. They were much slower than the M3's....I wouldn't if you are used to something lighter....

[Pugsey]

ortontom said:

i managed 1/4 lap of the ring in mine before i bailed due to fading brakes..

??? I'm amazed - even given M5s weight and BMWs (across the board) historically bad brakes as 'Ring really isn't that tough on brakes. Certainly not as bad as a few laps of most UK 'short' circuits. Did you have a major 'fright' at every corner lol.

Edited to add:-

PS. Not meaning to insult you or your driving!

[Cheburator mk2]

Pugsey said:

??? I'm amazed - even given M5s weight and BMWs (across the board) historically bad brakes as 'Ring really isn't that tough on brakes. Certainly not as bad as a few laps of most UK 'short' circuits. Did you have a major 'fright' at every corner lol.

Edited to add:-

PS. Not meaning to insult you or your driving!

ditto

Even the E39 M5 Ring Taxi used to go at a pace most people struggled to match... On BMW brakes!

[M3333]

I had this very dilemma on Monday. Booked a track day months ago for my old E36 M3. Last wednesday made a totally random purchase of a much nicer e46 m3 vert using the e36 as a part exchange.

Ended up using the e46 on track and it was fantastic. Take the M5, BMW invested millions in R&D building and perfecting that car and that is what its built for. The harder i drove my e46 on Monday the better is became.

Do it!

[e46m3c]

Yeah do it! These cars are designed for a good thrashing on track. Just dont expect to do aa 24 hr race.

[M3333]

e46m3c said:

Yeah do it! These cars are designed for a good thrashing on track. Just dont expect to do aa 24 hr race.

Yep exactly, the odd track day wont hurt. I did about 150 miles in mine on Monday, nothing really, the engine actually feels a lot better for it, the last owner had just moved the car in and out of his workshop with the odd weekend blast in between, think i cleaned it out!

[julian64]

Cheburator mk2 said:

Pugsey said:

??? I'm amazed - even given M5s weight and BMWs (across the board) historically bad brakes as 'Ring really isn't that tough on brakes. Certainly not as bad as a few laps of most UK 'short' circuits. Did you have a major 'fright' at every corner lol.

Edited to add:-

PS. Not meaning to insult you or your driving!

ditto

Even the E39 M5 Ring Taxi used to go at a pace most people struggled to match... On BMW brakes!

Yep I have an E39 M and have yet to find this much talked about brake fade even after spirited driving to the south of france and back, let alone a track day.

I would suggest its another of the much posted about stereotypes

[Timbo2]

Ive done a few track days in mine some std some not, when std yes i got brake fade but only if i didnt "manage" the brakes, i found it was the suspension which struggled the most!!

Now i have race pads, braided hoses and 5.1 fluid and i can hammer my brakes as i did at Anglesey last weekend and i dont get any fade ever, all my passengers couldnt believe how good my brakes we're.

Ive also sorted the suspension and the limiting factor i find now is the tyres!!!

[M5 Russ]

The first thing I did when I purchased my M5 was replaced the discs and pads and fluid as well as fitting good ridge hoses and it made a huge difference.
Of course upgrading to a bbk like AP which I did, means your never have to worry about it again no matter how many laps of the ring you do.
Throw in a decent coilover set up like Bilstein PS9 with updated anti roll bars and you will be scaring the life out of M3 drivers

[yankcrime]

julian64 said:

Yep I have an E39 M and have yet to find this much talked about brake fade even after spirited driving to the south of france and back, let alone a track day.

I would suggest its another of the much posted about stereotypes

Oh it exists alright. Mine was fine going up the Stelvio Pass for example, but not so much coming back down...

[Yiliterate]

You might also want to have a think about the wear on the tyres...