New to the M5 fold
Discussion
Hi All
I've just recently bought my first M car, an absolutely mint 2001 e39. It has 80k on the clock and is an AUC.
Absolutely love the car, the looks the build. I have had a very nice selection of cars over the years but the M was something I had never itched myself with. Collected the car on Tuesday for a business trip to Newcastle so had a lovely time getting used to the car.
Having owned bigger more powerful cars in the psat the one thing that truely surprised me was just how quickly this thing builds revs and thus speed. Unlike the others, this clearly was built to specification and the gearing is spot on, surprising how it likes to build its speed even in 6th when the others used 6th purely for a crawler gear.
Considering the cars age I am shocked at how well it still fits together. Having driven supposed luxury marques that were much newer than this car I can only say the BMW's of old can teach a few tricks, in fact, I feel BMW of new should look back at some past attempts.
Beyond the lovely engine and the noise, which I will be keeping as my days of shock/awe exausts are behind me, I am blown away by the comfort of the setup. Just how have they managed to get the balance between comfort, road noise and performance response just so good? No crashy ride, compliant, comfortable but with such a lovely progressive rating I cannot get my head around it.
I have always preferred the older beemers to new but to avoid the common silly arguments I think the modern cars are technical masterpieces but I am a fan of the driver being more than the electronics the new styling and feel leaves me cold but that is just a personal viewpoint and not to state new is bad old is good.
My BMW ownership started many years ago with a £500 e28 520 that was immaculate, I kick myself to this day for selling the car on to buy something more frugal... a Zantia 1.9 diesel thant was actually less economical to run, was an utter dog of a car and killed my inner child.
Am I gutted I've missed out on that E61 that would make a great family car with two dogs? No, not really, not at all no way... I'll stick to my guns on preferring the older car but that e61 is going to make someone VERY happy (it isn't mine!).
So, working from home today and visiting the homeland I think I have my camera with me so why not go out for a spin and update with some photos later?
I've just recently bought my first M car, an absolutely mint 2001 e39. It has 80k on the clock and is an AUC.
Absolutely love the car, the looks the build. I have had a very nice selection of cars over the years but the M was something I had never itched myself with. Collected the car on Tuesday for a business trip to Newcastle so had a lovely time getting used to the car.
Having owned bigger more powerful cars in the psat the one thing that truely surprised me was just how quickly this thing builds revs and thus speed. Unlike the others, this clearly was built to specification and the gearing is spot on, surprising how it likes to build its speed even in 6th when the others used 6th purely for a crawler gear.
Considering the cars age I am shocked at how well it still fits together. Having driven supposed luxury marques that were much newer than this car I can only say the BMW's of old can teach a few tricks, in fact, I feel BMW of new should look back at some past attempts.
Beyond the lovely engine and the noise, which I will be keeping as my days of shock/awe exausts are behind me, I am blown away by the comfort of the setup. Just how have they managed to get the balance between comfort, road noise and performance response just so good? No crashy ride, compliant, comfortable but with such a lovely progressive rating I cannot get my head around it.
I have always preferred the older beemers to new but to avoid the common silly arguments I think the modern cars are technical masterpieces but I am a fan of the driver being more than the electronics the new styling and feel leaves me cold but that is just a personal viewpoint and not to state new is bad old is good.
My BMW ownership started many years ago with a £500 e28 520 that was immaculate, I kick myself to this day for selling the car on to buy something more frugal... a Zantia 1.9 diesel thant was actually less economical to run, was an utter dog of a car and killed my inner child.
Am I gutted I've missed out on that E61 that would make a great family car with two dogs? No, not really, not at all no way... I'll stick to my guns on preferring the older car but that e61 is going to make someone VERY happy (it isn't mine!).
So, working from home today and visiting the homeland I think I have my camera with me so why not go out for a spin and update with some photos later?
Oh, just to add.
Last night on the way down the A1(m) had a fantastic drive with a silver e36 M3. Something felt very good about keeping a respectable (safe and legal +/- 10%) speed with a fellow M car. Then to top things off having some lads pull along side waving with thumbs up. Love the Q car quality for the fact that those that know what it is, seem to respect what it is
Last night on the way down the A1(m) had a fantastic drive with a silver e36 M3. Something felt very good about keeping a respectable (safe and legal +/- 10%) speed with a fellow M car. Then to top things off having some lads pull along side waving with thumbs up. Love the Q car quality for the fact that those that know what it is, seem to respect what it is
Matt nice colour combination!
I have the black leather which makes a refreshing change after cream. Had cream for years as I like how light it makes the car feel but now is nice to have a bit of darkness! It has the wooden trim which looks aweful in photos and whilst I am not 100% happy with it, in reality its actually not at all that bad just out of character.
I have the black leather which makes a refreshing change after cream. Had cream for years as I like how light it makes the car feel but now is nice to have a bit of darkness! It has the wooden trim which looks aweful in photos and whilst I am not 100% happy with it, in reality its actually not at all that bad just out of character.
Funny old M world...
I was going to buy that very car. Le mans blue, 80500 miles, blk heritage leather, about £4k spent on prep work etc.
No! it's not a lemon infact quite the opposite! I couldn't stop looking at the detailed pictures the sales exec sent to me. It's a really nice example. Main reason why I didn't go for it was the lack of isofix anchors (for my convenience it's a must) and the sales guy was taking too long to get back to me. If this wasn't the case I would have bought it in a heart beat!
I ended up buying an e60 m5, rightly so as the day I bought it home- the very next day it went back to BMW for about £4k worth of work! Hopefully it'll be back with me today.
Enjoy your M5 chap, it's the definition of motoring perfection
I was going to buy that very car. Le mans blue, 80500 miles, blk heritage leather, about £4k spent on prep work etc.
No! it's not a lemon infact quite the opposite! I couldn't stop looking at the detailed pictures the sales exec sent to me. It's a really nice example. Main reason why I didn't go for it was the lack of isofix anchors (for my convenience it's a must) and the sales guy was taking too long to get back to me. If this wasn't the case I would have bought it in a heart beat!
I ended up buying an e60 m5, rightly so as the day I bought it home- the very next day it went back to BMW for about £4k worth of work! Hopefully it'll be back with me today.
Enjoy your M5 chap, it's the definition of motoring perfection
It is a stunning stunning example! I turned up for the prebooked test drive but alas my sales guy was running late and could not do the viewing that day. So I was slightly miffed but thats customers for you so I carried on and sat in for a look.
Then the locks on the doors went crazy and 2 lads jumped in, turns out the had just turned up to look at the car with a view to getting it. I was polite and left them with their sales guy but obviously a bit more miffed now, skulked around the showroom then heard they were about to take it for a test drive. At this point I politely walked up to the salesguy and said that I had prebooked a drive and my salesguy was unable to attend due to an overrun. To his and the lad looking to buy the cars credit they both agreed it was only fair as I had booked I should get the drive, 3 days later I had the car!
Like you I want ISOFIX but as we have two seats for both cars we kind of accept the inconvenience when we need to take them out.
First two niggles:
1.) Oil, its empty or rather on the lower of the marks. Can I find any locally? No and I am 300 miles from the dealers to ask them to politely put some in
2.) Washer jets do not work, there is fluid in both tanks but it dribbles out of the jets. Suspect hose lose or something, I can live with that until I get back.
In their defence I picked the car up at v short notice
Then the locks on the doors went crazy and 2 lads jumped in, turns out the had just turned up to look at the car with a view to getting it. I was polite and left them with their sales guy but obviously a bit more miffed now, skulked around the showroom then heard they were about to take it for a test drive. At this point I politely walked up to the salesguy and said that I had prebooked a drive and my salesguy was unable to attend due to an overrun. To his and the lad looking to buy the cars credit they both agreed it was only fair as I had booked I should get the drive, 3 days later I had the car!
Like you I want ISOFIX but as we have two seats for both cars we kind of accept the inconvenience when we need to take them out.
First two niggles:
1.) Oil, its empty or rather on the lower of the marks. Can I find any locally? No and I am 300 miles from the dealers to ask them to politely put some in
2.) Washer jets do not work, there is fluid in both tanks but it dribbles out of the jets. Suspect hose lose or something, I can live with that until I get back.
In their defence I picked the car up at v short notice
Congratulations! The e39 M5 is a brilliantly rounded and sorted car, the car best car I've owned. I've had my Estoril for about 16 months now, only needing consumables, a thermostat and a full inpsection 1 in that time. I have had the rear exhaust silencers removed, best mod you can do and I'd highly recommend it. 76K on the clock and feels good for another 100k. Enjoy 
nickrex said:
Congratulations! The e39 M5 is a brilliantly rounded and sorted car, the car best car I've owned. I've had my Estoril for about 16 months now, only needing consumables, a thermostat and a full inpsection 1 in that time. I have had the rear exhaust silencers removed, best mod you can do and I'd highly recommend it. 76K on the clock and feels good for another 100k. Enjoy
Hi Nickglad you are liking your car still! I am not sure about making it louder, I used to run big open v8s and love the sound of any car but now I am a sensible parent I actually like the muffled sound as you hear more of the system inside if that makes sense.
Of course, watch this space as I'll no doubt desilence but probably with a few electronic cut outs so I can select various levels of asboness!
Like you say the cars definitely feel very capable of much more miles and I hope ours do it.
I wouldn't be happy about buying a AUC with low oil! You need Castrol Edge 10w60 although that is open to debate! Plenty of talk about it an various forums.
Have a look at the join in the washer tubes under the bonnet, mine came loose resulting in no washer jets.
Have a look at the join in the washer tubes under the bonnet, mine came loose resulting in no washer jets.
Hair Flick said:
It is a stunning stunning example! I turned up for the prebooked test drive but alas my sales guy was running late and could not do the viewing that day. So I was slightly miffed but thats customers for you so I carried on and sat in for a look.
Then the locks on the doors went crazy and 2 lads jumped in, turns out the had just turned up to look at the car with a view to getting it. I was polite and left them with their sales guy but obviously a bit more miffed now, skulked around the showroom then heard they were about to take it for a test drive. At this point I politely walked up to the salesguy and said that I had prebooked a drive and my salesguy was unable to attend due to an overrun. To his and the lad looking to buy the cars credit they both agreed it was only fair as I had booked I should get the drive, 3 days later I had the car!
Like you I want ISOFIX but as we have two seats for both cars we kind of accept the inconvenience when we need to take them out.
First two niggles:
1.) Oil, its empty or rather on the lower of the marks. Can I find any locally? No and I am 300 miles from the dealers to ask them to politely put some in
2.) Washer jets do not work, there is fluid in both tanks but it dribbles out of the jets. Suspect hose lose or something, I can live with that until I get back.
In their defence I picked the car up at v short notice
Then the locks on the doors went crazy and 2 lads jumped in, turns out the had just turned up to look at the car with a view to getting it. I was polite and left them with their sales guy but obviously a bit more miffed now, skulked around the showroom then heard they were about to take it for a test drive. At this point I politely walked up to the salesguy and said that I had prebooked a drive and my salesguy was unable to attend due to an overrun. To his and the lad looking to buy the cars credit they both agreed it was only fair as I had booked I should get the drive, 3 days later I had the car!
Like you I want ISOFIX but as we have two seats for both cars we kind of accept the inconvenience when we need to take them out.
First two niggles:
1.) Oil, its empty or rather on the lower of the marks. Can I find any locally? No and I am 300 miles from the dealers to ask them to politely put some in
2.) Washer jets do not work, there is fluid in both tanks but it dribbles out of the jets. Suspect hose lose or something, I can live with that until I get back.
In their defence I picked the car up at v short notice
I wouldn't be happy about buying a AUC with low oil! You need Castrol Edge 10w60 although that is open to debate! Plenty of talk about it an various forums.
Have a look at the join in the washer tubes under the bonnet, mine came loose resulting in no washer jets.
Have a look at the join in the washer tubes under the bonnet, mine came loose resulting in no washer jets.
Hair Flick said:
It is a stunning stunning example! I turned up for the prebooked test drive but alas my sales guy was running late and could not do the viewing that day. So I was slightly miffed but thats customers for you so I carried on and sat in for a look.
Then the locks on the doors went crazy and 2 lads jumped in, turns out the had just turned up to look at the car with a view to getting it. I was polite and left them with their sales guy but obviously a bit more miffed now, skulked around the showroom then heard they were about to take it for a test drive. At this point I politely walked up to the salesguy and said that I had prebooked a drive and my salesguy was unable to attend due to an overrun. To his and the lad looking to buy the cars credit they both agreed it was only fair as I had booked I should get the drive, 3 days later I had the car!
Like you I want ISOFIX but as we have two seats for both cars we kind of accept the inconvenience when we need to take them out.
First two niggles:
1.) Oil, its empty or rather on the lower of the marks. Can I find any locally? No and I am 300 miles from the dealers to ask them to politely put some in
2.) Washer jets do not work, there is fluid in both tanks but it dribbles out of the jets. Suspect hose lose or something, I can live with that until I get back.
In their defence I picked the car up at v short notice
Then the locks on the doors went crazy and 2 lads jumped in, turns out the had just turned up to look at the car with a view to getting it. I was polite and left them with their sales guy but obviously a bit more miffed now, skulked around the showroom then heard they were about to take it for a test drive. At this point I politely walked up to the salesguy and said that I had prebooked a drive and my salesguy was unable to attend due to an overrun. To his and the lad looking to buy the cars credit they both agreed it was only fair as I had booked I should get the drive, 3 days later I had the car!
Like you I want ISOFIX but as we have two seats for both cars we kind of accept the inconvenience when we need to take them out.
First two niggles:
1.) Oil, its empty or rather on the lower of the marks. Can I find any locally? No and I am 300 miles from the dealers to ask them to politely put some in
2.) Washer jets do not work, there is fluid in both tanks but it dribbles out of the jets. Suspect hose lose or something, I can live with that until I get back.
In their defence I picked the car up at v short notice
Great choice..
I was looking at that car and it certainly looks fantastic.
I've been through the same decision process as you have by the sound of things. I had a 99 M5 a couple of years ago then was forced to sell when we went away for work. I knew i had to have another.
They really are the perfect all rounder. Glorious engine with perfect performance/ride/handling balance for uk roads. A real analogue driving experience too.
I've put down a deposit on a 03 carbon black beast with only 62k on. Should be picking up tomorrow. AUC car so 1 yr BMW warranty, new discs pads allround, good tyres and a recent clutch, and not a hint of rust!
I was considering an e60 but just feel its not quite right for me, mainly because of the gearbox.
Enjoy !
I was looking at that car and it certainly looks fantastic.
I've been through the same decision process as you have by the sound of things. I had a 99 M5 a couple of years ago then was forced to sell when we went away for work. I knew i had to have another.
They really are the perfect all rounder. Glorious engine with perfect performance/ride/handling balance for uk roads. A real analogue driving experience too.
I've put down a deposit on a 03 carbon black beast with only 62k on. Should be picking up tomorrow. AUC car so 1 yr BMW warranty, new discs pads allround, good tyres and a recent clutch, and not a hint of rust!
I was considering an e60 but just feel its not quite right for me, mainly because of the gearbox.
Enjoy !
Cheers Hair. I know what you mean, I took a while to do it but I don't regret it for a minute. It's still very refined but amazing under load.
I need to grow up I think................
I need to grow up I think................
Hair Flick said:
Hi Nick
glad you are liking your car still! I am not sure about making it louder, I used to run big open v8s and love the sound of any car but now I am a sensible parent I actually like the muffled sound as you hear more of the system inside if that makes sense.
Of course, watch this space as I'll no doubt desilence but probably with a few electronic cut outs so I can select various levels of asboness!
Like you say the cars definitely feel very capable of much more miles and I hope ours do it.
glad you are liking your car still! I am not sure about making it louder, I used to run big open v8s and love the sound of any car but now I am a sensible parent I actually like the muffled sound as you hear more of the system inside if that makes sense.
Of course, watch this space as I'll no doubt desilence but probably with a few electronic cut outs so I can select various levels of asboness!
Like you say the cars definitely feel very capable of much more miles and I hope ours do it.
Nice!
steve_r said:
Great choice..
I was looking at that car and it certainly looks fantastic.
I've been through the same decision process as you have by the sound of things. I had a 99 M5 a couple of years ago then was forced to sell when we went away for work. I knew i had to have another.
They really are the perfect all rounder. Glorious engine with perfect performance/ride/handling balance for uk roads. A real analogue driving experience too.
I've put down a deposit on a 03 carbon black beast with only 62k on. Should be picking up tomorrow. AUC car so 1 yr BMW warranty, new discs pads allround, good tyres and a recent clutch, and not a hint of rust!
I was considering an e60 but just feel its not quite right for me, mainly because of the gearbox.
Enjoy !
I was looking at that car and it certainly looks fantastic.
I've been through the same decision process as you have by the sound of things. I had a 99 M5 a couple of years ago then was forced to sell when we went away for work. I knew i had to have another.
They really are the perfect all rounder. Glorious engine with perfect performance/ride/handling balance for uk roads. A real analogue driving experience too.
I've put down a deposit on a 03 carbon black beast with only 62k on. Should be picking up tomorrow. AUC car so 1 yr BMW warranty, new discs pads allround, good tyres and a recent clutch, and not a hint of rust!
I was considering an e60 but just feel its not quite right for me, mainly because of the gearbox.
Enjoy !
The washers can be weak of the filter is clogged so might also be worth checking that, regular oil checks is a part of ownership although my facelift uses very little (~2litres in 5k). Enjoy it, I'm sure someone will be along shortly to tell you to check the jack points, not sure how rust claims work on an auc car? Great cars for the money...like you I'm on the fence about the back box delete, seems sensible to be discrete if the wife uses the car too.
Gassing Station | M Power | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff