My 1999 E39 M5
Discussion
Hello all Long time stalker, first time poster. Just wanted to share my pride and joy and see what everyone thinks.
I've had the car for 2 years, and they have been absolutely fantastic. Prior to this I had a Mazda 6 MPS and it was an abortion of a car, soul less, dull to drive, fantastically unreliable and a real let down. I decided that if that was going then I would get "The Dream Car", an E39 M5. After a little homework and shopping around I finally found the car. She was bizarrely advertised at a dealer a stone's throw from me, so i decided to go and have a look.
The car was in budget and certainly had a lot going for it. When I went to look at her she only had 65K miles on her, and was an ex Munich Legends car, both of these facts for me were quite strong selling points. I won't say that I had put this car on a pedestal, but when the dealer asked if I wanted a test drive I did have to pinch myself and of course i said "YES". I'm used to reasonably swift cars (in the circa 200bhp+ club), but when I drove it I was amazed, the only word that does it justice in my vocabulary was brutal. The test drive was over far too quickly, and needless to say the finances soon got hashed out and the signature was on the dotted line.
So she is a 1999 E39 M5 in Silverstone Blue. I'm one of these people that has the rather tragic trait of naming my cars, so meet Christine (yes as in the Stephen King book)
So here she was as I found her on test drive day. Good, but there was plenty I wanted to change
Then just as i got her home
What is not especially clear in any of the photos (deliberately) was that the car was fitted with a hateful AC Schnitzer rear spoiler, that had been butchered onto the car. Every time the boot was closed there would be this horrible shuddering sound as the spoiler wobbled and tried to shake itself off the car. It was high on the list of things to be remedied!
She was soon off to Tom at Lemass in Chalfont St. Peter to get the front bumper and rear spoiler removed, this is how she came back
The wheels were in okish nick, they needed a refurb, but were not top of the list.
I was also not keen on the grandad spec interior so soon set about putting that right
Before
After
Being somewhat a fan of the V8 I was rather keen to hear the roar a little more, so did the popular rear muffler delete. Needless to say it does live up to the hype, the noise is fantastic, and it regularly get comments on how good it sounds.
(apologies for the phone quality photo)
There were certain parts of the facelift (2000 ----->) model that I wanted, and as the car had come with "angel eyes" when I got her I decided that I would invest in the genuine HELLA rear Celis LED lights. A before and after just so you can see the change
Before
After
As i'm writing this i've just discovered that i've not taken any proper pictures of the wheels post refurb, only got a crappy phone one. Here it is anyway
The main incentive was that I wanted her to be my wedding car, so i had to get the bulk of the cosmetic work done for May this year, needless to say, I managed to get the work done, balanced delicately with the wedding budget! Still not entirely sure how I pulled that one off.
But here is how she stands after 2 years and 8000 miles......
Hope you all like, I love her and am already trying to come up with what needs doing next (the car, not the missus!)
I've had the car for 2 years, and they have been absolutely fantastic. Prior to this I had a Mazda 6 MPS and it was an abortion of a car, soul less, dull to drive, fantastically unreliable and a real let down. I decided that if that was going then I would get "The Dream Car", an E39 M5. After a little homework and shopping around I finally found the car. She was bizarrely advertised at a dealer a stone's throw from me, so i decided to go and have a look.
The car was in budget and certainly had a lot going for it. When I went to look at her she only had 65K miles on her, and was an ex Munich Legends car, both of these facts for me were quite strong selling points. I won't say that I had put this car on a pedestal, but when the dealer asked if I wanted a test drive I did have to pinch myself and of course i said "YES". I'm used to reasonably swift cars (in the circa 200bhp+ club), but when I drove it I was amazed, the only word that does it justice in my vocabulary was brutal. The test drive was over far too quickly, and needless to say the finances soon got hashed out and the signature was on the dotted line.
So she is a 1999 E39 M5 in Silverstone Blue. I'm one of these people that has the rather tragic trait of naming my cars, so meet Christine (yes as in the Stephen King book)
So here she was as I found her on test drive day. Good, but there was plenty I wanted to change
Then just as i got her home
What is not especially clear in any of the photos (deliberately) was that the car was fitted with a hateful AC Schnitzer rear spoiler, that had been butchered onto the car. Every time the boot was closed there would be this horrible shuddering sound as the spoiler wobbled and tried to shake itself off the car. It was high on the list of things to be remedied!
She was soon off to Tom at Lemass in Chalfont St. Peter to get the front bumper and rear spoiler removed, this is how she came back
The wheels were in okish nick, they needed a refurb, but were not top of the list.
I was also not keen on the grandad spec interior so soon set about putting that right
Before
After
Being somewhat a fan of the V8 I was rather keen to hear the roar a little more, so did the popular rear muffler delete. Needless to say it does live up to the hype, the noise is fantastic, and it regularly get comments on how good it sounds.
(apologies for the phone quality photo)
There were certain parts of the facelift (2000 ----->) model that I wanted, and as the car had come with "angel eyes" when I got her I decided that I would invest in the genuine HELLA rear Celis LED lights. A before and after just so you can see the change
Before
After
As i'm writing this i've just discovered that i've not taken any proper pictures of the wheels post refurb, only got a crappy phone one. Here it is anyway
The main incentive was that I wanted her to be my wedding car, so i had to get the bulk of the cosmetic work done for May this year, needless to say, I managed to get the work done, balanced delicately with the wedding budget! Still not entirely sure how I pulled that one off.
But here is how she stands after 2 years and 8000 miles......
Hope you all like, I love her and am already trying to come up with what needs doing next (the car, not the missus!)
Edited by Franky84 on Thursday 18th July 16:03
Getting rid of the spoiler and the chav England flag plates was a massive improvement to the exterior. What a shame about the interior though, the silver makes it look like a bland Bangle-era sales rep car, whereas before it had a real aura of 90s German class (or klasse, perhaps) about it.
Thanks for the comments chaps. No intentions to get rid any time soon.
A quick Vid of the noise
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66xoapdCg-E
Re. the interior, each to their own i guess, for me it was too dark in the cabin with all the wood, moved along to another owner, so i'm sure its making another E39 look "klasse"
A quick Vid of the noise
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66xoapdCg-E
Re. the interior, each to their own i guess, for me it was too dark in the cabin with all the wood, moved along to another owner, so i'm sure its making another E39 look "klasse"
Edited by Franky84 on Thursday 18th July 17:35
tbc said:
amazing how of an improvement much de- chaving the outside
the spoiler was a bit naff and the England flag numberplate gave the impression of a football yob or EDL supporter
the transformation of the interior is amazing
M5 is on my dream list. I had the rare manual E39 Sport. Loved it, and many times, those not in the know asked me if it was an M5. the spoiler was a bit naff and the England flag numberplate gave the impression of a football yob or EDL supporter
the transformation of the interior is amazing
mine had that interior trim. I liked it. Can you get carbon trim for the E39? i had that in my E46 325ti Sport and it was very tasty.It's a real shame some people feel this way about our national flag! I had an Audi TT that had been owned by an RAF pilot and had St. George's flags on the numberplates. I did wonder at first what people would think, but kept them on as in the end, driving an Audi TT small minded people are always going to make assumptions about the driver anyway! I really don't care. I don't cut hair for a living. Or bum men.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff