BMW E39 M5 - buying guide?
Discussion
Have a look at M5Board, there is lots of information on there.
My advice would be to buy the car with the best body you can find, a lot are looking really tatty now. Rear boot area, cills and jacking points need to be checked carefully for rust.
Unless it has been done recently the suspension will need overhauling, at least springs, dampers and the major bushes.
As far as the mechanicals go get someone like Phil Crouch at CPC to have a good look at any prospective purchase.
I ran mine for nearly 5 years and it was a fabulous thing, never let me down once in all that time. There are and will be various sensors that fail but none that are the end of the world. VANOS can be an issue but Phil and a few others can repair them nowadays so it isn't as scary as it use to be.
Remember they are around 15 years old and go in eyes wide open and you should be fine.
Good luck
Ian
My advice would be to buy the car with the best body you can find, a lot are looking really tatty now. Rear boot area, cills and jacking points need to be checked carefully for rust.
Unless it has been done recently the suspension will need overhauling, at least springs, dampers and the major bushes.
As far as the mechanicals go get someone like Phil Crouch at CPC to have a good look at any prospective purchase.
I ran mine for nearly 5 years and it was a fabulous thing, never let me down once in all that time. There are and will be various sensors that fail but none that are the end of the world. VANOS can be an issue but Phil and a few others can repair them nowadays so it isn't as scary as it use to be.
Remember they are around 15 years old and go in eyes wide open and you should be fine.
Good luck
Ian
SuffolkIan said:
Have a look at M5Board, there is lots of information on there.
My advice would be to buy the car with the best body you can find, a lot are looking really tatty now. Rear boot area, cills and jacking points need to be checked carefully for rust.
Unless it has been done recently the suspension will need overhauling, at least springs, dampers and the major bushes.
As far as the mechanicals go get someone like Phil Crouch at CPC to have a good look at any prospective purchase.
I ran mine for nearly 5 years and it was a fabulous thing, never let me down once in all that time. There are and will be various sensors that fail but none that are the end of the world. VANOS can be an issue but Phil and a few others can repair them nowadays so it isn't as scary as it use to be.
Remember they are around 15 years old and go in eyes wide open and you should be fine.
Good luck
Ian
have you looked here as well OP?My advice would be to buy the car with the best body you can find, a lot are looking really tatty now. Rear boot area, cills and jacking points need to be checked carefully for rust.
Unless it has been done recently the suspension will need overhauling, at least springs, dampers and the major bushes.
As far as the mechanicals go get someone like Phil Crouch at CPC to have a good look at any prospective purchase.
I ran mine for nearly 5 years and it was a fabulous thing, never let me down once in all that time. There are and will be various sensors that fail but none that are the end of the world. VANOS can be an issue but Phil and a few others can repair them nowadays so it isn't as scary as it use to be.
Remember they are around 15 years old and go in eyes wide open and you should be fine.
Good luck
Ian
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
I'm not convinced that all is accurate in this, but it does give you some worthy information.
Rod bearings and VANOS failures are generally quite rare. Just make sure that any car you do look at / consider buying has a good service history. I am lucky to have Phil Crouch (CPC) and DM Worx on my door step. Redish Motorsport in Bristol are also a company to consider.
I'm currently on my second M5 and it has a few faults, but I do not think they're too major, just annoying and have come with age. Many of the issues that they suffer are shared with the normal E39 5 series.
Also take a look at forum.bmw5.co.uk.
I've been looking at M5's more and more lately. I really like this one but just couldn't live with this interior. How easy would it be to dye the red bits black and would it have a negative effect on value?
www.flickr.com/photos/133579429@N05/sets/721576595...
This is what that interior reminds me of.
www.flickr.com/photos/133579429@N05/sets/721576595...
This is what that interior reminds me of.
Trim colour shouldn't be a deal breaker on these cars. In the overall scheme of M-car ownership costs swapping out the seats (or getting them professionally re-coloured) is what amounts to loose change on the balance sheet. Loads of other parts of the interior trim can also be easily and relatively economically changed to suit a new owner.
Buy one that's had loads already spent on the oily bits and running gear...and you'll have fewer sleepless nights.
Buy one that's had loads already spent on the oily bits and running gear...and you'll have fewer sleepless nights.
Haven't found out who bought mine yet. The guy I traded it in to sent me pics of the work being done. All of the arches needed work. Big part of me wanted to keep it but it was just too hard on my back, and I found that I wasn't driving it. It was Imola red with the red and black leather.
Great cars and serious fun. If you can do it, just go for it.
Great cars and serious fun. If you can do it, just go for it.
You will be extremely lucky to find an e39 that is completely rust free around the jack points / sills; it will need to have been a garage queen and you will likely pay a big premium for this. However, a bit of corrosion is not necessarily a deal breaker as there are specialists out there who are very experienced with underbody restorations. As an extreme example, Redish have pictures of a step-by-step restoration of a 230k e39 M5 that was in a really bad way on their facebook; the whole underside was stripped, large areas were cut out with replacements refabricated and welded in, before covering the underside in layers of protection. You would need to budget several grand for the work, but at least you will then know that the entire thing is sound and better protected than when it left the factory. Now I'm not suggesting you go out and buy a 230k dog for £5k; the point is that a bit of corrosion shouldn't be seen as a deal breaker, but rather something that needs to be budgeted for and addressed appropriately. I'd personally be looking for evidence of consistent spend over the last 5 years; suspension work, rocker cover seals, MAFs, vanos, driveshaft, brake lines, etc. Not necessarily all of the above, but evidence that previous owners have cared about how the car drives and have done more than just an annual oil + filter. Buying a 15 year old M car and not budgeting to spend a few thousand on it straight away is optimistic/foolhardy imo!
Edited by csampo on Thursday 29th October 15:36
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