E39 M5 Yearly service?

[joe1145]

Hi PHers

I'm looking at an E39 M5. One i have seen hasnt been serviced in 2 years, and is due the expensive inspection 2 service.

However it has only done 4K miles since the last service.

Is this something to worry about? do these cars need to be serviced at a certain time interval if they are doing so little mileage?

[Seesure]

joe1145 said:

Hi PHers

I'm looking at an E39 M5. One i have seen hasnt been serviced in 2 years, and is due the expensive inspection 2 service.

However it has only done 4K miles since the last service.

Is this something to worry about? do these cars need to be serviced at a certain time interval if they are doing so little mileage?

Good practice would to service a car annually - although some people just stick to the countdown of the lights on the dashboard and dependent upon driving style this could be as high as 15k miles between services...

Fluids (coolant, brake etc) generally flash up a light on the dash every couple of years to be checked / changed...

In all probability even if you don't do the Insp 2 an oil change wouldn't do any harm...and is probably advisable.

[joe1145]

Ok, sounds like it might not be that much to worry about then.

I know good practice is to service every year, but if its only done 4K I don't see a problem

[skeeterm5]

I ran an e39 m5 and I took the view that BMW knew better than the Internet about when the car needed serviicing, so I followed the CBS indicators.

So no, I wouldn't worry.

[Patrick Bateman]

I did it yearly- and would continue to do so, but I wouldn't let that put you off buying.

My old car missed its running in service entirely and the rod bearings looked dandy at 160k miles.

[jamoor]

2 Years is OK.

Servicing isn't even that extensive on these.

[SebringMan]

skeeterm5 said:

I ran an e39 m5 and I took the view that BMW knew better than the Internet about when the car needed serviicing, so I followed the CBS indicators.

So no, I wouldn't worry.

How many miles did you do in it and when did you have the car?

The rod bearing issues in the S54 and the documented N47 timing chain problems could go against that .

From a fleet/director point of view, bigger intervals are always seen as a positive. I know my E46 M3 gets an oil change between every BMW service ; it stills a little on the black side compared to previous cars with 10k intervals.

[skeeterm5]

SebringMan said:

How many miles did you do in it and when did you have the car?

The rod bearing issues in the S54 and the documented N47 timing chain problems could go against that .

From a fleet/director point of view, bigger intervals are always seen as a positive. I know my E46 M3 gets an oil change between every BMW service ; it stills a little on the black side compared to previous cars with 10k intervals.

To be fair I never worried about those issues, my view is that a few internet horror stories compared to the "silent majority" who never experience the issue do not make an engine inherently unreliable. Sensible warm up and cool down, not ragging it everywhere and following the prescribed service schedule is what it needs.

I ran one e39 M5 for 2 years from 60,000 to 145,000 with out an issue and then a second one for a year from 88k to 98k again on the original bearings with no signs of issue.

S

[Patrick Bateman]

Is that first one a typo or did you know the Shell CEO?

[jamoor]

skeeterm5 said:

To be fair I never worried about those issues, my view is that a few internet horror stories compared to the "silent majority" who never experience the issue do not make an engine inherently unreliable. Sensible warm up and cool down, not ragging it everywhere and following the prescribed service schedule is what it needs.

I ran one e39 M5 for 2 years from 60,000 to 145,000 with out an issue and then a second one for a year from 88k to 98k again on the original bearings with no signs of issue.

S

I ran one from 135-140 over 2 years and had failed rod bearings.
I preventatively replaced them on my e92

[skeeterm5]

Patrick Bateman said:

Is that first one a typo or did you know the Shell CEO?

Nope not a typo, was my daily driver. Although I think my wife thought I was having an affair with the lady at the local garage.

Having said that, even worse were the two e60's that I owned for 2 years each and did 15k miles per year in at an average of 12mpg.

Makes my current F10 M5 look decidedly frugal with the OBC currently showing 23 mpg.

[Patrick Bateman]

That's somewhat annoying to think I tend to get about 2mpg more than that in the Boxster and you've got well over double the power.

[skeeterm5]

Patrick Bateman said:

That's somewhat annoying to think I tend to get about 2mpg more than that in the Boxster and you've got well over double the power.

Yes it really is incredible when compared to the power, and a massive improvement over the e60's which were driven in the same way over the same routes.

[TrickyTrevM5]

skeeterm5 said:

Nope not a typo, was my daily driver. Although I think my wife thought I was having an affair with the lady at the local garage.

Having said that, even worse were the two e60's that I owned for 2 years each and did 15k miles per year in at an average of 12mpg.

Makes my current F10 M5 look decidedly frugal with the OBC currently showing 23 mpg.

Wow - must try harder. Mine says 19 mpg.