Soldato
To be brutally honest L_a, I'd be surprised if Fox honestly cared enough to smile about it.
E39 M5 advice
- Thread starter beermonster
- Start date
To be brutally honest L_a, I'd be surprised if Fox honestly cared enough to smile about it.
Soldato
He seems to quote it everytime I post in OCUK so I would think its on his mind quite a lot.
End of the day I can have 2 Jags so I will have 2 Jags, not be long before he's in the same position I hope!
- Joined
- 19 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 3,164
only R34 id considered is a GTR but way out my budget, i wouldn't consider any type of jaguar except a daimler double six but hardly practical
Soldato
Soldato
Well, at least you're keeping good company....
....or not.
Nice I was waiting to see who was political enough to come up with that.
Soldato
^
That's a face only a mother could love.
That's a face only a mother could love.
Soldato
Even that might be debatable.
Caporegime
Lol you clearly don't know Fox.
He posted that PURELY for a reaction from you. Which he got.
Fox 1 - You 0
Permabanned
I really like jags, but not everyone does and more importantly the op doesn't want a jag, please stop going on there is more to lfe than a jag.
/rant
Caporegime
I think that sub £9k M5 is iffy in the extreme, not so long back, somebody was selling a really tatty one for £8k on Pistonheads, I can't see a £9k example being much better tbh.
£13 - £15k is a sensible ballpark for an e39 M5, sure, you can spend a lot more (especially from BMW dealers) but I see little reason to.
An e39 M5 bought with care & research is the performance car bargain of recent times.
I am sorely tempted to get one, alas, I have a house to buy.
£13 - £15k is a sensible ballpark for an e39 M5, sure, you can spend a lot more (especially from BMW dealers) but I see little reason to.
An e39 M5 bought with care & research is the performance car bargain of recent times.
I am sorely tempted to get one, alas, I have a house to buy.
With the current economic outlook, the over-reaction of the publics spending due to petrol prices and road tax increases, is a £9k M5 a far better M5 than it was a year ago? These "relatively old" high end cars must have taken a pounding, surely? I personally wouldn't go below £15k, and pre '01 isn't a consideration either; what's road tax when you've got a 5.0L begging for a spanking at todays fuel prices?
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
Soldato
make sure you dont underestimate the running costs for these things, you WILL get absolutely shafted at some point.
Soldato
I've had mine two months now and absolutely love it.
Definitely look out for a face lift example, as well as looking a little nicer, you'll benefit from a revised engine (to do with oil seals in the VANOS unit) which means it uses a lot less oil and is generally prone to less problems.
Hold out for a version with all the options you want as they're not cheap to retrofit. A lot of kit is standard but you do see the odd few kicking about with Nav. Personally I'd avoid these.
Make sure the auxilliary cooling fan works. This can be tested by pushing the MAX AC button with the car stationary. If the fan doesnt spin up within a few seconds either the fan needs replacing (around £400 fitted), or there is a problem with the AC system not engaging.
I had a few AC issues and spent about £1k at a dealer getting this sorted so make sure it blows nice and cold if you don't want the potential for big bills.
The pixels in the instrument cluster also tend to fade/disappear over time. The supply and fit of a new cluster from BMW (it needs dealer programming to the car) is about £900. I am starting to have a few problems with mine but have had a claim authorised on my warranty (phew!).
Other points... check for signs of bubbling paint inside the fuel filler cap. The finish on the alloys is very thin and cars around the age I expect you will be looking often have bubbling paint. An alloy refurb will probably be about £250-300 but it's not a paint that a lot of places can do. There are a few place that come recommended though although they still struggle an exact match with the OEM finish.
Clutches tend to last in the region of 50,000 miles and a replacement will be 800-1k from what I have seen.
Servicing at a dealer will be expensive, for older and higher mileage cars I'd find a good indy.
Good preventative maintainence when you first get it if there is no sign they have been done recently would be to change the coolant, brake fluid, gear box oil and diff oil.
Insurance will be a pain for under 25s (I'm 24 and got mine covered by a mainstream insurer with quite a bit of begging).
Absolutely love mine and plan on keeping it a couple of years - At the Nurburgring with it this weekend
Definitely look out for a face lift example, as well as looking a little nicer, you'll benefit from a revised engine (to do with oil seals in the VANOS unit) which means it uses a lot less oil and is generally prone to less problems.
Hold out for a version with all the options you want as they're not cheap to retrofit. A lot of kit is standard but you do see the odd few kicking about with Nav. Personally I'd avoid these.
Make sure the auxilliary cooling fan works. This can be tested by pushing the MAX AC button with the car stationary. If the fan doesnt spin up within a few seconds either the fan needs replacing (around £400 fitted), or there is a problem with the AC system not engaging.
I had a few AC issues and spent about £1k at a dealer getting this sorted so make sure it blows nice and cold if you don't want the potential for big bills.
The pixels in the instrument cluster also tend to fade/disappear over time. The supply and fit of a new cluster from BMW (it needs dealer programming to the car) is about £900. I am starting to have a few problems with mine but have had a claim authorised on my warranty (phew!).
Other points... check for signs of bubbling paint inside the fuel filler cap. The finish on the alloys is very thin and cars around the age I expect you will be looking often have bubbling paint. An alloy refurb will probably be about £250-300 but it's not a paint that a lot of places can do. There are a few place that come recommended though although they still struggle an exact match with the OEM finish.
Clutches tend to last in the region of 50,000 miles and a replacement will be 800-1k from what I have seen.
Servicing at a dealer will be expensive, for older and higher mileage cars I'd find a good indy.
Good preventative maintainence when you first get it if there is no sign they have been done recently would be to change the coolant, brake fluid, gear box oil and diff oil.
Insurance will be a pain for under 25s (I'm 24 and got mine covered by a mainstream insurer with quite a bit of begging).
Absolutely love mine and plan on keeping it a couple of years - At the Nurburgring with it this weekend
- Joined
- 19 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 3,164
the one i looked at today was le mans blue a beautiful colour, no dings dents a few stone chips on the lower bumper and leading edge of the bonnet but to be expected from an 8 year old car, full nappa leather, sat nav tv dsp, extra rear blinds, new clutch, headlights and fogs replaced it was imaculate inside, not a single scuff inside anywhere everything worked, stacked service history file, all the original purchase docs, manuals pristine, full tool kit, new tyres, brakes looked new. and the peformance wow, simply amazing, i dropped it into 3rd and floored it and the traction control kicked in! fantastic car. but not gonna get sucked in and gonna look at some more but, could not find a single fault, engined purred nothing squeaked, i could not find a single thing wrong with it, and i spent 2 hours goin over it and testing. so its top of the list so far.
![Torch [P4]](/styles/overclockers/avatars/4.png){kind=avatar}
Associate
on the R34 front Evo mag had an article on owning one last month and the general opinion from the current owner is that unless you have bottomless pockets dont!!!
M5 my ultimate 4 door dream, high miles dont worry as long as its properly serviced then it'll be sorted (my M3 had 137k and still pushed std power and all the right buttons). servicing is expensive but to be expected, you cant run these cars on a shoestring budget but im sure you have already factored that in
as stated many times, define your options list and colour co-ords take a few test drives get some insurance quotes and you'll easilly find the right car for you
M5 my ultimate 4 door dream, high miles dont worry as long as its properly serviced then it'll be sorted (my M3 had 137k and still pushed std power and all the right buttons). servicing is expensive but to be expected, you cant run these cars on a shoestring budget but im sure you have already factored that in
as stated many times, define your options list and colour co-ords take a few test drives get some insurance quotes and you'll easilly find the right car for you
Don
I agree with pretty much everything Fox has said here. Having run a 540i for a number of years in the past, I know that the running costs of these cars can be astronomical if you buy a bad one.
My advice is the same as it always is. Buy the very best one you can afford but leave some money in the pot for any unforseen issues.
Many M5s are (sadly) heading in to the "banger" territory having been owned by scrotes who can't afford to service them. And there's a saying that goes with performance bangers: "It may seem like supercar performance for banger money, but it comes with all the banger problems for supercar money"
My advice is the same as it always is. Buy the very best one you can afford but leave some money in the pot for any unforseen issues.
Many M5s are (sadly) heading in to the "banger" territory having been owned by scrotes who can't afford to service them. And there's a saying that goes with performance bangers: "It may seem like supercar performance for banger money, but it comes with all the banger problems for supercar money"