Not another E46 thread - E39 M5

Death Valley was the most incredible place I have ever been. Totally hardcore, roof down most of the way, have pictures to prove it :D

Anyway... E39 M5's. I will keep it quick as I'm only having quick internet sessions :p

You know how much they cost to run and that really, to get a nice one, you need £10-12k. They are not a car you buy with your head. The massive additional cost coupled with the fact that 75% of the time you might as well be in a regular E39 Sport (ie on the Motorway, around town, etc etc) makes it had to justify.

But if you CAN justify spending £12k on an 8 year old BMW then the E39 M5 is one of the most complete cars ever made. They have always been and always will be my dream car - sadly the age of car for the money you pay mean it's likely to be a dream I won't ever realise.

Why am I not buying one*?

a) It looks exactly like my 530i, takes the same time to drive to work in, yet costs loads more to own and £12k to buy.
b) It's an 'old BMW' now. I'm ok, sort of, with owning an old BMW. Not sure I want to spend £10-12k on one.
c) It lacks many of the more modern things you'd expect of a 5 figure sum car - like iDrive, etc.

What am I buying instead? Probably something like a 335i, 630i or a 530i LCI E60. None of these cars are as good as an E39 M5. Very few cars are, infact. But hey, life gets in the way of cars like the M5 sometimes. Even as the worlds biggest E39 fanboy I can't justify £12k and ££££££ a year on an 8 year old 5 Series that looks the same as mine does :(

But I have nothing but respect for you if you can justify it.

* I'm well aware that if I ever find a mint condition Estoril Blue E39 M5 with Sand Beige interior, I'll probably end up doing something very stupid.
 
[TW]Fox;17343867 said:
* I'm well aware that if I ever find a mint condition Estoril Blue E39 M5 with Sand Beige interior, I'll probably end up doing something very stupid.
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I am praying for this day so we can all watch Fox have a serious episode :p
 
...imagine what he will do if someone else buys one and brings it to a motors meet :D ...I imagine he will have to be physically restrained.

Fox goes feral and starts humping the dashboard or something! ...to trigger this behaviour though you really need a "mint condition Estoril Blue E39 M5 with Sand Beige interior"
 
obviously theyre a lot of money to look after properly but surely the whole "event" of driving one and living with such a legend must go some way towards justifying the premium

*edit. cannot speel
 
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Moeks said:
...imagine what he will do if someone else buys one and brings it to a motors meet :D ...I imagine he will have to be physically restrained.

Fox goes feral and starts humping the dashboard or something! ...to trigger this behaviour though you really need a "mint condition Estoril Blue E39 M5 with Sand Beige interior"
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haha! his eyes will just glaze over, starts foaming at the mouth and he'll need peternem and freefaller to hold him down whilst someone performs an exorcism!
 
It might be worth the huge costs just to bring one to a motors meet and watch Fox implode :D

Thanks for the input Fox, lets hope there are still plently of honest cars out there.
 
I'm actually reluctant to post here, since reading these threads just confirms how dispiritingly little I really know :(

Anyway, I've owned an Alpina B3S (E46) for the last two years - also doing about 4,500 miles a year. In general, there's little point of having it serviced at most BMW garages since they tend not to know what it is and treat it as a 330i. However, there are a couple of excellent independants and a visit to the Alpina forums could usually point you in the right direction.

My servicing costs to date are considerably under £1,000 p.a. (and that includes a 4 new decent tyres - Michelin PS2s I think), so it certainly is achieveable. That being said, I do have a contingency pot of £4k sitting there in case something horrible happens, but nothing so far!

It also benefits from ridiculously low car tax (about £175, classified as a PLG vehicle - there are so few of them, they fall into the default vehicle classification) as well as no 155mph speed limiter.
 
achitophel said:
I'm actually reluctant to post here, since reading these threads just confirms how dispiritingly little I really know :(

Anyway, I've owned an Alpina B3S (E46) for the last two years - also doing about 4,500 miles a year. In general, there's little point of having it serviced at most BMW garages since they tend not to know what it is and treat it as a 330i. However, there are a couple of excellent independants and a visit to the Alpina forums could usually point you in the right direction.

My servicing costs to date are considerably under £1,000 p.a. (and that includes a 4 new decent tyres - Michelin PS2s I think), so it certainly is achieveable. That being said, I do have a contingency pot of £4k sitting there in case something horrible happens, but nothing so far!

It also benefits from ridiculously low car tax (about £175, classified as a PLG vehicle - there are so few of them, they fall into the default vehicle classification) as well as no 155mph speed limiter.
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Sounds like you have a very well looked after car to be able to run it for less than £1k a year. Bet it puts a grin on your face!
 
achitophel said:
I'm actually reluctant to post here, since reading these threads just confirms how dispiritingly little I really know :(

Anyway, I've owned an Alpina B3S (E46) for the last two years - also doing about 4,500 miles a year. In general, there's little point of having it serviced at most BMW garages since they tend not to know what it is and treat it as a 330i. However, there are a couple of excellent independants and a visit to the Alpina forums could usually point you in the right direction.

My servicing costs to date are considerably under £1,000 p.a. (and that includes a 4 new decent tyres - Michelin PS2s I think), so it certainly is achieveable. That being said, I do have a contingency pot of £4k sitting there in case something horrible happens, but nothing so far!

It also benefits from ridiculously low car tax (about £175, classified as a PLG vehicle - there are so few of them, they fall into the default vehicle classification) as well as no 155mph speed limiter.
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Any chance of you posting any pics of the car??
 
achitophel said:
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I'm interested to see some pics too, if you have any.

I really like the E46 B3s, its a shame BMW didn't have a model with similar power inbetween the 330 and M3. I say it's a shame because Alpinas of this type are quite rare and most seem to be convertibles (I assume yours is?), which is not something I want.

Sounds like you've been lucky too with your maintenance costs, perhaps its not such a bad thing it's basically a souped up 330i.

I have also tried looking for good B10 V8s but these are also rare (certainly under 100k without red interiors).
 
Peerzy said:
Sounds like you have a very well looked after car to be able to run it for less than £1k a year. Bet it puts a grin on your face!
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Sometimes you get good years, sometimes you don't. I had a year where all I paid for is 12 months tax. That was fun. Made up for by this year though :D

B3's are less complex and cheaper to own than the M Power cars, mind.
 
naefeart said:
I'm interested to see some pics too, if you have any.

I really like the E46 B3s, its a shame BMW didn't have a model with similar power inbetween the 330 and M3. I say it's a shame because Alpinas of this type are quite rare and most seem to be convertibles (I assume yours is?), which is not something I want.
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There are B3S Coupe and Saloons also, as well as both 6 and 8 cylinder B10's. All are awesome, but Alpina models are based on SE cars - the Alpina splitters etc fit onto the regular SE bumpers. As a result, I don't find they have the looks of the Sport and M Power cars. If I bought a B10 I'd end up fitting Sport bumpers to it, which is basically blasphemy :D
 
Well I've got a viewing tomorrow - 2001 Carbon Black. Private seller via an agent.

Condition is apparently excellent, black/grey interior and all the toys. Spoken to the dealer that last serviced it, confirmed details, HPI'd it, all ok.

There is a strange hole in the service history though, even though it supposedly has a full BMW SH. So I guess we'll see what he has to say.

I can see this going south sadly. Ah well, wish me luck.
 
It is imperative you buy an example where everything adds up. Also, if you want a warranty (And I recommend you do) you need an 80kish or less example to make sure you can buy a half decent one and renew it without worries, really.

I often keep tabs on the number of sub £13k sub 100k facelift E39 M5's on PH. It's often... about 1 :(
 
Indeed Fox, everything will need to add up when I see the owner or I will walk.

Incidentally this car has 68k. I was told you couldn't buy a BMW extended warranty if it had laspsed. If you are referring to a 3rd party warranty, I thought it was better just to put cash aside instead?

Have you been to any Ghost towns yet, or Artists Drive?
 
naefeart said:
Well I've got a viewing tomorrow - 2001 Carbon Black. Private seller via an agent.

Condition is apparently excellent, black/grey interior and all the toys. Spoken to the dealer that last serviced it, confirmed details, HPI'd it, all ok.

There is a strange hole in the service history though, even though it supposedly has a full BMW SH. So I guess we'll see what he has to say.

I can see this going south sadly. Ah well, wish me luck.
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This one?
http://pistonheads.co.uk/sales/1986359.htm
 
naefeart said:
Hehe, you would agree if you tried the roads up here.
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Man has a point.

Roads here are tear inducing at points.

I'm lowered with quite stiff shocks which doesn't help but I feel like a brick driving along the road sometimes.

Its pitiful. Good when you get on good road mind you.
 
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