Not another E46 thread - E39 M5

naefeart

naefeart

naefeart

Soldato
Joined
26 Jul 2004
Posts
3,400
Location
Thunderdome
Morning Motors.

Todays topic is the BMW E39 M5 (1999-2002/3)

Let me get this out of the way first: I know about the majority of the running costs. I realise they are money pits. I don't believe I will ever see 40+ mpgs out of it on the way to work. I do about 4500 miles a year. I do not intend to skip on servicing or maintenance, at all. Now onwards and upwards :)

I love these cars, and have wanted one ever since seeing Tiff trash one around a track in 1999. Fast forward over 10 years and I am very seriously thinking about buying one.

The cars I am looking at will be: 2001+ with a full BMWSH. In particular cars that have been looked after with no expense spared and that have a reasonably (low) number of keepers (relatively speaking). Roughly coming in at 12-15k. I have more or less given up hope of finding one with a BMW warranty, so I will balance this out by having a couple of grand put aside.

I've also had a good read of the PH and M5 boards, so I know where to go for the knowledge.

I am looking at M5s because for the life of me I can't think of anything else that: looks as good, has four doors and a boot, has the performance, handling and costs well under £20k. There is an enjoyment with M cars that you don't seem to get with AMG Mercs or RS Audis.

I'm not interested in Scoobys (I would cry every time it picked up a dent) or Mishbish Evos (had one, ride was too hard for everyday use). I think the only car that comes close would be an E46 M3 Coupe (manual), but it's slightly less practical only having two doors.

So on to my question and the point of this post - to those of you that have seriously considered M5s, what put you off and what did (or will) you buy instead?

I'm not really looking for critique on my buying requirements, more just friendly input as to reasons people may feel that these cars may be too expensive and long in the tooth to consider as a longterm purchase. It does however go without saying that I will obviously accept tips and advice from owners past and present and ofcourse the learned E39 crew :)

I'm expecting Fox to add his 2p, infact I'm more or less counting on him.

Cheers
 
Last edited:
Are you looking at E46s or E39s? It's not clear from your post.

If it's M5s then be prepared for mega money repairs. It may be an M5, but it still suffers the same 10 year old E39 problems, with the added bonus that the M5 version of the parts frequently cost 3x what the 540i version costs.
For example, a MAF for a 540i costs £88. For the M5 it's £175 but there are 2 of them rather than 1 on the 540i.
M5 brakes work out at £300 per axle where as a 540i comes to £100.
If you go in to it with you eyes open and bank full of cash for repairs, I can see an M5 as being a good purchase. Going in to it budgeting only a couple of k per year for repaires would be a bad idea.
 
Last edited:
Rilot said:
Are you looking at E46s or E39s? It's not clear from your post.

If it's M5s then be prepared for mega money repairs. It may be an M5, but it still suffers the same 10 year old E39 problems, with the added bonus that the M5 version of the parts frequently cost 3x what the 540i version costs.
For example, a MAF for a 540i costs £88. For the M5 it's £175 but there are 2 of them rather than 1 on the 540i.
M5 brakes work out at £300 per axle where as a 540i comes to £100.
If you go in to it with you eyes open and bank full of cash for repairs, I can see an M5 as being a good purchase. Going in to it budgeting only a couple of k per year for repaires would be a bad idea.
Click to expand...

I'm looking at E39 M5s. Sorry, didn't realise my post wasn't clear.

I'm not new to the bills that M car ownership can serve up, but I am to general E39 bills. Hence my posting here.

I see what you are saying Rilot, I have several k put aside just incase and can budget an additional 3-4k a year, but obviously I'd be happier if it didn't come to that.

Thing is, even if I bought a newer car of similar performance (AMG E55), I probably would still need to budget the same ammount for repairs etc. That would bother me if the car was less entertaining to drive and had a larger initial outlay.

Eitherway I am resigned to having to spend a lot of money to own such a car.
 
Oh yes, owning any kind of high-performance saloon is never going to be cheap. The main thing going for the M5 is that there is a very active owner community and most of the usual problems have documented fixes on various forums.
M5s aren't that hard to work on either.
 
What Rilot says is very true, I have had a 540i so I can tell you all about those if you like. Strikes me you are going into this with your eyes open though and you realise what you might be getting yourself into, based on that ...I see no reason to try and tell you otherwise.

If you've done your research you will be aware of what to look out for and what the potential problem areas are.

I will say this though, if you find one you really like and are really looking to buy, I think it's worth getting it checked out by a specialist first. I only had a £5.7k 540i and I did not get it checked by anyone, I had quite a few issues, some of these fairly expensive to sort out, and they would have been spotted by a decent specialist, or indeed I would spot some of them now if I was looking again. I never did sort them all in the end I just sold the car after 6 months. The fact the car had a leaking gearbox seal and a leaking steering box would not have been discovered without putting it on a ramp and having a good look underneath.

Pay close attention to the VANOS units, the S62 in the M5 is double VANOS so has 4 units, both on the intake and exhaust cams, make sure they aren't noisy. You can read up on this if you like, I've written about it before with regards to the single VANOS M62TU in the 540i aswell.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the tips Moeks - yes I've done some reading up on the Vanos and tell-tale rattles. I've even found some diagrams over on M3tourque - that used to be the Bm3w forum iirc (I used to be on that before it closed).

Can you please highlight some of the more expensive issues you faced with your 540? I'm trying not to overlook the normal E39 issues by concentrating on potential M5 issues.

How relevant do you guys feel the number of owners are if the history is solid and theres no signs of abuse? From my searching, as these cars are at least 8years old, they tend to have had a lot of keepers.
 
Moeks said:
What Rilot says is very true, I have had a 540i so I can tell you all about those if you like. Strikes me you are going into this with your eyes open though and you realise what you might be getting yourself into, based on that ...I see no reason to try and tell you otherwise.

If you've done your research you will be aware of what to look out for and what the potential problem areas are.

I will say this though, if you find one you really like and are really looking to buy, I think it's worth getting it checked out by a specialist first. I only had a £5.7k 540i and I did not get it checked by anyone, I had quite a few issues, some of these fairly expensive to sort out, and they would have been spotted by a decent specialist, or indeed I would spot some of them now if I was looking again. I never did sort them all in the end I just sold the car after 6 months. The fact the car had a leaking gearbox seal and a leaking steering box would not have been discovered without putting it on a ramp and having a good look underneath.

Pay close attention to the VANOS units, the S62 in the M5 is double VANOS so has 4 units, both on the intake and exhaust cams, make sure they aren't noisy. You can read up on this if you like, I've written about it before with regards to the single VANOS M62TU in the 540i aswell.
Click to expand...
no "get a jag" in there? :D
 
I was going to salute your restraint Moeks, until your XJR comment ;)

No, I definitely don't want a Jag. Dad has an XJ and I can drive his if I want to.

Here you go Moeks - something I came across while researching M5s:



 
Blimey that's an old video, I remember it well though, it's one of the reasons I developed a bit of a love affair with the high powered saloon car, after watching that. Although back then I preferred the M5, having driven neither (too young then) I got my license in 2002 when the new Top Gear format began.

I love M5s though, it's a tough choice really, they make them seem a bit more similar than they really are in that video though, for a start the BMW is manual only and the Jag is automatic only. The M5 is a much firmer setup too, the Jag is a better wafter no doubt and it's quite a bit bigger than the M5, well it's 7 series sized.
 
Where art thou, Fox?

Is he on holiday? I was hoping he would point out a whole plethora of areas I had failed to think about :(
 
I think you've missed my point. Obviously Id cry either way, but Subarus are rediculously easy to dent and pick up car park dints like nobodys business.

I understand their use of thinner panels, but it would drive me crazy everytime I found another dent.
 
Doh, I forgot he was going away this month. Thanks gents.

Hang on.... did Motors give him permission to take leave? :D

Hope he has some good conversation lined up for the nothingness that is Death Valley. We ran out when we were there in May, had to resort to the Playboy radio channel - my word that was :eek:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom