BMW E39 M5 touring build #2
Discussion
This weekend saw an important stage in the build.
The M5 front subframe and anti roll bar had been blasted and painted not long after the donor car was stripped so these were finally put to use. Built up with new engine mounts, new powerflex ARB bushes, new shackles, all new PAS hoses along with the steering box checked and adjusted, all in preparation to take an important part of the car.
The refurbished cam covers that had been vapour blasted and painted were fitted to the engine before being bolted to the subframe.
Old plugs out and fresh set of NGK's fitted.
The following morning the clutch, flywheel and gearbox were bolted up then the ignition coils and covers in preparation for the "marriage".
The all important new cooling system expansion tank to replace the nasty yellowed old one.
Marriage complete! One S62B50 mated to the touring shell.
Now I guess there are many of you thinking "what no engine work before it went in?" Well no not exactly and there is reasoning behind that......
Prior to removal from the M5, the engine (and various other things) were checked and tested. Concentrating on the engine, the fault memory was read from the car upon arrival with only a bank 2 post cat O2 sensor fault stored. Spark plugs were then removed and the bores inspected for scoring to which none was found so compression and cylinder leakage tests were carried out with no issues found thankfully. Plugs refitted then VANOS test conducted which passed so after that a short road test was conducted "on a private road" to make sure the gearbox was ok and the recently replaced clutch and flywheel were without issues.
This all correlated to the good history record for the car which despite being a rusty old barnacle, it was a well serviced and non abused barnacle!
Now I could have gone down the route of replacing some of the usual suspects such as the timing chains and guides, rod bearings, VANOS seals etc etc but I am keen so see how far engines can last without being opened up for repairs and I find high milers endearing, high mileage to me is a badge of honour not something to be scorned or looked down upon!
I was once tempted by a circa 450k mile E36 320i coupe that was on its third service book!
The S62B50 is, unlike some of the newer offerings from BMW, capable of big mileage without major surgery. There are a few examples here in the UK with 300k+ miles and in the states some with 400-500k miles claiming to be without major engine work!
So lets see how this one goes.... if it all goes terribly wrong I'll just pull it out then rebuild the engine. I have a bunch of new parts for the S62 on the shelf already.
The M5 front subframe and anti roll bar had been blasted and painted not long after the donor car was stripped so these were finally put to use. Built up with new engine mounts, new powerflex ARB bushes, new shackles, all new PAS hoses along with the steering box checked and adjusted, all in preparation to take an important part of the car.
The refurbished cam covers that had been vapour blasted and painted were fitted to the engine before being bolted to the subframe.
Old plugs out and fresh set of NGK's fitted.
The following morning the clutch, flywheel and gearbox were bolted up then the ignition coils and covers in preparation for the "marriage".
The all important new cooling system expansion tank to replace the nasty yellowed old one.
Marriage complete! One S62B50 mated to the touring shell.
Now I guess there are many of you thinking "what no engine work before it went in?" Well no not exactly and there is reasoning behind that......
Prior to removal from the M5, the engine (and various other things) were checked and tested. Concentrating on the engine, the fault memory was read from the car upon arrival with only a bank 2 post cat O2 sensor fault stored. Spark plugs were then removed and the bores inspected for scoring to which none was found so compression and cylinder leakage tests were carried out with no issues found thankfully. Plugs refitted then VANOS test conducted which passed so after that a short road test was conducted "on a private road" to make sure the gearbox was ok and the recently replaced clutch and flywheel were without issues.
This all correlated to the good history record for the car which despite being a rusty old barnacle, it was a well serviced and non abused barnacle!
Now I could have gone down the route of replacing some of the usual suspects such as the timing chains and guides, rod bearings, VANOS seals etc etc but I am keen so see how far engines can last without being opened up for repairs and I find high milers endearing, high mileage to me is a badge of honour not something to be scorned or looked down upon!
I was once tempted by a circa 450k mile E36 320i coupe that was on its third service book!
The S62B50 is, unlike some of the newer offerings from BMW, capable of big mileage without major surgery. There are a few examples here in the UK with 300k+ miles and in the states some with 400-500k miles claiming to be without major engine work!
So lets see how this one goes.... if it all goes terribly wrong I'll just pull it out then rebuild the engine. I have a bunch of new parts for the S62 on the shelf already.
I love the care and management of high mileage engines, too.
Powerflex bushes... I'm assuming that this is a brand and not OEM? If so, why the preference?
Also, as this is a working garage -- do you take the car off the ramp after you've finished the weekend work on it, or are you just trying up a ramp for the duration?
Powerflex bushes... I'm assuming that this is a brand and not OEM? If so, why the preference?
Also, as this is a working garage -- do you take the car off the ramp after you've finished the weekend work on it, or are you just trying up a ramp for the duration?
bolidemichael said:
I love the care and management of high mileage engines, too.
Powerflex bushes... I'm assuming that this is a brand and not OEM? If so, why the preference?
Also, as this is a working garage -- do you take the car off the ramp after you've finished the weekend work on it, or are you just trying up a ramp for the duration?
The Powerflex bushes are just polyurethane bushes which I also used on the last build for the ARB's. They are one of the few bushes on a car that wont effect the compliance but will help firm the roll stiffness slightly. When you buy a set of upgraded roll bars from the likes of Eibach, H&R etc they always come with polly buhses.Powerflex bushes... I'm assuming that this is a brand and not OEM? If so, why the preference?
Also, as this is a working garage -- do you take the car off the ramp after you've finished the weekend work on it, or are you just trying up a ramp for the duration?
Every Monday morning the car gets pushed out of the workshop and pushed back in on Friday/Saturday so it needs to be in a state where it will roll come Monday.
Brilliant. I love a higher mileage car too. My E90 M3 is on 156k miles with only 'rod bearings' (aka big ends) having been changed. I had a new clutch and flywheel last week to solve a vibration and it's good to go. I'd love to add an E39 touring to the fleet, especially an M5 converted one! Keep up the good work 
Gallons Per Mile said:
Brilliant. I love a higher mileage car too. My E90 M3 is on 156k miles with only 'rod bearings' (aka big ends) having been changed. I had a new clutch and flywheel last week to solve a vibration and it's good to go. I'd love to add an E39 touring to the fleet, especially an M5 converted one! Keep up the good work
Amateur 
….there was a guy featured on a YT video with 225k on his coupe all done with one owner.M30 was what, E28 era? They were known for camshaft wear, cracked heads, head gaskets etc. Fixed a few of those back in the day!
The golden era for BMW reliability was the 1990's with the E34 etc, the 24 valve M50 etc.
Nice work on the Touring. It'll be a lovely thing when done.
The golden era for BMW reliability was the 1990's with the E34 etc, the 24 valve M50 etc.
Nice work on the Touring. It'll be a lovely thing when done.
Edited by I-am-the-reverend on Thursday 6th April 15:25
helix402 said:
Off topic-but IMHO-the best BMW engine for high mileage is the M57. I’ve run a modified one to over 250k. My second best is the original non vanos M50.
They are indeed a solid engine, one of the best BMW have made although I have seen a couple with big (250-300k) miles where the chain has stretched and started to rub through the lower timing cover.daver1184 said:
My N52B30 is on 248k and counting...
Certainly one of the better N** petrol engines from BMW.E90_M3Ross said:
Tough call but I think the old M30 is a very good lump for reliability.
I-am-the-reverend said:
M30 was what, E28 era? They were known for camshaft wear, cracked heads, head gaskets etc. Fixed a few of those back in the day!
The golden era for BMW reliability was the 1990's with the E34 etc, the 24 valve M50 etc.
Nice work on the Touring. It'll be a lovely thing when done.
Bang on RE the M30 (and M20).The golden era for BMW reliability was the 1990's with the E34 etc, the 24 valve M50 etc.
Nice work on the Touring. It'll be a lovely thing when done.
Edited by I-am-the-reverend on Thursday 6th April 15:25
Indeed, I would concur that peak BMW for engine robustness is the early 90's, the M50 non vanos being best and as previously mentioned, I was tempted by a 450k mile E36 320i still on its original engine and third service book!
The S14 and an S38B36 are also near bulletproof.
Easter weekend allowed some more time on the build.
The original M5 brake callipers were quite corroded so I had them blasted and painted before reassembling them with new pistons, seals, slider mounts and nipples.
When the engine and box went in with the front subframe, all four suspension arms were replaced with new. Next up was to replace the all the tired and corroded original M5 shock absorber and coil spring hardware with new genuine top mounts, Bilstein B8's, Eibach pro kit springs, new drop links and track rod ends to go on the centre drag link that had recently been replaced on the M5 so that was cleaned and reused.
All bolted up along with callipers, new genuine discs and pads plus some HEL braided brake hoses.
Next up was replacing all the gear linkage bushes and joints to tighten up the worn linkage and at the same time, a change from the original M5 shift lever to the short shift from an E60 545i, a well known upgrade used on the E39 M5 and E46 M3.
Often, some people replace just the shift lever without refreshing all the joints and bushes when fitting a shorter shifter on all sorts of BMW's so they dont get the full benefit of the change.
E60 545i shifter vs the E39 M5 one.
The engine bay is pretty much complete with the plenum and both intakes fitted as well as the remote oil filter housing and PAS system fully plumbed in,
With some fluids in, it was time for its first start with the S62 in the touring shell! It fired up straight away but I only ran it for a few seconds as the exhaust was not fitted.
The original M5 brake callipers were quite corroded so I had them blasted and painted before reassembling them with new pistons, seals, slider mounts and nipples.
When the engine and box went in with the front subframe, all four suspension arms were replaced with new. Next up was to replace the all the tired and corroded original M5 shock absorber and coil spring hardware with new genuine top mounts, Bilstein B8's, Eibach pro kit springs, new drop links and track rod ends to go on the centre drag link that had recently been replaced on the M5 so that was cleaned and reused.
All bolted up along with callipers, new genuine discs and pads plus some HEL braided brake hoses.
Next up was replacing all the gear linkage bushes and joints to tighten up the worn linkage and at the same time, a change from the original M5 shift lever to the short shift from an E60 545i, a well known upgrade used on the E39 M5 and E46 M3.
Often, some people replace just the shift lever without refreshing all the joints and bushes when fitting a shorter shifter on all sorts of BMW's so they dont get the full benefit of the change.
E60 545i shifter vs the E39 M5 one.
The engine bay is pretty much complete with the plenum and both intakes fitted as well as the remote oil filter housing and PAS system fully plumbed in,
With some fluids in, it was time for its first start with the S62 in the touring shell! It fired up straight away but I only ran it for a few seconds as the exhaust was not fitted.
Edited by BSSBMW on Monday 10th April 20:23
BSSBMW said:
Next up was replacing all the gear linkage bushes and joints to tighten up the worn linkage and at the same time, a change from the original M5 shift lever to the short shift from an E60 545i, a well known upgrade used on the E39 M5 and E46 M3.
Often, some people replace just the shift lever without refreshing all the joints and bushes when fitting a shorter shifter on all sorts of BMW's so they dont get the full benefit of
E60 545i shifter vs the E39 M5 one.
I did the Touring shift and ALL the other parts as it was very unpleasant Often, some people replace just the shift lever without refreshing all the joints and bushes when fitting a shorter shifter on all sorts of BMW's so they dont get the full benefit of
E60 545i shifter vs the E39 M5 one.
now a dream 
bolidemichael said:
BSSBMW said:
Easter weekend allowed some more time on the build.
The original M5 brake callipers were quite corroded so I had them blasted and painted before reassembling them with new pistons, seals, slider mounts and nipples.
Except for the 45 degree ones!
In case you're unaware, this is known as knolling. The original M5 brake callipers were quite corroded so I had them blasted and painted before reassembling them with new pistons, seals, slider mounts and nipples.
Except for the 45 degree ones!
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff