E39 M5 Daily Driver - 25,000 mile review & costs
Discussion
Hello,
I've been running an E39 M5 as my daily driver for the past 3 years / 25k, there seems to be more and more hype around these at the moment so decided it's time to share my experience of living with one, and tot up what it's cost...
In a nutshell it's been great. Occasionally very expensive. Sometimes incredibly frustrating (left me stranded twice). Always a lot of fun to drive.
|https://thumbsnap.com/4beRcpb7[/url]
thanks for reading
I've been running an E39 M5 as my daily driver for the past 3 years / 25k, there seems to be more and more hype around these at the moment so decided it's time to share my experience of living with one, and tot up what it's cost...
In a nutshell it's been great. Occasionally very expensive. Sometimes incredibly frustrating (left me stranded twice). Always a lot of fun to drive.
|https://thumbsnap.com/4beRcpb7[/url]thanks for reading
Day: 1
Miles: 0
Costs: £11,300
The first fill up (many, many, many more of those to come)
My car is a year 2000, pre-facelift model & had covered 136,000 miles when i bought it.
There isn't a big difference between pre and post facelift models. Different lights front & rear, different steering wheel & infotainment screen and revised piston rings (designed to reduce oil consumption as i understand), some say the pre-facelift engines rev a bit more freely because of this but i wouldn't like to comment.
The signature 00's BMW M rev counter lights that go out as the engine oil warms up giving you a higher rev limit. This is fully warm, 1 amber, 1 red.
Miles: 0
Costs: £11,300
The first fill up (many, many, many more of those to come)
My car is a year 2000, pre-facelift model & had covered 136,000 miles when i bought it.
There isn't a big difference between pre and post facelift models. Different lights front & rear, different steering wheel & infotainment screen and revised piston rings (designed to reduce oil consumption as i understand), some say the pre-facelift engines rev a bit more freely because of this but i wouldn't like to comment.
The signature 00's BMW M rev counter lights that go out as the engine oil warms up giving you a higher rev limit. This is fully warm, 1 amber, 1 red.
EmailAddress said:
Oh yes 
Really miss my 530. Such a great car. Would have loved the funds to run the power of the M.
Diffuser rear bumper looks so wrong on these though :/
I think a 530i is a real sweetspot in the range - get all the comfort, lovely straight 6 but with more reasonable running costs, and better steering than the v8'sReally miss my 530. Such a great car. Would have loved the funds to run the power of the M.
Diffuser rear bumper looks so wrong on these though :/
re the diffuser, they look good sometimes, my car is very close to OEM, not necessarily deliberate, i just ended up going down that route. the other 2 in that pic are not close to OEM, one is supercharged with 600+bhp!
Court_S said:
Lovely; looking forward to hearing more updates.
Prices have really strengthened on these from where they were.
yes, they've certainly gone up in the past few years, down a bit now from the peak but that's true of most stuff i think. Prices have really strengthened on these from where they were.
I was lucky to get in at the right time meaning it was justifiable to not worry about adding mileage
Day: 14
Miles: 1095
New cost: £120 - inspection
Costs: £11,420
First couple of weeks of ownership were great. The guy i bought it from had done a lot of work over the previous couple of years getting it mechanically & cosmetically sorted. It'd had a full respray, a lot of hoses & sensors under the bonnet refreshed and various other bits. It had been a bit of a garage queen following all the work he'd had done - which quickly changed in my ownership..
After the first few weeks & 1k miles, i booked it in to have a check over with a local BMW specialist, the list wasn't too bad:
Vanos codes on banks 1&2
O2 sensor defects
Brake fluid change due
Missing front undertray
Tired boot struts
Water ingress in the boot
Cracked fog light
Misty head light
Incorrect nuts/bolts on gearbox bell housing, battery cover, exhaust, oil filter housing
You can see the level of detail he want into to comment on the incorrect battery cover nuts!
I was just happy it didn't look like margate pier underneath and now i had a list of things to be going on with, vanos codes being the potentially scary one...
Miles: 1095
New cost: £120 - inspection
Costs: £11,420
First couple of weeks of ownership were great. The guy i bought it from had done a lot of work over the previous couple of years getting it mechanically & cosmetically sorted. It'd had a full respray, a lot of hoses & sensors under the bonnet refreshed and various other bits. It had been a bit of a garage queen following all the work he'd had done - which quickly changed in my ownership..
After the first few weeks & 1k miles, i booked it in to have a check over with a local BMW specialist, the list wasn't too bad:
Vanos codes on banks 1&2
O2 sensor defects
Brake fluid change due
Missing front undertray
Tired boot struts
Water ingress in the boot
Cracked fog light
Misty head light
Incorrect nuts/bolts on gearbox bell housing, battery cover, exhaust, oil filter housing
You can see the level of detail he want into to comment on the incorrect battery cover nuts!
I was just happy it didn't look like margate pier underneath and now i had a list of things to be going on with, vanos codes being the potentially scary one...
Day: 38
Miles: 1432
New cost: £323 - undertray, brake fluid service & other fixes, water leak fix
Costs: £11,744
First to solve on the list was the water in the boot - car had lived in a garage prior to my ownership so i guess this hadn't affected the previous owner but now it lived outside it needed to be fixed, it was only in one side the drivers
I traced it to a missing grommet on the fuel door lock, water was running down the bodywork and into this hole, then down into the boot - easily fixed with a new grommet one for £13, also meant that the fuel filler door locked.
I also replaced the fuel filler door stop that was missing but didn't get a pic of that
A new BMW undertray was extortionate so i found a replacement on ebay for £63 and got that fitted. really good fitment, though the plastic was more brittle than the original BMW material, which caused an issue... but more on that later
Had my local indie sort the brake fluid, gearbox bolts & oil filter gasket that were previously identified.
Miles: 1432
New cost: £323 - undertray, brake fluid service & other fixes, water leak fix
Costs: £11,744
First to solve on the list was the water in the boot - car had lived in a garage prior to my ownership so i guess this hadn't affected the previous owner but now it lived outside it needed to be fixed, it was only in one side the drivers
I traced it to a missing grommet on the fuel door lock, water was running down the bodywork and into this hole, then down into the boot - easily fixed with a new grommet one for £13, also meant that the fuel filler door locked.
I also replaced the fuel filler door stop that was missing but didn't get a pic of that
A new BMW undertray was extortionate so i found a replacement on ebay for £63 and got that fitted. really good fitment, though the plastic was more brittle than the original BMW material, which caused an issue... but more on that later
Had my local indie sort the brake fluid, gearbox bolts & oil filter gasket that were previously identified.
Jhonno said:
EmailAddress said:
Diffuser rear bumper looks so wrong on these though :/
It looks brilliant! Arse on the M5 is possibly it's best angle. One of those cars I was looking to buy at what turned out to be their lowest, but now that ship has sailed. Shoulda woulda coulda.
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