Any BMW M5 owners ? advice requested

m5board.com is a great resource. Personally, i prefer the previous generation. good luck.

 

The E39 is such a great car. 400hp and more than plenty go, but with luxury and class always there too. Depending on what you're looking for, don't forget the M3! It would probably be closer to the performance of that egregious Ferrari of yours!

 

Don't know about the weak spots, but IMO the e39 M5 was the best car BMW built. I had an '03 for a while (traded for a 996 Turbo on a whim). A friend just picked up an '03 with about 40k miles. Great cars.

 

I have over 90k on 2000 and absolutely LOVE IT!!!!!!!!! 400hp, handles very well for something so large, and is just one of those cars that they "got right".

Reliability has been superb. If you stick to the maintinance schedules, you should have no problems.....however if you skip anything, it will get expensive.

Look for an 01, or anything with a build date after 03/00, they changed something in the engine design so that oil doesn't dissapear, the early ones will burn a bit, though it doesn't seem to affect performance at all. Mine uses no oil.

You will have to replace the Vanos sometime in the first 100k miles. Its the biggest weakness in the car in my opinion, mine went around 70k miles.

I am still on the origional clutch, others report wear anywhere from 25k to 75k miles, not sure what they are doing wrong, I do burnouts and abuse it daily and it still doesn't even slip.

I fully expect to get 250k miles out of mine, the build quality has been superb. People are amazed that my interior (full leather/alcantra package) looks like the day it left the factory.

As mentioned above, head over to the M5board. Tons of information there for you.

 

Hello!
I owned a '02 E39 M5 and it was a very very good car! There are some problems that come with the E39 though. I would only buy one from a BMW dealer that was certified and also try to get one still under new car warranty. As mentioned you can get tons of info at www.m5board.com, just go to the E39 forum section.
The rear sway bars would break very easily and are usually the first thing to modify. The clutch was also another very weak point of the car and this is usually replaced as well with a mod. Brakes are ok, but here again look to modify depending on driving style. The MAF's are another sticky point, but you can usually get in on a group buy at the m5board.
Its a great car for the money!!! I loved my to death!! But alas, I have a E60 and that is a true Beast!!
Good luck!!! PM me if you need any other info!

Robert

 

Oops, forgot about the sway bar brackets, those will break constantly, its a 4 dollar part at the dealership. Most people buy the big mac-daddy ones from beastpower and never have to replace them again. I went through three sets before I learned this lessson

MAF's are known to go bad, mine never did, but I know others with this problem. In particular if you use aftermaket air-filters.

Some complain that the sound isn't what it should be for a giant german V8, thats why Tubi's have been sent from the heavens though.

Rear tire wear can be a problem, expect 10-15k, though I usually get 30k on my PS2's for some reason.

Oh and cupholders, forget they even exist in there and buy "the ultimate cupholders", the factory ones are just there for looks, and to fool you into actually thinking you might be able to have a soda while you were driving.

Shift throws are a little long, many get a short shifter kit (rogue, UUC seem to be the most popular)

After deciding on keeping mine until it falls apart, my next mission is to mod it until I can blow away the E60 version, should be tons of fun!

 

I have a 2002 with 23k miles on it.

It is heaven. That's all there is to say. Heaven. They just got it right with this car.

It's not PERFECT... I think the steering is too overboosted (much better feeling in sport mode though), for example, but damn near close.

Clutches tend to go fast if you're not careful;

Rear sway bar brackets can too but, as mentioned, they're cheap from the dealer or you can get the indestructible Beastpower brackets;

My VANOS was replaced under warranty at 22k miles;

And if you drive accordingly, you can still get near 20 MPG in mixed/mostly city driving. It is a fantastic, fantastic automobile!

www.m5board.com for more details!
-Matthew

 

I have owned three generations of the M5, the e34, e39 and my current e60. The BMW M5 is the best sports sedan in the world IMHO. I just sold my e39 in March that I bought new in 2000...I drove it 111k miles with no breakdowns whatsoever..brakes, tires, oil and gas is about all she needed. And those 111+k miles included many track events. There is no real problem spots with the e39 that I know of...they are bullet-proof. I was happy with the resale value too. My e39 M5 cost $69.9k new and after driving it for over 6 years and 111+k miles, I sold her for $25k... Check out www.m5board.com

 

The E39 M5 is the car that has had most issues of all the M cars built. I have heard PLENTY of horror stories considering these cars. Since I live in Europe these have been around for a while and I have witnessed the resale value drop like a stone. You can get a good condition E39 M5 in Sweden for as much as 20k (US currency).


When they work, they are great....when they dont, well it just plain sucks. If you still want to get one, go through the WHOLE car over in and out, or you might be in line for a very expensive bill.

 

Its variable valve timing software created by BMW. The specialty of VANOS is that it varies the time of the intake valves by moving the position of the camshafts in-relation to drive gear.

Its kinda like the Toyota's VVTi & Honda's VTEC.

 

Well, more like the brain and unit for that aspect of the engine specifcally.........

Lots of different processors down there, it was basically the first production drive-by-wire car if I recall correctly. Interestingly enough, the only system that ever appears to have problems is the VANOS unit. This is of concern with all V8 engines of that era though, accross the whole brand, not really a specific M5 issue.

 

Here is a thread for you to go over, covers most of the operation and weak points of the system for you.

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=54994

Mods, feel free to delete this if its against forum guidelines to link other forums....

 

Just wondering if M5 cost ard 20k, how much does a M3 CSL or an early 2002 M3 cost? Any ideas?