baby on the way, we need a 4 door, E39's have dropped down into a very appealing price range. What do I need to know when looking? How's maintenance? How easy are they to work on (Things like brakes, suspension, etc). Clutch replacement costs, etc?

 

Phenomenal cars. Expensive as hell to maintain. I can remember for sure but I think the earlier years had some potential engine issues.

Seriously, look at the 2011 charger when it hits in a month or two. Huge back seats for baby...and the new handling dynamics they added are pretty unreal. It's truly a domestic sports sedan.

 

One of my favorite BMWs of all time. Can't really help you since I don't know a damn thing about them maintenance wise, hopefully mclarenf123987145 comes by to give some advice soon.

 

Love the E39 M5's!! I'm definitely going to try and pick one up sometime next year.

Here is a link on Bimmerforums dot com that explains problems and fixes for this model, hope that helps.

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...play.php?f=240

 

Had a Titanium Silver 03. Absolutely loved it, way more than any other BMW I've ever owned. Occasionally think about getting another one. Try to get one with a recent brake job if possible as they were quite expensive. I drove mine pretty hard and added a quart of oil every 3 weeks or so. Find out if VANOS has ever been changed or if it's had any issues.

Not sure if you plan on tracking it but tires and rotors are significantly expensive.

Here's a great FAQ on M5Board.

http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e39...tions-faq.html

They also looked fairly easy to work on although I never did it myself so I can't really comment on that.

Consider purchasing an aftermaket warranty as well.

 

"Honey, I'm pregnant."
", now I can get an M5!"

Congrats on the baby on the way! Don't know much about the M5, but many say it's one of the best modern cars, period. If you get one in great condition and keep it that way, I think it'll be worth a pretty penny soon.

 

my favorite m5 yet. I think if I had money to get one, I wouldn't care about maintenance at all. Thats how much I love that car haha good luck with the baby and the car purchase

 

the VANOS units are prone to failure ($$$)


2001 and newer get angel eyes and widescreen nav

 

My fav M5, I worked at a startup and there were two E39's there. Both owners loved them, neither had any major issues that I know of other than they are pretty bad in snow/ice conditions even with stability control, ABS, and traction control.

I agree with others go on the BMW forums and research.

 

Damn dude, I almost bought one instead of a TSX. It was so awesome. They are bad ass...and expensive to maintain at times. What else do you need to know?

 

I'm not too much of an expert on M5's but I do have a E39 540i (M5 wannabe)

Anyways, all E39's have the BMW POS cooling system. So if you buy one without service records, I would go ahead and change out the cooling system components like radiator, expansion tank, waterpump,and valley pan/gaskets etc The cooling system's plastic parts WILL fail eventually and leave you stranded.


M5's in particular have serious VANOS issues. Make sure the one you buy has had its VANOS replaced or look for failure signs of VANOS, they're listed on bimmerforums, but mostly on M5board.com.

Brakes are not expensive. I don't care what anyone says. Obviously if you pay an indie or the dealer it is going to be expensive, with the indie being probably your cheapest bet. But if you follow the great DIY's and shop around for some decent prices on parts you should be fine.

I have no idea about the clutch replacement/costs.

But make sure you do a lot of research on M5board. They will help you even though some of those guys can be kind of difficult toward noobs.

Oh and BTW definitely look at 540i's, they can be had for a significantly lower price, and you can get a 6 speed manual or auto like I have. But of course, an M5 is an M5.

I hope to pick up an M5 soon!

 

Congrats on the expected kid!

Damn, the E39 M5 is my all time favorite BMW. I still just get weak in the knees when I see one. I wish I could give you some insight into cost, but since I've never owned one I've got nothing, but I'd have to imagine a BMW of that caliber is going to be expensive to maintain, whether you work on it yourself or have someone do it.

Have you considered a G8 GXP or would it be too much like your GTO?

 

not a huge fan of GXP's and frankly 00-02's M5's can be found cheap...where it'd almost be a direct trade. That said...maintenance is looking expensive


also looking at 300C and Magnum SRT8's


will most likely buy the wife a TL

 

i almost bought one, had it inspected by a bmw dealer, seller said the car was solid, and didn't mind getting it inspected
i think the bill was about 4k in parts to make it mint, and labour on some of those parts was crazy
like external driveshaft balancer was cracked, only cost like 100 for the part, but like 700 for the labour...
so things like that turned me off, it was worth the 250 bucks for inspection though, the dealer spent more than 3 hours looking it over and driving it, and gave me an honest experienced perspective on what they thought the condition of it was
but they are amazing cars, one of my favorite cars of all time, 2nd best looking bmw ever IMO, just couldn't stomach the costs to maintain it.
good luck with whatever you decide

 

I'd love to get an E39 M5 in Le Mans Blue.

 

My dad currently has a 2003 Carbon Black e39 M5.

To add to what others have said,...
- Common for pixels to fail in the cluster (expensive to replace, but IIRC, BMW USA covers part or half of the cost)

- Watch for any paint issues on the underside of the hood (like near the edges).

- Everything is expensive.

- M5board is a good resource

All that said, that car is quite a lot of fun. The car feels solid, is quick, handles like a dream, and has a great soundtrack. Mmmmm, V8.

If you have any specific questions, shoot me a PM. I'll be at my Parents this weekend, so I can check/look at/ask about anything. We've got the service history for the car,...if you want an idea about costs (in Canadian dollars). Scary stuff!!!

 

One of my favorite cars of all time. If I had the money to maintain one then I would absolutely be driving one now.

I test drove a Le Mans Blue 2001 M5 in spring. It drove nice but had zero service records, high mileage and the paint was looking pretty bad. I spent some time reading at M5Board and decided it's probably better to stick to my civic for now. Some day though, I will have an E39 M5.

Just listen to this sound...

<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ozS31-SuO4o?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ozS31-SuO4o?fs=1&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>

 

With prices of E39 M5s right now, there is not a better all around sedan out there for the money.

The main thing when looking at these car is to look at everything. A good pre purchase inspection can save you thousands and get you a car that will need very little money.

The suspension on these cars wear out around 100k miles. More for areas with rougher roads and a little less for the smoother roads. Its mainly the thrust arms that wear out (lower control arm that goes front to back in the front suspension) and the shocks. The car weighs 4k lbs and has sports car handling so its too be expected.

The cooling systems are not an issue on M5s like other E39s. The cooling system is completely different. It uses a self bleeding system which runs under less pressure which seems to help with longevity.

Carbon build up in the secondary air passages can be an issue. Its just for emissions, so you can just remove the whole system and get the ecu re flashed to get rid of the check engine light.

Not all M5s have vanos issues and if they due they are not as expensive as people think. Some people replace the entire vanos unit for 3K+ dollars when at most all you need is a $500 vanos solenoid pack. You can also get them repaired for a lot less if you don't get a new solenoid. A diesel like rattle at idle and most noticebly start-up is somewhat common, but has no effect on performance or longevity.

They are very easy to work on yourself. With a decent set of tools you could probably do 80-90% of the work the car will ever need.

Maintnence is not cheap on these cars, but its not terrible. Brakes are a fortune for this car, but you can get different brakes. The cheapest you will find OEM or OE rotors is 250 each, but companys like powerslot have other options for much less. Pads are not that expensive.
CLutches wear kinda quick depending on driving style, but aren't that much. Its mostly just the labor to do it, which even then isn't really that hard.

I could go on for awhile, but if you have any specific questions, shoot me a pm. I speak from both sides of the coin, as an M5 owner and a BMW technician, not what I hear or read on the net.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGD6clcfVwk

 

great post, thanks a ton bud!!!!

 

Glad to see Brett (mclarenf3387) chime in. He's a wealth of knowledge when it comes to BMW.

 

Was waiting for him to reply.

He needs to post more.

 

Of course I saw a red M5 with an exhaust on the way home last night. It hurt me. Sounded so amazing. Sigh.

 

wow I just saw prices for M5s. Still out of my realm, but right there with C5 Z06s now. Hmm.

 

Sweet momma jesus.

 

Thats Stuart Appleby's car. He is also the guy who built the M5 ute http://www.m5ute.com.au/