M5 Buyer's Guide?

Hey, Veeky Forums.

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I think it's time to finally pop my BMW M cherry.

I'm going to start saving up for a BMW M5. Late 90's-ish to mid 00's seems to be the sweet spot.

I'm currently DD'ing a Fiesta ST and I want something sporty, luxurious, and roomy for the weekend.

Any advice on what to look for? What kind of mileage(s) vs. price would seem reasonable? Common problems?

I appreciate any and all advice, stories, or knowledge anybody here has to convey.

Cheers.

Other urls found in this thread:

dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/5683298027.html
dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/5667961596.html
dallas.craigslist.org/mdf/cto/5681827309.html
dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/cto/5686620772.html
dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/5679265532.html
e39source.com/archives/2538)
sacramento.craigslist.org/cto/5644287606.html
milanuncios.com/bmw-de-segunda-mano/bmw-m5-205343777.htm
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idk if a late 90s car would be any luxurious but it is quite roomy for sure
there aren't many issues on the E39 M5 but you should ask if the rod bearings have been replaced at any point

>late 90's to early 2000's
so you want an E39
probably easier to phrase it that way

Well, I'm not opposed to the e60 M5s, as well.

That V10 sounds heavenly.

Any idea how many maximum miles I should be looking at? I've heard that the naturally aspirated engines BMW made in the 90s and 00s are still considered relatively bulletproof.

Okay then, for the e60, common problems include:
>the engine
>the transmission
>every accessory relating to engine or transmission
>the car
It does sound good and it is a nice luxobarge though.

idk about a "maximum mileage" but i've seen a 220k mile E39 running just fine
you should look at the cars condition more than at its actual mileage honestly

It's much less about mileage than service records. Look up a maintenance guide on bimmerforums with predicted failures of certain parts and go over them with the owner to see which have been done. Rod bearings are an important item on the E39s.

>timing chain/guides
>entire cooling system
>clutch

E39s are goat.

Thanks a bunch, guys.

i have an '99 M5, and i'll give you some input

the car itself is absolutely glorious, but for the love of god, please do spend an extra £5k or whatever to get a good one. as previously mentioned, dont get one with shabby service history. the BMW mechanics might be "bend over and bite the pillow" levels of expensive but they do know what they are doing, i'd have to admit that i've done some semi sneaky shit to mine, but i'm pisspoor and i wont ever sell it

at about 100k the water AND fuel pup gives in, make sure they are both changed unless you want to do it yourself.

if you plan on doing track driving, you better spend some money on better brakes and at least dot 7 brake fluid, because it will boil otherwise.

i think its the same for most cars in this size/ power, but the clutch is often a bit tired, if driven by an idiot. and because its a BMW, its sadly not that uncommon.

about the color, while the "unidentifiable black sedan" is very appealing, the Carbonschwarz is (while being absolutely beautiful, and blue-purple-black color shifting) somewhat hard to keep clean, and rain will leave some little faggot droplet marks that i have to wash off every god damn week. get blue or something instead

hope this helps, maybe even a little bit towards getting maybe the best BMW ever made

FALSE ALARM OP DOESNT HAVE THE MONEY


HE IS LITERALLY DREAMING

all the e39 m5's ive seen on craigslist were carbon black with cinnamon interior

i really like them, but are there any risks of getting a "high mileage" M5 as long as most of the things that shit the bed have been replaced?

all the ones i've seen have between 140k and 195k miles.

>op can't afford a car thats worth 15k tops
>implying

You are getting a shit M5 for 15k. OP needs at least 20k.

lol, mine is black with cream/ cinnamon interior

...and that is a lot of milage. where is this more specifically, and how much do they usually ask for them?

if you have read up on it, and see the things that can go bad have been replaced, it could very well work.

mine crossed 100k a few days ago, so its not that high. actually, firing up a used car site, not really anyone has under 100k. and they are asking about 15k down to under 8

Hydraulic gearbox pump on the auto e60 m5s. Red gear on dash = 4000 dollar pump

that is not an M5 i think. M5s should have rounded mirrors

Where does it say it is an M5?

oh well no where then. maybe i got up in the spirit, being an M5 thread and being parked next to an M3 and all

here's the ones i was talking about

all fucking carbon black on cinnamon

dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/5683298027.html

180k

dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/5667961596.html

175k

dallas.craigslist.org/mdf/cto/5681827309.html

142k

dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/cto/5686620772.html

192k..


this ones 107k

dallas.craigslist.org/dal/cto/5679265532.html

good call, i didn't notice it.

well, fuck me

the most expensive one in the entirety of sweden (apart from one 600hp supercharged thing) has about 80k miles and costs about 15k

cheapest one is under 9k, but it has 130k miles on it

get ready for a bagillion dollars in repair costs.

>Square mirrors
These are not M5's

Probably sport package standard models.

Ok an any trim e39 would be much more "luxury" than most cars on the road right now

Having owned an E39 M5 (2003) here's what I can tell you.

The S62 has the same VANOS, timing chain, and cooling problems as the M62 in the 540 and 740.

> VANOS rattle, loss of low end torque
> Timing chain guides re plastic, and known to wear away, especially with failing tensioners
> Typical BMW V8 cooling problems (plastic impeller on water pump, coolant expansion tank leaks, fan clutch failures, easy enough to fix)
> Valve cover gaskets leak

And as an added bonus:
> A perfectly healthy S62 will, by design, burn exactly 1QT oil every 3000 miles (e39source.com/archives/2538)

All that said, the only "real" problem I had with mine was the cup holders. It would have been better had it not included any, and in the end I just deleted them.

>Tfw there's only a single M540 near me
>52k miles
>9.8k asking price

>it's an auto

sacramento.craigslist.org/cto/5644287606.html

Damn those are expensive there. Im looking at this one. What do you guys think?
milanuncios.com/bmw-de-segunda-mano/bmw-m5-205343777.htm