new owner of L.E no. 30 - The Unofficial BMW M5 Messageboard (m5board.com)

Ross D · 21st June 2008, 23:57

First of all I would like to say a big hello to everyone

I have been lurking about in the background for the past 6 months to gather some info on these rare cars before I bought one.I must say the wealth of information on this forum due to the members knowledge is very impressive

Anyway I finally found one

its a 1995 limited edition 30/50
its had 2 owners from new and has covered 124,000mls with f.s.h

I have driven a mitsubishi evo for 3 years and cant put up with its single mindedness anymore (my back hurts and all my teeth have fallen out

)The m5 is much more of an all rounder quiet and comfortable when you want it to be and then if you take it over 4k it turns into a maniac the sound from that engine when it wakes up is fantastic.I had considered an e36 evo simply because they are so much easier to find in good condition and was close on a couple of occasions but im glad I waited for what I really wanted the E34 is everything I expected it feels so special.

I got it up on the ramp last week and gave it the once over.theres a bit of work needing done but nothing serious apart from a slight sweat from one of the rear shockers (bollocks

) but considering what I paid for it the condition is fair.

Done a couple of jobs today.First was the fuel flap hinge (which was doing a good impression of a toilet door at a beer festival

) this cost me less than £6 fom bmw,I considered that this would probably be one of the cheapest parts that I would buy for my car

This point was hammerd home quickly when I paid nearly £200 for my front wheel bearing

thats more like it! bmw kindly supplied it without a new hubnut or the dust cover that lives behind the bearing I found this a bit odd because even when you buy a bearing for a ford escort for less than £20 you get a new nut & circlip with it. Ah well I shall know better in the future when buying parts from bmw to ask exactly what you get.
It was worth it anyway the horrible drone is gone and its also cured a nasty shudder when braking at 80+,bonus

anyway I hope I havent bored you all

Im looking forward to M5 ownership and my time on the board

would show you some pics but dont know how to do it

davidoli · 22nd June 2008, 00:27

Hi and welcome to the forum Ross .

How many E34 M5s did you view before you settled for LE 30/50 ?

Ross D · 22nd June 2008, 01:26

Hi davidoli thanks for the welcome.
Its the first one I viewed
while I was looking there was no cars locally in the age/price range that I wanted.
I had phoned regarding some cars but did not like the feedback until I phoned the owner of this car

When I got there the car wasnt perfect but the guy wasnt asking for crazy money and I managed to get him down a bit more on the price we agreed so the deal was done

M5touring reg · 22nd June 2008, 01:28

Hi, welcome and congratulations.
Not to worry about 'sweat' from the rear-dampers, these are 'allowed' to sweat as long as they do not leak. This is a constructial specific of the EDC-dampers and confirmed by BMW.

Drencher · 22nd June 2008, 03:19

Welcome Ross,

Looks like all the LE's are making they're way to Scotland one by one

Hope you enjoy M5 ownership; I had to carry out the very same repair to my hub just after buying my own LE.

That's now 3 LE's I know of in the central belt including Phlem's over in the East.

Hope you enjoy owning yours as much as I do.

JC

Steve Mac · 22nd June 2008, 09:50

Welcome Ross and congrats on the purchase

True these are a great all rounder and more, also more expensive than spoilt only child supermodel

E34_nut · 22nd June 2008, 12:20

Hi Ross.

I'm really impressed with my LE. It's just the most sensational thing to drive. One of the best wolves in sheeps clothing about ! None of that flashy M5 rear spoiler stuff.

I own #58 of 70 here is Aus.

If you've been hanging round this website for a while you've probably already found this website. Great for finding parts.

Enter your cars VIN at this page
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/select.do...trans=M&arch=0

There's a coupla guys here that have owned more than one !
David's bound to say gidday before too long.

Keep an eye on those rear shocks. There's a company in the UK that can rebuild them for a modest [well in BM terms] price. Costs less if the piston rods don't get severely worn; i.e. don't let them get bad. One of mine had a barely noticeable leak whilst the other was obviously leaking, so I'm in the process of fixing both.

I've just replaced everything that moves in the front end of mine. Some bits probably didn't need it, but after 185,000km, some of it on pretty shocking Aussie back roads, she deserved a little freshen up.

Anyway...... ENJOY.

Rob Plummer · 22nd June 2008, 12:31

Hi Ross and welcome!

I came over from 7 years of Evo ownership about 4 years ago.

The Evo was ballistically quick (up to 100mph) and amazing point to point, but I love the M5 MUCH more........... For me it was nice to get into a car with no turbo and no front driveshafts!!!

FinalEditionE34M5 · 22nd June 2008, 22:59

Ross,

Welcome to E34 M5 ownership, and the board.

Beauty is far-more than skin-deep with these motors - they'll drain you of your funds on a regular basis, but it's worth it if you're in for the long-haul.

- I've had my UK LE for nearly 5 years - I've got to say only this year have I really got it in a mechanical condition that I'm 100% happy with.....

Hang in there - there's plenty of peeps here that can help you - and are more knowledgeable than myself.

Your car is 6 earlier than mine in the VIN range............

...probably made week 2 May 1995 from the build-up of data I've been accumulating on the UK LEs....

legacy260 · 23rd June 2008, 10:04

At Gaydon in August or somewhere more central we should organise an LE meet and line the cars up in production order.