M5.....shall I buy one?

just bought an '01 myself and the day after the VANOS units packed up

but fortunately the car had an extended warranty which IMHO is a must.

look for all the other norms:

as few owners as possible;
fbmwsh;
and i would also recommend the 16:9 sat nav.

i used to have an e55 amg (having had too many bad bmw experiences) but the e39 M5 really is the daddy.

regards

lore

Cyrus said:

Hi guys,

I currently own an E34 3.6 M5 and am considering going E39 M5.

However I have some questions:

What sort of things are common in going wrong with these cars?

Is fuel economy about the same as an e34 M5 or much worse?

Is the build quailty as good? Or do your E39's rattle and squeak?

Are they are robust as the 3.6 M5?

I'm looking at cars with about 90k miles on them, does alot start going wrong at this point?

Answers highly appreciated.

Click to expand...

we call them "approved" used cars over here - i guess it's the same thing.

check out

www.http://www.bmw.co.uk/apm/bmw_auc/0,5214,1260___,00.html

and click on "programme benefits" fo a better idea.

if you're sitting down check out what we have to pay for used cars over here - ouch. BMW dealers charge a huge mark up over here compared to independents.

best way to buy is to find a car that has a BMW warranty (whether new car or used) take it into a delaer for a 124 check and then extend the warranty just before it expires (it is impossible to purchase a warranty for a car whose warranty has already expired).

this way you have peace of mind and save some cash.

regards

lore

c4m5 said:

Does BMW offer "Certified" used cars in England?

Click to expand...

The common problems reported on this board seem to be:

(1) weak clutch that easily fails, especially if you ride it (rev engine too much w/o fully engaging it)
(2) rear sway bar brackets break easily
(3) cupholders break easily and are worthless for holding drinks.

Less common but more serious:

(1) VANOS failures
(2) Cam sensor failures

Occasionally:

HVAC "final stage" failures - this is common to all e39s not just M5s.

For me, so far, knock on wood, just a broken sway bar bracket, one cam sensor replacement and one final stage replacement, all under warranty except the sway bar bracket, which I replaced myself with aftermarket pieces from BeastPower Motorsports.

Some BMW magazines recommend replacement of the water pumps at 60,000 miles as a preventative measure but I've not heard of anyone doing that here. That would be an expensive piece of preventative maintenance. I may, however, at 80k or 100k miles do that, but if I did, I'd also replace the thermostat and all belts and hoses at the same time since the front of the engine would be apart and the block drained of coolant as part of that process. I'll bet that would cost a couple thousand dollars.

As for rattles and robustness, the e39 chassis is superior to the e34.

The driving characteristics of this car are just flat amazing. Get a good example and you'll never regret it.