2001 E39 M5 [Diary]

[gconry18]

Late last year I started itching to get myself a new Daily Driver to save my 328i (328i Diary) from the 81km a day work trip and allow me to work on it as a restoration project. I was looking at an E90 320d or 330d or even and E60 530d which I went and test drove.

Soon I gave up on looking for a new daily driver to looking for an E46 M3 for weekends since they were in the same price range. The 328i would stay my daily workhorse.

I was dead set on an M3 and no one could convince me otherwise.

A recent trip up the west coast in my 328i convinced me. After arriving at my destination sore from all the harsh bumps and jolts along the road I knew I did not need another small sporty/harsh coupe, I need a good weekend cruiser... But I did not want to give up the idea of an M car.

ENTER THE M5 raise: The best of both worlds. Big, but not cumbersome, comfort without compromising driver feel (I feel the road and the bumps but without the harsh jolts the 328i would give me) and with enough go to be a sports car and a cruiser.

The reveal was done on pg 3 of this thread: M5 Reveal

After 1 week of ownership it is time to start my diary of the beast.

I do not have many photos to start with as I am too busy driving it

Here She is:

More pictures, the first diary update and my usual to-do lists will follow shortly.

 

[Wes]

*In before Rob's drool..

Excellent choice of car, looking forward to your future diary entires :thumbs:

 

[Wizard$]

Excellent choice - keen to see what upgrades/changes you plan in the future!
I'm seriously considering changing the stock nav & radio!

 

[gconry18]

Update #1 - Update Navigation Computer Software

So the night I pulled into the garage after picking her up, I knew this would be the first thing to do.

After running through the initial update I was stuck with the 'insert key CD' and no writeable CDs left in the house. So I raced to seven 11 at 10:55 at night. Caught the cashier as she was getting into her car to leave and she was nice enough to grab a CD for me.

Wrote the key CD, inserted it, and all was shiny and new.

The upgrade adds a split screen mode and the screens are styled so they do not look as dated. A very nice upgrade.

The Old:

The New:

And best of all, when I get into the car:

 

[Andy1GP]

Such a great car. So much respect for owning one. raise:

 

[Twinz]

Great thread.
Once again congrats. I will be visiting this thread often. The ///M looks desirable raise:

 

[slotcars1]

Such a great car!!!

 

[Straight six]

That is a stunner....

Awesome Car......Enjoy her...safely:rollsmile::rollsmile:

 

[RAArmstrong]

*In before Rob's drool..

Excellent choice of car, looking forward to your future diary entires :thumbs:

LOL! :roflol::roflol::roflol:

Rob is drooling :inlove::inlove::inlove::inlove:

Check this YouTube channel out as well: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK2CGqOui50uyVa6-H_o8nA

Lots of good DIY's posted there :thumbs:

 

[gconry18]

Update #2 - All new Tie Rods

So before I bought the car, the seller and I took it for a roadworthy. Two minor issues caused a failure of the test.

1. The center rear seat belt buckle was under the seat... :flyfun: Stupid roadworthy guy... This took me 30 seconds to fish out.

2. The right tie rod ball joint had some play in it which caused a bit of a noise with small steering movements. The seller and I agreed on going halfway for this fix but buying the parts and getting them installed is on me.

So I thought I would do the job properly and replace all three the tie rods. I got a great price from BMW for the center (20% off coz M car :rollsmile and the left and right are Meyle parts from our legendary Moranor :ty:

I have an appointment early tomorrow morning at Garage 808 to have these installed. While I can install these myself I decided to use Garage 808 as the previous owner always used them and I would like to keep their relationship with the car.

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Check this YouTube channel out as well: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK2CGqOui50uyVa6-H_o8nA

Lots of good DIY's posted there :thumbs:

I literally watched every video on this channel before even seriously considering buying the M5. I like to know what I am getting myself into beforehand

 

[RAArmstrong]

Ryan has done a good job with the channel! Thinking about getting some future 530d DIY's posted there... Its a good platform... Anyway... Back to drooling :rollsmile:

 

[OppositeLockMT]

The colour combination with the wheels is stunning.

 

[ChefDJ]

raise:raise:raise::inlove:

 

[UpNcOmiNg!]

:inlove:
What an absolute beaut!
This is what made me fall in love with the colour Silverstone as well as Imola red!
What a beaut of a car! Wish you many happy comfy loud miles bud.

Note to self, I need a V8 in my life one of these days

 

[Ga-3M]

Epic car bud!!! Still one of my favourites!!raise: Big capacity V8 NA M Power!!:thumbs:

 

[zabbo]

Great stuff raise:

 

[mbl]

Beautiful car mate, wishing you many happy and enjoyable KM's..

 

[gconry18]

Update #2 - Continued

So this morning I went to Garage 808 to get my new tie rods installed. I had a bit of a wait before they could take the car in so I decided to get some pics.

Since Joe's Radiators is right next door I popped in and had a little chat with Nasser.

Eventually my car was taken in and I settled down with a top gear magazine in the waiting room. I read many many interesting things... Then I got to this and declared that I have had enough reading

Took a quick snap of the car being worked on

After another hour or so the car was done and I went to have the alignment done.

I am not really happy with the alignment job as I need to turn the wheel a bit when driving straight. I had them swap the front wheels around but the issue persisted. I will have it fixed at a later stage once the new tie rods have settled.

Took it back to the roadworthy center and with some persuasion the car passed.

Big thumbs up to Garage 808 :thumbs: Very Friendly, and Great Workmanship.

 

[ChrisBrand]

Colin is the man!

Glad roadworthy is sorted now! :thumbs:

 

[gconry18]

Colin is the man!

Glad roadworthy is sorted now! :thumbs:

Now I just need to get those intakes plastidipped :rollsmile: