Oh dear.
Unfortunately, that was a weak point on the E39 M5.
Exactly the same thing happened to mine.
I was driving down to Sodwana, during the time of the major roadworks going on down there and klapped a pothole.
A few KM later, the diff mount broke.
Yes, I'm sure driving style contributed to the failures happening a little quicker than not, but it's inevitable for anybody who drives an E39 M5 the way they should be driven. In fact, "drifting" isn't any more taxing on that part of the subframe than pulling off in or driving in rush-hour traffic. It's a twisting effect from torque transfer down the drive shaft.
Gizmo said:
Bad things happen when DSC is turned off, keep it on.
That's a silly thing to say, dude.
The issue, both the weakness of the part and the cause (which is axle hop), has nothing to do with switching off DSC.
A lot of M cars will axle hop in unfavourable traction conditions in the wet. It's the suspension geometry.
Eon, I wouldn't question the maintenance and care given to any E39 M5 that was owned by guys who frequent these sorts of forums. It's a helluva solid car.
The weaknesses were mostly all suspension related.
It's 15 years old, and will need maintenance and TLC.
The sub-frame is not the same as the rest of the 5 series.
Like you said, the part numbers are different.
Check on M5Board.. I think the difference was simply regarding torque handling or overall strength. (Although I recall the diff mounting being slightly different or something)
