Opinoins on e39 M5s

[Hoffbrohaus]

Thats why you stay away from the motors made in the years affected. E39 M5's are great cars but you have to look for the right year build.

That's what I'm going for here. So it sounds like 2002 or 2003 M5 that doesn't have tampon red interior may work. Preferably black on black. The 2003 Range Rover I had for 2 months had an M62 and quickly had 44+ codes show up including some vanos mess. But I think the RR was running a '99 version of the M62.

I see the 2004+ are more valuable but mostly because they have lower miles, I just don't like the styling as much. Those tail lights look like bat wings to me and not a fan of the headlights either.

Something like this on autotrader?

[jrossowvue30]

The one posted by OP is overpriced IMO. It was my understanding that all of the 01+ are better than the earlier ones. I would get an early one but it would have to be under 10 grand. Facelifted ones seem to go for $12-15k and I would feel comfortable spending that kind of coin on one of these cars with the right conditions. I don't know much about the cost of ownership of one but it can't be too bad assuming you can avoid anything catastrophic. 2003 was the last year of the e39, 2005 was the beginning of the e60 M5 production. I happen to DD an e60 and actually like the looks but I know I'd be in a minority on this site.

[Swendog]

I looked into an E39 M5 as a DD when I sold my E36 M3 a few years ago. I wanted something with 4 doors, a little more modern but with balls and handling. You are buying a car with a $16K Motorsport engine. I spoke with a top tier shop in NJ that only works on BMWs. I looked at and drove a few. Amazing cars. But expensive to maintain. Probably not as bad as a Range Rover, but unless you have a complete maintenance history-as in all receipts etc, you should plan on a healthy budget for care and feeding- assuming that you won't be able or willing to do all the work yourself. I ended up buying a 2004 330i ZHP- it's a great DD- no M car- but a nice overall package and relatively cheap to maintain. Just my 2 cents!

[cg138]

Dat misinformation in here.

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E39 M5 was sold for model years 2000-2003 in the US. 00 was the pre-facelift and 01-03 are the post facelift. During the facelift, headlights, taillights, steering wheel, instrument gauges, navigation system, interior options, and a few color changes and other minor things were the only changes. There were other color/option changes in the different model years, but all relatively minor. There were really only 2 mechanical updates: 3/00 for revised piston rings and 9/00 for updated (quieter) VANOS. There aren't really specific delineations in electrical and engine issues, it's really more how the cars were maintained. If you find one that wasn't maintained and already had issues, well then yeah, it's going to be expensive to own. These cars require things as they go wrong to be fixed, and fixed properly, but if done, they are reliable, with that said, you should budget an average 1-2k per year in maintenance, maybe less if you do all the work yourself.

The secondary air pump system issue is like that thread mentioned, a cold start emissions issue. I'm pretty sure that system is also fitted on RoW cars, but it's just not active unlike the US cars. If the code for that comes up, the easiest method is to just disable the ECU check on it, it doesn't impact drivability at all. There's been huge threads on this, but no consensus on what makes a car more likely to have it. There are cars that get it with very low mileage, and some with very high mileage that still doesn't have the issue, though the likelihood of encountering it is probably correlated with the mileage on car, and this is on both early and late cars. A late car is no guarantee, though, that you won't see or run into that issue.

The E39 M5 is an incredible daily driver. I've owned mine for almost 2 years/30k miles, including a long road trip down the Pacific Coast to SoCal. It has all the comfort, power, pace and handling that I need, and it hasn't costed me that much money to maintain.

The E39 M5 market is starting diverge. The beat up ones with lots of issues can be had for dirt cheap, but the low mileage, well maintained examples are starting to go up, and pristine examples are going for crazy money.

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For the particular example you listed, color is whatever you prefer. Personally hate the two tone interiors, but some people love them. A few issues with the car: rear M5 badge is in the wrong place (why? has the trunk been replaced? accident repair?), check the records and front end for potential previous repairs (probably non-original radiator core support, it's missing xenon headlight stickers and an oil sticker that is NLA), hood is also missing color and catalyst/emissions sticker (why remove it? was hood repainted at some point?).

Good news is it's got the sunshade and the rear parking sensor options.

This is overpriced. Lots of money for a relatively uncommon car, but it's got a lot of issues, and for the year and mileage, you can do better.

[cramer]

I've had my 2001 for over 11 years and 70k+ on daily driver duty. When something breaks, it's more than your standard E39, but short of a failed fuel pump, this car has never let me down. I would not consider it a maintenance nightmare or a ticking time bomb. If you are going to have a shop do all your work, then yes, it could get spendy to do regular upkeep.

As previously mentioned several times, go for a 2001 or newer. You not only get the engine updates, but you get all the face lift items, Celis tails and headlights, updated steering wheel, 16x9 nav, etc etc.

BTW, I like the two tone interiors that come in the sports. I don't like the luxury seat patterns and wood trim. I do wish the all leather dash the luxury has, came in the sports.

[jpod999]

For the particular example you listed, color is whatever you prefer. Personally hate the two tone interiors, but some people love them. A few issues with the car: rear M5 badge is in the wrong place (why? has the trunk been replaced? accident repair?), check the records and front end for potential previous repairs (probably non-original radiator core support, it's missing xenon headlight stickers and an oil sticker that is NLA), hood is also missing color and catalyst/emissions sticker (why remove it? was hood repainted at some point?).

Good news is it's got the sunshade and the rear parking sensor options.

This is overpriced. Lots of money for a relatively uncommon car, but it's got a lot of issues, and for the year and mileage, you can do better.

The wheels have been painted incorrectly too.

To the OP: Definitely overpriced for a 2000. I had a 2002 M5 from 2012-2013 with 125k on it and I picked it up for $14k. I bought it site unseen and had it transported from Indianapolis to the Bay Area, I would not recommend this.

[tajj]

Just as a head's up. If you'd looking to buy an '01, it needs to be after 9/01 I believe as that's when the S62 was updated to address the carbon issues.

[KingJaffeJoffer]

My opinion is biased as I have owned my 02 for 5.5 years, but they are fabulous cars IMO. Styling, performance and function all rolled into one. Not much to add as current owners and previous posters in the thread have covered the major points. If you are serious about buying one, you need to head over to M5Board. Tons of information there that goes back many, many years. As with my newly-acquired E30, the E39 M5 will never be sold.