Thought you might be interested in what's come to light after around 3,000 miles.

I'm pleased to say nothing has broken or fallen off, but hardly surprised. I'm always surprised when I read of problem BMWs, as the cars I've owned have always been ultra-dependable. There was one day when the folding mirrors didn't want to, but that went away without any intervention (and I squirted some WD40 into the hinge). And then the CD changer refused to read any discs for about an hour. Solved when I removed the magazine and put it back in again.......

It does look good in carbon black, but only looks immaculate for about five minutes. Fortunately I have little interest in maintaining a showroom shine and a dirty car is an anonymous car, one of the main reasons I bought it. But not the main reason.

Performance seems consistently good. There's an electronic rev limiter to stop you going silly, that gradually makes more revs available as everything heats up. Takes about 4 miles/5 minutes for all 7000 rpm to be available, which doesn't present any problems. Gearbox is a little stiff from cold but warms up nicely. It's not the greatest change in the world, especially next to an S, but it's bulletproof and easy to find the right gear, up or down the box, when warm.

Mpg is coming in just around 20, which I think is acceptable. The car is either driven very gently or opened right up. So I guess the range is probably between 15 and 25 mpg depending on your mood. I've seen the computer indicate 29 mpg at around 60 mpg but I haven't seen the point in continuing the exercise.

The car uses oil and I'm told this is a known feature. It has used one litre in 3,000 miles, so not really significant. Actually it's slightly less because I know there is a weep from the sump. The oil is mega expensive though, being some special Castrol stuff and the only oil BMW recommend.

The interior is very functional and not what I would call luxurious. I like it, but I can never have enough toys. I like the alcantara headlining (black), the leather seats (black), soft textured dash (black) and the leather door cards (black). Fortunately I like black and it's easy to keep clean. It's also very hardwearing and when clean it would almost pass for a new car, with no seat sagging or shine on the leather or marks on the trim. This one has the metal interior trims, which keep the interior looking up to date and alleviate some of the gloom. The wood which is fitted to some cars just doesn't go with the rest of the interior, and dates it badly. Build quality is exemplary - there simply isn't one rattle or squeak.

I also like the multi-function steering wheel (black), which is nice and thick and has controls for the stereo, cruise and hands-free telephone. The car also has climate, sunroof (which I always like in a car) heated seats and front rear and side airbags; enough stuff really. I'm not used to sat nav so still a bit intrigued by it. I'm sure it's nothing special (it's a 2002 car) but it's a novelty for me and it works well enough, as long as your destination wasn't built after 2002! I'll upgrade it (later software, CD>DVD/later maps) when the right s/h deal comes along, but there's no rush/point at the moment.

The stereo is pretty impressive, featuring something called DSP (digital sound processing?). This has some clever effects so that the system can sound like a cathedral/concert hall/something else I forget. Quite spooky sounding if you are listening to the news, but great for music. I discovered a cassette the other day, hidden behind the motorised front of the sat/nav and computer screen. However, I no longer own any cassettes.

This area also houses the TV, which is another novelty. Picture quality varies from surprisingly good to utter crap depending on where you are. Disables itself when you are on the move but you can still listen, which makes a change from radio news. The strangest feature is the one where you can self-time a supplementary heater to warm the car even though you are nowhere near it. God knows how this works. I like the auto tyre pressure detection - gives me confidence and seems foolproof. It has only chimed and warned me once and the pressure was down on one tyre.

Annoyances? I don't like headlamp washers on any car and this one automatically activates those washers every fifth time you use the single wash/wipe function. It's unnecessary and it irritates me, so I will see what wires I might cut or tubes I might disconnect.

I think it could sound meatier, so I am considering fitting a Tubi system. Again, if the right deal comes along or someone stuffs their M5, but there's no way I'd pay new money for one. I also worry about a louder exhaust becoming tiresome or compromising the refinement of the car.

The performance falls into the 'all you need' category. There hasn't been a single situation where I've wanted more power. There is so much torque (about 370 lb ft) that it can make you lazy. You notice when you are doing this because you don't get the adrenalin rush, even though sixth gear acceleration is more than adequate. Once you start using the gears and the revs again, you are reminded how nutter fast it is. It gives a nice safety margin, on A roads in particular.

Roadholding, steering and handling are interesting. It feels unstickable in the dry (I've conducted no wet experiments) and does have some pretty massive rubber. The mixed blessing is that is that you do realise that any slide is going to occur at very high speeds, where control could be a bit of an issue. If you really push it, you become more aware of the handling and steering.

Steering is not the car's best feature, but it's good, specially with sport engaged. This setting sharpens up the throttle response and weights up the steering, making the car feel much sharper. At very high speeds the car feels faster than the steering, if you see what I mean, so you have to concentrate. Another way of putting it would be slight understeer, but this is at warp velocities. I'm told the steering has some play and this will be adjusted out when it goes for it's next service in three or four thousand miles or so.

Handling is very good indeed, with minimal roll and not at the cost of an uncomfortable ride. I mean for ANY car, not just a large saloon weighing 1700kg. Of course the car will heel over a bit if you want to hurtle round hairpins or roundabouts, but it is a fairly high car. On twisty A roads the handling and roadholding come together and it can really flow along, surprising you with the distances you are covering. In those situations there is zero roll and the car just feels wonderfully together (composed?).

This does mean you catch cars very quickly, frequently unawares, so you learn to expect the unexpected much more. You also learn to temper your right foot because it is very easy to run up someone's chuff if you are impatient when they move over to allow your overtake. Look around and you see crap everywhere. You need to remind yourself that most of the time they are holding you up because they can't go any faster. This is easy to forget.

I think the insurance is about

 

When you said reflections, I was hoping for shiny pictures!

 

what would you like?

I'll take some tomorrow

 

A very good read nonetheless, Pete. It does sound like a lovely beater

How little can a good example be picked up for?

 

A picture's a thousand word, so let's have a few!

 

Gad, brillant review - I work with BMs daily and this is one of the best write-ups of the car I've seen.

It's a car that continues to tempt me; I could just hack the S in now and save myself the massive amount of finance I pay a month, and replace it with a manageable loan and get an Imola Red example (post-2001).

Just a couple of quick questions; as I've never actually driven one yet (driven the E60 V10, and I'm due to drive an E39 M5, an E39 Alpina B10 V8S and a Z8 next week for a feature), how is the clutch action? A lot of owners say it's a bit hefty, but is it...? How's the car in stop-start traffic?

And two, I know comparing running costs of a two-seater roadster and a two-tonne supersaloon is a bit stupid, but is the M5 proving to be a bit of a wallet-lover? Only I would have to use it day-to-day, and would put about 12,000 miles on the clock annually. Do you think it's been much more expensive than the S, or only marginally so?

I'll try and make this an exchange of info - the S62 V8 does use a bit of oil, this is normal, and it is by no means the exception in the BMW range. The M54 (3-litre 231bhp straight-six introduced in late 1999) can use up to a litre of oil every 500 miles. All BMW manuals have a very idiosyncratic notchy feel, especially the heavy-duty Getrag six-speeders in the bigger-engined cars; it's not the most refined shift, but is pleasing and positive in its action. Sounds like yours is fine. I like BMW's manuals.

And we've had a number of owners fit better exhaust systems to the E39 - the results are well worth it. I'd recommend Dinan, Hartge or Schnitzer, or possibly even Milltek or Supersprint (but these last two can be a bit loud and... chavvy!). Thing is, the E39 M5 doesn't really need to be modded, it's so good out of the box.

All the best with it mate, I think the E39 M5 is one of the best cars ever built... I just want to drive one!

Matt

 

Lots of them. Some video would be nice.

 

There is a 5 series shaped BMW in my area, it has a funny badge on it and says AC Schnitzer or something on it. Is this special?

 

Key points:

The car had one largely cosmetic facelift (like the S2000's) in late 01 - easy to tell facelifted cars and they command more money, rightly or wrongly.

Cars are colour sensitive - carbon black generally being the most sought after, but as always, someone will claim to love copper aka babyshit brown

People without it hate it, but the word on the street is that the comms pack (TV, sat nav, telephone and upgraded stereo) is worth

 

[QUOTE=AquilaEagle,Apr 7 2006, 11:01 PM] There is a 5 series shaped BMW in my area, it has a funny badge on it and says AC Snitzer or something on it.