I got together with a friend and fellow enthusiast this weekend. He recently purchased a beautiful 2001 Royal Red M5, and he’s a great example of enthusiast BMW ownership.
This enthusiast is a USAF retiree who has been honing his auto repair skills gradually for almost 30 years. He doesn’t want his name used, but gave me the green light to share his story.
His stable of well maintained BMWs doubles mine up — he and his wife own the M5, a 1998 M3, a 2001 Z3 and a 2000 328i. Previously he also owned a 2003 Topaz 540i M-Sport, but felt the pull of the E39 M5. He found his car on a used car lot, which meant it didn’t have any maintenance records. Unlike most of us, he was able to perform his own pre-purchase inspection (PPI).
That gave his enough information to buy the car. The car had 95,000 miles at time of purchase, so he set out to address both issues he’d seen during inspection and items that needed to be replaced as preventative maintenance. Over the past two months, he’s done DIY work on the following:
- Oil change and new dip stick seal
- Replaced power steering hoses and canister
- Replaced oil separator
- New sway bar end links
- Replaced thermostat — his tip to fellow DIYers, insert O rings by pushing in from the front, not the sides
- New floor mats
- Spring time work — spark plugs, fuel and air filters, full Inspection II, professional wheel restoration
The car came with some high quality modifications. It has a Hartge performance exhaust and an aFe air intake system. He wants to drive this car for years, and is treating it accordingly.
Even if an owner had to pay a shop for all this work, it would be worth it for this car. But his ownership experience is even sweeter because he can tackle these projects himself, on his timetable.
Royal is a beautiful burgundy and rare E39 color
Interior is caramel, in almost perfect condition
Engine bay, with aFe intake on right
This Royal Red M5 is looking great.Its Interior is just fabulous.