15-Year Investment in my E39 M5
This past April marked 15 years since I purchased my 2002 E39 M5. I was very stoked about it at the time, and it continues to give me a lot of enjoyment. As subscribers here know, I’ve turned the maintenance and upkeep of my two M cars into a hobby.
As performance German cars go the car has been very reliable. The DIY program with the local BMWCCA chapter has allowed me to do some of the maintenance myself. But the car is almost 25 years old, and more extensive and more complicated preventive maintenance was starting to accumulate. Officially, the club does not allow members to tackle a job expected to take more than two hours.
For almost a year I’d been thinking about replacing the radiator and the expansion tank. The coolant temperature varied a lot based on how hot the day was, sometimes reaching 100 C per the unlocked cluster reading. That’s not enough to move the buffered temperature gauge, but I wanted to be proactive. Also, the last time I had the car on a lift I saw that the guibo or driveshaft flex disk was cracking. So I started stockpiling parts.
I bought a replacement expansion tank over two years ago and missed a recent and ridiculous price increase. I also found a great deal on a replacement guibo and center support bearing on the Facebook owner’s group classified listings. RockAuto had a good price on the OE radiator made by the same company that supplies BMW. But this was not work I could tackle with my modest DIY skills. I needed a professional who was skilled and trustworthy.
I went with a respected independent mechanic who had invited the club in for DIY events in the past. So we sort of knew each other anyway, and I knew he was a real enthusiast. I’m not naming his shop because he doesn’t usually allow customers to bring in their own parts. He let me do so, which I greatly appreciated. However, it soon became apparent that those parts would only take a small bite out of the total bill.
There are knowns and unknowns when you bring your car to a third party. In this case the knowns were the guibo and the radiator. I also knew the car was leaking a small amount of oil. The labor time for the guibo is substantial; the radiator is less so. But as the work progressed the mechanic found oil leaking from both the upper and lower oil pans. The upper pan requires the engine to be suspended and the subframe to be dropped to access it. Uh-oh.
He also found that the tensioner arm, which keeps the serpentine belts taut, had to be replaced. He also told me the valve cover gaskets were leaking, but I’m going to get my DIY mojo back by tackling that job at home. It does not require raising the car and I can take my time with it. More on that this fall.
All told the cost was more than a mortgage payment. But rather than wailing and gnashing teeth, I’m pretty OK with it. It truly was an investment in work that needed to be done before something caused a breakdown. I’ve no doubt that my mechanic was honestly sharing everything he found about the work needed.
I’m not going to be the kind of owner who keeps his car looking sharp while important maintenance work is neglected. The M5 is an amazing vehicle and deserved this 15-year investment. I actually feel kinda good about it.
But I sure hope the M3 doesn’t ask for its investment any time soon. After all, it’s only 20 years old!
