This past weekend I gave my 2002 E39 M5 a thorough inspection. I also changed the oil and swapped the tires side to side to even out the wear. All the fluids were changed last year, so I knew I was in good shape on that front. I’ve now owned the car for over three […]
This past weekend I completed a repair project for a rear wheel on my 2002 BMW M5. In this post from late July I explain how I bent and cracked the wheel. Initially I was thinking replacement rather than repair. I knew color matching was going to be a problem, due to the shadow chrome […]
Earlier this week my E39 M5 had a flat tire, driver side rear. This happened to me while I was traveling on the Washington Beltway, heading north 95/east 495 going from Tysons to Alexandria. The loss of air pressure was very quick, and I pulled off onto a narrow shoulder area as quickly as I […]
When the E39 M5 was first introduced in North America in 2000, it was a $70,000+, top of the line BMW sedan. As such, it came with a list of standard features that were options on lesser models. One of those standard features was Xenon headlights with an auto adjusting feature, which was fairly new […]
Happy holiday wishes to all. Before traveling to be with family this holiday season, I took care of worn sway bar end links on my 1999 M3. Recently I replaced my rear shocks, and not soon afterwards starting hearing a soft clunking sound when turn right and going over bumps. It didn’t affect driveability, and […]
This weekend the battery in my 1999 BMW M3 finally gave out. I bought the car in late 2003, so I know it was at least nine years old and probably was original equipment. The fact it lasted so long is testament to BMW quality a couple of car generations ago. When my car was […]
My 1999 M3 turns 13 this April, one of the last E36 M3 coupes produced. I usually publish a post in April to acknowledge the birthday, starting with this one in 2008. It’s description of how I feel about the car is still accurate today. This year, I decided the car needed new wheels. Last […]
About a week ago I finally adjusted the Bilstein PSS9 suspension on my 2002 E39 M5. As I wrote back in April, the car came with this very expensive and desirable modification when I purchased it. It also came with a Rogue short shift kit, Dinan exhaust and some nice cosmetic mods like sensible grade […]
Last weekend was beautiful in the DC area, and a great time for a little car spring cleaning. I took the snow tires off the 530, swapped out the interior rubber mats for carpet and gave her a thorough hand washing. For the M3, I needed to wash her and then remove the lip spoiler […]
This weekend my 2001 530 got a lot of attention. It was a very productive day — a vibration issue related to new rims purchased in late April was finally resolved, and I replaced both front ABS/speed sensors. Before I dive into the details, a word about owning a BMW out of warranty. Unless you […]