My first M5, with a twist. No pics as of yet

[ViolinARC]

Some more of the (painfully slow) progress. VERY dusty car tho, will shine up better when washed.

Chassis is installed and adjusted to the highest possible setting in the rear, still a little lower than standard but pretty much perfect, front is still way too low, so that's going up about an inch, the goal is just a tad of a drop from the standard ride height.

Brand new headlights, foglights, bonnet emblem, grill and bumper trim installed. The "under-the-engine-covers" still to be attached.

For some reason he has painted the BMW-roundel black on the airbag cover, but I will change that myself or that will take him another week But the rest of the interiour apart from the red bits are absolutely immaculate.

Currenty sits on a set of a much more curb-rashed BBS Challenge than I thought, brand new wheel and tyre combo sits awaiting, still looking for a set of correct Style 65's.

Delivery no later than next week, or by then my patience will be running very thin since may 25th was the original delivery date.

What a tease...

That is one sweet, fire breathing, ticket accumulating BEAST (looks like FUN)!! Good luck sneaking by those speed traps...

[Das Leg]

What a tease...

That is one sweet, fire breathing, ticket accumulating BEAST (looks like FUN)!! Good luck sneaking by those speed traps...

Thanks. I'll post more pics when the car is delivered.

Luckily I live in a large country with a small population and a very good motorway network There will be many late night blasts this summer. I'll never be as old that I don't appreciate a good motorway thrash

[Das Leg]

Finally. Been waiting almost 2.5 months since I took the desicion go get an M5.


So here's some more pics of the car, now named "Admiral Graf Spee" Cruiser size, big guns (Well, not really)


Took delivery late last night so I haven't driven it more than 20 miles, but everything seems to check out, it's loud, very rapid and tracks straight. Chassie-wise it feels like a new car, pretty much every bushing the suspension is new as are the struts, so there is no squeaks or rattles what so ever.


It came as mentioned before with 2 sets of wheels and tyres, a very rough set of BBS Challenge 19" with a mixed bag of tyres, some Nankans up front and Achilles?? In the rear (never heard of) Had the BBS's been in better shape I would have gone with those and sold the Dotz that are on the car in the pics, but it'll be the other way around. The BBS set will be sold and I'll run with the other set which is brand new on new tires until I can find a set of the correct Style 65's, I'm not really a fan of black wheels nor 19" wheels, hence the search for a correct set, but funds are not un-limited atm


Had the car in for the yearly mandatory check-up this morning, passed w/o any advisories, and got complimented for the very good condition. It's drier than the Namib desert underneith, should be aswell since pretty much every seal in the entire drivetrain is replaced with new items.


Immidiate plans are to put the stock airboxes back in place, source a few replacement inner trim pieces, I like the red bits but I still want the car to be stock inside atleast. Also get the tracking done. And give the car a really good polish since the paint is very dull, being 17 years old it probably had a full or partial re-spray at some point, so the paint is maybe 7/10. I can live with that.


I was a little worried that the new chassie would ruin the ride and was surprised that it's actually quite comfy, it's stiff, but not S-line Audi bone jarring stiff...


And the Borla cat back is properly loud on acceleration but quiet at cruising speed.






Some pics:


Bonding wash





At the MOT station














Bilstein coil-overs





New Steering wheel and red trim...





Cold start in the garage, it's louder irl... and settles down after a minute

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdg1...ature=youtu.be

[amancuso]

Congrats, nothing beats a nice M5!

[NordmanMg]

Someone put butload amount of money into that car , good for you

[JPR10]

So.. will it be a daily? Or a garage queen/ weekend warrior?

[dannyzabolotny]

Congrats! It looks pretty good, that paint should polish out nicely.

The first thing I'd do is retrofit the facelift taillights— no point in keeping the old taillights with the front all facelifted. Take a road trip down to Schmiedmann and pick up the Hella retrofit kit. That's what I used for my 2000 M5— it comes with ballasts to make the LED tails plug and play without throwing any warnings.

Photo May 23, 10 34 34 PM.jpg

[Das Leg]

Someone put butload amount of money into that car , good for you

He has indeed, looked thru the reciepts last night, 12 grands worth, not including any work...

[Das Leg]

So.. will it be a daily? Or a garage queen/ weekend warrior?

The idea right now anyway is to have it as a weekend car and the occational trip to work. As long as I own it it will never see another salty, gritted winter road, nor will it have to endure any sub zero cold starts again either. Ever.

- - - Updated - - -

Congrats! It looks pretty good, that paint should polish out nicely.

The first thing I'd do is retrofit the facelift taillights— no point in keeping the old taillights with the front all facelifted. Take a road trip down to Schmiedmann and pick up the Hella retrofit kit. That's what I used for my 2000 M5— it comes with ballasts to make the LED tails plug and play without throwing any warnings.

Photo May 23, 10 34 34 PM.jpg

Danny, funny you should say that. I forgot all about those. The car came with a set of facelift ones with ballasts and everything. The pre-ones on the car are brand new however.. But I will install the FL ones.

[Das Leg]

Fitted the stock airboxes today, made quite the difference at low speeds or in town, no heatsoak what so ever, and hopefully no quickly ruined mafs..

Made the intake sound alot more muted aswell.

20170617_125210.jpg

[Das Leg]

Regarding the Bilstein B14's I have a few questions, you guys that are running them may chip in.

I took the car to a small M/Alpina gathering a few days ago and on the way home i decided to see how fast it would go, and before I upset anyone with top speed pulls on a public highway I will stress that it was late in the evening and no traffic, Sweden is the size of California but with a population of 10 million, so there is no traffic at night.

Car pulled happily and sharply in 6th w/o downshift from 80 mph to a speedo indicated 177 mph, 173 on the GPS, so the car is de-limited it would appear.

However, over 130 it felt anything but rock solid in the rear, felt like it wandered a bit, it was a little un-nerving tbh. And above 160 a sharp but light vibration appeared from the right rear. Up until 120 the shocks felt nothing short of brilliant, but above that it was clear that ground frost for 6 months a year makes for bumpy roads and the B14's are just too stiff. I can live with it anyway. I don't driive like a hooligan for 99.5% of the time anyway. But the loose-ness and vibrations will be hunted down.

What's your input? Subframe bushes? Something else. The front end felt very stable indeed however.

[dannyzabolotny]

Have you checked the lower ball joints in the rear? They wear out and can cause some wandering, and a lot of people don't replace them due to it being kind of a hassle.

[auaq]

Replace your ball joints along with the integral links. I would also advise to replace the subframe bushings too. Perhaps it is time to refresh the rear end.

[Das Leg]

Have you checked the lower ball joints in the rear? They wear out and can cause some wandering, and a lot of people don't replace them due to it being kind of a hassle.

Thanx Danny, and No I haven't but will. Can you point me towards a partnumber or matbe a schematic so I know which ones it is?

[auaq]

#2

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=33_0519

- - - Updated - - -

You need a special tool for it to r&r the ball joints unless if you can make your own home made and make it work. Search it on eBay.

[Das Leg]

Replace your ball joints along with the integral links. I would also advise to replace the subframe bushings too. Perhaps it is time to refresh the rear end.

Thanks for the real oem pics, makes it a little easier to grasp what parts there is.

I'll replace the ball joints in the winter, and I have a friend with a lift, so I'll see if I can get the subrame ones replaced aswell. Integral links are new.

Thanks for the help guys.