My German Autobahn Mile Muncher - Le Mans Blue e39 M5

[sreten]

Figured I should introduce my blue beast.

I recently moved to Germany from California and was planning to take my 330Ci ZHP with me, but that turned out to be very expensive and I was forced to sell it.
ZHP was with me for just a month, before that I had Toledo Blue e39 530i. Some may know this as I have a thread for that car.

I live in Berlin and how no need for a car to be honest, but I wanted something fun that I can occasionally drive and wrench on. Even though it makes no financial sense for me, I went for this M5.

I found it in a small village close to Nürburgring. Previous owner was a farmer. Car was on seasonal plates and only driven in summer, so no rust issues which was important to me. Inside is very dusty and filthy, but that will clean up.

It's a 03/2000 pre-facelift model in Le Mans Blue color on two tone silverstone interior and titanium trim.
With the car, I got 4 keys and typical German/European service book that contains no details, just basic stuff.

This is how the car was sitting on the pick up day.

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Filling up at the Nürburgring gas station.



Drive home to Berlin was around 430 miles. My first experience on the Autobahn and in the M5, it was phenomenal.
I drove fast cars and slow cars, but nothing like the M5. It has so much torque and power in each gear, combine that with the V8 sound and every time you put the pedal down it brings a big stupid smile on my face. I just couldn't stop smiling.

First thing was to get some new rubber - Dunlop Sport maxx RT2, $650 out of door.

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To register a car in Germany is a ridiculously long process. I have an appointment in Kfz (like DMV) on the July 20th which I made a month ago!
That means I can't drive the damn thing, but there's nothing stopping me from working on the car.

I wanted to get rid off pre FL headlights and taillights immediately.

Stumbled on amazing deal for brand new Hella Celis taillights for $130! Grabbed a last set at that price.



I've already done few things so I'll just post the rest as I did them in one big post.

I bought facelift headlights, but got screwed over in the process since I bought them online unseen. Prior to buying them, I asked the guy if the headlights have any damage, I'm rebuilding them anyways so as long as the housing doesn't have any damage. He said no.

Package arrived and naturally right headlight had 2 big cracks. The dude didn't want to take them back.



I was thinking about repairing it, but realized it was beyond repair so I bought another right headlight.

Started working on the left one just to find it was most likely from a 2003 model (he said it came off 2001 model) which are glued shut and non bakeable.

Not having the proper tools for the job, I improvised and broke out my $1 cutter, $1 pliers, 1$ flat head and a $20 heat gun.
Was a bit of a struggle, but got the job done after cutting the crap out of it. I started heating up the headlight lens around the edges just to make it soft enough so that my mighty cutter can slice it open.



I had Hella EVOX-r on my 530i and they were fabulous, but this time I decided to try Hella G4 projectors because of better fitment.
Old projector on the left and a new Hella G4 bi-xenon projector on the right. Fits like a glove.



Everything put together with a new headlight covers and adjusters. Don't know why, but love doing stupid sh*t like this.



Not the best comparison, but on the left is the new headlight vs the old one on the right.



Just today I finished installing new headlights and taillights.



Light output. I wired bi-xenon projectors with high beams so now it has quad high beams. Phenomenal thing to have at night.



Rear taillights, as you know, require some work to be done on the body of the car. Had to drill 2 new holes and file bit of metal on one existing opening. On top of that, lower left part needed to be hammered in a bit. Not pretty, but necessary in order to get perfect fitment. Final touch was rust protection on the new holes and touching up with factory color.



Very happy how everything turned out. M5 looks million times better now.

That's all for now. More updates coming!

[auaq]

Nice car and updates. Love my G4 projectors. I couldn't be much happier than before. I can see so much better now during night time.

[dannyzabolotny]

Heck yeah! I'm glad you ended up going with the M5 and not the other car you were looking at. It may not be the most logical choice, but it is the most satisfying one! And with the Autobahn and Nurburgring in your country, you can really use that M5 to its full potential, whereas in the US we have to sneak around the police like criminals if we want to drive fast.

Good call on upgrading the headlights and taillights, they really make the M5 look a lot newer.

[scma528]

Gorgeous M5!!

[DoriDori]

Very nice M5. What's next? Im subscribed for updates!

[Dave Sal]

Outstanding! Moving to the Fatherland and having one of the best German cars ever made. It doesn't get any better than that. Enjoy and looking forward to more pics. Never got a chance to visit Berlin.

[amancuso]

Nice! Welcome to club M5.

[sreten]

Thank you fellas!

Auaq, having good headlights is a must for me. The EvoX-R projectors were one of my favorite upgrades on my 530i. I trust I'll be equally happy with G4 projectors.

Thanks, Danny! Appreciate good tips you gave me.

Berlin is huge and not very car friendly. It's very international. I don't speak German and can getaway with English most of the time.

What's next? Good question. I have tendency to go all in with my cars and replace everything I can think off. With the M5 it all depends how long I will be able to keep it. Owning a car like this in Germany is proving to be quite luxurious. Right now, I want to finally get the registration sorted out and just drive it.
Would love to get some Koni FSD's and replace stock exhaust with Eisenmann exhaust. Stock mufflers are just way too quiet.

All day today I was cleaning up the interior. The car was sitting for a while in country side and dust, dirt just accumulated everywhere.
Part of the deal I made when I bought it was that I will take care of the interior. I know a sane person won't go to the extent I will.

Vacuumed a ton of dirt. Scrubbed every carpet, plastic, holes and cracks I could find in the interior.

When it comes to leather treatment, I usually go with Lexol or Gliptone leather care, but this is Germany so I wanted to try something else.
Found a saddle soap on German Amazon with great reviews and at $12 decided to try it.

Got some before/after shots.
Driver seat before treatment.



After one pass with a brush, soap and water.



Passenger seat.



For the conditioner I didn't want to experiment too much and went with Lexol deep leather conditioner. I hate products that leave leather shiny and sticky, Lexol leaves the leather with soft and matte finish.



To give you a better picture how bad the interior was, I took these pictures on the day i bought.



End product. Now I don't need a hazmat suit to sit in the car.









Tomorrow I should change the oil, replace spark plugs and give it a much needed wash on the outside.

Deserved a beer after a long working day. Cheers!

[edjack]

I prefer Bick 4 on the leather, but that's just me.

If yer gonna park it most of the time, get a smart battery charger.

[sreten]

Don't have that one in Deutschland. Has good reviews on Amazon though.

Hopefully, it won't be parked a lot, but I am planing to get one of those. Thanks!

[pizzaman09]

Super nice! Make me yearn a bit for the LeMans Blue on Caramel M5 I had. You will have fun with it. An e39 M5 is a car I recommend to anyone that wants to own a truly great car before they die.

[sreten]

That sound like a killer combo. Why did you sell it? I agree, truly a great machine. Can't way to try and max it on the Autobahn!

Done few small things. New engine air filter, M3 oil cap, timing chain tensioner.
Was missing adapter for torque wrench to replace spark plugs. Still have to do an oil change, replace cabin air filters, power steering cap and seal, front and rear sway bar links & bushings, clean the engine bay. Then poke around underneath and see what else needs fixing before I take it in for TÜV!



Gave it a basic wash just to remove all the dirt.

[JPR10]

The car is perfect... Only thing I'd change out is the shift knob -- since you use it every time you drive.

Plus, the one in there has seen better days.

[sreten]

Thank you! I aware of that and I actually bought a brand new ZHP shift knob.
Only then I realized that the shift knob in M5 is illuminated and that's kinda cool, but I will most likely replace it.

I wasn't able to find illuminated ZHP shift knob in Germany and would have to order one from US, but I would rather direct that money towards the new steering wheel as I prefer the facelift one much more.

[dannyzabolotny]

Thank you! I aware of that and I actually bought a brand new ZHP shift knob.
Only then I realized that the shift knob in M5 is illuminated and that's kinda cool, but I will most likely replace it.

I wasn't able to find illuminated ZHP shift knob in Germany and would have to order one from US, but I would rather direct that money towards the new steering wheel as I prefer the facelift one much more.

I'm not sure if there was ever an illuminated ZHP knob, but the F10 M5 knob is super similar and has lighting built in. The only downside is that you'll need to do a little bit of crafting to get it to play nicely with the E39.

[sreten]

If you get a retrofitting kit like the one from LeatherZ, it's plug n play, otherwise some splicing of the wires is required.

[esthero]

where did you get the headlight replacement covers?

[sreten]

German eBay. You can also find them on US eBay and from Umnitza. DJ Auto is the brand of the covers.

[esthero]

ah thank you, I've been thinking of getting the same thing but was not sure about the quality of it. but now after seeing your picture, i will definitely get one.

German eBay. You can also find them on US eBay and from Umnitza. DJ Auto is the brand of the covers.

[sreten]

This is my second set and I am happy with them. Try them!

Replaced worn out shift knob with a ZHP shift knob and new surrounding leather since the original is all one piece.



Also got new front sway bar links, spark plugs, cabin filters, new power steering cap and seal.



Discovered why is the oil pan wet. I first thought that the gasket was leaking, but turned out to be solenoid valve on the upper oil pan for the scavenging pump.



New unit is a whopping $1.369. Luckily there are 3 O rings that can be bought separately for around $25. I need to change the oil anyway and hopefully this will fix the issue. Was reading that it's PITA to get that thing out though.

[dannyzabolotny]

Ah yes, those oil solenoids can be a little tricky. I replaced the o-rings on both of them when I had my M5. As I learned after removing them, the trick to remove the bolts and rotate the solenoid so you can get some kind of pry tool under its ears. It'll give a little bit of resistance but should pop out without too much trouble. Lots of oil will come out, even after you've drained the oil, so be warned.

Also, you've been in Europe for barely any time and you're already using periods instead of commas in numbers ($1.369 vs $1,369), nice.

[sreten]

Thanks for the input! Not really looking forward to that, yet again I need to by more tools and parts. Gotta get some big ass pliers, prying tool and picking tool so I can get the O rings out. Sucks not having anything.

It has 3 O rings right? RealOEM shows one more smaller O ring, number 05 on the picture that I'm also planning to get.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=11_2684

Only thing, I don't see that one on the actual pictures of the solenoid valve.



Good eye, but I'm actually European, been here longer than that haha. Born and raised in Belgrade, Serbia.

[dannyzabolotny]

I only replaced the 3 big o-rings. No leaks and no problems after that. Lube up the rings with some motor oil when you're putting it back in otherwise it'll be super tough. Also, make sure to put the o-rings on in the correct order, they're all slightly different sizes. I followed the realOEM diagrams when I was doing mine.

I'm European too, sorta. My dad's Ukrainian and my mom's Russian, but I was born in New York City. I still speak Russian fluently though, it's my first language.

[sreten]

Thanks man! I'll get the 4th one as well just in case, it's only $2. Have to do this sometime next week before TÜV, can't show up with a leaky car.
Although, I did notice that the diff is wet as well, but I'm not touching that for now.

Cool! Lucky you were born in US, not easy for us to come and live in the States. I've been in Cali for 3 years and I miss it dearly. Autobahn and beer are the only things I like in Germany so far.

[sreten]

Finally changed the oil and used that opportunity to fix above mentioned oil leak. Thanks Danny again for the input.

Leak was coming from the upper oil pan solenoid valve which is used to switch the scavenging pumps during high G turns, if my research is correct.

This is how it looks.



It has 3 O-rings all different size and one smaller that's wedged in the groove on upper oil pan. That one was in worst condition, hard and brittle.
The smallest O-ring was trickiest to get out, but overall not a difficult job. $24 for 4 O-rings vs $1,390 for a new solenoid valve.

Drove it a bit across the backyard parking lot and seems this solved it, no more leaks. Fingers crossed it stays like that.

Oil change with my favorite brand, LM 10W60 Race Tech GT1. Engine takes exactly 6.5 liters.



Love Liqui Moly, engine immediately works smoother and Vanos is quieter. Drained BMW TwinPower 10W60 which is what was used so far.

Day before I replaced rear sway bar links and bushings, something that often gets overlooked.



Lastly, cleaned up the engine bay a bit. Power washing the engine is a big no in my book so I used some sort of spray cleaner, brush and water in spray bottle.
Decent results.



Now more or less car should be ready for TÜV.