Need advice/input/insight-e39m5t

[duyvinhdao]

Im from North Jersey and have been enjoying an 540T for a last couple of years. It's my spare car and barely drive. However, it gives me so much joy every time I'm behind the wheel. So i would like to upgrade that feeling. I'm not a sedan person so a M5 is not appealing. I saw there's an SC option for the 540T. But i prefer a M5T.
I was seriously thinking about the recent appearance of the one on BaT. But the dual-tone interior is not to my liking. I understand that seeing another gem for sale is a loooooooong wait. But I'm willing. its rarity is also my biggest concern. Hence, this post. I hope to get some insight into couple of my primary concerns.
1. Im assuming the known issues of the 540 and M5 applied here. But what about the electrical, programming, and etc? From reading built threads, they seem unique.
2. Would these "unique" problems can be identify and resolve by a quality/master technician/shop?
In the end, I want to upgrade the joy when in a 540T. Im financial willing to pay for BMW maintenance and repair cost. But i don't really want to be an obstacle like driving/towing a couple hours to a specialty shop and just have it sit there. Thank you for reading my post and your insight.

-Duy

[Pelican Parts]

Hi Duy - there is no such thing as an E39 M5 Touring edition, the one you saw was a conversion. There is an E60 (E61) touring version of the M5, but it is not sold in the states.

[StRaNgEdAyS]

The M5T is a Touring with an S62 swap. Hence the rarity, it was never a factory option.
A decent Indy shouldn't have much drama with them. A BMW workshop I'd imagine wouldn't either.
The S62 has the same Vanos issues as the TU engines, but the timing chain guides seem to have a significantly longer life span.
Because it's a conversion, you'll want to be extra diligent with your PPI and be sure it includes a full scan of the car. The mechanical side it pretty much plug and play, as everything is there to facilitate the manual transmission already, it's the electrics that differed enough to warrant a close examination there before purchase.

*Disclaimer: my brain has been on holiday these last few days so do verify my information before running with it *

Absinthe makes the tart grow fonder

[dannyzabolotny]

If the interior is the only thing you don't like, just buy it and swap the interior. That'll be a lot easier than waiting forever for another one to pop up. All M5t's are custom builds, so they don't pop up for sale very much.

[DennisCooper]

Hi,

Plenty of us E39 Touring owners, along with other series BMW owners have for years now thought of and dreamt about an E39 M5 Touring conversion and build and some of the 'early' pioneers who did the swap and the load of work into figuring things out to make them work/function properly have legendary status! so do many of the enthusiasts who've in recent years actually done more conversions ! I'm also one who'd love this conversion too!

As per above, every E39 M5 Touring you've seen is a custom build and there's a few 'legendary' threads on this forum and M5board (perhaps others too) where all aspects of the challenge have been covered, documented, photographed and discussed. There's also varying levels of conversion but most seem to be ones where owners want the 'oem look' as if 'BMW' themselves had offered the M5T model officially. Aspects of these builds push the pricing up considerably, i.e having the rear seats custom trimmed so that they match the front seats, ensuring the rear wash/wipe function works correctly, the SLS system (if kept) works properly and that the ECU's/any coding work is well executed. For me, when I do my conversion (my fingers remain crossed I can!) I've already simplified things as I would omit plenty of aspects and 'oem look' aspects - these would include the rear wash wipe delete (I've not had my rear wiper on my Touring work for over 8 years now and I don't miss it really), I'd not need to refit the loom for the oem audio/phone/antennas etc, I'd not need the SLS setup, I wouldn't need the M5 seat patterns/colours for the leather for the rear (or front) seats etc.

There's plenty of information in all these threads for you to commission your own project and provide your reputable and experienced mechanic with details from the threads in order for him to understand and do the work all at an agreed labour rate due to the knowledge being there. This could be one route you take to an M5 Touring. The chances of an existing example coming up for sale is small, but never say never. That said, it might be years till one comes up again or, it might be next week!

The other way is to approach the awesome guys like M5 Jed in CA and Blackknight, Redshift, RVAE34 and a few others in the North Carolina area and send them wads of those Hundrid Dolla Bills and have them create a car for you

I'm sure those who've supercharged their 540's have also given great thought into doing an M5 conversion as well and then have chosen to have the resulting performance boost within a few short weeks that it takes for a supercharger project would take to do from thought to driving instead of months off the road that a typical M5 Touring conversion will take from thought to turn key.

Cheers, Dennis!

[duyvinhdao]

Thank you all for your insight.
@Strangedays - very encouraging with the fact that unique problems could be solve locally by BMW specialized shops.
@dannyzabolotny - You are right about the interior. But I'm not crazy in love with the exterior color as well. I had a X6 in similar exterior hue and never got into it.
@DennisCooper - I went through your built leisurely a couple times just to get a high level of understanding. I never thought about an idea of having those N. Carolina/Virginia pioneers built another one. Maybe 1day you will get that itch again, decide to sell your, and built another. Yours color combo is by far my favorite. Most of my materialistic things is in black or white.

While monitoring the M5T on BaT, i saw GMSWAGONS stated that they had another white M5T and would be on auction soon. However, it never did. I guess someone scooped it up. With all the associated man hours involved, its price range of 25-30K is encouraging.