Purchased a new ride! (M5 content)

AH OH Oh oh... sorry, gotta go take care of something... damn that's a nice car.

docwyte wrote: Bastid! I'd love one of those, but not a great mix with the Colorado winters...

You're just making excuses. Get a set of snows and it's no worse than any other E39. It's no Subaru, but you don't HAVE to use full throttle all the time...

The blue/tan is a well-regarded color combo to be sure. It's my second choice after Jet Black with a black interior Any idea why the wheels were refinished?

An update. I was on my way across town yesterday, heading to the airport. I was planning on stopping by my mechanic's shop, to both show him the car and let him look at a few little niggling items (windshield washer resivour is leaking and a funny noise we think is a loose driveshaft bracket). While on the way there, I suddenly get a coolant temperature warning and look down to see the needle spiked. I instantly shut the car off (sitting at a red light), wait for the light to change, fire it back up and immediately dive into a gas station on the other side of the intersection, where I shut it off again. Open the hood to watch the remaining coolant puke out.

So, I call my mechanic (I'm about 2 miles from his shop), he comes to get me with his diesel dually race car hauling truck and flat tows me (slowly) to his shop. He is going through the car today to see what happened and what, if any, damage was done. Suffice to say I suffered the dreaded BMW coolant system failure. Right on schedule too, at 89k miles. Shame on me for not immediately refreshing the system upon the arrival of the car. Hopefully I didn't cook the engine in the process.

Keith wrote: Any idea why the wheels were refinished?

The PO had rashed them over the years and wanted to clean them up. For reasons that escape me, he did not go with the OEM shadow chrome finish. My plan was to replace them with something more interesting, but that plan is now on hold, given the expense I'm now facing.

The OEM shadow chrome finish can't be replicated here. The process used is illegal in the USA.

Sorry to hear about your cooling system issues, but yes, the cooling system on all modern BMW's (E36 forward) needs to be replaced every 60-70k miles.

Keith, even with snow tires there's no way I'd drive the M5 up into the mtns. That relegates it away from DD use for me and turns it into a 3 season car. Hence me owning an Audi Quattro instead as my DD.

It's funny, Miata radiators only last about 100,000 miles as well and good maintenance involves changing the water pump at 60,000. But people don't get all excited about it.

There are some companies who can do a good reproduction of the shadow chrome. I don't know if they have a way of using the lead-based paint or if it's a reasonable facsimile. If you do consider moving to a different wheel, let me know. I'd be interested in them - mine have the same finish and I've been looking around for another set of real staggered M5 wheels.

I wouldn't be worried about driving my M5 into the mountains on proper snow tires. But I grew up in Canada with 2WD cars, which may colour my perceptions somewhat.

Sucks to hear about the coolant failure.... Hopefully the engine is OK: it sounds like you got it on time. I had a similiar experience with an E36, and it was fine afterwards.... To be honest, it's been stories like that that have scared me away from "cheap" M5's. I don't have the financial fortitude to replace that motor if something goes seriously wrong....

Nathan

A guy I know at my local skatepark just got one.

Amazing how they depreciate. Not long ago, the only person I knew with one was a neurosurgeon. Now a skateboarder has one. lulz

dyintorace wrote: Overall, quite an incredible car. A lot of car for trundling around town though. I wish I could teleport it and me to Montana for some wide open spaces.

Is Montana still a speeding Mecca? I know they did away with the "Reasonable and Prudent" limit. I also remember years ago they had $5 speeding fines, payable at the side of the road.

What's the deal-e-o?!

DILYSI Dave wrote: Day 2 had me setting said alarm for 85mph as I found myself well into triple digits 3 separate times in the 24 hours that made up day 1.

The fact that the car needs a speed alarm is awesome enough. Does it sound like a stall horn or the redline buzzer on a first gen Rx-7? That would be even cooler.

I used to like hitting the rev buzzer on my 84 Rx-7 just to watch the passengers jump when it went off. I bet I could hook one up on the Miata....

Xceler8x wrote: The fact that the car needs a speed alarm is awesome enough. Does it sound like a stall horn or the redline buzzer on a first gen Rx-7? That would be even cooler.

The speed alarm in my E36 M3 is just a "ding".

This story really makes me rethink putting my cooling system replacement off. She is at 66k miles...but 11 years now.

Keith wrote: It's funny, Miata radiators only last about 100,000 miles as well and good maintenance involves changing the water pump at 60,000. But people don't get all excited about it.

Oddly enough, mine lasted ~150k miles. The water pump was still going strong at 180k when I finally removed the engine for a lower mileage long nose model and started racing it in Spec Miata. The WP isn't made of plastic like the BMW one thankfully.

Miata water pumps may make it to the second timing belt change...but not always. That's why I said "good maintenance". Some people like to see how long they can make a $40 timing belt last too.

My M5's got a fairly new radiator in it thanks to an accident in the past. I don't know about the water pump, although I'm used to scanning the temperature gauges on a regular basis.

If your Miata sounds like this, then your water pump didn't get replaced by the PO when he did the timing belt....grrr

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRVd4U_Nx8w&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Unfortunately, most modern coolant temp guages are dampened. That means that on a BMW, the needle reads dead center from say 160F - 210F. Only after the temp rises above that level does the guage move. I don't know the exact temps, but the range for "dead center" was extremely wide. The motto of the story is if you're driving a BMW and the coolant temp moves off center, shut it down immediately.

Beautiful car, on my list to own someday.

Miatas are like that. A moving temp gauge isn't "shut down immediately", but it is indicative of a problem with cooling. A gauge that doesn't move until the engine is actually damaged is pretty useless.

Keith,

I've driven plenty of 2wd cars with snow tires and they don't hold a candle to an AWD car with snow tires.

Could I drive an M5 up to Vail in a snow storm? Sure I could. Do I want to? Hell no!

A couple of weeks ago on my way to Vail in my Audi Quattro a pick up truck lost it on the ice and did a 180 ending up in my lane. I was happy I was in my car rather than a 2wd car.

The only thing an AWD car can do that a 2WD in low traction conditions can't is accelerate. Unless you were trying to out-accelerate a spinning truck, a 2WD car would have done just as well. Now, finding appropriate tires for an M5 might be a challenge, I don't know how easy it is to find 18" snows. But that's a different problem!

I have a set of 18" snows for my 750 - they're out there...

Keith wrote: The only thing an AWD car can do that a 2WD in low traction conditions can't is accelerate.

Or depending on the snow conditions, move at all.

There aren't that many times during the winter when I really need all wheel drive, but when I do it sure is nice to have.

Yup, it'll keep you from getting stuck. Not that this particular attribute is all that useful when crossing mountain passes typically, but if you're staying overnight in ski country it can sure come in handy. Although I did once have to dig my Subaru out of a ditch using a snowboard after sleeping overnight in the back country - 4WD can only do so much

I'll admit to using 4WD vehicles in the Colorado mountains, either for crawling around trails or when I go skiing. But that's because I have them. If I was restricted to one car and the M5 was what I wanted, I wouldn't stay away from it due to the 2WD aspect. I usually never have to put the cars into 4WD when I'm using them in the snow.

Great to see another M5 owner on the boards. Always good to see another one in the hands of someone who will care for it properly. Congratulations!

enough 2wd/awd/right wheel drive/wrong wheel drive/snow/ice/lava pissing about..

What happened to the car? Is the motor toast?

Page 1- I was going to call dibs on your wagon...

Page 2- Oh crap- waiting to hear what happened to the car...waiting...waiting...

huge-O-chavez wrote: enough 2wd/awd/right wheel drive/wrong wheel drive/snow/ice/lava pissing about.. What happened to the car? Is the motor toast?

I just got back from my mechanic's shop. The radiator was the part that failed. There is a hairline crack along the upper part of the driver side plastic tank end cap (not sure if that is the official name for the part). So, under the famous "while you're in there" phrase, he is going to replace the upper/lower hoses, expansion tank, breather hose, etc. Not sure yet if any motor damage was done and I guess we won't know until he gets the cooling parts buttoned back up.

v8 bmws are NOTORIOUS for breaking the upper plastic endtank on the radiator or tearing off the smaller hose that T's off the hose. make sure the motor/trans mounts are in good condition as if theyre sloppy at all they'll tug at the hoses.

good luck with the engine.