MY2000 E39 ///M5 - Alpine White - Restoration Journey

nirvash

nirvash

Well-known member
Hello all👋

It has been quite some time since I have actively been on the forum, mainly just lurking in the shadows and in the classifieds the last few years.
Now that I am finally back in a BMW, it's time to start another build thread!🥳

After many years of lusting over one of my all time favourite cars, and probably my favourite BMW, I purchased an E39 M5!

MY2000
E39 M5
Alpine White 3
235000KMS
Black Interior

On the initial test drive, I instantly knew I had to have it.
The car was filthy, the overall condition was a bit rough (mainly cosmetic), but even with tired suspension and some neglect, the way that S62B50 responds, the way the suspension deals with road irregularities, and the engagement the car provided made me instantly fall in love!
I'm no stranger to E39's, having owned a 540i 6 Speed, and a F/L Auto 530i Individual. Both these cars were great, but the M5 just takes this chassis to a whole new level. I love the size of the E39 and the way the feel on the road, alongside one of the best, most iconic and timeless body designs from BMW.
(I wish I could get my old 540i's Cubic Trim for this car!☹️)
(and the Orinoco Paint from the 530i!)

The car needs so work, but I am more than willing to put in the time, money and effort to get the car where it needs to be!

I want to do the following over the next few months:

- Exterior Respray
- Seat & Door card upholstery
- Roofliner

- Refurbish the Style 65 wheels

- New rubbers/seals where applicable

- Full Lemforder control arms, tie rods etc
- Bilstein B8 Shocks
- Appropriate springs

- Timing chain
- Cooling system refresh

- Dead Pixel fix

No Vanos noise or issues for the moment that I can tell, thankfully!😳

At the moment I have the following on order:

- New OEM Front Bumper
- New OEM Rear Bumper
- New M5 Badge
- New BMW Roundels
- New Windscreen rubbers
- New rear glass rubber
- New Kidney Grills

- Air Filters
- Oil Filter
- Fuel Filter
- Pollen Filters
- Oil
- Sparkplugs

- ZHP Shift knob
- E60 OEM Short Shifter

- ECS Tuning Wheel Spacers 5mm to run a set of rear wide Style 65's up front for a square setup

A couple pics,
Really bad pics, but I haven't had a chance yet to take any better ones!
Car is also not starting now:rolleyes:

IMG_1917.JPG
IMG_1919.JPGIMG_1921.JPGIMG_1922.JPGIMG_1923.JPGIMG_1924.JPGIMG_1925.JPG
 
Last edited:
nirvash

nirvash

Well-known member
So,

As chance would have it, when I bought the M5, there was an E39 528i for sale down the road from me that had a full OEM cosmetic E39 M5 conversion done to it, and the price was right, so I decided to buy it as a donor car for some parts I need.
So now I have 2 E39's haha :rolleyes:

The bits I need from the car are in good condition, but overall the car isn't great, and the engine is a bit poked, seems like ring failure, but I will strip what I need and keep some spares, then likely scrap the 528i.
(any recommendations on who would buy the car for scrap/BMW scrap yards in the Southern Suburbs Cape Town)

I'm pulling the M5 mirrors off of the donor, as one of mine is damaged, and will keep the other one as a spare.
I get an OEM set of Style 65's (my favourite BMW wheel, love them!), which allows me to run a square setup of style 65's on the M5 which I am looking forward to both from an aesthetic and performance point of view.
I will also be taking the side moldings for the doors and bumpers.
The rear view oval mirror.
Boot spoiler.
Fog Light surrounds. (I need one for the M5).

Then for the interior, I am using the seats in the donor to get reupholstered, front and rear, and the door cards likely. For some reason my M5 came with what I think could be the "comfort" spec seats, which to me look like the regular E39 sport/msport seats, could this be? So I will be fitting the sport seats from the donor into my M5 once they are reupholstered.

I will take a couple other spare bits and bobs off of the donor.

Overall I think it was a good buy for the parts I needed, and a bargain compared to what the individual parts would cost to purchase!
A pity the bumpers were trashed, hence why I ordered new OEM ones from BMW.
Stoked with the interior parts and style 65's!

Going to start stripping next week!

(already took the front seats out and some other bits, don't know if you have ever tried to drive a car with no seats, its difficult! Even though it was just moving around the driveway!)
 
nirvash

nirvash

Well-known member
One of the first things of many that I got stuck into:

Cleaning the intake system.

Once I had the car home, I had a good proper look at everything, one of the first things I noticed was that the K&N Air Filter elements were filthy!
They are supposedly cleanable/reusable, but they went in the bin, and new filters were ordered.

At the same time, I decided to clean out the entire intake system, piping, airboxes, plenum and runners etc, they were all a little grubby/dirty, especially with the PCV/crank ventilation, and probably never received a good cleaning in a while if ever!

Stripped it all apart, time for some elbow grease!

IMG_1921.JPGIMG_2216.JPGIMG_2229.JPGIMG_2232.JPG

Going to also clean the engine bay while I'm there, not looking forward to it, but it needs to be done!
Looks like it hasn't been cleaned in quite a while.

Any suggestions on how to clean the engine bay nicely?

Lastly,
the car stood for about a week, while I was away and busy, I came back to start it for a drive, no start, no crank...
Tried a couple times, nothing... (maybe that was my mistake, trying few times)
I thought maybe there is something draining the battery, so put it on charge.
Battery charged, Still nothing....

Started looking into what it could be,
I bridged the two wires on the connectors for the EWS Module to see if it was the starter and or ignition switch, or the EWS Module. No crank from the starter, so it could be the EWS module....
Also thinking that it may be a key error....

Ordered an INPA Cable, adaptor, and installed the software,
going to run through the car next week and get to the bottom of this.

Cleaning in the meantime!
 
M

MoeM2

Well-known member
Congrats on the ride. Looking forward to following this journey. I’m keen to ask though on the donor - I do need some odd things for my E39.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
zabbo

zabbo

///Member
Congratulations!!
For selling whats left of the donor car - you could approach Shamiels Motor Spares in Phillipi or Bruce's in Maitland.
 
Meep

Meep

Active member
E39 has been a dream car for me foreeeeeever, also i love the pre facelift m5's so so much, so rare haha. Also wierd question but where did you find it, like on fb marketplace, gumtree etc?
 
nirvash

nirvash

Well-known member
Meep said:
E39 has been a dream car for me foreeeeeever, also i love the pre facelift m5's so so much, so rare haha. Also wierd question but where did you find it, like on fb marketplace, gumtree etc?
Click to expand...
Thanks,
Found on FB Marketplace.

Small update:

Did a bunch of stripping off of the donor today!IMG_2273.JPGIMG_2274.JPGIMG_2275.JPG
 
nirvash

nirvash

Well-known member
Another update:

Some goodies arrived today!

ZHP weighted shift knob (yoh can't wait to feel this on the M5, it's lovely)

E60 OEM shift lever - basically an OEM short shifter kit for the E39

Turner Motorsport Poly shifter arm bushing

OEM shifter ball bushing

5mm ECS Tuning wheel spacers X4
With extended wheel bolts

Having 2 sets of style 65's, I'm going to run a square setup setup of wides on all 4 corners of the car, more front end grip, less understeer, better look/aesthetics.
The 5mm spacers in the front are to make sure the wheel and 275 35 R18 tire clear the strut spring perch. At the rear its just to make everything square and look good!
Hope there is no rubbing, but from what I have read up it should all be good!

Hoping to get the car started again tomorrow with a new Starter Relay...🤞🤞🤞

IMG_2277.JPGIMG_2278.JPGIMG_2279.JPGIMG_2280.JPGIMG_2281.JPGIMG_2282.JPG
 
M3boi

M3boi

Well-known member
Nice progress! Best feeling when orders from ECS/FCP Euro/Turner show up, like Christmas came early.
 
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