Archive for the 'BMW E39 M5' category

BMW Key FOB Battery Replacement and Car Association

The X5 came with two keys, both of which physically operate the locks and ignition, but only one of which communicated with the car remotely. Today I successfully managed to bring it back to life in two phases. First of all, I’ve replaced the battery. This involves cracking the key open, desolding the old battery, […]  Read more »

BMW e39 M5 VBR (fuel burn rate)

A short video demonstrating how to get a BMW e39 M5 (or any e39 with high OBC) to tell you how many litres of fuel it is burning per hour (instantaneous reading). This is extremely useful for determining how healthy the air mass meters are – if they’re in good condition an E39 M5 should […]  Read more »

Farewell M5

So today I delivered the M5 to its new owner. It was ultimately a pleasant sale, and in fact despite advertising on both Pistonheads and Auto Trader, the first car I’ve ever sold through Facebook – to a friend’s dad. Looking back over the near three years of ownership, I have thoroughly enjoyed this car. […]  Read more »

12 meals, 4 men, 3 peaks, and an M5

Last weekend saw the execution of a long standing goal of mine – to complete the National Three Peaks Challenge. As that Wikipedia article suggests, while it is usually the case that participants try to complete the challenge within 24 hours, many do make a more leisurely weekend of it, and that’s exactly what we […]  Read more »

e39 M5 iPod/iPhone Silverline integration

This coming weekend we will probably take the M5 on a bit of a jaunt. I’m heading off to do the 3 peaks in a leisurely fashion with a few friends, and naturally it’s essential in my view to take the car with the most horsepower: mine. Facing around 1,200 miles it’s going to be […]  Read more »

e39 M5 update

Summary: MOT passed, refurbished alloys, some bodywork, pipe cleaning and painting, and ultimately, for sale. The M5 passed its MOT last month, and at the time they advised that the brake and fuel lines under the car looked a bit corroded. It’s entirely common for these to gain a bit of surface rust, but of […]  Read more »

e39 M5 brake fluid reservoir location

When replacing the M5’s front brakes it took me a little longer than I might have hoped to locate the brake fluid reservoir, so this is a quick blog post to address that in the hope that someone else finds it helpful. As you stare at the engine under the bonnet, it’s under the driver’s […]  Read more »

E39 M5 – front brake replacement

So today I settled down to replace the M5’s front brakes. When I got the car, some two and a half years ago now, I noted that the front discs were quite crusty and lipped, so now seemed like a sensible time to do something about them. Generally speaking, the brakes and wheels are just […]  Read more »

Castle Combe Drift Day

Today Alex and I popped along to Castle Combe circuit to spectate at their Spring Performance Car Action Day, the highlight of which was to be two drifting sessions. I’ll start right now by saying that I wasn’t disappointed in any way – today was nothing short of awesome! There were a huge variety of cars […]  Read more »

M5 update

During the various cold snaps of the past two winters the M5 has refused to start due to a completely flat battery. I don’t blame it for this: it often goes for 2 to 3 weeks without being used, and the battery is dated 2004. When I bought the 330d’s drilled discs from BMW I […]  Read more »

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