We might’ve said it over and over again, but that’s only natural when you’re in love with someone or something, isn’t it? Yeah, I’m in love with the E39 M5 but often I stayed away from actually buying one for an obvious reason: money.
I’m not necessarily talking about the purchasing price as they have plummeted if you’re considering how much these things used to cost when brand new. You can have one for under $20,000 and, knowing what they are capable of, you’ll be spending your money well.
Therefore, it’s not that you or I don’t have the money to buy one, the question is if we can afford to maintain it in perfect working order. I said perfect because if you’re anything like me, you’ll prefer to starve for a week rather than drive a car that has the slightest malfunction.
That being said, exactly how much will you spend on maintenance and breakdowns? Well, the guys from Vehicle Virgins have an E39 M5 and they recently posted a video on Youtube, telling us how much they spent so far on it.
The first thing they had to buy was a set of tires. As a matter of fact, since purchasing the car back in 2012, two sets were needed because... well, you know...
The first set was from Michelin, four Pilot Super Sport rubbers set them back $1,100. Quite expensive but they are the best performance tires you can get, with a lot of grip. The problem is, they tend to wear out quite fast. Therefore, a second set was needed that was $700.
Then the driveshaft gave out and was quite costly to fix. The problem was apparently due to a mechanic not tightening some bolts as he should’ve, but it doesn’t really matter who’s fault it was now, does it? Including some seals and man-hours, the grand total of fixing it was $2,500 out the door, after tax.
The front brakes were $800 later on and then the clutch gave out which also demanded a replacement for the flywheel, altogether costing (including man-hours) $2,800. To that, he had to add the Inspection II service which was $1,000 altogether. Other miscellaneous parts added up to some $1,600 more.
Last but not least, the fuel pump gave out, prompting a service bill of $1,000 that also included an oil change. Altogether, we’re looking at nearly $12,000 spent on maintenance and spare parts including man-hours.
Is it too much? Well, most people buying an older car with a 4.9-liter V8 prefer to work on their cars themselves and spare some money. However, that’s not always possible and you might have to go to a shop from time to time.
As for the money spent, we’ll let Vehicle Virgins explain if the M5 is worth the trouble (in short: yes).
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