Crash's Cars

[Crash]

So my car decided to do this a few weeks ago:





Yeah, that's coolant.

Got home from work, went upstairs to eat a snack, came back down to grab something from the car, anddddd that happens. After some diagnosing and searching forums, I narrowed down the issue to the throttle body coolant housing leaking. Since the leak wasn't too bad, I topped up the coolant, and then just drove it to the mechanic and got it fixed.

--

A couple more fun pictures from the past few months.





Otherwise, happy to say nothing huge to report on. Car is just chugging along as I near the 200k milestone.

 

[phillgt2002]

What are you doing with the gauges? Also, what car is my profile picture based on?

I had to change the radiator hose yesterday, now I have to drain it, I'm not too sure.

 

[Crash]

It's fairly common for the E30 odometer gears to break, and mine eventually did as well. There's a company out there that makes replacement gears, so I pulled my cluster apart to replace the gears and have a working odometer again.

Nice avatar, btw. 👍

 

[Crash]

I'm going through some of my old pictures and realized that there's a couple of pictures of my car that I've never posted in this thread. These pictures are a little older, so bear with me.





Cardinal Red interior

 

[Crash]

One final picture update of the E30 at 199k miles for now.

 

[Crash]

Third time's the charm?

Maybe, and so far, my third car is turning out to be the case. May I present to you, the latest car in my garage.

2001 BMW M5​

That was yesterday, right when I picked the car up, signed all the paperwork, paid and shook hands with the seller, making the car officially mine.

Since the car was in Bay Area, CA and I'm in WA, I drove the car back home, taking the scenic way: Up US Route 101, over to State Route 128, up State Route 1 on the coast until it merges back to US Route 101, then up to US Route 199, and finally Interstate 5 back home. All the highways except I-5 wind its way around the mountains, forests and along the coast, so I had a really good opportunity to see beautiful scenery, drive some very curvy roads and explore the M5's dynamic abilities. And boy is the M5 fast. The car is a ton of fun. It just grips around corners and had plenty of power on hand. However, I can definitely feel the weight when throwing the M5 into tight corners as compared to the E30. The M5 has more grip and more power out of a turn, but the E30 felt that much more nimble and light on its feet. Don't get me wrong, the M5 was still extremely capable, but the M5's size and weight could definitely be felt.



On the other hand, cruising on the highway was where the M5 really was in its element. You can tell that it was designed to be an Autobahn stormer. It had a good amount of grunt in any gear, and it felt the most comfortable just cruising at 70+ mph. It was quiet and comfortable. This is going to be a nice change from the E30.

One thing, the way the M5 surges and pulls, especially once it really starts hitting the power band, is just phenomenal. I don't think that will ever get old.

Few things that do need attention:

Cup holders need to be fixed.
It need a fluid flush. Supposedly the differential and transmission fluid is "lifetime" according to BMW, but it's not really.
Right rear window regulator needs to be replaced.
A few of the wood trim pieces are starting to show wear.
Leather needs cleaning.
One of the interior light bulbs is burnt out.

Overall, so far so good. Reliability and running costs remain to be seen. I've wanted this car since it debuted ~15 years ago. People have said that you should never meet your childhood hero as you'll experience nothing but disappointment, but so far, I'm in love.

 

[Doog]

Well now I've got two E39s to envy on GTP. That color is excellent, though. What is it?

 

[Harry6784]

Nice find!!

My dad owns a E39 528i and I love it. I can't even imagine how much better the M5 is...


Aren't too many E39 M5's around here, I'll keep an eye out for you when I'm puttering around near Bellevue, maybe we can get some S62-LS1 action going on

 

[motortrend]

Congrats on the car! Expect to become obsessed with changing wear items and modifying small stuff. IMO this car needs few to no mods but responds beautifully to some refreshing/restoring, shows how good it was when new. The aging trim is an opportunity to wrap it in brushed titanium/aluminum/steel if you like that. The car needs pretty much nothing, just a few things that are enjoyable to do and inexpensive which is good 👍 Keep us posted.
@Doog I believe it's sterling grey

 

[Doog]

@Doog I believe it's sterling grey

My car's Sterling Grey, though. Crash's M5 looks a lot darker.

 

[motortrend]

My car's Sterling Grey, though. Crash's M5 looks a lot darker.

You're right I forgot, it's actually anthracite.

 

[Crash]

Well now I've got two E39s to envy on GTP. That color is excellent, though. What is it?

@Doog I believe it's sterling grey

It's Anthracite. It was only available through 2001. In 2002 and 2003, Sterling Gray replaced Anthracite.

Aren't too many E39 M5's around here, I'll keep an eye out for you when I'm puttering around near Bellevue, maybe we can get some S62-LS1 action going on

Do. I don't live in Bellevue anymore, but I still visit it pretty frequently. We'll have the best S62-LS1 action going on, that is at a standstill side by side with the hood up.

Congrats on the car! Expect to become obsessed with changing wear items and modifying small stuff. IMO this car needs few to no mods but responds beautifully to some refreshing/restoring, shows how good it was when new. The aging trim is an opportunity to wrap it in brushed titanium/aluminum/steel if you like that. The car needs pretty much nothing, just a few things that are enjoyable to do and inexpensive which is good 👍 Keep us posted.

Love the gif.

I'm planning on keeping it with wood trim. It's got the luxury interior with the leather wrapped dashboard and center console, and I think I want to keep the luxury motif going. I'll probably just replace those pieces of wood trim with unworn ones. I'm focusing on making sure everything is in good order first.

Even 13 years on, this car is amazing. I can't imagine just how good this was compared to other cars back when this was new.

 

[Clark]

Jealous

 

[Doog]

I'm planning on keeping it with wood trim. It's got the luxury interior with the leather wrapped dashboard and center console, and I think I want to keep the luxury motif going. I'll probably just replace those pieces of wood trim with unworn ones. I'm focusing on making sure everything is in good order first.

A good call on that. I hate aluminum trim in luxury cars so so much. No wonder I've never seen an Anthracite M5 though, with only one year of production. M5s in other colors are plenty appealing, but damn, yours specifically is giving me irrational thoughts about the future.

Edit: are the Mazda and the E30 sticking around?

 

[Crash]

I drove it to work today and it's hard to get over how low the front air dam is, and how much danger curbs and parking lot installations are now.

A good call on that. I hate aluminum trim in luxury cars so so much. No wonder I've never seen an Anthracite M5 though, with only one year of production. M5s in other colors are plenty appealing, but damn, yours specifically is giving me irrational thoughts about the future.

Anthracite was available for MY2000 as well, but that's the pre-facelift car. If you want the updated car, then anthracite is only limited to this one year. BMW did that with a few other colors as well at the end of 2000. Add to it that most M5s seem to be silver or black...

Give it some time though. Work hard in school, get a good job, and in a few years time, an M5 (E39 or not) will then be a completely rational decision for you too. I had to wait, but it's well worth it. 👍

For now, I would Talk You Down on one though.

Edit: are the Mazda and the E30 sticking around?

Yup, they are. I bought the Mazda specifically for my parents to use as their daily and the E30 will get a power bump and be more the winter car.

 

[Ibonibo]

Awesome.

I'm undecided on the trim, I would make the interior in carbon, looks sporty yet luxury.

Oh and yeah, leather handgloves! Imperative!

 

[Roo]

1988 BMW 325iX

2001 BMW M5

Not much more to add other than 👍 and I'll organise a tyre fundraiser for you

 

[Kent]

'01 M5 is one of my favorite BMWs of all time.
Seriously Sub-Zero.
Grats and enjoy.

 

[Clark]

First RWD car Crash?

And had you driven a RWD car before this one?

 

[Crash]

Not much more to add other than 👍 and I'll organise a tyre fundraiser for you

Much appreciated on the tires! though I'll probably need more of a maintenance fund. I've actually yet to turn off stability and traction control so far, but it has certainly come on...

First RWD car Crash?

And had you driven a RWD car before this one?

First RWD car that I've owned, but have certainly driven (and pushed way too hard when I was in my younger, stupider days) RWD cars before.

--

One thing that I've realized about a California car is that those cars tend to have very little to no rust, but because of the heat and sun, most of the plastic and rubber gaskets have dried out and hardened. There are some gaskets around windows that have started cracking, though they don't leak. That, and now that I've had the chance to go over the car again at home, there are a few more things to add to the list of repairs.

 

[homeforsummer]

First RWD car Crash?

That'll come if he uses too much of the power.

Oh, wait...

 

[Clark]

Very good, I like that

 

[Clark]

@Crash Y u no show any more pics of M5 yet?!?

 

[Crash]

I'm sorry that I haven't been very good about posting updates or additional pictures of my cars. It's been about a month since I've purchased the M5 (how time flies!), and it's generally doing well so far. I haven't done much to it other than a couple of tiny things. I'm still splitting my driving time between the M5 and the E30 to make sure both are used and exercised regularly.

One thing that I still need to get used to is that the M5 sits much lower than the E30. There are numerous parking lot curbs and humps that I would have no worries about clearing, but wouldn't with the M5. The bumper/lower air dam on the M5 is pretty fragile, and is supposed to be one of the things that gets replaced all the time, as owners accidentally run into things and it cracks, even at minor speeds. I've been trying to be very careful about how close I get to those parking humps and curbs...

One actual issue. The fading pixels on the OBC on the dash has gotten worse. When I purchased the car, it's only got a couple of lines missing. It's now spread.



There's a respected guy that fixes this issue. I looked him up, and he's actually local, so once the pixel issue gets really bad, I'll give him a call, set up an appointment and drive my car up to his shop and get it fixed.

So you notice those yellow warning lights on the dash? They are there to warn you to warm up the engine before you rev that high. The lights turn off progressively as the engine warms up. One major complain though; the lights are linked to coolant temperature rather than oil temperature, and I would much rather have the lights be linked to both, and if not, at least to the oil temperature, instead of just the coolant temperature. Once it warms up, then I can give it the beans.

Freeway on ramps are now one of the best parts of the day, especially if there's no one in front of me. Even in just second gear, take it up to 6000+ rpm (around 60-65ish mph), the sound and the way it pulls is awesome. I've taken the motor to redline twice so far. Usually in just commuting, I try to keep the RPMs pretty conservative to help save on fuel.

I really need to get the car detailed. Until then, here's a couple pictures of the car, over a couple different days (please excuse the unedited pictures, and any poor parking jobs):

 

[homeforsummer]

Good stuff. I remember the progressive red line being mentioned back in the day, I feel like more cars should have a feature like that as so many people seem to thrash engines from cold.

 

[Harry6784]

Freeway on ramps are now one of the best parts of the day, especially if there's no one in front of me. Even in just second gear, take it up to 6000+ rpm (around 60-65ish mph), the sound and the way it pulls is awesome. I've taken the motor to redline twice so far. Usually in just commuting, I try to keep the RPMs pretty conservative to help save on fuel.

Haha yes, the highway on ramps...

 

[Blackbird.]

One thing that I've realized about a California car is that those cars tend to have very little to no rust, but because of the heat and sun, most of the plastic and rubber gaskets have dried out and hardened. There are some gaskets around windows that have started cracking, though they don't leak. That, and now that I've had the chance to go over the car again at home, there are a few more things to add to the list of repairs.

You were right in my backyard where you picked up this M5. 👍 Looks very nice, enjoy

 

[Crash]

Good stuff. I remember the progressive red line being mentioned back in the day, I feel like more cars should have a feature like that as so many people seem to thrash engines from cold.

I wonder how many people actually follow those progressive red lines if they were more widely fitted on cars. I can see the same types of people who would forget/doesn't know that they need to do oil changes and basic maintenance completely ignoring something like that.

--

Finally got the car registered and plated in Washington over the weekend. It's not quite the combination that I want, but it's ok, and I don't really want to shell out for a vanity plate. The use tax plus filing and registration fees were already painful enough (albeit the use tax is a one time only thing).

I'm still going to not run a front plate though.

 

[Crash]

Welp, got a major door ding today.

My friend parked next to me in a rental Camaro, and not being used to how wide the doors open, he swing it open and it smacked my passenger side front door right underneath the door handle. Left a nice big dent and a few scratches.





Quarter placed next to dent and scratch for scale.

I'm obviously not too happy about it, but life happens, and I do appreciate and credit my friend for owning up to it (I didn't actually see it happen). If he didn't say anything, I probably wouldn't have noticed until I got home several hours later.

He's going to pay for paintless dent removal. While the dent removal guy is out, I'm going to have him fixed two other very minor door dings as well; I'll pay for the other two minor ones that's already on the car.

I was also going to get the car detailed in a week or two as well. Hopefully that will buff out and everything will look as good as before.

 

[Harry6784]

Glad they owned up to it.

Camaro, and not being used to how wide the doors open...

Welcome to my world. My door is nearly as wide as my car itself