Motortrend's Cars - Gojira

[deadcell96]

Even though I prefer Japanese cars, I love your M5. Nice find!

 

[motortrend]

Even though I prefer Japanese cars, I love your M5. Nice find!

Thanks, I used to like Japanese. cars only but recently I've developed a love for Bimmers. I still like only a few audis and mercs. I LOVE 911s, especially the older turbo variants (930,993). On the other hand i am a Toyota lover and love the trusty 'rolla

 

[Clark]

Are you going to put an original Kidney grill back on it?

 

[motortrend]

O actually like the black, but if I find a chrome black or gloss black I'm going with that

 

[mp10]

Yes it is a 2001, it is Sometimes difficult to find te right one with maintenance records and that you know has been treated right but when you do find it it's worth it.

Even though there's a bit
Of drone right under 2K when accelerating, it's a small spot and it sounds glorious in 2nd gear with the windows down

The vanos seems to be a problem commonly found in the older models, so he's only going be looking for a 01 model. Did BMW fix this with the 2001 car? And im guessing you've allready signed up to M5board?

 

[motortrend]

The vanos can still have problems if the car is just left undriven and then driven hard, that is bad for any car. Luckily this car already had the VANOS unit replaced so I should not be getting that massive headache anytime soon.
The 2001 and older models got a vanos update, as well as the 2003 getting another minor one.

Yes I signed up already and I am already looking for some cosmetic bits that I would like to replace

 

[motortrend]

Not much to update yet, still need to sell the IS, but I aleady made a list of what the car needs, already ordered new wipers since these are done for and next up is another not very expensive fix which are the headlight adjusters that are broken and have the low beams pointing down.
The alignment was still off so I took it back and the mechanic told me it was that one of the tires was about 10 PSI too low (I checked pressures and the ones listed on the B pillar seemed too high). The tire on the other side deflated the first time I used it so there might be a small leak but so far no more problems. Anyway, here are a couple shots of the car with a better camera and a bonus M3 pic (It now has painted reflectors)

 

[phil bell]

Those Halo "angel eyes" look spectacular as ever. Looking forward to more updates soon!

 

[deadcell96]

I'm just gonna leave this here.

 

[motortrend]

Those Halo "angel eyes" look spectacular as ever. Looking forward to more updates soon!

Thanks, as soon as the other car is sold shocks and headlight level adjusters are going in. After that I'll give the mechanical stuff a rest and go for possibly removing the front window tint and fixing the driver's door sill. First up are the wipers though, as it rains su much here

I'm just gonna leave this here.

*YT*

even though it's probably not real, still cool hehe

 

[Clark]

Considering the power and weight aren't too far apart, what feels faster in a straight line? The E39 or E92 M3?

I assume the E92 would be better in the corners as it's a more modern, lighter and probably on better rubber.

 

[Stotty]

Lovely, lovely car... is it on CSL alloys?

 

[motortrend]

Considering the power and weight aren't too far apart, what feels faster in a straight line? The E39 or E92 M3?

I assume the E92 would be better in the corners as it's a more modern, lighter and probably on better rubber.

Well the M5 has more torque thus making is more useful in all situations, which gives you a feeling of more power, but there's nothing like the S65 in the M3 at 7K+, it's just a more fun car, plus the engne sound is glorious (M5 exhaust sounds better). So basically with the practicality of space and torque of the M5 it's the better DD though I'd happily DD the E92. The E39 certainly feels heavier but both have similar handling tendencies (Though it would not be fair to compare a 80K mile car with a 15K one) the M5 has some body rolls but I'll make a better comparisons when I get new tires and shocks, since the M3 has EDC and PSSs up front which give it quite the advantage.

Lovely, lovely car... is it on CSL alloys?

Thank you very much, yes it is on CSL reps made by MiRO (I think). I might either change them for other CSL reps or some BBSs or just fix them if they are in good enough condition. First I need to sell the other car so I'd say a month from now there will be some more updates.

 

[motortrend]

Time to report back. Nothing too interesting. I put new wiper refills and now it's cleaning like a charm. I have been messing around with the car's computer and finding out some neat features, I must say I'm impressed for something more than 10 years old, has more tech than the IS250. Today I did a couple more things, a friend of mine lent me his OBD scanner since I had the SES light on since I got the car, turns out it is on because of the coolant thermostat, I don't think it's something of the utmost importance and the water/oil/outside temps read fine so I'm not worried, but it's added to the list of things I shal eventually do, had my friend turn off the SES light since it didn't look nice on there and people kept asking me why it was on. Also, with the help of people from M5Board I found out what setup I have in terms of ipod connectivity and interface and also found out that the car has OEM bluetooth so I am very happy.

By next week the wheels shall get repaired and repainted, will post a pic then. I chose to paint them in normal BMW silver since I don't think there's much special about that hyper finish with the black tint and it's more expensive to do so, it will probably look just as nice in silver IMO.

 

[KinLM]

Time to report back. Nothing too interesting. I put new wiper refills and now it's cleaning like a charm. I have been messing around with the car's computer and finding out some neat features, I must say I'm impressed for something more than 10 years old, has more tech than the IS250. Today I did a couple more things, a friend of mine lent me his OBD scanner since I had the SES light on since I got the car, turns out it is on because of the coolant thermostat, I don't think it's something of the utmost importance and the water/oil/outside temps read fine so I'm not worried, but it's added to the list of things I shal eventually do, had my friend turn off the SES light since it didn't look nice on there and people kept asking me why it was on. Also, with the help of people from M5Board I found out what setup I have in terms of ipod connectivity and interface and also found out that the car has OEM bluetooth so I am very happy.

By next week the wheels shall get repaired and repainted, will post a pic then. I chose to paint them in normal BMW silver since I don't think there's much special about that hyper finish with the black tint and it's more expensive to do so, it will probably look just as nice in silver IMO.

Love reading about this all the time. Great project.

Say, you sound like you know a bit about working on cars. I'm thinking of working on a late 90's Toyota Camry. I know it's nothing like the BMW but would it be okay with you if I ask a few questions once I start really working on it?

 

[motortrend]

To be honest I know about the basics of mechanics and the car's electronics, I bet there's some people here that know more than me and can help you more. Create a thread for the car and there you can get feedback from others, but I have no prob. With you asking me 👍

 

[motortrend]

Time for an update!
So, like I had mentioned earlier the wheels were in pretty bad condition as you can see here

The rear tires were pretty much gone

So I looked around for a place to get them fixed, decided to go with a normal silver finish since I like the look at it kept the costs down. $400 bucks for fixing the bent wheel and fixing the scrapes on the others, plus installing new Michelin PSS and balancing. First, though, I did a tad of hoonage on an empty place since the tires were going to go

Took it over to my neighbor's house where there are quite a few cars, cool ones too.

got it on the lift and took the tires off

and off to the wheel fixing place...
Today I got the wheels back:

installed:

The car feels much, much better now. the alignment is now perfect (it used to go to the right) and the vibration is almost gone. There is a small amount of vibration at 60 which i assume is because the right front tire has a gash on the inside and it could not be balanced perfectly because of uneven wear so I'll be looking for a replacement. I must say I am very happy though

Also got this 12V to 5V converter so I can charge my iPod at the back

Best 10 bucks I've spent yet

 

[SPhilli911]

Where is the video of said hoonage?

Nice M5 man. Definitely a personal favorite BMW of mine.

 

[motortrend]

Where is the video of said hoonage?

Nice M5 man. Definitely a personal favorite BMW of mine.

The video is not quite worth it as it's a simple 360, didn't want to do much just in case I needed to use the tires, plus I'm still a bit of a wuss at the higher rev range

Also, thanks, your model subaru is my second favorite after the current hatch.

 

[mp10]

Nice job on the wheels, i also prefer the silver alloys rather than a black finish. I've only ever seen one M5, which had too much black details, kind of ruined the look of the car in my opinion, nonetheless it was great to finally see one in the flesh.


e39 m5 front by mika9891, on Flickr

 

[Fazerfan]

Motortrend your car looks so clean!

 

[motortrend]

Danke! It Still needs a few cosmetic things but a year from now hopefully all that is sorted out
Mp that color M5 looks Very nice but the lip and black wheels are not my thing

 

[motortrend]

This came in the mail today

(one tire is out of the pic)
Tires are going on tomorrow and the shocks will hopefully be in before the end of the week

 

[motortrend]

Front tires are on

 

[Ibonibo]

You could have cleaned your rims!





When do the konis come in?

 

[motortrend]

Too Busy driving the shocks are already here but they will probably be installed next week since I am very busy

 

[phil bell]

Hankooks and Koni shocks, let us know how it all goes!

 

[motortrend]

The shocks are in!

I think one of the people working at the garage scraped the fender a bit but no matter I just ordered some touch up paint to cover up the rock chips while I'm at it

The car had the shock base broken so that had to be replaced as well as one of the ABS sensors that rotted off

While the car was there I figured that I might as well have them change the oil, which I could do myself but the car is there already and the mechanic won't charge much more for doing it, So I got myself 9 quarts of 10w60, 8 for the car and one for refills just in case, plus the oil filter.

The car feels great now, the shocks really made a huge difference and gave me confidence at highway speeds, I don't know how the car felt when new suspension wise but this is probably about there.

Also since I finally found a parts store that had very good prices (better than the stuff online) I decided to buy the underside piece that had broken off, I'll be installing that next week.

12 years sure do a lot to plastic pieces

Also did some headlight refurbushing, although now that I look at them again they still look a little bad in the corners, but I'll deal with that later. Here's a before/after

 

[motortrend]

Polished the exhaust, though not enough, I'll do it again when I get some emtal polish, since it's kind of a PITA without it and just some polish compound

 

[motortrend]

went for a drive in the rain today, excuse the phone vibration and excessive rain sound the mic was picking up