[Law]

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Matt Farah of The Smoking Tire relives the E39 M5, a favorite among BMW enthusiasts, by driving a "stock"-ish example and comments on where it fits in and holds up even to this day.

Except for the part where he calls the S62 engine a "4 liter V8", I found the video enjoyable

The BMW E39 M5 pretty much set the bar for what we expect out of our top performing sedans to this day, but 15 years down the line, how does it hold up? This clean example is stock except for a set of wheels, a shifter, and muffler delete, and is even better than we remember.

[Alen E90]

Great vid! The E39 will never get old IMO and it's videos like this that makes me want one even more, but first I have to find an E28 M5 haha!

Thanks for sharing!

[Law]

Originally Posted by Alen E90

Great vid! The E39 will never get old IMO and it's videos like this that makes me want one even more, but first I have to find an E28 M5 haha!

Thanks for sharing!

Agreed.
The E39 has aged incredibly well & is truly the epitome of everything a good luxury sport sedan should be. Simple, elegant, teutonic design. Interior that is high quality and a layout that fits like a glove and of course a powerful NA V8 and with a manual trans. The fastest sedan / saloon of its day (as was the E28). Just excellent.

The E28 will of course go down in history as legendary, not least because it was the first M saloon and the car that created the modern "wolf in sheep's clothing" segment.
Detuned racing engine in a comfortable family sedan taking on supercars, sign me up!

[R_lara]

Matt Is always confused with car specs and Being a car journalist and "Enthusiast" I feel he does not know much about cars. He once compared a Ford Focus ST to a E46 ///M3 and found the Ford to be a better and Faster car. It was an automatic unfollow for me.

The 4.0 liter S62 How can you miss that one. Can we get him to host the next miss Universe ???

[Haywood]

Originally Posted by R_lara

Matt Is always confused with car specs and Being a car journalist and "Enthusiast" I feel he does not know much about cars. He once compared a Ford Focus ST to a E46 ///M3 and found the Ford to be a better and Faster car. It was an automatic unfollow for me.

The 4.0 liter S62 How can you miss that one. Can we get him to host the next miss Universe ???

Lol! I agree. I think the guy is a complete tool. Most of us could do a better job. As you said, he always gets car specs wrong.

[FMLYSDN]

One of my all time favourites!

Engine is a gem and the body is classic and timeless.

I still miss my Individual Sepia....probably never should have sold it!



I had to laugh at the check engine light. My first E39 (Titanium) did the same thing and I could never figure out what was happening. Pain the in the ass to diagnose.

[mtowle182]

Originally Posted by R_lara

Matt Is always confused with car specs and Being a car journalist and "Enthusiast" I feel he does not know much about cars. He once compared a Ford Focus ST to a E46 ///M3 and found the Ford to be a better and Faster car. It was an automatic unfollow for me.

The 4.0 liter S62 How can you miss that one. Can we get him to host the next miss Universe ???

that video was comparing a new car to a used one for the same price, not about which was a better drivers car. he made that quite clear.

[deemo319]

That sound, wow.

BMW was rolling 7's in the early 2000's.

The E39 M5, the E46 M3 and I will say the E38 740i M Sport especially in Imola Red guise.

The E39 M5 is still the perfect mid-size performance sedan and BMW even knows this.

The chassis, the suspension, the engine, the size, the rims, the seats, everything was spot on.

I think Matt could brush up on the model info before he drives and reviews and eliminate his spoken errors.

He knows he is filming and which car he is driving, so he should tighten that up!

[swagon]

A normal human being makes mistakes from time to time. So what.

There are far more less knowledgeable "journalists/car youtubers" than him.

[WWM3]

I will buy another one of these one day.

[therealm3]

Originally Posted by swagon

A normal human being makes mistakes from time to time. So what.

There are far more less knowledgeable "journalists/car youtubers" than him.

Yeah, not everyone can be bmw nerds like us.

I think the two takeaways for me are that the e39 m5 is still awesome all these years later and that the revaluation that it is much better than he remembered. And I personally think that is a true litmus test of modern cars in general. Over the past 5-10 years we have gotten used to the dumbed down and computerized "sporty" cars currently produced and all it takes is a ride in a late 90's early 2000 car to realize what things should be. I personally find it hard to believe that cars cannot be produced with modern conveniences and still have the natural feel of former models. Like take the interior and nav from my f30 but have the feel and drive of an e46 or e39. How hard is that really? I digress....

[1LegitM235i]

Absolute fan of the E39 M5. Fell in love with it back in 1999 when I saw the first commercial for it. It's def my unicorn that I still need to acquire. Had to settle for a 540i back in 2005. Will plan to buy one from EAG to make sure I pick up a well maintained one.

[IB M]

I remember lusting after these cars in 2001 and the price being too far out of reach for me at that point in my life. Not sure I'll ever own one now but I still do love this car.

Funny how they clued in on the only nit pick on this model: the outdated NAV screen. The E92M was the last available BMW you could order without NAV:tech screen interface. Too bad the option to de-tech the interior no longer exists for the M line.

[CSL_E36]

Car went into limp mode, possibly a tps issue, restarting usually starts the car back in normal mode until it trips a fault again.

[IndotagSwizz]

oh man the famous limp mode shows its ugly face even during the film...damn it man lol

[DarkstarZero]

Bought one around 3 years ago as well. $14.5k, enthusiast owned, had less thank 100k on the clock. I'd guess it's worth around $18k now. Matt is right, they are going up in value.

The retro-ness of the nav screen with a tape deck behind it is only going to get more charming as time goes on. You can still get up-to-date nav DVDs that will nav you around, no problem. If you don't like it you can just turn the screen off and it's like it's not even there.

The very subtle-aggressive styling and the fact that it had Servotronic Hydraulic Steering is what makes this car an easy classic.

[Bosozoku]

Cool shades, Matt. They look "frozen."

[Law]

Originally Posted by DarkstarZero

Bought one around 3 years ago as well. $14.5k, enthusiast owned, had less thank 100k on the clock. I'd guess it's worth around $18k now. Matt is right, they are going up in value.

The retro-ness of the nav screen with a tape deck behind it is only going to get more charming as time goes on. You can still get up-to-date nav DVDs that will nav you around, no problem. If you don't like it you can just turn the screen off and it's like it's not even there.

The very subtle-aggressive styling and the fact that it had Servotronic Hydraulic Steering is what makes this car an easy classic.

Le Mans Blue is a thing of beauty on the E39.

Thank you for keeping the factory wheels, I always felt like the E39 M5s look best in factory spec (with all the facelift bits of course).

Enjoy in good health.

[///Matthew]

Originally Posted by Haywood

Lol! I agree. I think the guy is a complete tool. Most of us could do a better job. As you said, he always gets car specs wrong.

Agreed. I cannot stomach his videos. He's like the Guy Fieri of automotive journalism.

[KevinM]

I've been daily driving mine for > 11 years and still love it! It does require regular and diligent maintenance, but it has been incredibly reliable for me. I will be semi-retiring it soon but then it will become a garage queen.

[rjd598]

Originally Posted by swagon

A normal human being makes mistakes from time to time. So what.

There are far more less knowledgeable "journalists/car youtubers" than him.

He's pretty well known for making mistakes. I can't remember which video it was, but they had to rerelease a new version because of his mistake. For the amount I assume he gets paid he could at least know base specs for cars he is reviewing. Overall he is not favored in the eyes of car folk. I watch the videos for the cars more than for his opinions on them.

[raysspl]

Muffler delete on these cars sound so good