TCL Darling Acquired: E39 M5

[kiznarsh]

Love these roadtrip threads on TCL. Thanks for sharing and great pictures

Congrats OP! Glad you enjoyed Seattle.

I agree, I really enjoy them.

Thanks.

1) Damn! Wish I'd known you were stopping through town. Would have bought you a (I'm in Seattle)
2) Glad that car is as nice as it appeared in the CL ad I'd been stalking for some time
3) Weatherford Hall! (I'm an OSU grad.) When I was in school, light years ago, that was the oldest dormitory still occupied on the West coast. The fire marshall wanted to condemn it as they predicted it'd go up in about 10 minutes. At the time, students were allowed to build whatever the hell they wanted in their rooms, so in addition to walls 'insulated' with some shredded newspaper, the entire building was full of cheap lumber. There were some epic loft/desk/couch/etc setups though.
4) Looks like a great road trip! And what a great way to get to know a new-to-you car, especially when nothing disabling/catastrophic goes wrong.

I mean you can still send me a BevMo gift card if ya like.

OSU's campus was pretty cool. Was the Beaver Bus around back then? Everyone looked like they were having a nice time on the Beaver Bus.

The clutch definitely took some getting used to, but we barely encountered traffic so it was smooth sailing for the most part. It's fun not having to downshift going uphill cuz of all that torque!

[puma1552]

headed back to the hotel, ate oysters & calamari for dinner

tell us more

[kiznarsh]

The mufflers have been deleted (good thing) but I don't like these giant shin-burning tips. The PO gave me another set of smaller shiny tips (3") so those will be going on.



The bumper was resprayed a few months ago but then all this happened a week before I flew up.



And here all the wheels that are in dire need of refinishing. I think I'll take care of these last as the cherry on top regarding the cosmetic issues.

[ValveCoverGasket]

awesome trip report

glad you didnt run into this guy in pdx...

[SWeetie]

Fantastic Kiznarsh and loved reading your original post!

[Robin]

Awesome car and trip! Glad you and the car made it in (mostly) one piece, and yea Avenue of the Giants definitely is one of the best roads ever. In for pics of car with cleaned up wheels/trunk/mirrors.

[yeayeayea]

Only a TCL darling because most of TCL have never attempted to own one. 3 years were more than enough for me; all I can say is good luck. I suggest referring to the R63 AMG thread on GRM for an example of what will undoubtedly be in store.

Coming up on 4 years and 68,000 miles (148k total) and I am still in love with the car. Finding a well sorted example seems to be the ticket between stories like yours and stories like mine. I've heard the stories of motor failures shortly after the sale, but my car has been very solid. It is not pampered either. 130 miles a day into DC with crap roads year round. 600 mile trips to tail of the dragon towing a motorcycle. The only times it ever left me stranded were flat tires since it does not have a spare tire, only a tire repair kit. I have Geico Roadside assistance on my policy and it has saved me a couple times.

[evosky]

That fender liner is looking a bit ravaged as well

[ValveCoverGasket]

That fender liner is looking a bit ravaged as well

also, id recommend replacing those yellow'd plastic reservoirs under the hood before 16volt sees this post...

[Crispyfritter]

Excellent score!

I figured I'd dip my toes in the water of E39 ownership by finding a nice 530i sport, and if I dare chance it, upgrade to an M5.

Thanks for sharing your journey with us. I appreciate a good road trip thread.

Chris

[Jasonloaf]

Nice ride, Kiz! love E39 M5's

[VadGTI]

awesome trip report

glad you didnt run into this guy in pdx...

Ha! That's the guy Dave, Vlad and I saw on our Saab Adventure™ Portland stopover .

[Sold Over Sticker]

also, id recommend replacing those yellow'd plastic reservoirs under the hood before 16volt sees this post...

I'd hate to have him lose sleep over it. Shannon I'm sure lost sleep when he saw my timing chain gasket leaking on my new exhaust on my E9.

[Elite_Deforce]

[Cabin Pics]

Awesome Kiz, it was nice to finally see some pictures.

[Gvr4-330]

Congrats!

The E39 M5 was one of my dream cars, and the story and pictures of picking it up are great. It makes me wish I did a better job of documenting the trip to pick up my car.

[SoCalHomer]

What a great thread. Appreciate the wit.
Oh, great car too. Thx for helping me to live vicariously. Your task is on my to do list, for sure.

[kiznarsh]

That fender liner is looking a bit ravaged as well

Yeah I have no idea how all of them are so damaged. It's an eyesore and the parts aren't cheap, but I'll be taking care of those too.

also, id recommend replacing those yellow'd plastic reservoirs under the hood before 16volt sees this post...

I was thinking of replacing the expansion tank when it came time for the coolant flush. There's a leak from the temp sensor too.

And the de-icer reservoir was filled during the PPI which is unnecessary for me. You may have noticed the headlight washers aren't there. The PO didn't drill new holes for them when he got the new bumper cover, and I'm OK with it since I didn't see myself using them anyway. I still have the plumbing though.

Awesome Kiz, it was nice to finally see some pictures.

Hey you know I'm good for it, just takes me a while. I took 525 photos and deleted about 400 of them.

[Numbersix]

also, id recommend replacing those yellow'd plastic reservoirs under the hood before 16volt sees this post...

It's a good thing he's probably still deep in the frunk of the 930, installing NOS spring clips on the HVAC system...because otherwise...

[nicetry]

Nice photography and excellent choice of car! I've done that trip down the coast a couple time now and recognize a lot of your picture locations. Where did you stay in Eureka The Red Lion?

[Sonderwunsch]

also, id recommend replacing those yellow'd plastic reservoirs under the hood before 16volt sees this post...

It's patina!

[16volt]

also, id recommend replacing those yellow'd plastic reservoirs under the hood before 16volt sees this post...

[Cabin Pics]

Hey you know I'm good for it, just takes me a while. I took 525 photos and deleted about 400 of them.

You know, it's photographers like you filling up the landfills with all that extra waste. It isn't right, throwing away perfectly good pictures!

[kiznarsh]

Nice photography and excellent choice of car! I've done that trip down the coast a couple time now and recognize a lot of your picture locations. Where did you stay in Eureka The Red Lion?

Thanks!

The hotel was actually in Arcata since I wanted to stay at a Hilton property for points, so it was the Hampton Inn.

[Pizza Cat!!!!]

wanted to stay at a Hilton property for points