Is the E39 BMW M5 actually any good?

[oceansize]

An interesting discussion between different age groups (Camissa and his cohost) concerning the E39 M5.

[Lagunaseca_Blau]

This is a question? Lol
(I’m assuming this is rhetorical)

[01SG]

Every E39 is brilliant.

[duracellttu]

I have an e39 M5 as my DD. Having 4 doors and a trunk we can fit the whole family in it with storage. It’s amazing and a perfect compliment to the garage next to the M3.

[BMWahba]

It's my personal favorite between my E36, E39 and E46.

[Obioban]

I agree with pretty much everything they said...

... other than that the M5 would be better with an automatic.

[MTiz]

I got the opportunity to rip one recently for the first time and it's a fantastic car for sure. Very quick and engaging to drive. Also, way easier to drive than the M3 in my opinion. I let the clutch out on a hill with no gas and it immediately started rolling. The M3 would have stalled out easily lol. If I could describe it in a few words I'd say "Perfectly balanced". Definitely want to add one to the collection eventually.

[repoman89]

Yes, it’s good, but not in the way that the younger gentleman wants it to be. I agree with both of them and still love mine. I have thought about selling it because it was underwhelming when I got it, but couldn’t let it go for some reason. I’m much happier with it now after a very complete suspension and driveline refresh.

It’s more of a muscle car that actually feels good to drive than anything resembling a sports car.

[Sharocks]

It's a good car for driving around for sure.

It's not gonna excel at handling, speed, or track use. But that's not the point.

It's a car that can do all of those things relatively well.

I still hate the steering but I've racked (haha get it) at least 20k miles on mine in 4 years.

[repoman89]

I still hate the steering but I've racked (haha get it) at least 20k miles on mine in 4 years.

I'm much happier with the steering after putting in monoball thrust arm bearings and increasing the weight at each point in the curve by 25% in the DME parameters. Nice weight and feedback to it after those two changes.

It's still no rack and pinion but it's closer and it'll do

[Obioban]

I'm much happier with the steering after putting in monoball thrust arm bearings and increasing the weight at each point in the curve by 25% in the DME parameters. Nice weight and feedback to it after those two changes.

It's still no rack and pinion but it's closer and it'll do

Agreed on the monoball thrust arm bearings-- they go a long way to improving steering feel (and addressing a fast wearing stock part).

Weighting it up didn't make it me like it more.

... e39 M5 steering isn't the best (particularly stock), but it still shits on new cars for feel :P

[cornerbalanced]

Having put thousands of miles on both an E39 M5 and several E90 M3s -- the E90 M3 does everything the E39 M5 does, but considerably better.

[Obioban]

Having put thousands of miles on both an E39 M5 and several E90 M3s -- the E90 M3 does everything the E39 M5 does, but considerably better.

Eh.

E9X has a smaller back seat, worse interior, and an entirely different style of powerband (better or worse depending on what you want).

Had an e9X and e39 at the same time for several years. For a road trip, went for the e39 every time. If more than 2 adults in the car, e39 every time (especially with euro dash, though I may be abnormally sensitive to that at 6'4).

e39 is astoundingly good for a long distance high speed trip with 3-4 people.

[cornerbalanced]

Eh.

E9X has a smaller back seat, worse interior, and an entirely different style of powerband (better or worse depending on what you want).

Had an e9X and e39 at the same time for several years. For a road trip, went for the e39 every time. If more than 2 adults in the car, e39 every time (especially with euro dash, though I may be abnormally sensitive to that at 6'4).

e39 is astoundingly good for a long distance high speed trip with 3-4 people.

I will definitely concede on that point, high speed highway cruising is where I liked my E39 the most.

Beyond that I just found the E90 far more competent as a ‘sports car’ while being practical and comfortable enough to drive every day. I personally couldn’t stand the E39’s steering feel when compared to the E90’s. I also enjoy the fact that I don’t have to think twice about taking my E90 to the track and hold my own against far more expensive and modern cars, whereas taking the E39 to the track was be more of a novelty. I really appreciate the duality of the E90, and just found myself missing that duality with the E39.

[Aeko]

I agree with a lot of what they're saying in the episode, but it really does boil down to what you want out of the car.

I feel like the e46 M3 is the best comparable in terms of what you want vs what you're getting, and the biggest factor is comfort. The e39 M5 is great at comfort, but calling it a sports sedan puts it at odds with a sports car like the M3. The M5 is "compromised" from being inherently sporty because it's made to be a comfy cruiser. The M3 sacrifices comfort to give you much better and direct handling characteristics. I think that's why they keep hammering on the "sports" sedan moniker.

They're both RWD high revving NA cars. They're both very driver focused analog cars. They both come in manual. But when you talk about comfort priority it will pretty much always be at odds with sportiness to some degree. Cammisa's point about the shift feel is a great example. Some cars compromise well on sportiness, I feel like they're saying the e39 M5 does not and I agree. That does not make it a bad car though. It is just not as sport focused as people say it is.

Before my M3 was totalled I really loved going back and forth between it and the M5. It felt like being too cold inside in the AC, so you go and stand out in the sun, just to go in and enjoy the feeling of cooling down again. The contrasts are mutually beneficial to highlighting the difference in experiences. Some people prefer only one or the other.

For me, with the M3 gone I don't enjoy the M5 as much. When I want to whip a car around a U turn the M5 just trudges its weight along then blasts out in a straight line. Conversely, if I wanted a more relaxing experience but was in the M3 it was somewhat fatiguing. Even driving it softly on the street you still have to push it somewhat because it's so high strung, but I'm more okay with that than a car that prioritizes comfort over feel. Exciting cars make me happier than comfortable cars.