Love That E39 M5

  Everything in life is comparative.  If you are having a bad day with a back ache, to you this could be horrible.  To a person with cancer and in pain almost all the time, a day with back ache only would be like heaven.  So it goes with cars.  Expensive cars (the M5 was very expensive when new) require expensive parts and expertise.  I learned this at a young age in college with a used 1962 Carmen Red XKE Jaguar that was wonderful to drive, but it always seemed something needed to be worked on and didn't work.  I experienced the "I can't wait to drive this car feeling" every day for two and half years with the XKE and that feeling is finally back with the M5.
   I've been fortunate enough to own a Jaguar, a Hummer, several Corvettes and a 1989 Bentley Turbo R.  When it comes to maintenance, EVERY CAR pails to a Bentley with mineral oil in the brake lines, a turbo that costs $19,000 to replace (if you can find an original or remanufactured one), notoriously bad power steering pumps that because of the heat at their location have to be replaced regularly, $7000 brake jobs, a tire size no longer available and a windshield that is almost impossible to find, even at a Rolls dealer.  If you own an older Bentley (the good ones made by Rolls) long enough you will find yourself at a machine shop having some part custom made.  The saying goes that you drive a Bentley and are "driven by someone else" in a Rolls.  For all the fun it is to drive a Bentley, a Corvette or a Jaguar, they pale in comparison to an M5 and the ultimate driving experience.   I won't even go into what it costs to maintain a full sized Hummer H1.
  That's what I love about the M5.  It drives and handles better than the Corvettes and Bentley I've owned and is not that unreasonable to operate.  It's interior is luxurious and the ride has to be experienced to be believed.  Almost all parts for an E39 M5 are available from a dealer or online and you can find a dealer almost anywhere or an independent shop familiar with BMWs and M5 engines, and the much maligned VANOS system.  You would be hard pressed to find something that can't be fixed or replaced, to include the engine and powertrain.
  Yesterday, a friend came by who is into cars and engineering (he's one of the chief mechanical engineers for a large worldwide company).  He's driven a lot of different cars and knows of the BMW M5 but had never driven one.  Let's just say his smile was ear to ear the entire time and he got his clothes dirty crawling under, looking at every nook and cranny.  His final comment was "My God these are fantastic automobiles.  I had no idea an M5 was so comfortable and performed to such a high level!"  I've only had her two months, but it's easy to take for granted a vehicle that does everything so effortlessly.  They are the Ultimate Driving Machines.