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Re: E28 M5 reliablity and maintainance (archive)
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Posted by Matt Evans on March 01, 2001 at 14:58:59:

In Reply to: E28 M5 reliablity and maintainance posted by M35power on March 01, 2001 at 09:41:10:


My friend is looking into buying an E28 M5 in the next few months. We are not very familar with the E28's in general. What is the average maintanaince, and any problems that they may be known for? At what milage do they start going bad and developing lots of problems.

They are overall reasonably reliable cars, but a few things will go out. The big issue is that anytime something goes wrong, its major $$ to fix it.

Definitely look at the rear suspension. The stock E28m5 has a self leveling rear suspension system. This system is prone to a number of failures, and can be costly to fix. Many people just eliminate it and put on a fixed performance suspension.

If you choose to purchase a car, either make sure (with documentation) that it has a frank fahey crank hub already installed, or park the car and do not even start the motor until you install one. I've had my crank fail _twice_ with the stock hob. You will be in a world of hurt if the stock crank hub fails, and it very often does. Read more about this at www.frankfaheymotorsports.com


Examine the condition of the exhaust system before you buy it. Especially look for the "accordion pipe" (flexible rubber coupling on one of the down pipes off of the exhaust manifold. If this item is ripped/damaged, it is an expensive repair. The stock BMW M5 exhaust is also pretty expensive - the OEM catalytic converter is $1500 and there aren't any in the US typically. However, aftermarket units area available in the several hundred dollar range.

Finally, the transmission on this car is prone to getting cranky.. and since its only used on M5s (and M6s) its rare and expensive. Theres really only about 1 person in the US who will rebuild them correctly, and to the tune of several thousand dollars. Make sure you convince yourself with some hard driving and realistic shifting that the transmission isn't shot.. look for trouble shifting into first gear at a stop, look for trouble grinding going into 3rd gear (from 2nd or from 4th) at high rpms.


All in all, i've had my car for about 7 months and i love it, but its killing me with maintenance costs as i learn the hardway about many of this cars weaknesses.

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