American M5 Repatriated to Germany for New Project
Dubbed “Project Raleigh,” YouTuber’s new E60 M5 had seen better days, won’t stop him from getting it back in roadworthy shape.
An ongoing lament for any import fan is the fact that some of the coolest machines ever built never arrived in the United States. American BMW fans (like us) are no exception. The Z1, the 1-Series Hatchback,the E36 3-Series wagon, just three BMWs we never received when new. Thus, we know the pain JDM and EDM fans go through for their faves.
However, we did receive something Europe never did: the E60 M5 with a six-speed manual. That’s right! The home market got stuck with only a seven-speed automated manual, while we had both. Oh! And the six-speed could be optioned at no cost. Such a “rarity” caught the eye of Sreten of M539 Restorations recently. Let’s see what exactly he repatriated back to Germany.
“I’m sure many of you are, as I am, big fans of Hoovies Garage and his hooptie-buying adventures,” Sreten said. “Recently, I took a page out of his book when I purchased this 2007 BMW M5 with the manual gearbox sight-unseen halfway across the world. I paid just $6,000 for this bucket of magnificence.”
Said bucket called Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina home since 2007. After five previous owners, though, the M5 had seen better days. The title may have been the only thing clean about the car, as the interior was trashed. The front bumper is cracked, the wheels are dirty, and service records were hard to come by. Thus, the perfect project for our YouTuber.
“Here it is,” Sreten said. “It is incredibly filthy. It’s basically like an animal [lived] inside. Really nasty. First impressions: sounds like a tractor. The bumper is broken to bits — but I already knew that. That headlight is old and yellow. The rims are incredibly dirty. Other than that, the body doesn’t seem that bad at all.”
From there, the left side doors are different shades of silver, the M5 badge on the trunk is in the wrong spot, and the gas struts for the hood are done. But at least the big 5.0-liter V10’s ready to go, right?
“The engine sounds overall healthy,” said Sreten, “but it is misfiring, so I was eager to see the codes. We have a code for a stuck-open thermostat, coolant sensor, fuel cap, and misfiring cylinder four and eight. Based on that, I pulled it inside to do some simple troubleshooting.”
Upon clearing the codes, the same two misfiring cylinders popped up again. Thus, the two ignition coils were moved around to different spots, confirming the coils were the culprit. Once a set of fresh OEM coils were dropped in, the V10 was singing beautifully again. The brakes, though, would be another story.
“Next faulty item on the list: the trifecta lights,” said Sreten. “These are caused by a faulty ABS pump […] The pump lives in the wheel arch behind the front left wheel.”
The pump definitely saw better days compared to the rest of the M5, as its seal failed, allowing water to penetrate the coil. The resulting rusty mass could not be salvaged with the repair kit meant to fix the pump. Thus, a used coil, the kit, and the old pump block merged together to give the big BMW its brakes back.
“We fixed two major issues with the car,” said Sreten. “In the upcoming episodes, I’ll be replacing rod bearings, of course, and preparing this car for German TUF inspection, which means getting it mechanically sorted and converting lights to Euro-spec.”
We look forward to seeing how far this repatriated M5 goes in its place of birth.
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