I recently replaced the headliner in my E39 540i/6 with the Alcantara headliner exclusive to the E39 M5, and here is how I did it. Objective: Remove and reinstall the headliner. Applicable Vehicles: 1996-2003 BMW E39 5-series: 520i, 523i, 525i, 528i, 530i, 535i, 540i, M5. Parts required: Replacement headliner, hardware inn color of choice. Cost: $100-$750 Difficulty: Moderate. Time Required: 4-6 hours.
It’s always something, right? Usually electrical sensors are the most prominent, annoying, and expensive problems we have with these cars, and this only perpetuates this theory. Own an E39 M5 for long enough, and you’ll end up having to replace the cam sensors. What is a Camshaft Position Sensor? Let’s start with a camshaft. Put basically, the camshaft is responsible for opening and closing intake and exhaust valves in a combustion engine. A camshaft position sensor senses the position of the camshaft as it revolves, reporting back to the VANOS (variable intake and exhaust valve timing system) telling it where the camshaft sits. This all enhances performance, efficiency, and overall smoothness of the engine. Since the M5’s engine is a ‘V’8, there are two cylinder banks, and thus four camshafts. Each cylinder bank has one intake, and one exhaust camshaft. Each camshaft has a CPS (camshaft position sensor). This brings the total to four CPS, two intake, and two exhaust.
Really Ryan, a post about floor mats? Yeah. This article will identify the proper floor mat part numbers for our E39 M5s. Caramel and English Green are longer available, but black is; and BMW has recently updated it. Winter Genuine BMW Black Rubber, Front: 82550302997 Other Brands and Options: ECS Tuning Summer Genuine BMW Black Carpet, Set of Four: 82110009046 Other Brands and Options: ECS Tuning Caramel and English Green mats are no longer available new. I recommend that owners of cars with these interiors try the black mats; they prove to be much more practical than the lighter colors.
For the 2000 model year, E39 M5s optioned with S508A Park Distance Control PDC included only 4 rear sensors. It wasn’t until the 2001 facelift that BMW added an additional 4 front sensors to the PDC option. This article and video content will detail how to retrofit the four front sensors to your 2000 BMW M5. This article is a supplement to the primary DIY video posted at the bottom of this article. Reference that video to see the steps in action and for a better visual explanation.
I bought my 2000 BMW M5 in 2010; it was my first car and I was 17 years old. Somehow, I didn’t kill myself. By 2011, the void of E39 M5 DIY content online made me think ‘If I want to see this content, maybe others would too.’ I decided to spearhead the lack of online content with E39Source. This has allowed me to connect with thousands of fellow E39 (M5) owners. Now after 12+ years of E39 M5 experience, I have come to know this platform quite well. For the first 8 years, I serviced my own vehicle. Since 2018, I have been offering my speciality E39 M5 services professionally at our shop located in San Diego, California…
An easy and affordable way to modernize the rear of your BMW is to update your license plate lights. Prior to ~2011, BMW had used very yellow and dim lights to illuminate the rear tag. These days they’re using significantly brighter LEDs that produce a very crisp and white colored light. I installed these lights into my 2000 M5, and have been happy with the results. They do NOT trigger a ‘check warning’ on the dash.
For the 2002 model year (from 9/1/2001 production), BMWs came standard with automatic headlights. Five components need to be installed or replaced to bring this functionality to earlier models. This article details the steps that must be completed to retrofit automatic headlights. Additionally, please view the video at the bottom of this post for more detail. Objective: Retrofit automatic headlights to a BMW E39 5-series. Applicable Vehicles: 1997-2001 BMW E39 5-series: 520i, 523i, 525i, 528i, 530i, 535i, 540i, M5. Information from this article can also be applied to the 1994-2001 BMW E38 7-series: 730i, 740i, 740iL, 750iL, the E53 BMW X5, and the 1999-2006 BMW E46 3-series: 323i, 325i, 328i, 330i, M3.
This article will detail the removal and re-installation of the corner sunshade on the rear doors of the E39 5-series. Objective: This article will detail the removal and re-installation of the corner sunshade on the rear doors of the E39 5-series. Applicable Vehicles: 1996-2003 BMW E39 5-series: 520i, 523i, 525i, 528i, 530i, 535i, 540i, M5. Parts required: Left Corner Sunshade: 51167110205 Right Corner Sunshade: 51167110206 Difficulty: Low
This is a post that may continue to grow and evolve. There are countless variations between BMWs produced and sold in the European market vs those sold here, in the US / North American (DE93) market. This article will highlight some of those differences. Hyperlinks in this article will point to more E39Source content about installing or retrofitting some of these components.
BMW made constant changes to the E39 throughout production. I detail the majority of these changes this article. Some of the most noticeable differences are in the lighting elements. The 2001 facelift brought new headlights, fog lights, and tail lights to the E39. This article will detail the upgrade process from 1996-2000 lights to 2001+ lights. There is a right way and a wrong way to go about this. If you use Ebay to search for E39 headlights and tail lights, you will find several significantly cheaper alternatives to what I recommend using. To anybody that knows BMWs, the cheap lights will be quickly recognized as fake and gaudy. I made the mistake of installing Depo headlights on my M5 many years ago- I didn’t know better. They had writing all over the lenses, were not proportioned correctly, and had 5 individual LEDs in each halo ring, which were clearly visible at night. The OEM lights are so much more elegant, provide a smoother, more even light, and are significantly more expensive. You get what you pay for.
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