Regardless of what age I reach, I still get that excited small boy at Christmas feeling when I settle in to the driver’s seat of a new, or special BMW, for the very first time. And I’m having that feeling right now.
I stick the key into an ignition barrel and twist it, feeling the car momentarily tense as the start motor catches. The cabin starts to rock rhythmically as the engine turns over for a split second before all eight cylinders suddenly wake up and fire in to life. That wonderful V8 “whoomph” as the S62 engine’s revs rise temporarily, producing an aural delight before dropping to an altogether quieter thrum. Nothing to shout about here. In fact, it’s all very restrained. Exactly like an M5 should be then.
Ever since the first E28 BMW was badged M5 back in 1984, there has been a clear and consistent form of M5 lineage that has remained understated in the looks department, something we see even in the current F90 models. And unlike most of its peers that tend to be instantly recognisable by their swollen wheel arches and shouty body kits, an M5 is altogether more respectable prospect, blending in with the crowd, and only those with a discerning eye for the rare and the special recognising what lies beneath that sharp suit.
Perhaps the most well-dressed of them all is the E39 M5. Differentiated from its company car diesel brothers and sisters by the slightest of cosmetic tweaks; the more aggressive front bumper, deeper dished shadow chrome wheels, those two pairs of exhaust tips out back, and of course that very special badge on the boot. Could it be more discreet? Umm, well yes actually it could. Imagine just for a moment if it was an E39 M5, but not in saloon form, but say in a body shape that BMW didn’t actually ever produce, like say a Touring. I mean nobody would notice that, would they? Well, I’ve noticed it, because although BMW never produced an E39 M5 Touring, that is exactly what I have in front of me right now. Stunning in its Oxford Green metallic paint looking exactly like it is 1999 and it has just rolled off BMW’s production line in Dingolfing, Germany.
If you’ve been reading Straight Six (the BMW Car Club GB magazine) over the past three months, then you’ll be familiar with the trial and tribulations that Barry Sheward of BMR Performance has faced in building this unique car. If you know Barry, even just a little, you will recognise that he is totally fastidious when it comes to building and renovating cars. And he’s had a few over the years, 100 and counting to be precise.
As a young BMW dealership technician at Hexagon and Chandlers Hailsham, he was passionate about his cars. When his colleagues took holiday to get away from work, he’d take a week’s holiday just so he could spend a week at the dealership, using the ramps in the garages to work on his own cars. His colleagues must have thought he was mad, rather than recognising the innate passion for cars and tinkering with them that Barry had running through his veins. His mantra; if it could be unbolted, then it could also be put back together.
Some of Barry’s cars only stayed a short while, all were driven hard. An early purchase was a Nissan Bluebird bought as a temporary means of transport for £50 from a neighbouring street near his home at the time in Croydon, it lasted a whole week, a trashed gearbox sending that one straight to the great scrapyard in the sky. Some stayed longer. Some were cherished, sold and regretted. A Dolphin Grey E28 M5 (number 88), a particular sore point for Barry. Fortunately, it resides with a friend far enough away in Oxfordshire to not be a constant reminder. And some of his cars have stayed with him, well into their second decade, a Diamond Schwarz Metallic E30 325i Sport Tech2 to name just one.
So, as you may imagine, his stunning OEM exact M5 Touring is causing Barry a bit of a dilemma. Asking Barry where this M5 rates amongst his favourites elicits a slightly offended response, much akin to asking him to choose a favourite child. But I can sense as our day together progresses, this particular M car has got right under his skin. Time to find out why.
The E39 to my eyes is such a resolved design. At its most basic, a simple 3 box design with softly rounded edges, but which seems to be perfectly proportioned front to back and side to side. There isn’t a bad line anywhere. For sure, it doesn’t carry the boldness and confidence of the Bangle era E60 that came after it, nor the more angular edges of the E34 before it, or the strength and cleanliness of line of the Shark nosed E28 before that. Yet somehow it just looks right, and in the Tourer body style even more so. The Shadow Chrome 18” Style 65 alloys on this example combining with the dark green metallic paint to give it a more understated and classier look.
But it’s under the skin where all of the special bits live, starting with that 4.9 litre S62 V8 engine. When released in 1998, it was the first V8 S code engine BMW had ever produced and the second BMW engine to have Dual VANOS, which altered the timing of both intake and exhaust camshafts, a semi dry sump oil system and both engine block & heads made of aluminium. And like its six-cylinder predecessors it used a throttle body for each cylinder to precisely meter fuel and air. And the result of this engineering? An engine that produced a staggering 394bhp and a sizeable 369lbft or 500Nm of torque, enough to propel this near 1800Kg executive Bahnstormer to 62mph from rest in just 5.3 seconds.
Chassis wise, the Touring remains faithful to the M5 Saloon apart from the suspension where higher quality parts have been used. Up front the car has MacPherson aluminium struts and control arms, an M5 anti-roll bar, Bilstein B8 dampers and Eibach springs. At the rear, the car retains the self-levelling air suspension from the 540 base car Barry sourced, with Bilstein’s B8’s and an Eibach rear anti roll bar to keep that additional touring mass in check. Michelin’s Pilot Sport 4’s sit on each corner of the Touring and provide the final piece to what is a highly competent chassis set-up.
Inside, the E39’s interior is for me at the height of BMW’s late nineties and early noughties driver focused cockpit design; a time at BMW where the accountants had not yet taken over from the engineers. It’s a machine which oozes quality. The 540i SE Touring base car originally had a full beige interior, but this has been replaced with a factory correct black M5 interior. The front seats cosset you like a favourite arm chair, providing great comfort yet with enough side bolster on the seat base and back to keep you firmly in place when pushing on.
The M5 binnacle has been refurbished and looks brand new. All of the dot matrix screens, which were in a sorry state as they often are at twenty plus years of age, have been replaced with new. One of the classiest touches being that the M5 binnacle was re-flashed to ensure it carried the correct mileage, thus following the shell and chassis of the car, not the M5 donor car.
Perhaps the most impressive part of the transformation for me lies under the boot floors carpeted panel. It was here that a significant amount of metal work took place, the 540’s wheel well cut and removed, replaced with a smaller tray to hold the air suspension pump and electronics, with the battery repositioned to sit directly behind it. And why? So, the factory correct routing for the M5 exhaust and silencers could sit exactly where their maker intended. Now that’s attention to detail.
Driving
With only a handful of Summer days left before Autumn makes its appearance, the weather gods have blessed us with a colourful and dry start to the day, and we’re heading out early. It’s Goodwood’s Revival weekend, and if we don’t head out on Sussex’s finest driving roads at the crack of dawn, then there’s a high chance the roads won’t be empty enough for the M5 Touring to show us what she really can do.
As we meander through Horsham town centre, the first thing I notice is just how docile the car is at these low speeds. The Getrag 420G 6-speed manual gearbox is a peach, no baulking at low engine rpm, that torque just pulling us smoothly between the traffic lights and roundabouts up to the 30-mph limit.
Eventually we reach the edge of town and join the A24’s dual carriage way. Now for the first time the engines full 7,000rpm rev range is available to me. The engine oil is up to temperature, confirmed by the orange rev counter lights which have slowly extinguished. Coming off the roundabout in second I start to wind the big V8 up and the car starts to come alive. The faster it goes the more natural the car starts to feel, the sweet sound of that V8 permeating through the expanse of glass, the larger box-like interior of the Touring an ever, yet pleasant presence of the driving experience.
We soon turn onto the A272 and head west towards Petworth and along some of Sussex’s greatest driving roads, which are virtually empty at this time in the morning. Now I’m really enjoying this six-speed gearbox, it’s really sweet on this car, offering slick yet precise changes both up, down and across the gate, encouraging me to change gears more often than is strictly necessary when there’s so much Torque on tap.
I crack open the driver’s window slightly, not because I need the air, I just want to hear more of that sweet S62 V8 wind up towards the redline. It’s such a fantastic V8 engine, totally different in character from the frenetic S65 V8 that came after it. This S62 just builds and builds up to its 7,000rpm redline, it goes like schnell and has such an addictive V8 soundtrack that I’m still dreaming about its days later.
The great chassis and tyres Barry has fitted to this Touring enables this near two tonne family wagon to be hustled in a way which initially seems contradictory to the way it’s looks. But grab it by the horns and this M5 will play, and play like an M car should; It’s as happy to drift all four wheels at once as it is to have its back end hanging right out, although, I’m sure it might have been a little livelier back in the day on its original rubber compared to the modern Michelin’s it’s wearing now.
The body control is phenomenal considering the physics at play, no doubt due to the combination of the Bilstein’s, self-levelling air suspension and that rear Eibach anti roll bar. Although, I feel it would feel even more settled and up for the fight with a couple of big mates in the rear and some luggage thrown inside the split tailgate, it would just give it a little more composure and weight over the back end.
The brakes feel strong and really inspire confidence when you want to explore the outer edges of its performance, no nasty artificially assisted brake pedal here, it’s all down to how hard I press the pedal; it’s a car that is happy and composed enough to be braked deep into the corner.
The only area of the driving experience that I’m left a little wanting is in the steering. The size of the S62 V8 is such that BMW were unable to fit a rack and pinion set up, having to make do with a re-circulating ball arrangement. At 14.7.1 and 2.66 turns lock to lock, it is on paper much quicker than the non-M E39 V8’s, but the lack of feel on offer somehow makes it feel slower and less responsive on turn in, with a slight dead ahead on occasion which is reminiscent of some of the more modern electric steering set-ups, but still, I put it down to one of those issues that great cars have that just requires you to drive around it. And anyway, once you have the turn in, the chassis balance lets you know exactly where the car beneath you is.
One particular feature of this generation BMW is the early DSC (Stability Control) Traction fitted. If you’re really misbehaving and driving like a hooligan, then it will cut in pretty aggressively. And when you’re at the car’s adhesion limits when cornering hard it flashes away like it’s trying to communicate in morse code. Apparently, so, I’ve been told. Nothing to see here. Ehmm.
Conclusion
Barry built this one of a kind M5 Touring just because it’s something he had always fancied building. And when I ask him what he is most proud of about the car, he doesn’t talk about the immense engineering achievement or the way it drives, he simply and very humbly says, “The cars overall look and feel, like something you could have seen in a BMW showroom in 1999”.
It’s hard not to fall for this E39 M5 Touring. Not only is it a subtle and fabulous looking car, particular because it’s covered in Oxford Green metallic paint, but the way it has been bolted together is hugely impressive. Sure, it needs a few small cosmetic bits like the wiper arms replaced, and Barry will point out that really the window and door surrounds need to be changed to High gloss Shadowline from Satin Black to be on point, but these are straight forward fixes.
The overall quality of the conversion and the attention to detail is simply mind blowing, it really does drive like a brand new 20-year-old car, and one that BMW really should have been built, but didn’t. But luckily for us, Barry did, and for that we should all be very grateful.
A big thank you to Barry Sheward for letting us experience his E39 M5 Tourer first hand.
