2003 BMW E39 M5 - Driving the Greatest Sport Sedan Ever Made (POV Binaural Audio) 

I love how understated M5's are, especially when you see them in person. You really have to explain to noncar people just how capable and fast these cars are

At 6:45 never fails to merge onto a highway behind someone going 15 under the traffic flow. You finally get around them and they finally get up to speed and pass a mile later…

1:00 Ryan from E39 source has entered the chat...

Instant classics. These cars make it so glaringly apparent just how far BMW has fallen. I never liked ostrich hide-looks like it came from an animal that died of some kind of pox. "Well, the hides the upholster offered were too expensive, but on the way home, we found these dead cows in a ditch, so we skinned them quick and now we're watching an instructional video on tanning hides at home!"

The Medusa intakes are called velocity stacks I think

Have you tried the e34 m5? Curious how differently they drive.

How much is this car currently worth?

The E39 and E38 7 series are the best looking sedans ever made.

The e39 M5 has been a car that I’ve always largely ignored. Until I saw an all black one and heard it’s low V8 rumble. It really struck a “brute in business casual” kind of vibe with me and I started liking it since then. Love the sound this car makes, one of the main giveaways that it’s more than it seems.

I absolutely love my E39 M5. It’s the perfect compromise without actually compromising anything. Sporting… but with a great ride. Roomy.. but drives small. Very fast.. but docile when need be. Analog.. but new enough that you can comfortably daily drive it. Relatively reliable (especially compared to newer ///M cars), built like a tank, and man they can take a beating. The steering is sublime. The way it handles it’s weight is astonishing. It really is the greatest sport sedan - no, the greatest car - ever built.

I've been driving my E39 M5 since 2010 and it's still going extremely strong. Modern cars are not made like this anymore. It will be tough for me to let it go at some point.

I remember my dad just getting into NASA HPDE in an 02 Z06. We made track-buddies with a guy who had this car..we were astounded how well it did on Buttonwillow against the vette.WHAT A CAR...those were the days!

I deeply regret not buying one if these, or a v70r. Like 3 years ago you could've picked up one that had like barley 100k miles and needed a thing or two for under 5k, now those are going for over 20k, and you can't even find a good v70r under 10k, damn shame

I have owned one for a number of years. It gets a lot of big city use. It has been very reliable, but requires a budget for maintenance and replacements. Oh Ya, and gas. I upgraded the audio. The radio and now have Car Play etc. so I eliminated that objection easily. The car is awesome all the time. A sophisticated car.

This calls for a bathroom break to watch at work

The videos of Sabine Schmidt tossing one of these around the track are something else! Have you ever tried one of the Dinan modified versions? Apparently, these engines respond well to the right upgrades. If you can find a 540i sport with the six speed they are pretty quick as well.

Honestly bmw has ruined their m5 design in 2024 by making the kidney grill huge as well as increasing the weight to 2.4 tonnes .This e39 is probably the most well proportionate and best designed m5 ever built

Great video Ted love the amount of content the E39 M5 keeps getting even 22 yrs later. All of us that own one know the feeling of owning and driving this masterpiece

Your videos rock ! I appreciate the smoothness of the drive and the patience with the fools on the road.

Finally, M5 content! Your car is the one that has given me the E39 bug, and now I'm on the market for a i6 Touring (don't want a V8, hell no, too problematic)

8:12 it’s actually Ferrari Modena performance

Great video!! I love this M5 and how it looks like a regular 5 series which is awesome as this is the best looking 5 series in my opinion👌👌. I wonder how those black rubber marks got in the road (3:25)🥴🥴

I've owned my E39 M5 for 14 years now already - i feel SO privileged 😱

I asked on Instagram when will you make new video with the M5, and here it is! Thanks mate! Greetings from Bulgaria! :)

The steering box I believe was due to packaging issues around the size and weight of the V8 engine. The m5 was based on the 540i, which also had the steering box, steel front sub frame and different suspension arms to the other e39 cars. If you've been under one of these cars there's not a lot of space for the steering setup.

Aluminum trim > fucking piano black....

When you refresh your suspension please go with Ground Control coil overs. I’ve got their kit on my E39 and it’s absolutely incredible. I’d rate it at an oem+ to clubsport depending on how it’s adjusted.

Such a great Car! But i feel sadly with you, that you are not allowed to realy drive it out in your county overthere! Greetings from Germany!!!✌️😉

I just love your videos, they bring me so much joy and keeps me on the grind to my dreamcar

I SO miss the older generations of BMW's, they used to be so, so great. Now they're... so uncharacteristic and boring.

Bro I SAW YOU on the highway! I didn’t know it was you though I saw e39 m5 near Acton MA and tried getting your attention near the highway. Not sure if I was going 495 South or north.

I always appreciate E39 M5 content Ted! But just curious what made you to review a different one?

"the Greatest Sport Sedan Ever Made" *Smiles in M539 restorations*

Saw one of these at my local gym today in this exact same spec & color and I couldn’t get over how timeless & gorgeous these things are after all these years

E39 my favourite m5

Well ackchyually recirculating ball steering is used not only in M5, but in every E39 with a V8 - 535i and 540i have it too, so it has nothing to do with a dry sump. Perhaps a big V8 didn’t leave enough space for a steering rack. However, they used recirculating ball steering in E38 7 series regardless of engine, even with straight-6 engines. Probably because of that isolating "luxurious feel". Go figure.

I want every single bmw ever lol. This is a beautiful classic

BMW always been particularly good with their stock exhaust systems, at least with all the ones I've experienced from the proper classics and all the way to the E39, haven't had newer.

To me this is peak M car. None of the overdone interior or exterior elements, none of the over the top M badging everywhere and pseudo race car stuff. Just an ultra version of a daily driver that wouldn’t stand out but if you know you know type of vehicles

Tedward: so much low end torque you barely have to down shift: proceeds to down shift and rip past a Mercedes’ 😎👍🏽

Great to see another E39 on the channel. Hopefully you get the opportunity to drive a Dinan S3 E39 M5.

I love these videos just for the awesome sound with headphones on. Really feels like you're in the car.

I feel like you should have mentioned a con is the MPG. This thing is a (fun) gas guzzler.

They absolutely messed up the understated looks for the new F90😞😞😞😞😞the formula got changed for the wrong reasons😭😭

Sreten from M539 Restorations would definitely agree with the title :)

I'm glad you acknowledge its the greatest sports sedan ever made!!!

The best car of all time, forget ur lambos and civics and what nots, this is the ultimate driving machine

Salam dari medan sumatra

I can’t wait until I can get my first M car

Once I finish my (manual, m package, facelift) 530d e39 I'm going for an M5 as well. Most likely I'll keep the 530d as a daily while I'll have the M5 as a weekend warrior lmao

ALLAHİM İNŞALLAH MƏNƏ DƏ BU BMW M5 DEN ALMAYI KISMET EDER BMW NİN ESKİ KASALARINI ÇOK SEVİYORUM

Owned one between 2013 and 2016, a mint carbon black one which rolled off the production line in 2001. Giving these cars the title "The Greatest Sport Sedan ever made" is only a matter of opinion - yours!. I'm sure there will be loads of similar opinions to yours from people who have never even owned one. It's like me telling you that the TV show "Friends" isn't funny. This is my opinion, many disagree. But I have owned one and it was nothing special i'm afraid to say. The V8 sounds nice though. Nicer than the V10 I purchased afterwards, however the E60 destroys the E39 in every way. Again I had the E60 M5 for 3 years also, before selling and buying an E63 M6. I always found the gear change to be cr@p!. I've been behind the wheel of 3 of them and they are all as notchy as hell!. BMW manual's generally have a much nicer gear shift than the old E39 M5. I had an E39 530i Sport touring previous to the M5 which has a way slicker 5 speed manual, plus it handled better because it didn't have recirculating ball like the M5 did, which coincidentally is the same steering system found on vans!. These were made back in a time when BMW anti-corrosion hit bottom of the barrel. E39's and 46's were proper rotboxes in the UK. I bet I could hit eBay and find myself an 18 year old V10 M5 that's still mint!. Hence the reason there's still a lot of E60's around keeping the prices down. Most of the E39's have rotted away now.

12:40-13:40…ridiculously dreamy, like i’m watching the best simulator

I was working at our BMW dealership when these first came out. Salesmen would often grab me to take a prospective customer out to "show them what it can do." I'd turn off the traction control and do just that on a certain section of country road. Really liked these cars (almost as much as my 93 E34 M5) once they stopped coming back in for clutch replacements and Vanos issues. Boy that could get real expensive with no warranty. Plus, the usual pixel issues with the gauges in most E39s. Still a great car and I've seen plenty of them with high mileage, so most aren't garage queens.

LOL... this is the BMW right before iDrive, before SMG, before any turbos and before the guaranteed to blow up S65/S85 engines.

I would love to see a review of a (stock) W211 E55 AMG which was Mercedes's response to this car.

Sreten likes this

*He's back with another beauty* 👀

"It's got a recirculating ball steering system! That's what used in pick-up trucks" ... and most Mercedes Benzes.

So what you're saying is avoid the 2000 M5 at all costs? I've driven one and an E46 M3. This was peak fucking BMW M in my humble opinion.

The balance and weight distribution is amazing, and this car drives like a rocket, even in the desert crosswinds. Brilliant design and performance results in this being a briliant car. The comments are spot on! It maybe the best among the best for all round performance for a 4 door!

My dream car for long drive

I miss the days when BMW made the "Ultimate Driving Machine." I am not saying they aren't nice, but I really feel like BMW lost its way.

4:07 pulled up to the scene in style?? lol

I love the naturally aspirated bmw sedans, I picked up an m sport package e90 328i with a 6 speed manual and even if I had the words in my vocabulary to describe the driving experience I probably wouldn't be able to do it.

Check out the new cup holders for the center console. Much better than the factory ones. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ICs3dSOLqSc.html

super squishy and imprecise shifter ruins the car for me, same with the E46 M3

excellent video as always! Thanks, Tedward

Tedward - I ended up buying this from Oleg and Chris at Acton. Your video led me to make trip from VA to MA to purchase it. They should pay you commission! This is now paired next to my 02 E46 M3 with 52k miles. They are like cousins next to each other in the garage. Great job on the video.

I want Doug DeMuro to tell me about the options, and I want you to do the drive!

Une œuvre d’art 🥰🇩🇪🖤❤️💛merci Chris Bangle 🇺🇸😌👍

Cant believe this e39 m5 had more power then the e92 m3 never thought about that

the interior trim isn't aluminum. just "titanium" that's actually plastic.

This or the F10 M5 that Acton has in stock? This is a bit more money than that.

I believe this car has officially become my dream car ❤

Beautiful car and awesome call out to gumball 3000!

new tedward on the last day of school lets goo

The E39 M5 is definitely one of the best 5 series ever made, and one of the best BMWs ever made. This was when their designs were just flawless back in the day.

I've owned my car for 10yrs and your absolutely right about it being an autobahn burner more then a 1-2 burner. You can do that too, I find you hit redline too fast in first if you just floor it especially if your break your tires. 3rd, 4th and 5th gear is magical on the highway, I just wish I could go fast enough to take advantage of it more often. Nowadays if I take it out for a Sunday cruise I find the most enjoyable way to drive it isnt to go fast, just ring out the gears slowly, most people are afraid to take it to the higher rpm's before shifting at slower speeds but it just sounds like sex at the high rpm's. I took it to Mosport and raced it for that (videos on my channel) though I wouldn't do that anymore :)

I hate how u talked about things and expected everyone to know what it meant. Like street fire Net? I’m 25 and never heard of that so imagine kids you know? Just an advice for next time but still 10/10 vid

I see those burnout lines at the start 🤣 not so sly hahaha. Great video though, one of my dream cars, looks and sounds so damn good too

2:59 "A SERIES OF TUBES"! :-P But seriously, continuing to watch. I thought these were a bargain at $73K, but I still couldn't afford one. I had to wait until 2017 and got an SS 6-speed instead.

I've always loved this car and its engine/exhaust sound since watching Alex Roy in the "Battle of Rome" and ambulance chase videos (look'em up on YT if you've never seen them!"). It's glorious! And also the Gumball video from SF to Miami where Alex Roy's "Team Polizei 144" M39 is doing 170 mph while chasing a Ferrari F-50. Iconic material! :D

Couldn't disagree more about the brakes. The e39 M5 brakes slow down the car effortlessly.

“Handles like a pickup truck” nice car, nice vid

My dream car, give me an e39 m5 over a Lamborghini

The 210 mph Jaguar Project 8 is 45 seconds faster than a Veyron around Nurburgring. And it’s a luxury car.

I keep looking for one of these yet can't seem to find one that hasn't been through hell... One day...

Can confirm... I bought my first e39 M5 in January. It's a killer ride. I have the e60 shifter and a refreshed suspension with Koni Sports and Dinan springs. It's an absolute dream.

Sports cars / sedans have in many ways gotten worse over the years from a driver enjoyment and involvement standpoint. Granted there are still great driver’s cars being made but the trend seems to be more about “being driven” vs. actually “driving”. Many of us like driving so I hope auto manufacturers don’t lose sight of this fact.

I still think this is the last/greatest of the M5.

The stiffer rigidity of not having folding rear seats is reflected on its torsional rigidity figure (at least for the ones I've found for E46, not sure if it is the same for E39)

i think its the best BMW 5 Series even not M5

We’re about the same age and the “street fire” comment took me back!! Grainy footage of street races and people wrecking their cars. lol

Why didn’t you show your own one? Love E39 LCI looks, had 2001 525iA touring one day.

I was in college when these cars were going for 15k-18k... and I thought that was too much back then... Now I actually cant afford one lmao.

This body style has been emulated by many other car companies over the past 20+ years. No one has been able to improve upon perfection!

I want one of these before 2030 agenda

Fun Fact: The E39 M5 and the new G80 M3 have almost identical external dimensions.

Didn’t like the square style 65 setup. Too grabby on the highway