Thanks! It will be the biggest car project I’ve ever tackled, for sure. Up to this point, I’ve done suspension work, basic maintenance, and some detailing (interior and exterior), but nothing even close to this level. As long as I don’t need to custom-fabricate anything, I should be just fine.

Ah, nice! The M54B30 is a great engine; plenty of torque to it. Shame to see you didn’t have the high-OBC display; it’s one of my favorite features on my 03 model.

Yeah, in SoCal the parts cars disappear quickly, scooped up by eBay and CL sellers who strip the body and sell the parts. Kinda annoying, but it’s a job someone has to do, right?

No, an 03 530i. If I could find a 6-speed box at a reasonable price, I would. I got the swap kit (trans, driveshaft, pedals, diff, mounts) for $650, and the 6s I’ve seen run about $1k.

Heh, I wish... maybe in online enthusiast circles like BringATrailer or the forums.

They’re cheap to buy (right now anyways), and expensive to maintain. There’s a guy going through a full engine rebuild (E39Source on YouTube) right now who invests about $5K annually to keep his M5 with 192k miles in mint condition... Yikes.

Very nice! 528i?

I’ve made my case on the forums quite clear, but it’s for the best. The ZF 5-speed auto-tragic in it now, stinks. It’s seriously the worst automatic transmission I’ve had the displeasure to use. It’s slow, dimwitted (especially in “sport” mode), inefficient, unreliable above 150k miles (I’m at 125k) (even after the…

Well, I’m going to own this car until a) the perfect e39 M5 comes along for the right price, or b) it gets destroyed in some sort of accident. Anything else that comes up I can handle. It’s a fantastic car to drive.

I’ve already read it, so I’m ready! But thanks for the heads up.

Hahahahaha! Not a chance that the cooling system is original. However, I am hoping to add about $2,000 of value to my e39 with a radiator upgrade and transmission swap, which will total about $5,000 in parts. -_-

Seriously, I’ve actively avoided even reading any article about Hennessy’s stuff since I first heard of this debacle.

I bought it last night from Amazon’s $2 sale of their bestsellers. Looking forward to rereading it!

Noted... :)

No, it doesn’t have the beautifully milled “OIL”/”710" cap, or the beautifully flared fenders.

It’s only rated from the EPA at 17/22, and we’re getting about 16 city. I beat the thing like mad, so it’s probably a bit of worse case scenario.

No, LE sedan. Dark green with clear coat dandruff on the roof and trunk.

Speaking’ of beer budgets...

Can confirm, as the proud owner of a 1995 Camry V6 auto. The transmission is dumb, but serviceable, the engine is torquey, but down on power, and the suspension is super soft and rolls enough to make one seasick. But it’s survived 232k miles (now), FOUR new drivers (my two older cousins, me, my sister), and has no…

#inspiration... lol!