E39-SOURCE-M5

2010: The Story: Ryan’s 2000 BMW E39 M5:

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All cars have a story, and I’m about to get very carried away telling mine. It’ll be long, detailed, and full of links to YouTube videos and website articles that I have written through the process. This is nearly a decade in the making, after all. Sunday, July 18th, 2010. 6:42pm. The corner of Village Way and Library Street, in the midwestern town of Hudson, Ohio. I was in the downtown area of my community with my grandparents at a concert on our square.

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2011: The Story: Ryan’s 2000 BMW E39 M5:

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2011 By this point, I had learned that I could not afford to have any service/maintenance/upgrades carried out through BMW dealerships. I was on my own. And I found that there was very little quality DIY content available online. After spending years making technology DIYs on YouTube, I toyed with the idea of switching to cars. In 2011, I created E39Source DIYs for the shift knob, parking brake handle, center console trim, cup-holders, and I replaced a failed rear park distance control sensor.

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2012: The Story: Ryan’s 2000 BMW E39 M5:

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2012 Fa t n eat b lts. My cluster’s pixels were committing suicide by the day. It turns out, somebody saw one of my videos showing the problem on YouTube. He sent me a message, telling me how to get BMW of North America to help fix the problem for less than the cost of a whole new cluster. This guy had a 2003 525iA do the same thing, and he is now partly responsible for this website, and one of my closest friends.

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2013: The Story: Ryan’s 2000 BMW E39 M5:

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2013 Navigation. In the 2001 model year, BMW upgraded the E39’s navigation display to a 16:9 widescreen instrument. The computer also got upgraded. I took this a step further, and bought a MKIV computer in addition to 16:9 display. Big upgrade for this car, DVD readability and all! I spent much of 2013 fixing the larger issues. They weren’t even large, but they bothered me. I replaced intake camshaft sensors, installed new floor matts and white fog bulbs, changed transmission and differentialoils, replaced control arms and tie rods, added LED license plate lights, had some more minor rust marks removed, changed shifter bushings, added a UUC Evo 3 short shift kit, replaced the FSU and blower motor and replaced my mass air flow sensors.

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2014: The Story: Ryan’s 2000 BMW E39 M5:

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2014 Things will get crazy this year. I have decided to make this car as nice as I can afford to. That means every screw, every clip, every bracket, every everything has to be present, and in good working condition. They also need to look good. I ordered over 400 new parts for this car this year. It got new OEM style 65 wheels, new tires, chassis braces, instrument cluster bezel, switches, knobs, fan clutch, engine fan, door sills, M-audio subs, front bumper, trim, fog lights, rear bumper, trim, diffuser, facelift steering wheel, a total over-haul in electronics, all exterior door trim, coolant expansion tank, new filters, parking brake rebuild, rear brake overhaul, M3 oil cap, oil return hoses, and all mounting and installation hardware associated with these things.

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2015: The Story: Ryan’s 2000 BMW E39 M5:

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2015 Spring 2015 started with body work. I had the new side mirrors painted, rust removed from one rocker panel, and various other minor rust spot corrections. The car is now rust free! I did the brake fluid when new lines were installed, and got fresh coolant after a thermostat replacement. At 188,026 miles now, this car is more capable than any 2003 model I’ve ever seen. A full euro lighting conversion, all OEM parts, a short shift kit, Shark tune, M-audio woofers, SIRIUS XM, aux, upgraded navigation, fresh vitals, etc.

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2016: The Story: Ryan’s 2000 BMW E39 M5:

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2016 In March of 2016, the roads cleared enough for me to take the car into the shop. The plans had grown though. Not only was it getting a rebuilt 2002 engine and 2003 differential, but a full driveline, brake, gear linkage, and suspension refresh. Anything under the car that wasn’t set for at least 100,000 miles was to be rebuilt/replaced. The engine work had been going on since January. The heads were sent out to a machine shop to be cleaned, and have new valve seals fitted.

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2017: The Story: Ryan’s 2000 BMW E39 M5:

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2017 January, 2017 My original engine now in New York. I got bored enough in January to reach out to the new owner of my old S62, and see what he had found out with it. He bought my used engine to install in a project car of his. He told me a year ago that he planned to rebuild it before installing it in another car. I received several photos of my old engine opened up, and taken apart.

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2018: The Story: Ryan’s 2000 BMW E39 M5:

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2018 For April Fools day, Kennan had the great idea to film an E39Source Intro- in the voice and grandeur of US President Donald J. Tump. You have to see this video! Kennan filming Trump’s intro with my M5. The April Fools video was a HUUUUGGEE success. For the summer of 2018, I added the Rogue Engineering Diablo resonated x-pipe to my exhaust setup, which now features stock headers and cats, the Rogue x-pipe, and the 4x76mm Eisenmann Race mufflers.

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2019: The Story: Ryan’s 2000 BMW E39 M5:

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2019 E39Source is now an LLC, with a brick and mortar location. We rented a 3,500 square foot shop up in Escondido, 30 miles north of San Diego. We had two lifts installed, and got a badass set of tools. You can read more about what E39Source is doing now here. New-style BMW battery (black) February, 2019 This first winter in California was ‘rainy’ by California standards. That meant that my dad’s 1998 Ferrari 355 wasn’t driven as much over the winter as it usually does.

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