This is my 1999 BMW M5. I have owned it since August 2005 and when I purchased it had 60.000 km on the clock.

This car is pure joy to drive.

Here is a pic of the car 100% stock:

And here it is in it�s current state:

At first I didn�t plan on modding it but of course the mod bug got me. The first mod was to install a mp3 player called Phatbox from Phatnoise. It integrates with the stock stereo, I can use the steering wheel buttons to browse songs, etc. It�s got a 80gig disk so I got alot of music to listen to :) You can read about this player here: Phatbox

Next was the intake and exhaust system. I chose to install Supersprint headers and race cats along with Tubi Rumore catback exhaust. At the same time got the Active Autowerke cold air intake along with a new software for the car (mapping for the intake/exhaust, vmax delete, etc.) Angel eyes and a loud horn were also installed :)

Here I am in the process of ripping out the ECU to ship it to Active Autowerke:

Here the bugger is out:

Now it was in the middle of winter so my next "mod" while waiting for the exhaust was a set of winter wheels & tires. I got some 17" style 66 off ebay, 8" front and 9" back. Put some Dunlop M3�s on - 235/45 front and 255/40 back. Here is a pic:

Here I finally got my headers and race cats from Jet Hot coating. If you use these guys - DO NOT TRUST THEIR PROMISED DELIVERY DATE!!! The pic shows one of the cats along with a header primary.

Ok, so finally I got all the exhaust items and now it�s up to my installer. In this pic they have removed the old exhaust. It�s one piece and heavy as hell!!

Here you can see that the angel eyes and the evil air horn are installed as well as the CAI plumbing:

Headers, race cats and catback exhaust installed:

And how does it sound? Here are some clips:

Driveaway

Reving

Very happy with the results from the exhaust upgrade!!!

Just after the exhaust upgrade was completed - I got a nice big package from the US. It was some new summer wheels. I had "by accident" seen them for sale used on M5Board and was quick to purchase them. These are 19" Hamann PG2's, 8.5" front and 10" back. The tires are Bridgestone SO3, 245/35 front and 285/30 back.

Here are some pics with the new shoes on:

Quite a fender gap but that will be fixed later.

The next thing to be modded was the clutch when it suddenly died. It is well known to be a weak link in the E39 M5. Since I drive agressively and will take the car to the quarter mile and tracks like the Nurburgring I decided that I would not put a new stock clutch in. I would get something stronger. I ended up choosing the 11" cerametallic version from UUC with a lightweight flywheel. It is based on the 850CSI clutch. In these pictures you can see the difference from stock. First the clutch disk:

Then the flywheel:

At the same time there were also installed stiffer transmission mounts and a shortshifter from UUC. The shortshifter has proved to be great but I will probably reinstall stock transmission mounts since the UUC ones transmit too much vibration into the car.

After installing the lightweight flywheel the car revs much faster, here is a clip:

Quick Reving

The clutch took a while to "run in" - it would shudder alot to begin with. The run in took about 1000 miles. It still shudders a little but boy does it GRIP!!! No slipping :)

Next in line were the brakes and the coilover system. The car was lowered a bit :)

The coilovers are the KWv3 and the brakes are 4 piston Brembo GT, 355mm front and 345mm back. The brake disks are slotted.

I am very happy with the results - the car handles and looks much better!

The last mod I have installed are the Angelibright LED lightsources for the angel eyes. They get rid of the yellow color so the angel eyes are the same color as the Xenon headlights. Here you can see some pictures from the install:

I later added color matched fog light bulbs and here is the only pic I have that shows them - taken at Nurburgring this spring :)

Next page - shit starts to happen......