Tonight wasn’t quite as planned. Ben Smith arrived to see the car – but our main job was to get the 106 Rallye back on the road. So the M5’s first task was to tow the 106 to our workshop:

The M5 is a pretty competent towing car! The whole episode amused me – the train’s power to weight was still considerably more than the 106’s when it’s in rude health – and that’s not a slow car!

So, I’ve just got a few shots of the interior as most of the evening was taken up working on a silly French car. Here’s the driver’s view of the cabin:

I noted my car has a build date of May 2000, and as such has the black dials (rather than the grey dials sported by later M5s). I think I prefer the ones I’ve got though.

As can be seen above, the car has had the appalling ‘Traffic Master’ system installed (the installation is at least smart), with the net effect that there’s no front cup holders. In the rear, like nearly every other E39 on the planet, the rear cup holders have been destroyed:

There’s plenty to do then! I check the oil and other fluid levels where all seemed to be fine. The xenons are nice and bright, and overall the car seems to be in good shape. Diane said “but you told me it was a heap – it’s really smart!” – maybe I did talk it down a bit.

Smart as it may be – I’m sure it’s still itching to bust.