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I've got an M5 I brought back from nearly dead and now use pretty regularly. It's a relatively sturdy & simple machine, and you can get at most parts or adjustments fairly easily. Some internal parts can be a headache, tho. Some headaches I hit that you could avoid ... If it's a diesel, look on the exhaust manifold side of engine for 4 large hex plugs on the cylinder heads (one per cyl). These cover the energy chambers. Start it, and as it warms, keep touching those hex plugs - they should warm up pretty evenly; a slow one may be worn injector (no biggie) or burned up energy chamber (yes biggie). Once it's warm, slow it to idle. This takes some practice, but tells a lot: pull the diesel shutoff briefly to let the engine slow a little below idle, then push it back in. Engine should come right back. Pull again a little longer. Keep increasing the amount you slow the engine before letting it fire back up. If you can let it slow to half of idle and still bring it back, all is very good. If slowing it only a little causes it to die out, it's very likely a worn injector pump. If Roosa-Master pump, no biggie. But worn Bosch pump is a big $$ pain. Drive it around a while, 10-15 min until hydraulics warm up. Put it in 1st gear, slow engine to idle, and see if power steering still works well. Park it w/ engine in idle, you & owner (or anyone else) stand on 3-pt arms, and run the lift up/down. Speed up engine & repeat. If lift is weak or less than half as fast at idle, hydraulic pump is likely about gone; not good & some variants are not replaceable any more. If there's a nice long hill, repeatedly drive up it at a good clip & watch the temp guage. If it gets hot, walk away from that machine! The front axle casting is the lower radiator tank, and the core bolts on with dozens of small bolts that are very likely seized & will break off. You can drill & helicoil, but it's a huge pain. Hope this doesn't scare you off. Once put right, my M5 has been a nice machine.
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