2001 BMW E39 M5 Therapy Drive - Are The Best Cars Behind Us? (POV Binaural Audio)

Final Drive of my BMW E39 M5 in 2024. It's going away for the winter at Garage 42 before the salt and snow hits New England

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[blessedbycoyotes]

Yknow, I clicked on this video expecting it to be the typical overnostalgic lamenting about environmental regulations and better modern safety gear you see a lot from enthusiasts, but no, I see a video talking about the things I genuinely find wrong with the current decade's car market with a well-tempered take. Thank you for surprising me.

[williamlong]

On the third day of Christmas, my Tedward gave to me
3 M5’s
2 Karmann Ghias
And a 250 in a pear tree

[juergenstraub]

The best cars and best engines were already built

[tobias_k]

I'm an engineering student, and I feel like I am increasingly more torn between being interested in new technologies and their possibilities, but on the other hand the direction of developing more and more soulless and uninspiring throwaway products using these technologies. I am very passionate about cars. I love classic cars and am very interested in their history and technology. I am a BMW enthusiast, but I respect all brands and like any car that has something interesting to me.
When I compare my almost 30 year old daily car with new cars, the biggest difference seems to be that new cars, as with basically all tech products, you can feel that they were engineered with a target cost for every part as one of the key development goals. This combined with very strict rules regarding pedestrian impact safety, aerodynamics (especially for EVs), air quality laws and also the endless pit of SUVfication of everything with more and more screens as an add-on (every passenger NEEDS access to TikTok!) just brings in so many factors - of which some of them are understandable and in theory a good goal - that take engineering work away from previous main goals: Make a car drive as good as possible. Make it an involving experience. Make it feel like a high quality product, thought out to be orchestrated perfectly with everything.
And this is definitely lost with new cars, and it will only get worse. Cars will not be as involving for the driver anymore, instead drivers are supposed to be a thing of the past in autonomous cars. High development cost for mandatory technologies are a quality killer - inevitably. Modern cars are already not very affordable anymore, and surely that will not get better. Everything will be more and more insulated, a driving capsule, taking away any excitement and fun. A driver, if there is one, already is constantly monitored with a mandatory black box (at least here in the EU) where even your fuel consumption is stored to be evaluated by governments (sounds sketchy/conspiratorial, but yes, this is actually a real thing called OBFCM...).

My point of this all is this: The concept of a car is always irrational. It was made to be an experience. Even a basic economy car is still something very special, it is your own personal moving space, and you are the one controlling all this. Something almost luxurious if you will, accessible for basically everyone in most western countries at least.
If all of this unique experience falls away, why use a car then? Where are the benefits of it over public transport? Rationally, they never were there. And if all irrational aspects are lost, then it is not worth the money anymore in my eyes. Cars were an extention of our body, the closest thing to a living object in most peoples lives. In the future, that won't be the case anymore.

Edit: I want to clarify, I am not a general hater of modern tech. I love electronic comfort seats. I love manuals, but I don't hate automatics, in some cars it just makes sense. My point is the way modern tech is used and implemented to not enhance driver involvement and feedback and instead to take it away or just straight up fake it. With many common cars today, you get aggressive styling, artificially hard steering in sport mode (that adds NO real feedback), fake sounds etc. We could use our knowledge and ideas differently, but there is just no capacity left to engineer fun into most cars as focus has to be on other aspects. That is almost unavoidable, but takes away a lot of desirability.

[DhruvDrives]

The E39 M5 is a work of art. My favorite BMW of all time

[jcrbama]

This makes me miss my E39. Sadly at the end of my ownership the cost per mile was astronomical and I had to move on. 15 years later, I still miss that car every single time I drive.

[alpe]

I owned an e39 540i 6 speed 14 years ago and it was a superb car to drive, one of the best car Ive ever owned and I owned about 30 different cars.

[jerryburdick]

23-years later, still an absolute dream car. Thanks for letting me hear that glorious soundtrack.

[Ngoasian]

Opening your video to the REALEST THING ever. Away with the damn screens!

[x]

When we’re all constantly in front of screens all day its so nice to sit behind an analog display. Love my e46

[hhaste]

That storage garage would be a dream job of mine. I love cars and would love to be around them all day.

[NickgAnagnost]

There is something to be said about understated styling with tremendous power and performance, which is why BMWs of this vintage will always be so desirable. It’s also why Audi has taken a greater market share because they have adopted this practice.

[nickcosta]

I remember my dad used to pick me up in one of these when I was in school. Best days of my life. It felt like a rocket ship.

[zachary]

"Cars that feel like something" -- I love that sentiment. It's the pursuit that separates enthusiasts from those that see cars as a means to simply get from A to B.

My current lineup is a '23 Civic Si, '99 Suburban K2500, and an '89 Volvo 245. Cars that feel like something, indeed.

Always a pleasure watching your videos and listening to what you have to say, Tedward. Cheers!

[vojtechbatelka]

Your M5 will always have a special place in my heart, I was absolutely adoring E39s and while searching for videos about them I found a Winding Road Magazine drive with your friends, back then you had a couple thousands subs. Cant wait till spring comes and we're able to enjoy our cars to the fullest.

[msun]

THIS, is a real car and a genuine BMW

[raynerhutton]

Honestly if I could drive only ONE car, it would be this. The refined feeling of drive, a manual, an N/A engine and RWD, just what you could ask for. BMW really reminds us why their slogan is "Ultimate Driving Machine". Dear Tedward, I enjoyed your talk and agreed with certain points but me growing up between two eras and adapting to technology since my childhood, I'd like to say new technology showed us how life could be easier. I also enjoy doing things old school but I am sometimes reminded why we invented new tech for it.

Still doesn't change the fact that life in 90's were soulful, which I'd love to experience. Much love, I love your videos, I actually feel like talking to you and feeling what you feel.

[DCPEvo]

Cars from this period were the pinnacle of driver involvement. Cars today are faster, but technology has done its best to remove the driver from the equation.

[IvanIvanov-rlgx]

Hi, the E39 M5 is hands down the most legendary and coolest car BMW has ever built! IMO, the BMW M5 E39 Rocket Commercial is one of the best car ads ever made. Totally agree with you—needle tachometers are a true work of art! I just can’t get behind having a tablet in front of me while driving. Hopefully, car manufacturers will realize this and bring back the golden era of design!

[pezzonovante]

Gawd that interior is perfection. E39 and E38 interiors must be the most appealing modern mass production car interiors ever.