That’s not surprising at all. The clutch is a real weak point on
this car – it’s not really up to sporty use with 400HP on tap. There
are aftermarket clutches that are stronger.

Having a new clutch is a GOOD THING on this car.. because if it didn’t
have it, it’s just a matter of time before it needs it.

A larger concern is the clogging of the bypass-air-passages in the
head. Some of the engines coke these up, and it’s large $$$ from
BMW to ream them out and get the SES light to stay off (and be
able to pass emissions.)

There is a software mod available from some unnamed sources (for
off-road use only!) that turn it off for you. Only the US models
have this problem since the Euro models ignore the signal from
the O2 sensor until the engine warms up a bit.

The rear brakes were probably done because they weren’t needed the
last time the fronts were done, now they were. With the power/weight
of the car, the fronts do most of the braking, and even though
they’re bigger than the normal E39 – they do tend to wear out first.

Depending on how well this example drives and the extent of the maintenance records, this could be a good deal. Retail values of clean M5′s in this mileage range seems to be runnin in the low to mid $20k range on average these days.

Not a bad price. Silver/black is .. blah .. – seems like almost every
E39 is silver/black. Some of the solid color ones with the two tone
interior are really stunning lookers IMHO.

For me – a dealer PPI would be mandatory, and it should only be bought
if the service records are complete. At those miles it can be expected
to need new front lower control arms (60k mile item), and should be checked
for a valley-pan-gasket coolant leak (all the V8′s do this sooner or later).