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As we saw last week, higher-mileage M5s are starting to get pulled upward. Shredded front seats, a dirty engine compartment, and lost history were the main gripes with last week’s, but it still got snatched up locally, indicating the seller got something close to his $15k asking price. This one has a more complete history as it belonged to the seller’s father, but its story includes several missteps. The most-referenced in the ad is a decent-but-not great respray after a hailstorm. Next are the recovered seats – better than having them torn up (I guess) but the black piping makes them look cheap. Mechanically and electrically, however, it appears sound, running strong at a mileage where many receive rebuilds (though for some unknown reason the top end was already rebuilt at 125k miles). With no reserve and sitting just over $10k, this could be a good chance at driver for someone who doesn’t care too much about originality.
It would be easy to credit the BMW M5 as the first super sedan, and in many ways, it is. With a motorsport-derived twin cam 24V inline-6 under the hood good for over 280 horsepower in Europe, the E28 M535i and M5 were nothing to trifle with. However, well before the Motorsports division of BMW had their way with the E28, they built the prototype for what would become the definitive sports sedan in the E12 M535i. Granted, the E12 didn’t have the super M1 motor under the hood. However, like the later M5 would, the E12 had upgraded brakes, a re-tuned suspension featuring unique springs and Bilstein shocks, a deep front air dam and rear spoiler and BBS mesh wheels. Because this was basically still the 1970s, they also received some spectacular Motorsports stripes outside to help differentiate them as something special. Inside you got special Recaro seats with a unique corduroy fabric and an M1 steering wheel – not a bad touch. All of that was coupled with the uncatalyst M30B34 seen in several other BMWs, good for 218 horsepower. It was in just about every way the stepping stone to creating the M5. They were even produced in similar numbers to the M5, with only around 1,400 made – 450 of them being right drive like this 1980 example for sale today:
Though personally invested, I’m still skeptical of the recent prices we’ve seen E28 M5s being listed for. It seems like reasonable examples were going for high teens just a few months ago, yet all of a sudden it seems any clean sub-150k mile example is going for over $30k. Today’s example is one of the rare Canadian models with the all-black interior, which is a fun idea but much less appealing (to my eyes at least) than the tan interiors present on the other 99%. It has just 124k miles and appears to be in good working order, but it’s not like the shockingly clean examples we’ve featured recently. It’s lived through 4 owners and the maintenance history is disappointingly lacking. The E28 community seems to express a collective “meh” when black-interior cars are brought up, but some like the color and rarity. Have E28 M5 prices really gone up 100% over the last year?
Usually, the M5 is the top dog of the BMW 5 series range. This model has been with us for almost a full three decades now, dazzling enthusiasts with supercar performance in a sedan package. When the E34 series debuted in 1988, the second car to wear the M5 badge would appear shortly thereafter, with a 3.5 liter inline-6 under the hood, good for 315 horsepower. The M5 would be pulled from the US market after the 1993 model year. Then, in the final year of E34 production, we would see a new model emerge for 1995: the 540i M Sport.
The 540i M Sport would be a sort of preview towards what BMW was planning for the M5 of the forthcoming E39 generation. With a new series of V8 engines in the BMW product portfolio, the company took it upon itself to create a sort of modified M5, with a 4.0 liter V8 under the hood mated to an available 6-speed manual gearbox with a few styling tweaks, firmer suspension and sports seats. Today we’ll look at two powerful E34s, beginning with this 1991 M5 for sale in Ontario, Canada.
With Christmas 2014 now in the rear view mirror, did everyone get what they wanted from Santa? If not, here’s something of a late present to make up for it: a Dakar Yellow E36 M3. I’m not typically a fan of yellow on cars, but Dakar Yellow looked a treat on this M3. Much like Estoril Blue, it was a color almost made for this car, accentuating the styling which was a crisp update of the E30 3 series. This M3 with well under 100,000 miles comes to us from our friends at Shift Bespoke Automotive in Laguna Hills, California.
