The 1988 BMW M5 we featured last month did not sell at an ask of almost $70,000. Now the seller has reduced the price by $5,000. Are we closer to the mark or perhaps testing the parameters of the current market?
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1988 BMW M5 on eBay
The below post originally appeared on our site July 18, 2015:
Taking my M5 to Yosemite this weekend is about all that’s gotten me through a brutal work week. Pretty drives in my E28 have been too few and far between recently, but the flip side is they turn a weekend into a real vacation and a long drive to meet friends into an adventure of its own. Carter and a reader have recently referred to the growing interest and values of E28s, and even though mine isn’t perfect, I’m glad I got it when I did. This gorgeous M5 has just 62k miles – finding any under 100k is a pretty steep challenge these days. It also has a nicely done Euro bumper conversion, but surprisingly retains its US headlights. All looks accordingly clean and perfect, but the seller is high-balling just about everyone with a nearly $70k asking price.
Year: 1988
Model: M5
Engine: 3.5 liter inline-6
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Mileage: 62,811 mi
Price: $64,900 Buy It Now
1988 BMW M3 (E28)
3.5 Liter, 256hp, Inline 6 Cylinder5 Speed Manual, 16″X7.5″ Alloy Wheels, Leather, Air Conditioning, Power Windows, Power Sunroof, Power Seats, Cruise Control, On-Board Computer, Central Locking and Shadow-line Trim.
The 1988 E28 series of the M5 remains among the rarest regular production BMW Motorsport cars – after the BMW M1 (456 units). The M5 was a hand-built vehicle designed to be the fastest production sedan of it’s time. These vehicle only came in one color combination which was Jet Black over Tan leather. Only 2,191 E28 M5’s were produced worldwide over a three year period. This makes this a very rare and highly collectible BMW.
This particular M5 is a very nice example that came to us locally. This beauty has recently been to our local BMW dealership and had over $7k worth of service work performed to make sure that this one will need nothing. You can buy this M5 with confidence. The rarity and collectiblity of this BMW will give you the advantage of being able to drive it and still have a solid investment.
Buy this M5 before it goes up even more in value!!!
If you are looking for a M5 that needs nothing but a new owner, with a recent full service, look no further, this is the BMW for you. Please call or email us immediately!!
Now, the “find another one” argument is strong with this one, but if you’re looking for an investment-grade Bimmer, there are a few counterpoints that should not be overlooked. The biggest is that you could get a 60k-mile E30 M3 for less than this (though not much), and it will certainly appreciate more and quicker. Secondly, it’s not completely original, which always strikes me as a big knock against these low-mileage creampuffs. If you want to blow a lot of money on a US M5 to put in your climate-controlled warehouse, get one that is a correct time capsule. If you love the small Euro bumper look, either import one or do the conversion.
Even as someone who stands to benefit from rising values, moonshots like this annoy me. It’s a beautiful car that should certainly be worshipped, but this is tens of thousands of dollars too expensive at this point in the E28 M5’s appreciation.
-NR
What do you see that is not original, and egregious enough to hurt the value?
@RPM: Nate specifically mentioned the Euro bumper conversion on a US spec car without including the correct headlight configuration. Definitely not original.
But since you asked, You didn’t include shots of the underside of the car or even the trunk compartment. You mention a recent $7K service, but you don’t give any specifics as to what was done. You also don’t make mention of any of the rest of the car’s service history for its 27 years on the road. E28s (even M5s) have several well-known problem areas – how and when were these addressed?
I can see from the pictures the radio is coded, the OBC display looks a bit weird, there is a glaring chip in the black trim on the passenger side taillight, the steering wheel looks like it has been refinished and the seals around the sunroof and windshield look like they have a lot of junk left over from the detailer’s use of a buffer.
It’s a great looking car and none of these things are deal breakers, but they shouldn’t exist at your asking price.
Gotta be the same car I wrote up last year?
https://germancarsforsaleblog.com/1988-bmw-m5-12/#more-68557
If so, sold for $21,100 in August 2014.
Sorry for the second message. VIN checks, it’s the same car with a new seller.
Test
@Matt, if you post a link or questionable message (test) it gets caught in our filter – just FYI.
@KevinR It’s not my car… Not sure why you thought that?
@RPM: my apologies. I interpreted the question you posed as one the seller would ask.
I have to agree…from a collectors perspective OEM is everything
while I personally have no issue with the euro conversion, it does look better with the headlights & wipers…
I hate to bring them up but they have 4 for sale right now, ranging in price from 90k down to 33k
mileage ranges from low of 43k to high of 118k….
but they are all OEM cars with documented service history…so for me, if this seller were to put the car back to OEM (if possible) the price would be more than fair if everything else (PPI) checks out
That seller is notorious for having an unrealistic prices and sitting on cars for eternity. They have a 76 911S that they have owned for more than 6 months. They tout it as 100% original blah blah blah. They originally offered it for $69k and have since lowered it to $54,900 which is still an insane number for a mid-year 911. The problem is it’s so far from “all original†its laughable. They list it with the original 2.7 motor yet in the phots its very clear there is a 3.2 from a later Carrera.
My guess is they don’t care. They probably sell a lot of late model exotics. This M5 looks like it was sold back in September and then again this past June.
The 911 they are stuck with, it won’t sell anywhere near their asking price, at least not in the reasonable future. Same can be said about the M5