1993 BMW 525iT (M5 Touring Clone)

Disappointed that the 530i Touring we featured last week had a slushbox? Well, here’s your answer. An E34 M5 Touring clone. The M5 Touring was the second rarest M car ever produced, second behind the car that started it all, the M1. As with all things scarce, people seek to emulate the real thing. This Touring for sale in Florida started life as a 525iT but was transformed by scavenging an M5 sedan. Sitting on BBS RC wheels, it’s amazing to think what was once a company car for The Hamptons could be transformed into an edgy Autobahn stormer like we see here.

Year: 1993
Model: 525iT (M5 Clone)
Engine: 3.6 liter inline six
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Mileage: 157,777 miles
Price: $15,000 Buy It Now

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1994 BMW M5 Touring Clone on eBay

1993 E34 BMW 525i Touring with a complete M5 conversion. When introduced the E34 M5 Touring was the world’s fastest wagon. 0-60 in 6.4 seconds, top speed limited to 155 mph. Body VIN – WBAHJ6313PGD23385. 157,000 miles

The Good:

S38B36 3.6L Inline 6, 320bhp, 266 lb ft

European Catalytic Converters

Eisenmann Muffler

E30 M3 Transmission, dog-leg Getrag 265/5 CR, 5 speed US Spec w/Overdrive

H&R Lowering Springs

Bilstein sport shocks specifically designed for lowering springs

BBS RC 18×8.5, I weighed them without the cap, only 17.2 lbs!

Brand New Sumitomo HTR AS PO1 245/40/18

8 Series front calipers

All exterior components, interior component and mechanical/suspension bits genuine converted M5 pieces.

Front grill, hood, spoiler upgraded to euro 1994 M5

Leather Seats in fantastic condition

Headliner and everything north of the beltline replaced w/ alacantra – very nice upgrade

Self Leveling Suspension removed, canister still used for power steering

It’s a truly pleasurable to drive, highly unique automobile. Mechanically in excellent condition. Starts right up. Idles fine. The engine and exhaust sound fantastic. Revs to redline w/ no issues or hesitations. Steering feels great. The E30 M3 transmission is a tank, gear lever heartily clunks into position. The interior is in great condition, smells like leather and looks great. Suede headliner looks very nice. The outside looks fantastic. The car is 100% a driver, and doubles as a show piece. It realy does turn heads.

Here is what has been done with the car in the last year:

Slave Cylinder Replacement

Thorough detail using clay bar, Klasse Synthetic All in One Wax/Cleaner and Klasse SealantWheels cleaned and protected w/a light rubbing compound

Interior shampoo’d, leather and all plastic/vinyl cleaned and then protected/conditioned

New front shocks (rear shocks replaced about 1 1/2 years ago)

Proper alignment

Replaced oil, oil filter, air filter cleaned, trans fluid replaced, diff fluid replaced, coolant flushed, brake fluid checked, clutch fluid checked

New tires (Sumitomo HTR AS po1 245/40/18)

Compression test – 6-175, 5-190, 4-180, 3-185, 2-190, 1-180

Fixed every bulb in /on the car

Tool kit improved

Fixed rear glass servo, opens properly now

Rear windshield wiper cap and sprayer cap replaced

Rear wiper and sprayer fixed

Valve cover gasket replaced

Replaced old loose side molding clips

Many missing caps/screws were replaced

M5 emblems added

Fixed driver’s headrest and leg extension, now move electronically

Reconditioned AC with new expansion valve, micro filter, AC drier, oil and refrigerant (at great expense)

Sunroof motor replaced, parts lubed

Replaced oil level sensor

Replaced oil temperature sensor

New aluminum front lower control arms

New front sway bar links

New front steering tie rods

New throttle pedal clips and throttle cable clips, etc.

New air intake tube

Remanufactured gauge cluster board installed

New battery

Lubed all steering joints

Painted intake plenum and added emblem

Painted valve cover

Added satin black vinyl to license plate area

Painted front calipers black (no more BMW logo)

New thermostat

The receipt folder wasn’t kept up well, but I did record everything on a spreadsheet. $6,331.94 was spent on the above. But I was having fun doing it.

The Bad:

Overall it’s a fantastic car. However, I tend to be a little picky, forgive me. It’s a driver, so it has some inherent flaws. Being 20 years old, it does require some tinkering every now and then. Both inside and outside there are scratches, minor repairs, minor imperfections. Nothing that takes away from the driving experience, but would annoy some people. I’ve seen 4 year old BMWs in much worse shape. But I’ll list some things here that may be easy to overlook or don’t show up. There are some paint imperfections. A couple of the wheels have minor rash and the plastic chrome caps on all those bbs wheels get these weird veins running through them – two of these have been.

My garage floor is dry. I haven’t noticed much oil consumption, if any. Also, the inner rear axle boots are starting to dry rot, no slits yet. Probably the next thing I’d do is freshen those. The history on the car is fuzzy. It was a thorough and complete conversion, somebody took an M5 sedan and moved absolutely everything over to this 525i Touring. It’s had a large amount of owners, and at this point nobody knows the when, wheres, hows on the conversion. Looking at the Carfax (which is clean by the way), it sat for a long time between 1998 and 2001. I’m guessing that’s when the conversion happened. What I can tell you is both the car and the M5 drive train have plenty of miles on them, and still running strong, it was a well done conversion. My guess is the M5 bits have the 157k miles on them as reflected on the M5 cluster. The chassis probably has about the same.

I do have a clean and clear title on the car. The odometer reading on the title says EXEMPT, which they do for a lot of classic and older cars in Florida. The gentleman I bought it from is a BMW mechanic and owns an independent BMW shop. He also worked at BMW dealerships for a long time. For more information or if you have any questions feel free to call me directly at 239-314-6186 my name is Perry.

This car’s history is a bit more spotted than the 530iT we featured last week, but the seller is up front about that. The list of improvements and maintenance is impressive, but not unwarranted given the car’s mileage. A few genuine M5 Tourings have made their way to the US and those we have seen have been changing hands for upwards of $20,000. This clone is cheaper than that, but of course, you can pick up a genuine M5 sedan for this kind of money. So what will it be? If you have to have that forbidden fruit, there’s not a lot of choice if you live in the US. But if you want the real thing, $15,000 will buy a nice E34 M5 sedan.

-Paul