Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
Back at the end of 2023 I took a look at a stellar Oxford Green Metallic E39 M5. A stunning color combination, it also rang in with just 30,000 miles and an $80k price tag. Ouch! Today’s car is equally impressive as it was ordered through BMW Individual in Velvet Blue Metallic. Wow! If you were curious, just 58 out of the total 20,482 E39 M5 produced were ordered in this shade. 39 of them were left-hand drive, and it’s claimed to be one of only three in the US in this shade.
To this point, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen the E39 M5 referred to as the “first of the robot-builts”. Sound ridiculous? So does dismissing a car because it was produced in mass quantities. While the original run of 4- and 6-cylinder M-cars got the trend rolling, there are quite a few who’d argue that the recipe of the super-saloon was better achieved in the third generation M5 rather than the first two. It was still very understated, yet with 400 horsepower and instant torque it was quite a bit faster than the prior generations had been. It retained the ability to demolish back roads, keep up with super cars, and bath its occupants in luxury. Despite not being assembled “by hand”, it was also the last of the “analogue” M5s, with limited computer intervention and interface. And, they only came as manuals. This certainly sounds like a recipe for success.
It was. BMW sold nearly 10,000 E39 M5s in North America – triple the combined total of the E28 and E34 models. So there should be a lot of really great examples out there to consider. Yet many are starting to come to market with upwards of 150,000 miles a a laundry list of maintenance to catch up on. Where does a low-mileage example fall these days? This beautiful Oxford Green Metallic one in Pennsylvania gives us a clue:
To this point, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen the E39 M5 referred to as the “first of the robot-builtsâ€. Sound ridiculous? So does dismissing a car because it was produced in mass quantities. While the original run of 4- and 6-cylinder M-cars got the trend rolling, there are quite a few who’d argue that the recipe of the super-saloon was better achieved in the third generation M5 rather than the first two. It was still very understated, yet with nearly 400 horsepower and instant torque it was quite a bit faster than the prior generations had been. It retained the ability to demolish back roads, keep up with super cars, and bath its occupants in luxury. Despite not being assembled ‘by hand’, it was also the last of the “analogue†M5s, with limited computer intervention and interface. And, they only came as manuals. This certainly sounds like a recipe for success.
It was. BMW sold nearly 10,000 E39 M5s in North America – triple the combined total of the E28 and E34 models. So there should be a lot of really great examples out there to consider, and there are. Today’s car has moderate mileage and comes from early in the production run, but it still looks great and won’t cost you an arm and a leg – both of which you’ll need, since it doesn’t drive or shift itself:
BMW’s second generation M5 followed the same recipe as the outgoing E28; manual transmission, rear-drive, howling inline-6 under the hood. But the E34 was far from a copy of the car that was really credited with being the first super sedan. BMW upped with power first with the 3.6 liter version of the S38; though the increase in displacement was a scant 82 ccs, the result was impressive. BMW Motorsport GmbH fit a new cam, a higher compression head, and a new engine management system to yield 311 horsepower at a rev-busting 6,900 rpms. They weren’t done.
In 1992 M upped the capacity again, this time to just 5 cc shy of 3.8 liters. Even higher compression, a further revision in electronic management, and a few other odds and ends now netted 340 horsepower and 300 lb-ft of torque. Again, they weren’t done. Perhaps tired of Audi cornering the go-fast-5-door market with their 200 20V Avant, in 1992 BMW launched the M5 Touring. Production began in March 1992 and ran through 1995. All E34 M5 Tourings were left-hand drive 3.8 models, and a total of 891 were produced.
BMW opted not to bring the enlarged motor or the M Touring model to the United States, as the 540i took over the top rungs of North American production. But now legal for importation, these rare Ms are one of the more desirable models around:
Like Porsche, BMW has gone crazy with the special editions recently, and who can blame them, really – slap some badges and a special color on a normal production car, announce it’s limited production, jack up the price; enthusiasts seems to love it these days.
In the case of the M5 30 Jahre Edition, which of course celebrated the European introduction of the model and not the US-market E28s, BMW announced in 2014 that they’d make 300 of the special edition M5s to commemorate the following year. These cars were auto-equipped with the Competition package, and the more than just badging, BMW Motorsport turned up the wick on them as well. Revised engine tuning yielded 600 horsepower and 516 lb-ft of torque. Of course, the visual tweaks were much more noticeable than the power bump; 30 Jahres were produced solely in Frozen Dark Silver Metallic with dark chrome accents and special badging as well as 20″ Style M601 wheels with Jet Black accents outside, while inside black Merino leather was contrasted with ’30 Jahre M5′ embroidery, Alcantara interior trim, an Alcantara steering wheel, 30 Jahre door sills, and a 1/300 dashboard badge. One of these special editions has popped up for sale in Arizona, impressive since the claim is that only 30 made it here:
