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Tag: BMW M5

2000 BMW M5

2000 BMW M5

Published March 27, 2022 by Carter

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 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:

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1994 BMW M5 Touring

1994 BMW M5 Touring

Published November 26, 2021 by Carter

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:

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2015 BMW M5 30 Jahre Edition

2015 BMW M5 30 Jahre Edition

Published November 3, 2020 by Carter

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:

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1988 BMW M5

1988 BMW M5

Published October 29, 2020 by Carter

Neither the E24 M6 nor the E28 M5 need an introduction on these pages. Legendary even when new, they both captured the imagination of generations of German car enthusiasts and established the benchmarks for sedan and GT performance in period. Both went through a relatively long downturn in value, as well. And today, as each has moved firmly into classic status and the market ///Madness continues, each has increased in value considerably over where they stood a few years ago.

But with so many shared components, which is the one to get? While a lot of that boils down to personal preference, more so than ever it’s also dependent on your budget. We’ve seen asking prices for nice examples of each chassis hovering between $50,000 and $80,000 depending on mileage and condition, and with a hot market there’s no letup of good ones to choose from. Today’s example is not the most pristine or low mileage on the market by any means, but it does balance that out with some desirable mods:

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1988 BMW M5

1988 BMW M5

Published May 18, 2020 by Carter

The M5 might not have been the original super sedan. It wasn’t even the first hot 5-series. But just like the GTI is synonymous with the hot-hatch segment, the M5 became the standard by which all other super-sedans were judged the moment it rolled onto the scene in 1985. Power seemed other-worldly; 280 plus horsepower from the race-derived M88/3 hunkered down with beefy suspension upgrades and huge (for the time) alloy wheels linked with a limited-slip differential. At a time when “fast” cars had 180 horsepower, BMW’s first M-offering in the sedan range might as well have been a space ship.

BMW promised limited production for the U.S. market, too – and, indeed, only 1,239 were produced for the U.S. with the slightly de-tuned S38. Unfortunately, that was 700 more than BMW had promised to make, and that led to a lawsuit. It also wasn’t very long before the M5’s power reign was eclipsed; first by its replacement E34 model, then by the whole range of new V8 models emerging on the market, from the 1992 Audi V8 quattro to the 500E. Values quickly fell as these old-looking (even when new) boxy rockets fell out of favor, and they remained there for quite some time.

But recently there’s grown a much greater appreciation for all things 80s M, and though the E30 has grabbed the headlines as the market star, outside of the M1 it is the E28 M5 that was brought here in fewest numbers. Even fewer have survived, and finding clean, lower mile examples can be tough. This one appears to tick the right boxes:

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