Any feedback or input on this M5?!

[BMW4LIFE]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1991-BMW-M5-E34-SEDAN-RARE-CAR-XTRA-CLEAN-RECENT-SERV_W0QQitemZ160407953168QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Ca rs_Trucks?hash=item25590f1f10

I know right off the bat that the race belts that have been drilled into the car is a bad sign...race car? Track car?!

Is it worth a look? Drive?

[Ross]

No reserve my ass.
I think this one has the topic of discussion at bimmerforums E34 board.
A ton of $$ for that car

[repenttokyo]

there are less expensive, lower mileage e34 m5's on bimmerforums as well.

[BMW4LIFE]

So I emailed the guy last night if the car has ever been tracked or raced (seeing that it has professional lap belts DRILLED into the car) and this is his response

"To my knowledge it hasn't been tracked in any way and shows no evidence of being so. My client whom I got it from is in his late 40's and has has it since it was a few years old and was his daily driver until about 5 years ago. Then it probably was driven a few thousand miles a year...
Thanks,
Josh"

I feel as though this car gets more fishy as questions are asked...I will stay away! :D

[repenttokyo]

So I emailed the guy last night if the car has ever been tracked or raced (seeing that it has professional lap belts DRILLED into the car) and this is his response

"To my knowledge it hasn't been tracked in any way and shows no evidence of being so. My client whom I got it from is in his late 40's and has has it since it was a few years old and was his daily driver until about 5 years ago. Then it probably was driven a few thousand miles a year...
Thanks,
Josh"

I feel as though this car gets more fishy as questions are asked...I will stay away! :D

ask him about the belts, but refer to them as 'child seat tether belts' and see how he responds. that should be good for a laugh.

[BMW4LIFE]

ask him about the belts, but refer to them as 'child seat tether belts' and see how he responds. that should be good for a laugh.

Ha!

I totally should...I'm sure he would be like that 40 year old had 3 kids and he wanted to make sure that they were 'SUPER DUPER' safe!!!! hahaha

[BMW4LIFE]

how about this M5?

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=p&car_id=273734765&dealer_id=64955941&car_year=1991&rdm=1267697745875&lastStartYear=1981&model=M5&num_records=100&systime=&make2=&highlightFirstMakeModel=&start_year=1991&keywordsfyc=&keywordsrep=&engine=&certified=&body_code=0&fuel=&awsp=false&search_type=both&distance=500&marketZipError=false&search_lang=en&sownerid=54124918&showZipError=y&make=BMW&keywords_display=&color=&page_location=findacar%3A%3Aispsearchform&min_price=&drive=&default_sort=priceDESC&seller_type=p&max_mileage=&style_flag=1&sort_type=priceDESC&address=93455&advanced=&end_year=1999&doors=&transmission=&max_price=&cardist=331&standard=false

[repenttokyo]

how about this M5?

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=p&car_id=273734765&dealer_id=64955941&car_year=1991&rdm=1267697745875&lastStartYear=1981&model=M5&num_records=100&systime=&make2=&highlightFirstMakeModel=&start_year=1991&keywordsfyc=&keywordsrep=&engine=&certified=&body_code=0&fuel=&awsp=false&search_type=both&distance=500&marketZipError=false&search_lang=en&sownerid=54124918&showZipError=y&make=BMW&keywords_display=&color=&page_location=findacar%3A%3Aispsearchform&min_price=&drive=&default_sort=priceDESC&seller_type=p&max_mileage=&style_flag=1&sort_type=priceDESC&address=93455&advanced=&end_year=1999&doors=&transmission=&max_price=&cardist=331&standard=false

price is very decent for those miles.

[bubba966]

how about this M5?

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=p&car_id=273734765&dealer_id=64955941&car_year=1991&rdm=1267697745875&lastStartYear=1981&model=M5&num_records=100&systime=&make2=&highlightFirstMakeModel=&start_year=1991&keywordsfyc=&keywordsrep=&engine=&certified=&body_code=0&fuel=&awsp=false&search_type=both&distance=500&marketZipError=false&search_lang=en&sownerid=54124918&showZipError=y&make=BMW&keywords_display=&color=&page_location=findacar%3A%3Aispsearchform&min_price=&drive=&default_sort=priceDESC&seller_type=p&max_mileage=&style_flag=1&sort_type=priceDESC&address=93455&advanced=&end_year=1999&doors=&transmission=&max_price=&cardist=331&standard=false

Would sell those E46 M3 wheels ASAP as it's not gonna be nice running 19's on it. Also very curios as to why the skirts are painted the same color as the car. They should be black on a silver car. Now, it should be said that you could order it from the factory with matching skirts. But that was very uncommon for the Euro M5's and even less common for the US cars if it got done at all.

No wood trim. Not sure if it's your style or not.

Price seems decent for the mileage. I'd seriously want to know if the valve clearances have been done when they should have been done. If not and the engine tries to eat the valves then you better have a big bank account for an engine rebuild.

Why an M5? From someone that's had a lot of driving experience with E34 M5's and E34 M-Sport's I can say that for everyday driving in a normal city environment the M-Sport is a much nicer car to be driving. Better low end power. Memory seats with auto-dip rear view mirror. No big $ bills for engine work (though the EDC suspension in an M-Sport is far from cheap). On the fly adjustable suspension in the M-Sport. Better leather in an M-Sport.

Buddy that's got a '93 M5 was a bit jealous of my M-Sport after I got it and he took it for a ride. Smoother & faster it is. And my M-Sport had 70% more miles on it than his M5 did.

M-Sport's don't cost as much to buy either.

Downsides to the M-Sport is the rarity making it hard to find one. And the price of replacing EDC stuff when you finally have to. And figuring out the right part can sometimes be fun as the M-Sport is a mix of 2 different M5's as well as the 540. Gotta look at a late 3.8 M5 for some stuff, early 3.8 or 3.6 for other stuff, 540 for something different, etc.

[BMW4LIFE]

I really like the M540i and to be honest I would prefer it way more than the M5 (dont have to deal with the valves) but they just seem to be impossible to find...

I found this one that I really like but the price is out of control and it has 4 owners

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/ctd/1626374996.html

I was looking into the E39 540i M but they seem to be around 15-18K still...too rich for my blood as I like to make my purchases CASH as money talks a lot better than finance... ;)

But then again I am no hurry to sell the E34 anymore...first I can't get anything for it and second after some suspension, fluid, and plug changes it feels like a different car...

kind of like a fat girlfriend going to the gym and getting hot like she use to be...I am falling for this car once again! :D

[repenttokyo]

I really like the M540i and to be honest I would prefer it way more than the M5 (dont have to deal with the valves) but they just seem to be impossible to find...

I found this one that I really like but the price is out of control and it has 4 owners

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/ctd/1626374996.html

I was looking into the E39 540i M but they seem to be around 15-18K still...too rich for my blood as I like to make my purchases CASH as money talks a lot better than finance... ;)

But then again I am no hurry to sell the E34 anymore...first I can't get anything for it and second after some suspension, fluid, and plug changes it feels like a different car...

kind of like a fat girlfriend going to the gym and getting hot like she use to be...I am falling for this car once again! :D

if you look hard, you can find an e39 for 12-13k

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=p&car_id=274961440&dealer_id=65031747&car_year=2002&model=M5&make2=&start_year=2001&keywordsfyc=&keywordsfyc=&keywordsrep=&keywordsrep=&engine=&certified=&fuel=&search_type=used&distance=300&make=BMW&keywords_display=&color=&min_price=0&incremental=last_searched-1237435200000&drive=&default_sort=yearDESC&seller_type=b&max_mileage=&style_flag=1&LNX=ATCMYATCEMAIL&origin=myatcemail&address=02478&advanced=y&end_year=2003&doors=&transmission=&max_price=27000&cardist=274&standard=false - high miles

i saw one too on bimmerforums last month - 68,000 miles, 13,000. I can't find the link though :(

[bubba966]

I really like the M540i and to be honest I would prefer it way more than the M5 (dont have to deal with the valves) but they just seem to be impossible to find...

I found this one that I really like but the price is out of control and it has 4 owners

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/ctd/1626374996.html

That car is a 540 M-Sport (like I was talking about) not an M540. See www.kindel.com/bmw for the differences between an M540 & an M-Sport.

And yeah, an M-Sport isn't easy to find if you're looking for a particular combo. They're not that hard to find if you're not looking for a particular combo. I spent 2 1/2 years looking for mine. And it wasn't the exact one I wanted, but I can add what it's lacking (shadowline & seat heating). The not so easy to add things it has (ASC+T, auto, & black/black).

You want the ultimate US model E34 the M-Sport is it. M5 is the next best thing...

[BMW4LIFE]

I could be bling bubba but i still didnt see the diff between the M540i and 540i M-Sport.

As far as the car goes i am a little picky...needs to be black/black, 6 speed under 100k, in awesome mechanical and visual shape...(asking a lot i know....thats why i am considering the e39 540i M-sport...but there is something about the E34 that gets me...

and the fact that I have learned a lot of mechanical things on the car doesnt hurt either;):D

[bubba966]

Here's a nice black/black M-Sport 6 speed.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/ctd/1645055476.html

[BMW4LIFE]

Here's a nice black/black M-Sport 6 speed.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/ctd/1645055476.html

Yea I saw that one too...VERY NICE IMO but there are a couple things that turn me off to it...

1) Owner will not budge on the price
2) It has had 4 owners! =/

Besides that its pretty much everything I want in a car...

But then again at that price I would rather get the 2003 540i M-Sport for 1-2G more


Here is the link with the history report

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1995-BMW-540i-Sport-M-Sport-FREE-SHIPPING_W0QQitemZ250598484779QQcmdZViewItemQQptZU S_Cars_Trucks?hash=item3a58d56b2b



Not the best color combo but just as an example

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/THE-BEST-POWERFUL-AND-CLASSIC_W0QQitemZ260568378220QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS _Cars_Trucks?hash=item3cab15eb6c

[bubba966]

Yea I saw that one too...VERY NICE IMO but there are a couple things that turn me off to it...

1) Owner will not budge on the price
2) It has had 4 owners! =/

Besides that its pretty much everything I want in a car...

But then again at that price I would rather get the 2003 540i M-Sport for 1-2G more


Here is the link with the history report

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1995-BMW-540i-Sport-M-Sport-FREE-SHIPPING_W0QQitemZ250598484779QQcmdZViewItemQQptZU S_Cars_Trucks?hash=item3a58d56b2b



Not the best color combo but just as an example

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/THE-BEST-POWERFUL-AND-CLASSIC_W0QQitemZ260568378220QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS _Cars_Trucks?hash=item3cab15eb6c


4 owners wouldn't bother me that much for a 15 year old car. Especially since two of those "owners" were leases. Mine was leased as well and it was well taken care of (unlike todays lease cars).

And the price isn't bad at all. Take it from someone that's looked at many M-Sport's for sale in the last 5 1/2 years. It's on the current high end of the scale sure. But it appears to be in real nice condition. And if it's in the color combo that you desire (the hardest part of finding an M-Sport is finding one in the combo you want) it's not overpriced.

And you'd really rather drop a few $K more for an E39 "M-Sport"?

You realize that the E34 M-Sport is basically a Euro M5 with a V8, while the E39 M-Sport just looks like an M5 and doesn't have any of the performance of one. Two totally different cars.

The guy I bought my M-Sport (auto) from had owned 6 or 7 BMW's before the M-Sport and had bought an '02 540/6 M-Sport. All of his BMW's except for the E34 M-Sport had been manual cars. He only bought the '02 because he saw it on the lot at his local dealer during one of his service visits and liked it.

As he didn't really want to keep both cars he listed them both for sale as he couldn't quite decide which one to keep. He'd thought about keeping the '02 as he'd had the E34 longer than any of his other BMW's. But he was rather fond of the E34. So he was just going to keep whichever one didn't sell first.

I was serious about the M-Sport before anyone was serious about the '02 so he said he'd sell me the E34. A week or so before I was going to fly down to buy it he'd called and asked if I'd bought my plane ticket yet. Had told him I'd bought a one way non-refundable ticket a week earlier. He was going to tell me that he'd changed his mind and wasn't going to sell the E34. But as I'd already bought the ticket down there he'd honor his word and sell me the E34.

And interestingly enough he'd had the E34 for a bit over 9 years and hadn't changed a thing. It was fully stock. The E39 M-Sport he'd had for a couple of weeks before he had a custom exhaust and some other nice things done to it. All of the rest of his BMW's hadn't remained stock either, only the E34 M-Sport.

He was surprised I was going to change a thing or two on the M-Sport (shadowline, euro trim, software) as he felt it was perfect as it was.

An E34 M-Sport is quite the car. Nothing can compare with it in terms of looks, performance, ride, & build quality for the price. Hell, even a buddy that owns a black/black '93 M5 with half the miles of my car is jealous of my M-Sport. You won't find something like it for anywhere near $15K.

3 years ago that car would've sold for $19-20K. And the 6 speed cars sell for a 50-60% premium over the auto cars. Even though there's 139 of the 6 speed cars that were built and 65 of the autos built. Paid $12k for my auto 3 years ago.

E39's are ugly compared to an E34 M anyways. An '01 740i Sport is a much better looking car than an '03 540 M-Sport. But I was looking for a E38 740i Sport when I found my M-Sport. I'd looked for my M-Sport for 2 years before I kinda gave up on finding the right one. So I'd started looking for a 740i Sport that'd work. 5 months into looking for a 740i Sport that had a decent enough combo (Imola, Black, or Anthracite. Black interior. Sport seats. Winter package) I found a nice '99 Imola/Black one that fit. But it was in NC. Thought that was too far to go for a car. A month after that I had plane tickets to NC to buy a car.:D

Still happy I've got the M-Sport. Glad I didn't buy an M5. Not nearly as nice to use as an M-Sport. Sure, no one knows what the hell an E34 M-Sport really is. But who cares. I know. And I love the damn thing.

[repenttokyo]

An E34 M-Sport is quite the car. Nothing can compare with it in terms of looks, performance, ride, & build quality for the price. Hell, even a buddy that owns a black/black '93 M5 with half the miles of my car is jealous of my M-Sport. You won't find something like it for anywhere near $15K.

3 years ago that car would've sold for $19-20K. And the 6 speed cars sell for a 50-60% premium over the auto cars. Even though there's 139 of the 6 speed cars that were built and 65 of the autos built. Paid $12k for my auto 3 years ago.


i like E34's a whole hell of a lot, but this simply isn't true anymore. 15k will get you into an E39 M5 with around 60-70,000 miles. It will also get you into a 2004-2005 Cadillac CTS-V with similar mileage. Each of these cars will destroy an E34 in every single category. It is very difficult to compare cars from different engineering eras against each other.

The M-Sport is a very rare car and maintains its value for that reason, and for its performance. But there are several modern cars which are similarly priced and offer better performance, reliability and comfort, not to mention modern safety systems. When I can buy a 2001 M3 for 15k, it makes it hard to justify an E34 at the same price.