The E39 M5 market.
 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...-over-16-years

I love this trend.

Who cares if it’s irrational.

These continue to be pretty strong. E46 M3 coupes with manual are also hot, even more so for Comp package. High mileage or rough cars can be cheaper but the clean, low mileage ones without stories are $$$$$. It’s not just EAG anymore either - these are on BAT every week it seems and are doing well.

It was stored the next town over from me. Interesting to see the final selling price.

The E39 M5 market.
 

It will be something over $100k. EAG has a few ~10k mile range examples retailing in the $90-100k range. Take out their margin, add the “new car mileage” premium, add the competitive nature of an auction like that and the egos in the room...

Honestly wouldn’t be surprised to see it for sale at EAG in a few weeks.

I thought that was a really good article about the way in which “classic” cars appreciate. Will be interesting to see what happens when all the ppl our age who lusted after these start dying off, though.

The value on these really does seem to follow an exponential curve w/ mileage.

Based just on EAG inventory:

50-60k mile range: ~$40k

20k range: ~$60k

10k range: ~$90k


<1k..... ??

Even the 50-60k mile example is damn good money if you’re an owner that enjoys the car and still drives it from time to time.

The E39 M5 market.
 

I think the generational comments are interesting. I have a soft spot for BMWs from the 90s/00s because that’s when I was a kid obsessing about cars going into the period when I worked in the business. No surprise that as people my age come into the means to acquire these cars the prices are going up. Will they hold? Who knows. In 20-30 years there will be even fewer of them left which will help, but kids these days seem to care less and less about cars so not sure who will be willing to pay the premium.

If I had more space and a bit more free cash for toys at this point, I’d love to pick up a clean E46 M3. There’s a beautiful Estoril Blue individual one at EAG that brings back a lot of memories. Not sure I’d want to pay the EAG premium but would love something like that one, or an Interlagos Blue ZCP.


Yea. I think the smart play here is a car with some mileage but not totally worn out. Still a lot of opportunity on a 50k mike car and even a 80k-90k car and you’re not paying the crazy premium for a 10k mile one that will plummet if you actually drive it.

The EAG cars are nice in that they are fully sorted (generally clean history, fully serviced fluids, filters, refreshed suspension, new tires, proper detailing, seems like they do new clutches on most of the M5s, etc.) but carry a $$$ premium for that luxury. There are non-EAG examples that are pretty nice also for a lot less money. I wouldn’t put $80k or $90k into one of these but I think a $30k example will hold its value and be something you can still use regularly. There are several of these that have sold this year on BAT in the mid-20s/low-30s.

I inspected a car in early 2013. The owner, had only done one oil change at 1500mi and another at 14k miles, 8 years later ("because his car didn't remind him"). The car ended up EAG...

Oops.

Any idea on what the cost of a crate motor is? Just curious. A POS M96 motor is still 20,000 new, for context.

At least the M motor would be worth the trouble of taking it apart. 8 throttle bodies!!!!

What sarafil mentioned, the e46 that marches my e36:)

http://enthusiastauto.com/images/car.../P-4139-10.jpg

http://enthusiastauto.com/qsearch/?i...orm_display=51

The E39 M5 always intrigued me. The E46 M3 never did anything for me.

I’ve only ever liked the M cars with V8s.

Most are too high strung. And honestly I have zero interest in any BMW really newer than the V8 M3.

The E39 M5 is such a genius car with some minor engineering nitpicks. But so good.

The E39 M5 market.
 

$176k auction sale price for the E39 in the original post

Crazy. But if you think about it, did the owner really make all that much money for that massive gamble? Car could have been damaged, stolen, etc. and I doubt insurance would have paid anywhere nearly as much.

Put that $80k in an S&P 500 index fund and you beat the return (156% according to https://dqydj.com/sp-500-return-calculator/). To say nothing of the floor space, worrying and insurance spent all these years. Now there is the income tax to pay on the gain.

There was hardly any enjoyment either.

I keep thinking of buying a MB R129 in good condition. They seem to ave hit rock bottom. All MB SL's start to appreciate at some point.

My FIL still has his 2001 SL500 AMG package (30-40K miles). I find it extraordinarily boring.

Don't kill the dream!:(

I can totally see how. Heavy, not sporty, slow transmission, etc.

Still, that car was inspirational for me as a teen, so I have a special place for it. It's also a pretty car.

Damn your young when I was a teen my friends mom had the 560sl and I couldn’t stand the low uncomfortable seat, my dad at the time had a 560SEC ... now that was a bad ass car ... plus it was one of the first cars to hand you on an electric arm your seat belt and for some dumb reason it had 2 different horn sounds.

I really like those SLs also. I think Zach is right on his comments but don’t think those are the reasons I’d want one anyways. They are cheap enough that it could be an interesting part of a fleet of a few fun cars. Alas, no space for extra toys at this point... maybe down the road.



I agree. Buying a car to just park it and hope for appreciation seems like a risky proposition. There have been a few cars like this on BAT recently (some guy in Hawaii with E46 M3 and another guy with original MINI GP) and the math just doesn’t work on most cases. Maybe they have a ton of money and got personal enjoyment out of it but seems like they would have been better off driving the cars a bit and getting some use out of them.

They'd been decontented and crapped up by then. '97 is a way better year. 4 valve engine making more power, stiffer suspension. My Mom had a '97 and a 2001. The '97 was way better with a stiffer suspension and dinky tires and more power.

I'd probably want to find one of the silly rare early manual 300SLs, though.

Yeah, that's a needle in a haystack for sure.

I don't dream about a 2001 exactly - just any R129. My favorite are the '96+ models with the facelift.

It’s 96-97 that you want. 98 is when they crapified it.

Good to know.

I follow this advice.

Just drive the cars.

So I swear I tried my BEST to stay out of this thread and I bet folks were surprised I stayed silent this long.

Just like ZBB could NEVER avoid a Tesla thread!! LOL

Anyway the saga continues. I still have not posted the car on any website and continue to drag my feet.

If any of you long termers here know my history I used to be a serial car flipper like a lot of peeps on this board. The M5 was my 16th or 17th car. Then that all changed.

Even with the $30 to $35K spent in warranty and non-warranty work over the last ten years I still love it and would buy another.

It really is the best car I have ever owned. Would my 20 or 30 something self had said that, ummmm nope. But I am a different person now who values other things in my cars. The driving experience in sublime.

- Perfect NA V8 sounds and reactions (Low end torque and loves to rev).
- Solid as a tank build quality
- Great manual six speed shifter (Available is a BIG 4 door! Hard to find)
- Timeless looks (Subjective I know)
- Super comfortable for 4 adults
- Can actually handle pretty dam well for a 4,000 pound car

The steering does suck but beyond Porsche with the demise of hydraulic units does anyone do good steering anymore?

If and when I get off my ass and actually sell it I will be sad to see it go.

The only thing tugging at me right now is the M2 if only for its smaller size, available manual and great handling.

If you get beyond the bad steering feel you should really drive one.

Just keep dragging your feet on that listing until I’m in the market :)

I think you should just buy one of the time machine ones. This one was not a horrible price: http://enthusiastauto.com/qsearch/?i...orm_display=51

This one is, but what else could you buy with the same money that you would love as much: http://enthusiastauto.com/qsearch/?i...orm_display=51

That first one is actually a decent price. Wow. Tempting. And Lemans. My all time fav E39 M color. Beautiful.

Sold, alas.

sidetrack but wow 18k for over 100k miles e36

http://enthusiastauto.com/qsearch/?i...orm_display=51

That’s fine. I’m not doing it again. If I sell I’m moving on.

This doesn't seem like a challenging problem. Buy a 135vert for $15k and keep the m5 in the garage to appreciate. Drive it once in a while to keep it fresh

I can't imagine seling an e39 m5 for an M2. But then again, I sold an e46 M3 in its LSB reference color (for partial Boxster and partial 535i)... But no, don't sell it.