E39 M5 "values"
Discussion
They appear to have just suddenly gone up.
I know the advertised price doesn't mean it's worth that, but if everyone raises their prices then one of two things will happen:
People will pay them
The cars will remain unsold.
I've just been looking on the old autotrader and saw cars that 2 years ago would have been under £6k going for nigh on £10k
I refuse to believe that my M5 is worth £10k even when the little bits of bodywork are tidied up, but if I sold it then I'd be a fool not to advertise it at £10k
The prices being asked for some of these cars does seem crazy!
I know the advertised price doesn't mean it's worth that, but if everyone raises their prices then one of two things will happen:
People will pay them
The cars will remain unsold.
I've just been looking on the old autotrader and saw cars that 2 years ago would have been under £6k going for nigh on £10k
I refuse to believe that my M5 is worth £10k even when the little bits of bodywork are tidied up, but if I sold it then I'd be a fool not to advertise it at £10k
The prices being asked for some of these cars does seem crazy!
Depthhoar said:
TheAngryDog said:
I refuse to believe that my M5 is worth £10k
......I'll give you £5k for it. Go on, Mike, 'old aat yer 'and...!
I reckon my car is worth a bit more than what I paid for it, but not much, maybe £400 more.
I'll concede that once the bits of bodywork have been done and the rod bearings and Timing Chain guides / Vanos spring plates etc have been done then I'd not take less than £12k for it. I think that would be a fair valuation
csampo said:
I guess it's a simple demand/supply issue.
It's a highly regarded car; some see it as the finest M5 and it is the last of the 'analogue' M5's. Desirability is therefore present.
Low mileage, well maintained models are likely to appreciate and thus values are shifting quickly. These are quite rare.
Higher mileage, but well loved examples, remain an appealing ownership proposition because the e39 was so well designed and there are lots of examples of owners using them as dailies with well over 200k on them. However, to qualify as this, most will have needed at least one full suspension refresh, remedial corrosion work, cooling system attention, clutch/driveshaft/diff work, possible big end bearing shells and chain guides, etc. These are all hefty expenses and cars that have had them done have to be worth a good chunk north of £10k. I think such cars are selling; those that hang around are probably not in as good condition as the adverts make out.
Less well maintained high mileage examples are rapidly falling away because the cost of restoration can far exceed the restored value. This means less cars on the market, pushing up the price of those that remain.
My own car is in this camp. 134k miles facelift but the suspension work has all been done save for the shocks and springs, which are getting done, rust work is getting done and the rod bearings and Timing Chain guides and vanos work is being done. Once done I wouldn't take less than £12500 for it and I think I would be justified in asking that personally, not that I will be selling mind though everything always has a price It's a highly regarded car; some see it as the finest M5 and it is the last of the 'analogue' M5's. Desirability is therefore present.
Low mileage, well maintained models are likely to appreciate and thus values are shifting quickly. These are quite rare.
Higher mileage, but well loved examples, remain an appealing ownership proposition because the e39 was so well designed and there are lots of examples of owners using them as dailies with well over 200k on them. However, to qualify as this, most will have needed at least one full suspension refresh, remedial corrosion work, cooling system attention, clutch/driveshaft/diff work, possible big end bearing shells and chain guides, etc. These are all hefty expenses and cars that have had them done have to be worth a good chunk north of £10k. I think such cars are selling; those that hang around are probably not in as good condition as the adverts make out.
Less well maintained high mileage examples are rapidly falling away because the cost of restoration can far exceed the restored value. This means less cars on the market, pushing up the price of those that remain.
Edited by csampo on Friday 8th January 10:57
Patrick Bateman said:
The thing with something like that commanding a huge premium is that the components are still 12-13 years old.
Original suspension? VANOS still untouched? Cooling system?
Do people think buying one like that will mean massively reduced running costs for a significant time period or is a lot of the above still to come in the not too distant future despite the huge premium?
For example, I've just had a complete VANOS overhaul and replaced the majority of the suspension in 2014 (among a s
tload of other stuff 
) so a potential buyer wouldn't have too much to worry about in those departments but my car is likely worth around £7k.
How would the bills over the next 20k miles between the 2 cars compare? Would be interesting to know.
IOriginal suspension? VANOS still untouched? Cooling system?
Do people think buying one like that will mean massively reduced running costs for a significant time period or is a lot of the above still to come in the not too distant future despite the huge premium?
For example, I've just had a complete VANOS overhaul and replaced the majority of the suspension in 2014 (among a s
tload of other stuff ) so a potential buyer wouldn't have too much to worry about in those departments but my car is likely worth around £7k.How would the bills over the next 20k miles between the 2 cars compare? Would be interesting to know.
How many miles is your car on? After all the work you have done I'd be surprised at such a low value
Patrick Bateman said:
TheAngryDog said:
How many miles is your car on? After all the work you have done I'd be surprised at such a low value
Coming up for 152k.I'd like to agree with you but it's hard to tell as I'm not sure what a lot of them are selling for as opposed to being advertised for.
cosworth330 said:
TheAngryDog said:
The lmb one with rod bearings change looks good value.
I keep thinking about selling up and getting an e60 M5 but I'm not sure I wouldnt regret it.
It's either that or supercharge my e39
I didn't regret changing from an E39 M5 to E60 M5. As great as the E39 was it was getting on a bit . Their is nothing I prefer about the E39 over the E60 M5. That's not to say I don't like the E39 M5, they are fantastic cars. My old E39 M5 is on Pistonheads for sale, Eisenmann exhaust, K sport, in Silverstome £12.5K, this car has no rust and all the black shadow trim is immaculate, the current owner is also thinking of moving to an E60 M5.I keep thinking about selling up and getting an e60 M5 but I'm not sure I wouldnt regret it.
It's either that or supercharge my e39
BTW I've owned my E60 M5 for well over 2 years and it's been very reliable, only throttle actuators have failed,replaced under warranty.
Getting back to the thread title "E39 M5 values" yes they have shot up in the last 2 years and I'm sure the nice ones will keep climbing.
ds666 said:
I was in a similar situation last year and decided to sell mine . If you can keep it without being too anal with regards to bits and bobs then that's ok . I kept finding items I wanted to sort and as they get older that will only get worse .
Regarding not losing money , probably true but keeping it in top condition will eat any gains .
This is why I am looking to get out of mine in May. Not the only reason but one of them. Gains are eaten by routine maintenance. Looking to get into something cheaper for 12 months before going F10 M5.Regarding not losing money , probably true but keeping it in top condition will eat any gains .
PH XKR said:
Looked at replacing the xkr with an f10 as it would be nice to have it next to the e39 but the f10 did nothing for me. Fast, yes but bland.
I intend to drive one before making my ultimate decision. The alternative would be to take the miltek off my E39 and put a standard system back on so that I do not suffer with the ringing.I guess I really want to get back into a turbo car. I'm even considering an S60 T5 or Vectra VXR for a year while saving up for the F10, just because they're turbo charged!
Hayek said:
I have kept an eye on the E39 M5 market for some time as I fancy one (currently have a low mile 2003 e39 530d Sport that I put very few miles on). Things seem to have stagnated for 3+ months. No 2003 cars on Autotrader for ages, 9 out of 10 for sale must have been for sale not long after Christmas (and thus I presume they're not quite right). Weird.
People aren't selling them I guess. There's a few supercharged ones for sale currently but not 2003 cars.
I am wondering what the value of supercharged M5's is going to be, whether they will also rise or not due to the modifications.
Welshbeef said:
TheAngryDog said:
People aren't selling them I guess.
There's a few supercharged ones for sale currently but not 2003 cars.
I am wondering what the value of supercharged M5's is going to be, whether they will also rise or not due to the modifications.
Supercharged E39 M5 ..... wowzers. They sound bloody lovely standard and are fairly fast out of he box but supercharged that's probably F10 M5 fast with a stick shifter. There's a few supercharged ones for sale currently but not 2003 cars.
I am wondering what the value of supercharged M5's is going to be, whether they will also rise or not due to the modifications.
Patrick Bateman said:
You're lucky you're not banned for this Welshbeef.
Repeat after me, manual gearbox.
Repeat after me, manual gearbox.
M5 London said:
They are nice indeed ! I have done about 60,000 miles since I supercharged my one. I drove it NA for about 25,000 Miles.
Its earned a well deserved engine rebuild now, at about 175,000 miles.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to drive my one back to back with my M6 Gran Coupe though, but gut feeling is the M6 is quicker (but I am running a fair bit more Hp/Lb.Ft than a stock car) and the gap would keep increasing the further you went past 140/150 mph. The DCT gearbox is just ridiculously quick and I also tend not to shift too fast in the E39 M5, purely for some mechanical sympathy...So that would be the main reason the M6 will start pulling away as the speed starts piling on.
However when I do finally get the E39 M5's engine rebuilt it will be packing some serious PUNCH.
Oh and RichardM5's 2002 E39 M5 is probably going to be nicer than ANY 2003 E39 M5
Are you going forged? Its earned a well deserved engine rebuild now, at about 175,000 miles.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to drive my one back to back with my M6 Gran Coupe though, but gut feeling is the M6 is quicker (but I am running a fair bit more Hp/Lb.Ft than a stock car) and the gap would keep increasing the further you went past 140/150 mph. The DCT gearbox is just ridiculously quick and I also tend not to shift too fast in the E39 M5, purely for some mechanical sympathy...So that would be the main reason the M6 will start pulling away as the speed starts piling on.
However when I do finally get the E39 M5's engine rebuilt it will be packing some serious PUNCH.
Oh and RichardM5's 2002 E39 M5 is probably going to be nicer than ANY 2003 E39 M5
Edited by M5 London on Tuesday 13th June 14:51
M5 London said:
Haven't really given it much thought since retiring it in October 2014.
It will most likely be forged internals, but whether to go for sleeving the block or not is my question.
Also been in communication with VAC Motorsports in the USA about just buying a complete engine, turnkey style, but as of yet my lottery numbers haven't matched up with the winning ones
I'll get round to it soon. In the meantime I am fine with my M6 GC as a daily beater and my newly acquired E30 M3 (it really is so much better than I ever expected, I always wanted one, but was concerned it was just overhyped.....but its the real deal !) for some fun and general worshipping
Nice It will most likely be forged internals, but whether to go for sleeving the block or not is my question.
Also been in communication with VAC Motorsports in the USA about just buying a complete engine, turnkey style, but as of yet my lottery numbers haven't matched up with the winning ones
I'll get round to it soon. In the meantime I am fine with my M6 GC as a daily beater and my newly acquired E30 M3 (it really is so much better than I ever expected, I always wanted one, but was concerned it was just overhyped.....but its the real deal !) for some fun and general worshipping
There are a few European options for sleeving the block. It's worth checking out the post on M5Board as there is one being built with sleeves.I'd like to try and E30 M3, just to see, though I have never driven any kind of M3. In fact only ever driven two BMW's and they were both E39 M5's
I want your job
PowerslideSWE said:
M5 London said:
Lovely acquisition !
I was reading your thread the other day and I feel you have picked up a very clean one.
Not sure how much experience you have with these cars but I would advise picking up a Peake Code reader and / or getting INPA setup on a laptop for your diagnostics.
Engines are strong, save for rod bearing and timing chain guide failure, either of which will result in a very big bill.
Imola Red is awesome !
Best of luck with her......one of these best performance saloon cars ever made.
I have INPA/BMW-Scanner on a laptop, but couldnt get bmw scanner to work over the obd port, is it the big round one in the enginebay on the pre-fl's?I was reading your thread the other day and I feel you have picked up a very clean one.
Not sure how much experience you have with these cars but I would advise picking up a Peake Code reader and / or getting INPA setup on a laptop for your diagnostics.
Engines are strong, save for rod bearing and timing chain guide failure, either of which will result in a very big bill.
Imola Red is awesome !
Best of luck with her......one of these best performance saloon cars ever made.
I've read alot about both failures, and it seems that rod bearings do happen, at various miles at that, mine has full BMWSH so it should be ok oil wise, but it has had quite a few owners, and they might have been rude to the engine when cold, who knows? Guides are apparently way more rare to fail due to a completely different designt than on the M62 and MUCH lower operating temps, but even they do fail, but it's more of an internet folklore?
t load of metal in it.Patrick Bateman said:
Make that closer to £2250. That estimate includes an anti-rattle kit so I'd not bother with that.
The fact Phil at CPC probably knows these better than anyone in the country means he's likely to be quicker and therefore cheaper. It's like any mechanical job, if you're familiar with it you're always going to be more efficient than someone who's doing it for the first time or only done a couple.
Mr VANOS said:
The total cost for, all 3 chains, tensioners and guides, vanos units reconditioned and plates/gear, rod bearings with ARP bolts is £3200 inc VAT.
That also included 8 new VANOS solenoids as well.Gassing Station | M Power | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff