E39 M5 Idea......
Discussion
After owning mine for 2 and a bit years and spending literally WEEKS on M5Board and here learning about them, not forgetting doing all the bits on mine; I feel that I know a fair bit about the beasts.
I've noticed there are some bargains out there on ebay etc and a bit of a gap between the private and trade prices. This is in addition to there appearing to be very few decent examples coming up for sale in the past year.
My idea......certain desirable examples, such as the one below (Full BMWSH and low miles), would fetch £10,000 with the right marketing in the private market. It would be up at £12000+ on a forecourt.
So I buy one like below, good colour inside and out and most wanted extras, tidy her up and put her up for £10,000 making myself a grand or so in the process.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-M5-E39-/330600291681...
Have I gone mad? I agree some of the NON-facelift ones can be picked up for £6000/7000 but if you look around now there's almost no low mileage facelift ones available.......
I've noticed there are some bargains out there on ebay etc and a bit of a gap between the private and trade prices. This is in addition to there appearing to be very few decent examples coming up for sale in the past year.
My idea......certain desirable examples, such as the one below (Full BMWSH and low miles), would fetch £10,000 with the right marketing in the private market. It would be up at £12000+ on a forecourt.
So I buy one like below, good colour inside and out and most wanted extras, tidy her up and put her up for £10,000 making myself a grand or so in the process.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-M5-E39-/330600291681...
Have I gone mad? I agree some of the NON-facelift ones can be picked up for £6000/7000 but if you look around now there's almost no low mileage facelift ones available.......
If you have a spare 10k+ lying around and can afford not to recoup it for up to several weeks or worse, possibly lose a bit then fine.
With the best will in the world, even a genuine well cared for car, with a perfect history has potential to throw up all sorts of expensive issues at any moment. Quite a risk imo.
If you have access to a good, cheap mechanic, or are handy with a spanner then the risk is reduced somewhat.
I think these cars are more a labour of love than anything else, especially at this age. The majority of owners being enthusiasts rather than average car owners.
From a purely business perspective I think you would be better off buying cheap, simple, economical super minis and moving them on for a few hundred quid a time. Less risk, larger market and if you get stuck with the car, well at least you have a cheap runaround.
With the best will in the world, even a genuine well cared for car, with a perfect history has potential to throw up all sorts of expensive issues at any moment. Quite a risk imo.
If you have access to a good, cheap mechanic, or are handy with a spanner then the risk is reduced somewhat.
I think these cars are more a labour of love than anything else, especially at this age. The majority of owners being enthusiasts rather than average car owners.
From a purely business perspective I think you would be better off buying cheap, simple, economical super minis and moving them on for a few hundred quid a time. Less risk, larger market and if you get stuck with the car, well at least you have a cheap runaround.
Love the concept, but unfortunately I think you'd struggle to make money and in fact would run a significant risk of losing money, particularly in today's market. I don't see how a private seller could consistently command a premium price. I think people who would be willing to pay top dollar for these cars will want to buy from a dealer, and those who err towards buying privately will probably want to find a bargain and be more willing to do the required fettling themselves.
Of course you could consider setting yourself up as a "Munich Legends" style specialist, but I don't think that's what you had in mind.
Of course you could consider setting yourself up as a "Munich Legends" style specialist, but I don't think that's what you had in mind.
Hi
Theory is right, practically it's not going to work.
Values of cars in general are all over the show at the moment, but there's only one direction very large engined, fast cars values are going, and that's down. You 'might' get lucky in getting that car for £8500-9000 and selling for £10K. Anyone who is interested in these cars nowadays tends to be an enthusiast or someone with the pockets to fix if something expensive does go on them. There is of course the smaller minority who don't really know what they're getting themselves into.
All the 'serious' potential buyers are looking for well cared for examples at bargain basement pricing. Over on the bmw5.co.uk board another seller with a 2001 LMB, 75K miler had his up for initially 12K. It sold after 3 months or so and a £3200 or so price drop at around £8800. http://forum.bmw5.co.uk/topic/54073-2001-e39-m5-le...
I'm not in the market for one at the moment as I don't have the cash, however I like to follow! if I was in the market, then for £10K for an M5, it'd have to be perfect in every single way, a full BMW service history with a stack of receipts and a 2002.
It comes down to the old asking price can be whatever you want, it's the selling price which actually counts!
Cheers, Dennis!
Theory is right, practically it's not going to work.
Values of cars in general are all over the show at the moment, but there's only one direction very large engined, fast cars values are going, and that's down. You 'might' get lucky in getting that car for £8500-9000 and selling for £10K. Anyone who is interested in these cars nowadays tends to be an enthusiast or someone with the pockets to fix if something expensive does go on them. There is of course the smaller minority who don't really know what they're getting themselves into.
All the 'serious' potential buyers are looking for well cared for examples at bargain basement pricing. Over on the bmw5.co.uk board another seller with a 2001 LMB, 75K miler had his up for initially 12K. It sold after 3 months or so and a £3200 or so price drop at around £8800. http://forum.bmw5.co.uk/topic/54073-2001-e39-m5-le...
I'm not in the market for one at the moment as I don't have the cash, however I like to follow! if I was in the market, then for £10K for an M5, it'd have to be perfect in every single way, a full BMW service history with a stack of receipts and a 2002.
It comes down to the old asking price can be whatever you want, it's the selling price which actually counts!
Cheers, Dennis!
Edited by DennisCooper on Friday 19th August 14:09
I echo all the negative critique above 
BUT if you fancy making money on a small hobbyist scale; buy a cabriolet at the beginning of Feb. You can then enjoy the frosty sunny mornings and sell it on in June. I have done it a good few times and its great fun and easy enough to make a couple of bags. Last year in the middle of all the snow I bought an M roadster with 70k miles FBMWSH off the bay for five grand! It was up for six, I turned up pointed out a few flaws and dealt at 5K. I had a few months of messing about, fixing a few things and learning more about the S50 engine and sold it on for £7995. Mwuahahahaha
BUT if you fancy making money on a small hobbyist scale; buy a cabriolet at the beginning of Feb. You can then enjoy the frosty sunny mornings and sell it on in June. I have done it a good few times and its great fun and easy enough to make a couple of bags. Last year in the middle of all the snow I bought an M roadster with 70k miles FBMWSH off the bay for five grand! It was up for six, I turned up pointed out a few flaws and dealt at 5K. I had a few months of messing about, fixing a few things and learning more about the S50 engine and sold it on for £7995. Mwuahahahaha
Edited by Pig Skill on Saturday 20th August 07:39
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