Help needed...What price for my e39 M5?

[andy3781]

Hi all,

Just after a bit of advice regarding selling my e39 M5 really. I've had the car for getting on 4 years now and have loved every minute of it. It has been supremely reliable, even though it has 208k on the clock. It's got the most comprehensive service history i've ever seen for a car. Fully stamped service book and engine rebuild by bmw all receipted and every other service receipt also. Problem is now it hardly gets used and doing short journeys really wont do it any good, plus fuel prices are rocketing.

With this kind of mileage what can i hope to pitch it at? I am loathed to sell but needs must and i could put the money towards other things. I'm in no rush to sell so dont mind holding out to get a decent price.

I had every intention of kepping it for good but as i dont have a garage it will eventually rust... Its a pre facelift 1999 on a T plate completely standard car apart from the obligatory muffler delete in carbon black with all the option at the time.

Any ideas on what kind of money i could get? There have been a few over the past months between £3-4k with high mileage, usually green with awful (in my opinion) green leather and no engine rebuild at that sort of price.

Its been cherished its life spending the first part of its life under BMW warranty so anything that it need it had.

[DarkHorseTerence]

I think you already have the answer - ask £3995 and see what interest you get. Anything over £3k with that mileage would be a fair price.

though of course I totally understand that this is a huge amount of car for the money and only once you have owned one can you realise just what a supreme all rounder they are which makes a joke of the fact they can be had for such small money.

But the fact is that there are few people interested in them at mileages above 150k....

imho

[Sideways Rich]

It's an interesting topic, someone will be getting an incredible amount of car at under 4k.

Ive just advertised mine (2001 facelift 96k) and the price range is all over the place £16k for warranty cars down to £8k.

[TEKNOPUG]

What recent work has it had done? BMW warranty doesn't count for much if that expired at 100k. When did it last have a complete suspension overhaul, including all bushes? Does it feel tight or does it feel the miles? It's always difficult to tell with your own car as things wear over time and you get used to how the car feels, so wear is not always perceptible. A prospective buyer would notice things like tired suspension, sloppy gearshift, worn clutch etc whereas you have probably compensated your driving and don't notice it as much.

The mileage should be irrelevant really, if the car is basically Trigger's broom....

If you kept the car, how much would you expect to have to pay in the next 6months? If you are confident that the car is good, then pitch it at £4,500 and you might find an enlightened buyer. Depends how long you want to wait though I guess.

[R8Steve]

You can get an E39 M5 for under 4k these days?

I must admit, mine is the one car i regret selling

<runs and checks the classifieds>

[Cemesis]

Its all about the milegage and the condition. If it has rust on it and needs tyres and work, you'd be lucky to get £4k, more like £3k really.

It sounds harsh but that seems to be the market at the moment. I'm seeing 100k facelift examples not selling for £6k and I imagine they arn't even getting offers at £5.5k or some of them would take it. So a 200k example is worth under £5k every day of the week. Pre face lift is less and if it has rust (any at all and I'm sure it will somewhere) the price just keeps falling.

I saw a 120k facelift car in reasonable nick sell on ebay for £4150 and the guy just keeps relisting it due to timewasters.

Send me some details over of its full spec and history, rust situation and anything thats defective on it (pixels, Nav screen etc) and I'll give you some ideas.