RE: BMW M5 (E39) | PH Auction Block
RE: BMW M5 (E39) | PH Auction Block
Tuesday 12th August

BMW M5 (E39) | PH Auction Block

Not much more needs to be said about the E39 - apart from how good this one is 


Hopefully you enjoyed attending the PistonHeads Annual Service as much as we enjoyed putting it on. There really is nothing to beat the atmosphere of thousands of car enthusiasts and their vehicles coming together to share a common passion - always helps when the sun is shining, too. Whatever kind of car you were into, the show had you covered, from kei cars to exotica. We hope to be back bigger and better for 2026. 

Even among the plethora of very special machines, however, a particular PH Auctions car might have caught your attention as it did ours. E39 M5s will do that - they just have that effect on people. We trust folk were still listening to the Smith & Sniff live podcast while this was on stage, because it was quite the distraction. A Le Mans Blue facelift car, it’s a stunning specification for one of the greatest fast saloons ever made. And it’s going to be auctioned in a couple of weeks’ time. 

Let’s not forget, this era of M5 was voted by PH as the best super-saloon since 1998 just two years ago. It was within a real shot of winning the whole thing, in fact, so captivated were all who drove it and how perfectly it encapsulated so much of what we love PH: naturally aspirated engines, manual gearboxes, rear-wheel drive and subdued styling. As a road car you simply want nothing more from an M5; no more power, no more grip, no more size, nothing. It’s not perfect - the steering in particular is a weak point - but nobody who cares about cars can fail to enjoy an E39 M5. It’s just lovely. 

As with so many turn-of-the-century M car heroes, these were cheap for a good while. Which was great news in one aspect, because it meant mere mortals could get into some of the very best BMWs for not much money. The downside was that some people bought M3s and M5s cheap but tried to run them on a shoestring as well, and that never ended well. That dwindling supply, plus increasing demand with the realisation that cars like the E39 weren’t coming back, has pushed up prices in recent years. 

This 2002 car has had just four owners in its life, the most recent having been behind the wheel for more than 13 years now - it’s a good sign when somebody keeps a car that long. It usually means the car is a corker, for starters, but also that that owner has been properly invested in the car. The stack of receipts and a service book stamped up like a rockstar’s passport would attest to that. It’s very nearly still original spec, too, complete even with the factory nav setup. The last three MOTs have been clean, first time passes. There won’t be many E39s left out there that can say the same. 

There are good signs throughout, from matching Michelins on all four corners to being garaged throughout ownership. There’s said to be the tiniest bit of rust on the rear wheelarch; more major corrosion has been dealt with and, quite frankly, when looking at a lot of cars from the early 2000s oxidisation of one kind or another is merely par for the course. By and large, this M5 looks absolutely glorious. As they always have, and always will. But then you probably knew all that already, because everybody knows what an icon the E39 is. Sometimes it’s just nice to be reminded. Bidding opens at the end of the month - or offers are being invited now. 


See the full listing

Author
Discussion

Bright Halo

Original Poster:

3,577 posts

252 months

Tuesday 12th August
quotequote all
Stunning!

Motormouth88

625 posts

77 months

Tuesday 12th August
quotequote all
For fast motoring on ‘a budget’ it doesn’t get much better than this for me…always yearned after one of these especially in that spec, nearly bought one about 8 years ago for 10k, I feel that was my last chance at getting in one for cheap.

Andy83n

559 posts

79 months

Tuesday 12th August
quotequote all
Similar one up for £60k on the classifieds

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/18667106

martin12345

807 posts

106 months

Tuesday 12th August
quotequote all
These are truly excellent and one of the few cars I rate higher than my X308 XJR (on balance - XJR has its strong points but the M5 has more) but they are now serious money for a good one, 3 or 4 times the price of the XJR for equivalent age/mileage/condition, due to a combination of their excellence and rarity. For 90% of the goodness for a lot less money, an XJR or an S Type R are very good options (although obviously not manual if that what floats your boat)

Loplop

1,987 posts

202 months

Tuesday 12th August
quotequote all
Phenomenal cars, though I suppose it would've been hard for them not to be with the 'base' being as good as it was.

Nowhere near as special or occasional as the E34 that preceded it, and despite the quoted figures, don't actually feel that much quicker.

Not that this is a bad thing, but they very much feel like an extremely healthy 540i Manual. Whereas the E34 feels nothing alike the contemporary 535i or 540i.

You'd be mad to pay more than £25k for one imo.

WPA

12,300 posts

131 months

Tuesday 12th August
quotequote all
Stunning car and just a clean and simple design, so much better then later M5's

MikeMi-4

40 posts

24 months

Tuesday 12th August
quotequote all
4 paragraphs telling us about the history of the M5 and linking us to auctions etc.. and only 2 paragraphs telling us about this actual car. Come on Pistonheads, you can do better!

Triumph Man

9,142 posts

185 months

Tuesday 12th August
quotequote all
The note on size is right - I always found my E39 (not an M5 unfortunately - but still a 530i) to be the "right" size - not too small to be cramped, but not too large that it felt unduly bulky and unwieldy. It also handled quite well and felt relatively nimble.

pSyCoSiS

3,928 posts

222 months

Tuesday 12th August
quotequote all
Epic machine. One of the best cars I have ever owned and the one I regret selling the most.

Fantastic build quality. Good chassis balance. Brilliant engine.

Not perfect, but a fine car of it's time which has given its halo status today.

Edited by pSyCoSiS on Tuesday 12th August 09:55

BigChiefmuffinAgain

1,426 posts

115 months

Tuesday 12th August
quotequote all
Loplop said:
Phenomenal cars, though I suppose it would've been hard for them not to be with the 'base' being as good as it was.

Nowhere near as special or occasional as the E34 that preceded it, and despite the quoted figures, don't actually feel that much quicker.

Not that this is a bad thing, but they very much feel like an extremely healthy 540i Manual. Whereas the E34 feels nothing alike the contemporary 535i or 540i.

You'd be mad to pay more than £25k for one imo.
Agreed. I did 100k miles in mine back in the day before replacing with a B10 3.3 and that with a B10 V8s. They were all good cars but not the types you would get up early on a Sunday just to drive. They're a 5 series turned up to 11, not a Porsche in a 4 door body. B10 V8s was the best for me but I wanted cars I could do big miles in comfort.

Enjoyed them all but feel no urge to revisit. Things have moved on. And they do rust.

nismo48

5,502 posts

224 months

Tuesday 12th August
quotequote all
WPA said:
Stunning car and just a clean and simple design, so much better then later M5's
+1

Red6

557 posts

73 months

Tuesday 12th August
quotequote all
Absolutely love these. Alongside the E46 M3, this is peak M design.

J4CKO

44,734 posts

217 months

Tuesday 12th August
quotequote all
I am normally all for the latest and greatest, dont want to wallow too much in the past. Am sure the current M5 is much much faster and is utterly epic but this just appeals much more than that brutal looking 2.6 ton behemoth, am sure with 400 bhp these are fast enough to get a move on. Not sure what BMW had in the water during this period but the styling was largely sublime, these and the E46.

Not sure I really want 700/800 bhp or more, its labouring a point in the name of oneupmanship a lot of the time, and with all the EV stuff with mega power its been diluted anyway.

cerb4.5lee

38,194 posts

197 months

Tuesday 12th August
quotequote all
I've always lusted after these. Very nice.

B10

1,340 posts

284 months

Tuesday 12th August
quotequote all
Peak BMW the E39 and the M. Lovely

kbee540

214 posts

225 months

Tuesday 12th August
quotequote all
Everytime I see something like this from the BMW back catalogue it saddens me to see how far they've fallen. Sure some twit with a spreasheet will be happy by the increase in sales, but some of us remember how they used by to that bit special whilst also being handsome and discreet. The new M5 is an abomination and should not wear the same badge.

Triumph Man

9,142 posts

185 months

Tuesday 12th August
quotequote all
kbee540 said:
Everytime I see something like this from the BMW back catalogue it saddens me to see how far they've fallen. Sure some twit with a spreasheet will be happy by the increase in sales, but some of us remember how they used by to that bit special whilst also being handsome and discreet. The new M5 is an abomination and should not wear the same badge.
I think what always made BMW special for me was the attainability of RWD and a 6 cylinder engine - you didn't need to get the "fast" version to have a creamy, smooth, lovely sounding engine and good driving characteristics.

bigmowley

2,348 posts

193 months

Tuesday 12th August
quotequote all
Andy83n said:
Similar one up for £60k on the classifieds

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/18667106
Similar except it’s done about 80k miles less. That has been for sale for ages.

Lovely cars. Mrs BigM had one for 4 years as her daily when they were new. LM blue facelift just like this car. Sold it when it went past 80K miles. She to this day says that it was her best car ever.

Fastdruid

9,102 posts

169 months

Tuesday 12th August
quotequote all
Loplop said:
Phenomenal cars, though I suppose it would've been hard for them not to be with the 'base' being as good as it was.

Nowhere near as special or occasional as the E34 that preceded it, and despite the quoted figures, don't actually feel that much quicker.

Not that this is a bad thing, but they very much feel like an extremely healthy 540i Manual. Whereas the E34 feels nothing alike the contemporary 535i or 540i.
The E34 M5 was truly special, a hand built car built in relatively small numbers by BMW M GmbH.

The E39 M5 was however "merely" a different trim level. Built on the same lines as all the other 5-series and in much greater numbers. Better put together and a better car all round but not IMO as special.

I really regret that when my FIL sold his absolutely mint, one owner from new E34 for a pittance (sometime in the mid 2000's for somewhere around £10k) we didn't have anywhere to keep it and at the time could have afforded to buy it but not have afforded to insure it as well let alone run it.... ditto for the M535i he had before it (although that was rather tired in comparison).


JJJ.

3,093 posts

32 months

Tuesday 12th August
quotequote all
Andy83n said:
Similar one up for £60k on the classifieds

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/18667106
For that money, I'd want a pristine E34 M5 3.6, in red ideally.