BMW e39 M5 Buyers Guide 1998 - 2003

"E39 5-Series BMW, the most complete car I have ever driven." - Chris Harris (TopGear.com) Nov 2023 "it’ll go down as the best super saloon I’ve ever driven" - Ollie Kew (TopGear.com) Jan 2025 If you were born in the seventies, eighties and nineties, the e39 M5 could be big thing for you. As the Fastest Saloon on the planet when it was launched and with a manual gearbox paired to a V8 engine, this M5 has been hailed as one of the greats. Talking about Guy Ritchie, he directed a short called “the star”. Starring alongside Clive Owen was mr. Ritchies then wife, Madonna. But the real star of the show was, of course, the BMW M5.

The S62 engine was in production many years after they stopped making the M5 and the Z8. This is because the S62 engine was used for racing and was sold as a crate engine. If your S62 engine ends up blowing up, there are many options for getting a used or rebuild one. For a ball park figure, compared to a regular engine which might cost 6000 the s62 was over 20 000 when new and a rebuild one will cost you closer to if not over 15 000 euros or us dollars these days. The great thing about the M5 is that on top of it being produced in numbers, around 20 000 units, it is based on the 5 series. BMW made over 1.5 million 5 series cars, with around 266000 being touring or wagons. That means that many parts such as most of the electronics or the doors are plentiful. Lot’s of aftermarket products were produced and lot’s of salvage parts are available. Purpose built sports cars don’t have this luxury and abundance.