2002 BMW M5

With just four previous keepers, this wonderfully original BMW M5 E39 was first registered on the 1st of March 2002 and has been treasured ever since with a wonderfully comprehensive service and preventative maintenance history thanks to its fastidious owners.

It paid off though because this is one of the best we’ve seen in a very long time. It starts, runs and drives exactly as it should; our boss has the same model and he reckons the E39 BMW M5 is the best M car of them all - and possibly the finest everyday car in the world. That’s quite the statement, but a few minutes behind the wheel of this example makes us think he might just have a point…

Only now being offered for sale as the owner hasn’t used it as much as he thought he would in the four years he’s owned it, it is being offered with no reserve so will sell from the very first bid.

The Silverstone Blue bodywork is in good condition, with the sort of tight, even panel gaps and ripple-free flanks that speak of a life gently led. The paintwork is good too, and its subtle hint of colour is a welcome change to the more usual silver. There is no apparent evidence of either restoration or accident damage repairs.

The M5 also sits right, with a perfect stance and a subtle, menacing air we find irresistible. It’s a car that too many people try to ‘improve’ with bigger wheels, lower-profile tyres, and even lower suspension, all of which are guaranteed to muck up its looks, ride and handling, so it’s a refreshing change to discover one that still looks and performs as BMW intended.

The sliding metal sunroof opens and closes as it should, and seals tightly against the elements.

The original equipment alloy wheels are free of scrapes, dings and other damage and are so bright and well-finished that they have almost certainly been refurbished in the car’s recent past. If so, they have been finished in the correct shade for the model, which indicates an obsessive attention to detail in maintaining the car’s correct specification. The wheels are also shod with matching tyres, all of which have good tread.

As we will never tyre of explaining, our experience shows that matching tyres like this are an infallible sign of a caring and mechanically sympathetic owner who is prepared to spend the appropriate amount in maintaining their car properly. Their presence does not, of course, preclude the need for a thorough inspection - something the vendor would welcome, by the way – but do give you a shortcut into their attitude towards maintenance.

Work to do is limited to sorting out a few microblisters on a few places including the front bumper, and eradicating the small rust bubbles that are starting to develop on all four corners of the sills and on a small area of the offside rear wing. None of it is worrisome but it will need sorting out in the near future to forestall more serious problems arising.

Oh, and while we’re on the subject of small jobs, the plastic covers on the ‘Angel Eye’ headlights have started to cloud over. Refreshing them would be an hour’s work with a specialist kit that costs about £20, or you could try a dab of Autosol or even toothpaste if you’ve got deep pockets and short arms; they haven’t deteriorated that badly at all and so should clean up easily and quickly.

The black and blue leather seats offer a splash of colour in what can be a sombre interior. Still in great shape and very comfortable, they are complemented by matched door cards that are in a similarly impressive condition. The M5 has a three-position memory switch for the heated electric seats, and that, along with everything else we’ve tried, works as it should.

The carpets are clean and unworn, the headlining is taut and spotless, and the rear seats look like they’ve barely been used. Remarkably, even the torch in the glovebox works.

The boot is also neat and tidy and home to the original toolkit, most of which looks to be unused. The carpet-covered fibreboard floor is present and correct and looks to be undamaged, a state of affairs that enthusiasts will know is rare.

Wonderfully, the centre armrest still features a docking station for a flip-top Motorola mobile phone. Ah, to be back in those kinder, gentler days when the height of technological sophistication was a docking station for your phone.

Sure, there is a little bit of rubbing and creasing here and there, but what little patination there is is entirely commensurate with the car’s age and mileage; if there was any less then alarm bells would be ringing.

The BMW service history booklet shows 19 stamps in all, 11 for routine servicing plus five for brake fluid changes, and another three for coolant changes.

The owner tells us that he fitted a new clutch, dual-mass flywheel, and brake calipers, discs, pads, and flexi-hoses all round just after buying the car four years ago. He estimates that he has since driven fewer than 250 miles making this a very, very well serviced and maintained vehicle indeed…

As a facelifted car it might be less prone to the VANOS problems that plague the earlier models but, being just as fastidious as the car’s previous custodians, he had the VANOS units professionally removed, stripped down and then rebuilt using a Belsan seal kit in February 2017.

The timing chain was changed at the same time, and new tensioners, seals, hoses, and gaskets were fitted upon reassembly. The final bill came to more than £2,500, but the car is now running beautifully and has only done a couple of hundred miles since the work was completed.

The engine bay is as clean as you’d expect of a car with this sort of history, and the underside is strong and solid too, with no evidence of scrapes, damage or freshly applied underseal out there to mask an issue.

In fact, the only area we can see the new owner might want to take a look at is the secondary bonnet catch, which has gone a bit rusty. That’s not a bad ‘To Do’ list for a car with this level of performance, is it?

The M5’s MOT expires in February 2021, and the online MOT history shows nothing of concern whatsoever; it also confirms the car’s low mileage.

The car comes with a number of expired MOT certificates plus a thick sheaf of invoices and bills to confirm the work that has been done to it over the years.

It also comes with two keys, the original owner’s handbook, a service history booklet that was last stamped at 119,921 miles and the usual bumf, all of which is still stored in the OE BMW wallet.

Please visit the documents section of the gallery of this listing where you will find photos of this and other paperwork to support our claim that this car has been maintained in recent years to the very highest standard.

NB. We know that many of you will be limiting your social exposure over the coming days and weeks, so please give us a call and we can shoot a personal video of the car honing in on any areas you’d like us to concentrate on. Or, even better, contact us with your mobile number and we can set up a WhatsApp video call, where you can direct us in real-time.

Owned by a series of mechanically sympathetic owners who weren’t afraid to spend money when they needed too, this is a rare opportunity to buy an unmolested BMW M5 that is running perfectly and needs only very minor cosmetic fettling to bring it up to potentially show-winning condition.

Full of period-correct details like the barely used toolkit, working emergency torch, and a period docking station for a Motorola mobile phone, it has only good things to say; while most of us have considered buying an M5 at some point in our lives but have been too scared of the repercussions if it all went wrong, this is an M5 you can buy with your head AND your heart.

It won’t be expensive, either. We think it’ll sell for somewhere between £8,000 and £12,000, which isn’t a lot of money for the amount of car – and performance – you’re getting.

And, it’s being offered with no reserve, so it’ll sell from the very first bid and in these pre-Apocalyptic times, an E39 M5 in the garage would go a long way to cheering you up, wouldn’t it?

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; in these more difficult times we are recommending a thorough inspection of the gallery or please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

If needed, please remember we have a network of trusted suppliers we work with regularly and can recommend: Classic & Sportscar Finance for purchase-financing, Footman James for classic car insurance Thames Valley Car Storage for storing your car and AnyVan for transporting it.

BORING, but IMPORTANT: Please note that whilst we at The Market always aim to offer the most descriptive and transparent auction listings available, we cannot claim they are perfect analyses of any of the vehicles for sale. We offer far greater opportunity for bidders to view, or arrange inspections for each vehicle thoroughly prior to bidding than traditional auctions, and we never stop encouraging bidders to take advantage of this. We do take a good look at the vehicles delivered to our premises for sale, but this only results in our unbiased personal observations, not those of a qualified inspector or other professional, or the result of a long test drive.

Additionally, please note that most of the videos on our site have been recorded using simple cameras which often result in 'average' sound quality; in particular, engines and exhausts notes can sound a little different to how they are in reality.

Please note that this is sold as seen and that, as is normal for used goods bought at auction, the Sale of Goods Act 1979 does not apply. See our FAQs for more info, and feel free to inspect any vehicle as much as you wish.