‘Most well-rounded BMW of all-time’ is a hefty statement to toss out there, but it doesn’t make it a false one. Here’s another weighty but nonetheless true claim: the early-’00s was peak BMW. Every single car in its lineup was a stunner in the looks and performance departments, and the E39 M5 was in the upper echelon. This particular 2000 M5 is near spotless, only has a few minor modifications. Even with 94,000 miles on the clock, it’s near perfection.
In the early 2000s, BMW managed to strike the perfect balance between performance and luxury across its entire portfolio. It’s safe to say in the past couple of years BMW has leaned more heavily into luxury in a bid to chase Mercedes. Not that it’s making crap can cars that can’t handle corners, but they do stretch the definition of a ‘driver’s car’ pretty thin these days.
The E39 M5, on the other hand, has a wonderfully versatile 3.9-liter V8 which pulls from everywhere in the rev range, no matter the gear. It cranks out 394 bhp at 6,600 rpm and 369 lb-ft of torque at 3,800 rpm, so there isn’t a corner too tight or a highway too long. The cabin wrapped around you isn’t track orientated, nor is it super-luxe, cushy and numb — it feels like the right choice, no matter the occasion. Dinner party? Of course. Canyon carving? Hell yea. Canyon carving on your way to a dinner party? Now we’re talkin’.
The M5 up for grabs here only has window tint, smoked headlight and taillight lenses and a replacement steering wheel to take it way from stock. Under the hood, the owner did his due diligence with maintenance, and it shows. The interior is just as immaculate as the engine bay, too.
Before BMW’s design got too fussy and its interiors weren’t overcomplicated, the E39 M5 hit a magical sweet spot. At the time of this writing, this E39 is $10,000, but I can’t imagine it’ll stay that low for long.
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