e34 M5 or wait for e39 - question inside

I've pretty much decided on picking up an 01 M5 in January. However, recently, I came across a local 1991 M5 with a built motor but poor paint and an average interior. I drove the car, extremely tight, spoke to the shop that built and maintained it. The guy was asking 7k, so I said no thanks, too much paint work to do - peeling clear, rust bubbles rear fenders, but no dents body very straight. Car has dinan software, springs, koni shocks and BMW Motorsport cams.

Anyways, he is a motivated seller as he tells me, and he emailed me today to ask what price I WOULD pay to take on a cosmetic project like that. I am tempting to offer 4k. However, this would definitely be a weekend car and would set me back a couple of weeks in terms of picking up an M5 - I'm looking for a Royal Red vehicle, which is hard to find. I know where one is, but each week I stall, I run the risk of it being sold out from underneath me.

So, what should I do? Pay a small amount for a weekend car and put off the e39 for a few weeks, or should I pass and buy what I really want? The temptation to own an e34 M5 is great, esp. at such a low price.

He knows the cost to restore the body. Ask him how much he has been quoted to see what sort of answer you get.
Huge money to properly repair a rusty car.
I say low ball him with cash in hand. If he takes it enjoy the car as is. Leave the restoration to someone else with stars in their eyes for an M when you are finished with it.

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Originally Posted by Ross

He knows the cost to restore the body. Ask him how much he has been quoted to see what sort of answer you get.
Huge money to properly repair a rusty car.
I say low ball him with cash in hand. If he takes it enjoy the car as is. Leave the restoration to someone else with stars in their eyes for an M when you are finished with it.

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i've considered just flat blacking it and doing exactly that.

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Originally Posted by repenttokyo

i've considered just flat blacking it and doing exactly that.

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Or remove the badges, leave it in beater condition and terrorize kids with fart pipe cars.

Built motor?
details please
personally I'd go for the E34
E39's are nice but I want a big 6 cyl thats been hand built

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Originally Posted by Ross

Or remove the badges, leave it in beater condition and terrorize kids with fart pipe cars.

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genius

details are in first post.

I'm curious about these "BMW Motorsport Cams". Never heard of such a thing. Unless this guy is calling the cam sprocket upgrade (putting 3.8 cam sprockets on the 3.6) "BMW Motorsport Cams". I'd guess that's what's in there as it'd go along with the Dinan software.

Could have Schrick's in it too I suppose.

And there were a few custom built cars that left the Motorsport facility with 408HP S38's. But I really doubt a beater '91 US spec M5 would have anything resembling the custom parts that were in those S38's. In fact I'm not all sure what they did to squeeze that much power out of 'em. But I'm guessing different cams was part of the equation.

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Originally Posted by bubba966

I'm curious about these "BMW Motorsport Cams". Never heard of such a thing. Unless this guy is calling the cam sprocket upgrade (putting 3.8 cam sprockets on the 3.6) "BMW Motorsport Cams". I'd guess that's what's in there as it'd go along with the Dinan software.

Could have Schrick's in it too I suppose.

And there were a few custom built cars that left the Motorsport facility with 408HP S38's. But I really doubt a beater '91 US spec M5 would have anything resembling the custom parts that were in those S38's. In fact I'm not all sure what they did to squeeze that much power out of 'em. But I'm guessing different cams was part of the equation.

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I understand what you are saying. The car was built by these people: http://www.machschnell.com and owned by the shop owner's wife for 3 years.

I want to stress - it's not a beater. The car drove extremely well at very high speeds - no vibrations, no hesitation, no pulling, very different from my car which is in quite good shaped. Clutch was very heavy and the transmission had no play in it whatsoever.

The only downside is the fact that the paint was not looked after and there is a small amount of fender rust. In my opinion, the car needs a complete repaint.

So, you're asking if you should get an E34 M5 now, and get an E39 M5 as well with the E39 taking a few weeks longer due to the outlay for the E34?

Do you have the patience to wait until another Royal Red model shows up should you not get the one you're looking at? And how far will you travel to find the right E39?

I will say that you should go after whatever it is you want and not settle for anything else. I kept looking for the right M-Sport for 2 1/2 years and I'm glad I did. I almost went for a 740i Sport, but didn't find one around here that fit. Then the right M-Sport came up for sale later. After a 3,750 mile trip to go get it (and 3,750 miles back) it was more than worth it. Still to this day happy I didn't buy an M5 that was tempting, and didn't find the right E38. Because I knew what it was that I wanted and waited until it was available.

I've found a 2000 in Alabama, a 2000 in Maryland, and a 2001 (listed as "burgundy") in California. Didn't check Canada. But as there's 3 of them I found with a quick check in the US they're out there. Incredibly rare, yes. But you can still find one. Actually didn't know they came in Royal Red. Have never seen an E39 in that color. Did see an E38 in Royal Red and thought it looked pretty good. Was interesting to see that E39 M5's Royal Red is rarer than Imola Red, while the opposite is true of E38's.

FWIW, it's not uncommon of me to see the guys on the M5board say they enjoy the drive of their E34 M5 better than their E39 M5. They seem to like the rawness the E34 has, that the E39 lacks. Apparently the E39 makes for the better DD, while the E34 makes for the better weekend fun car.