I bought a 2000 m5 (anthracite gray metallic) in 2017. It had 96,000 miles and was in great shape for 9,000$. Man it’s such a great car , I’ll never sell it. It does everything so well. Very responsive with Lots of midrange punch and very rev happy. It handles so much better than a 3800Lb car should. It feels so planted on the road under most circumstances. Theirs is such a sporting presence sitting in the drivers seat . It moves faster and handles better than a. 400hp should . I bought my 97 540i sport 6speed first and loved it so much that I had to have the m5. I haven’t found a decently priced manual bmw yet that has the same smile factor as both of these. Even the 540 is no slouch with the Msport suspension. And manual transmission it’s still pretty quick but where it shined is high speed acceleration. Simply a great car period. Car should
My Favorite car design of all time. I currently own a 540 6mt, 2010 535 Twin Turbo 535i FBO, and my current fav to drive is my 2016 F10 535i FBO.. E39 is a timeless classic and the best BMW 's ever made in my opinion.
This era of BMW I3 think the only flop they had was the 318ti. There was a time when BMW was very special and were hitting on all cylinders. This E39 was the pinnacle of BMW. There was also the E36 M3, E46 M3, X5 4.6i, 740/750i/L. Even the regular 528i with a manual transmission were solid cars.
Wrong on the Turn Signal stalk! This is THE Good one!! The stupid ones that won’t turn off started later, maybe even the E60 had them. E-39 ones simply go on and off and can feel like new still at 200k miles!! Short of the flimsy cup holders the E39 interior is built incredibly well!
I bought a 1991 850i with the rare 6speed manual transmission but it doesn’t have the same smile factor as the 540 6speed and m5.but is still nice to look at.
I have seen ones sell all the way from 15K - 40 ish. The 40k ish ones are really nice pretty low miles. I think the sweet spot is 25K. Get a nice example with sub 80k miles and enjoy! Likely won't loose money. NFA!
Compared to My M4 it feels old.. Not in a bad way, just much older. It felt a little more sloppy. the gear shifter is sort of long throw, you hear some rattles, some noises etc cause of the age. But when you get on it, it feels very strong and has a lovely V8 feel both in pull and sound. Slower than the M4.. but actually not by too much.
Hmm personal preference I guess. I think you can pick up both cars around $25k. This specific one is 22.5k. But 2 door vs. 4 door sedan. Depends on your purpose and needs. Personally I always tend to go with two doors and like the bit newer generation. My advice- find somewhere to test drive both and go from there!
Spend a few years driving more modern stuff then try to go back. They sound great, but a modern 6 cylinder diesel will see it off easily. I did exactly that by going from a 330 e46 to a 2012 X3 30D to a 2003 M3. The m3 felt absolutely ancient after 5 years daily driving the X3.
"but a modern 6 cylinder diesel will see it off easily." - How ? Most powerful non-M diesel G30 5 Series has 60bhp less. E39 M5 has 20% better power-to-weight ratio that the 540d xDrive G30. Maybe your specific E46 330i and 2003 M3 felt ancient. Vehicle developemnt engineers, of which I am one, don't agree.
@lewis72 you're looking at it too simplistically. The S54 only makes 340hp at 8k rpm. Look at a dyno plot for one and see what it's doing at 3, 4, 5, 6k rpm. F all is the answer. It's a pub brag number not a real world experience. The 6 cylinder diesels make all their power across all the revs. Trust me, owning and driving both daily, I can assure you that where other than a race track, a 30d/40d is a better engine for driving quick. I got rid of the e46 as it just got on my tits having to hit 8k to feel fast and got an f83. It makes more than the e46 at 4k and then keeps going.
@@matthewnicholas6365 I was talking about the E39 M5, which is what this video's about. However, power-weight ratio of the E39 M5 and E46 M3 are about the same. I doubt the 30d/40d will be faster in any performance stats.
I bought a 2000 m5 (anthracite gray metallic) in 2017. It had 96,000 miles and was in great shape for 9,000$. Man it’s such a great car , I’ll never sell it. It does everything so well. Very responsive with Lots of midrange punch and very rev happy. It handles so much better than a 3800Lb car should. It feels so planted on the road under most circumstances. Theirs is such a sporting presence sitting in the drivers seat . It moves faster and handles better than a. 400hp should . I bought my 97 540i sport 6speed first and loved it so much that I had to have the m5. I haven’t found a decently priced manual bmw yet that has the same smile factor as both of these. Even the 540 is no slouch with the Msport suspension. And manual transmission it’s still pretty quick but where it shined is high speed acceleration. Simply a great car period.
Car should
wow what a good deal! awesome!!
My Favorite car design of all time. I currently own a 540 6mt, 2010 535 Twin Turbo 535i FBO, and my current fav to drive is my 2016 F10 535i FBO.. E39 is a timeless classic and the best BMW 's ever made in my opinion.
One of the coolest point about the engine that should be mentioned is the ITB.
The e60 m5 was also naturally aspirated and came in manual
@@MinistroDR your right ! My mistake
This era of BMW I3 think the only flop they had was the 318ti. There was a time when BMW was very special and were hitting on all cylinders. This E39 was the pinnacle of BMW. There was also the E36 M3, E46 M3, X5 4.6i, 740/750i/L. Even the regular 528i with a manual transmission were solid cars.
X5 is horrible.
A jacked-up 5 Series Touring that's worse round corners.
E60 m5 the E39’s successor with the s85 v10 engine was available with a 6 speed manual only in America.
Such a cool car! Hopefully will review one soon. Thanks for watching!
SMG3 only in the UK. Pretty sure the states got both, not manual only.
BMW manual boxes are usually crap but people forgive them for some reason.
@@matthewnicholas6365 the US had SMG and manual
@griffenaddie that's what i thought. Always makes my chuckle how us English dig the Americans out for only driving auto, yet the market says otherwise
The last real manual was the f10
Wrong on the Turn Signal stalk! This is THE Good one!! The stupid ones that won’t turn off started later, maybe even the E60 had them. E-39 ones simply go on and off and can feel like new still at 200k miles!! Short of the flimsy cup holders the E39 interior is built incredibly well!
Cool content. I just started watching the video and was afraid that at 0:14 that the video could have went a different direction.
I bought a 1991 850i with the rare 6speed manual transmission but it doesn’t have the same smile factor as the 540 6speed and m5.but is still nice to look at.
cool!
Quick question. Now these go for around 30-40k for one with 85-100k miles think it’s a 40k car with its age ect?
I have seen ones sell all the way from 15K - 40 ish. The 40k ish ones are really nice pretty low miles. I think the sweet spot is 25K. Get a nice example with sub 80k miles and enjoy! Likely won't loose money. NFA!
Also how does it compare to your m3?
Compared to My M4 it feels old.. Not in a bad way, just much older. It felt a little more sloppy. the gear shifter is sort of long throw, you hear some rattles, some noises etc cause of the age. But when you get on it, it feels very strong and has a lovely V8 feel both in pull and sound. Slower than the M4.. but actually not by too much.
I remember i almost bought one back in 2013 . It would make a good family car
it would be such a cool family car!! v8 sound.. can't get better than that haha
I own one.
I think the 530i is a better family car, which I also own. (it's an E60 but that replaced by 528i E39)
Do your research the the v10 came in manual for the North American market
@@jaya3714 good point my b
Wrong on the manual transmissions! The next two generations were available with a manual transmission. Check the E60 and F10.
@@stevepatrick5818 yes my b
Do you think it’s worth 40k? For a good condition with less that 100k miles. Or go for a e92 m3 for example..
Hmm personal preference I guess. I think you can pick up both cars around $25k.
This specific one is 22.5k.
But 2 door vs. 4 door sedan. Depends on your purpose and needs. Personally I always tend to go with two doors and like the bit newer generation. My advice- find somewhere to test drive both and go from there!
Spend a few years driving more modern stuff then try to go back.
They sound great, but a modern 6 cylinder diesel will see it off easily.
I did exactly that by going from a 330 e46 to a 2012 X3 30D to a 2003 M3.
The m3 felt absolutely ancient after 5 years daily driving the X3.
"but a modern 6 cylinder diesel will see it off easily."
- How ?
Most powerful non-M diesel G30 5 Series has 60bhp less.
E39 M5 has 20% better power-to-weight ratio that the 540d xDrive G30.
Maybe your specific E46 330i and 2003 M3 felt ancient. Vehicle developemnt engineers, of which I am one, don't agree.
@lewis72 you're looking at it too simplistically. The S54 only makes 340hp at 8k rpm. Look at a dyno plot for one and see what it's doing at 3, 4, 5, 6k rpm. F all is the answer. It's a pub brag number not a real world experience. The 6 cylinder diesels make all their power across all the revs. Trust me, owning and driving both daily, I can assure you that where other than a race track, a 30d/40d is a better engine for driving quick.
I got rid of the e46 as it just got on my tits having to hit 8k to feel fast and got an f83. It makes more than the e46 at 4k and then keeps going.
@@matthewnicholas6365
I was talking about the E39 M5, which is what this video's about.
However, power-weight ratio of the E39 M5 and E46 M3 are about the same.
I doubt the 30d/40d will be faster in any performance stats.
@lewis72 wow. I have NFI why I was going off on one about the S54 engine then 🤭
The audio of the clip is a bit off
@@johnnyhung2279 my b
The sound and feel with the exhaust is kinda ruined. BTW, you could get an E60 manual - I had one. and have an e39 m5 now.
Not a fan of the exhaust?!
@@griffenaddie
It's horrible. Far too shouty and "Hey ! Look at me !!"
That was a custom exhaust !
Yes , it sounds amazing right?!
Why do Americans ALWAYS shake the gear stick ????
@@bla855 gotta make sure it’s in neutral ;)
Just for fun@@griffenaddie
"base 540" ??
There wasn't a base 540.