Im thinking about picking up a 1991 M5. There are two for sale locally right now and Im going to go look at one of them tomorrow.
Im just wondering if there are any past or present owners of this car that can say wether this is a good car or not? I have always liked these older style cars, but ive never realistically thought of buying one until now.
Do they need a lot of maintenance or not? Reliable, etc...?

Much appreciated...

 

Can't go wrong with an E34 M5 IMO; timeless design!

 

I bet stuka will be able to chime in. I believe he has had general interest in them although maybe he stuck to E2/39

A friends dad tracks his and has done so for the last 15 years. Great car and quite the technological wonder for its age. That being said, don't expect it to be a "put gas in it and go" kind of car. Even after a major service expect little things to be going wrong all the time. Try to find an example that's been driven at least for the last few years. That ensures all the rubber seals etc are in good shape and not dry and ready for replacement.

I have some good links, but I'm on my phone right now.

Great choice either way.

 

Thanks for the responses. Im hoping the guy calls me back today so I can go look at this car. Ive always like the design and styling, Im just curious about reliability and drivability. This could be my new daily driver if it will fit my needs.

 

were these handbuilt? i drove one years ago and loved it, a bit languid in response but it let you really enjoy yourself without worrying about putting it through a hedge.

tell us what you think after your test drive, i still think the E34 is a beautiful design.

 

While mine's not an M5; i've had little to no reliability issues on my car at all. There are several owners on: bimmerforums that have well over 300k miles on their cars.

Mine IS my daily driver and i couldn't be happier. I average 17mpg around town; have PLENTY of space for groceries, luggage for car trips and passengers in the rear seat.

 

All well and good for your 525i, but the M5 is another beast altogether. The engine is based off the M6 for a start.

Like any old bimmers, expect little things to go wrong fairly regularly, and for something major to happen at least once. As someone said, it is not going to be a trouble free DD, so if you are expecting it to be as reliable as a modern alternative, ya dreaming.

But they are also stunning cars. It is definitely a +/- thing.

If it were me, i'd go for the E28.

 

They're all terrific cars. I prefer the E39 platform. I think they're all susceptible to have some things go wrong. I plan on picking one up when I have a garage and second vehicle to support it.

 

Well Im bummed. The guy called me back only to let me know he had just sold it.
There's another one for sale locally, but the guy is out of his mind with his price! Wants $15k for a mediocre condition 1991 car with 95,000 miles. I can get a 2003 with less miles for the same price if not less... which I cant afford anyways...

 

The S38 found in the low price M5's are ticking time bombs. These engines needed to be maintained, and like a lot of older high performance BMW's, the entry ticket is cheap, but the running cost isn't, so a lot of people just let theirs go to the toilet, then try to dump it with a low price to make it someone else's problem.

I will not buy one without a compression and leak down test. Trust me, you don't want to see what the bill is for an S38 rebuild.

And since these cars have no traction control, and most people can't handle a simple oversteer, lots have been wrecked, whip out your paint meter.

Your best bet is to wait for a federalized Euro S38B34 to show up (they do from time to time) and see if you can grab one of those at a reasonable price (read, around low 20K) for a reasonably turnkey one.

At this point in time, most of the U.S. S38B32 M5's are in sad shape, and should probably just be crushed.

I thought E39 M5 in the shape I wanted was hard to find, the E34 was basically impossible. But hang out on the m5board there, a decent one comes up from time to time for sale.