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Over a decade after production ended, BMW's E46 M3 and E39 M5 still capture the hearts of car enthusiasts today. Many of them have been driven hard and abused, though, making it tough to find a good second-hand example. A dealership in Ohio, the Enthusiast Auto Group, has you covered, offering two golden-age BMW M cars in brand-new condition—at asking prices that exceed the sticker on a brand-new BMW.
Enthusiast Auto Group
Enthusiast Auto Group is selling a 2004 M3 with just 494 miles for $99,990, and a 2003 E39 M5 with 309 miles for $149,990. You might remember the Enthusiast Auto Group from the $200,000 E30 M3 that was put up last month, which sold for an undisclosed amount.
Enthusiast Auto Group
In an interview with Road & Track, Enthusiast Auto Group owner Eric Keller said that both the E46 and E39 came from a collector in California, who stored them at an airport hangar. The former owner periodically put a bit of fuel in each of the cars and drove them around the airport to keep all the parts fresh and working.
Keller told us they're the lowest-mileage BMWs he's seen in his entire career. They may even be the least-driven examples of each car in the entire world.
Enthusiast Auto Group
The E39 M5 looks handsome in black over black, and Keller says it comes with virtually every option BMW offered from the factory. Pictures show an immaculate engine bay and interior, complete with factory warning stickers.
It's pretty much the same story for the E46 M3, the primary difference being that this car is white with black interior. While it doesn't have factory navigation like the M5, it does come equipped with a six-speed manual, not BMW's odd sequential manual gearbox from the time. Sadly, this car doesn't have BMW's competition package, but once again, it's almost assuredly the cleanest, nicest E46 money can buy today.
Enthusiast Auto Group
Asking price on both is significantly more than their brand-new counterparts, but Keller is confident in his six-figure stickers. He says that excellent condition BMW M cars are selling for well over original MSRP, and the low mileage of these examples justifies the premium.
Enthusiast Auto Group
If you want an E46 M3 or E39 M5 to daily drive, you're probably best to look elsewhere. If you're a collector, these cars might make sense, considering the profit the original owner likely made on them. As the costs of old school driver's cars continue to skyrocket–air-cooled 911s, E30 M3s, and manual-transmission Ferraris, to name a few–good E39 and E46 M cars could rise too.
The person who pays these sort of prices for these cars is either insane, or a brilliant investor. Probably both.
Not exactly my cup of tea. Can't drive them AT ALL without significantly hurting the value. Also those are crack pipe prices, maybe $40-50k each for them IMO.
Personally a "collector grade" car with 1,000 to 15k miles is more sensible. You can drive them a few hundred or maybe a thousand miles a year without hurting the value. No point in owning a car if you can't drive it IMO.
Still nice to see somebody preserving what IMO were the pinnacle of BMW styling and engineering, before Bangle messed up the styling and they started building cars with vague steering.
The person who pays these sort of prices for these cars is either insane, or a brilliant investor. Probably both.
It's the former. As great as these cars are/were, they weren't in limited supply. There's a certain collector value for sure, but modern era BMWs by and large aren't likely to be genuinely collectable.
Great cars, but likely not a great buy at those numbers I'd suspect.
Back to the point of the thread. That's a great thing for BMW owners that buyers are shelling that much cash over for m series.
Plus if you're a multimillionaire this is a small price to pay for your passion. Honestly SC4 should have high values like the 90 model BMW 8 series, Porsche 928 & Benz SL! It's all about public perception and owners recognizing the true worth of the model
I am a big BMW guy and love these cars. I hope to own both an E39 M5 and E46 M3 one day. I've read a lot about EAS before and while they are known as a top-notch dealer within the BMW enthusiast community, they are also known for their asinine prices. Their cars are in pristine condition and are purchased mainly by collectors. In contrast, your average BMW enthusiast will search for months on AutoTrader for a reasonably well-maintained, lower mileage car instead.
04-07-16, 09:57 AM
You Can Buy This Brand New 2003 BMW M5 for $150,000 Or a 2004 M3 for just $100,000.
hell yea
