The E39 M5 (96-03)...know by many simply as "The Beast". This car received huge praise when it was released, particularly from '01-'03. Fantastic power, handling, braking, plus you could seat 4 and still throw luggage in the trunk. To me, it is a classy, fantastically styled car and represents a terrific balance of everything you could want in a vehicle. I have no doubt they will be considered a "classic" and be sought after by car collectors. I would love to own one. To cut to the chase, an acquaintance of mine has owned one since new. It is a 2002, with approximately 170k on it. It is essentially stock, without performance modification. Items that were added are: clear bra (front end, A pillars, back fascia), bluetooth phone integration, and all weather mats. He has all maintenance paperwork, and all work was performed at either the dealer or local performance shop. Although I haven't looked through it, I understand that all maintenance is up to date. The car is really in good shape aesthetically, especially for the miles. Paint, leather, wheels etc...He has babied it and it has never been tracked. I have been talking with him for over a year now, letting him know to contact me when he is ready to sell. At one point last summer he expressed to me that he would love to sell it to someone he knows and is local. In addition, he told me that he wanted to get between 8-10k for it. At that point it had 150k or so. He also told me that he would probably be ready to sell within the next year. Fast forward to today, when I called him up to check in. He told me that he was ready to sell and actually had posted it to some online car sale sites. He apologized for forgetting to contact me and told me that he did have one out of state offer for $12k. He is listing the car for $15k, but told me that he would like to get $13k out of it. Although I was definitely shocked at this change, I told him I would look at the postings and get back to him. I wanted to get my thoughts together before questioning him harder to justify the pricing and the change since this summer. I also wanted to pick your brains and get any advice you folks may have. At this point, I realize that these cars are getting more rare and are considered a classic. This justifies to me a sale price higher than the $5-7k on kbb.com or other car sale websites. However, I am having a lot of trouble breaking past $10k, especially for something high miles with really no performance mods. I think most of you would agree with this line of thinking, but please let me know your advice, including any strategies for negotiating this price down. Thanks!!!
I'm part of a Germany car club and there are a few of them in the club. I wouldn't pay more than 5-6k for it and I would also take it somewhere to have it looked at. They are very $$$ to keep up if they need any real work done to them.
