Used Car of the Day: 2005 BMW M5

by Tim Healey

Published: March 24th, 2025

Today we have a 2000 BMW M5 for you.

This one has been with this owner since 2021 and has some aftermarket equipment including for the audio system. It's been garaged and a bunch of work has been done -- you can see all of it at the listing.

The seller has OEM parts available, too, if a buyer wants to swap them for the aftermarket.

If you're interested, this one has a manual transmission and it's available in Connecticut for $27,000. Click here for more.

[Images: Seller]

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Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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3 of 12 comments

Spreadsheet monkey on Mar 25, 2025

This is one of the few times I've thought "that is CHEAP compared to what it would be in the UK". Easily a $30k car in the UK at this age and mileage.

105k miles is not too bad for a 25 year old car. Over here in Britain, the E39 is recognised as peak M5 and values are on the rise. Amazing engine, not too big or heavy, and good parts and dealer support. The E60 that followed was a fragile thing with a highly-strung V10 engine and flaky electrics. The F10 model after that (early 2010s) is currently the cheapest way into M5 ownership, but was a turbo V8 and auto-only in Europe and is too bulky for our narrow roads.

Those complaining about the maintenance costs - no-one is using an E39 M5 as a daily commuter car any more. Most of them are used sparingly, and only do a couple thousand miles a year. So the cost of consumables like tyres and brakes shouldn't be that big a deal. Find an independent BMW specialist and you're good to go.

1 Reply
- FreedMike on Mar 25, 2025
  
  True, but to my way of thinking, given limited resources, an expensive-to-maintain weekend ride makes even less sense than a daily. I'd gravitate more towards something like a C6 Corvette.
  
  Like
Lloyd Bonified on Mar 25, 2025

I love these, but they are in that awkward stage right now. Too old to have easy parts availibility like a normal used car, but too new for the classic car parts outfits or even the OEM's "heritage" division to be reproducing stuff for them like an E30 or W123.

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