The E39 BMW 5-Series remains one of the few from the brand that I actually still lust over. While an E39 M5 would be a dream, the 540i is also an excellent vehicle. You can get them with a proper 6-speed manual gearbox as well, and there’s one for sale just down the road. It’s a 1998 Alpine White example with 117k miles on the odometer. It appears to be well cared for and cleaned up and the asking price doesn’t feel crazy at all. Would you take a chance on this one?

This one is mostly stock. The seller has it wearing a few M5 trim pieces inside and out. There’s a set of 19″ Hartge wheels, as well. Otherwise, it’s as it left the showroom floor and any of the supposed weak points have been taken care of, per the ad. So, does an asking price of $10,900 feel justified?

A few years ago, that may have seemed a bit high. My personal high-water mark for making impulsive decisions on CL used to be $7,500 and under. Anything under that, and you could really make arguments as to why a given vehicle could find its way into your driveway. But as the market has been inflated to basically obscene heights, it feels like $12k is the new high-water mark. I’m not saying I have that much to run out and spend on a car, but it’s a number where I’d start to look at my current fleet and consider selling something to make funds and space available for the right machine.

I’m not in the market for a 26 year old German sedan, thankfully. But this one looks fantastic, even if I’m not a fan of the wheels. That’s a very easy fix, though, of course. Regardless, where do you stand on this one? Fun buy or walk on by? Here’s a link to the full ad: BMW on Craigslist