BMW E39s Are the Best Buy in V-8 Stick-Shift Sedans
Even in a softening collector car market, bargains are few and far between at the moment. And if you have an itch for a V-8, manual transmission super-sedan, good luck scratching it—a Chevy SS, Pontiac G8 GXP, or a Cadillac CTS-V with a stick is rare, and accordingly, very pricey. Go back another decade or so, though, and you’ll find the car that was very much on the minds of the GM engineers who designed the fast four-doors mentioned above. It’s the 1996-2003 BMW E39 540i manual, and it remains both surprisingly affordable and not all-that-difficult to find. It might be one of the best bargains in the collector car world at the moment. Decent ones are out there in the low, low five-figure range.
The E39 is generally regarded as the stylistic high-water mark for the BMW 5-series. Design credit goees to Joji Nagashima, completed early in the tenure of BMW’s design chief Chris Bangle (1992-2009). The controversial Bangle at least had the good sense not to fiddle with the E39, and it debuted in North America for the 1997 model year. There were several six-cylinder versions, the largest of them being the 535i with its 3.5-liter unit. There was also the range-topping, more hardcore M5 with its 4.9-liter, 394-hp V-8. The M5 version of the E39 is already highly sought after by the BMW faithful, and in both performance and current price is closer to the later American challengers, but the 540i is where the best bang for the buck is at the moment. And when it came out, the major car magazines could scarcely control themselves:
“Of all the long-term test cars we’ve ever had, only two made us misty-eyed when they were returned: our speed-yellow 1995 Porsche 911 Carrera 4 and this jet-black 1997 BMW 540i manual. But the empty void we felt as each of these cars left our garage wasn’t merely because we instantly missed the power and prestige such German machines deliver. It was something more, something deeper. At the risk of sounding maudlin, these cars have soul. The redesign of BMW’s 5 Series in 1997 sharpened the midsize Bimmer’s focus. With its new tauter platform, upscale styling, improved all-around performance, increased safety features, and larger and more supple interior, the 5 Series instantly became the quintessential sport/luxury sedan. It was also the hands-down winner of our 1997 Import Car of the Year award.”
That was Motor Trend in 1997. For the record, Road & Track, Car and Driver, and Automobile also gushed in their opinions on the car.
As per usual, Car and Driver extracted the most performance from the 540i manual, getting their long-term tester to 60 mph in 5.4 seconds and posting a 14-second quarter-mile (no wonder they replaced the clutch on their car at under 38,000 miles). For fans of purely analog cars, the first two years of the 540i are just a bit more basic—1997 and 1998 model year cars have a cable throttle, and they lack VANOS, BMW’s variable valve-timing system. They’re also reputed to be a bit more reliable. The solenoid-actuated VANOS system isn’t exactly maintenance-free, and VANOS-equipped cars are also reputed to have timing chain issues necessitating the replacement of the chain on higher mileage cars.
The E39 was built at a time when BMW’s reputation as builders of the “Ultimate Driving Machine” was still largely intact. Its smaller contemporary, the E46 3-Series, is revered by enthusiasts today as the last really tactile and analog 3-Series, and the E39 is similarly rewarding. The life-cycle of the E39 was also incredibly long by today’s standards. Eight model years is an eternity, but the car remained desirable throughout, with just one subtle update in 2001. The facelifted cars are known to BMW fanbois as LCI (“Life Cycle Impulse” if you must know) sport new headlights, taillights, and grilles.
The E39 5-series was a tremendously influential car that was said to have been a favorite of Bob Lutz, (himself a former BMW employee), and the inspiration for later cars like the aforementioned G8, SS and CTS-V. With just 282 hp, and 310 lb-ft, it isn’t in the same league as those cars, but it only gives up about a second in the 0-60 run to them, and it costs about half what the GM super sedans do in today’s market.
Not surprisingly, you’ll spend more maintaining the BMW, in addition to the simple fact that it’s older and that the 540i’s V-8 lacks the anvil-like durability of a GM pushrod V-8. Longevity is heavily dependent on the maintenance of previous owners, so it pays to buy one with records. Then there’s the usual BMW stuff, like all of the plastic found in the cooling system, from overflow tanks to radiators. And why BMW can’t seem to make window switches and regulators like the Americans or the Japanese remains a mystery. At least the rear-wheel-drive architecture of the car means one less set of axles to replace, and a pan gasket that isn’t torture to remedy when it inevitably starts to leak. Overall, the E39 540i remains one of the most tactile, and rewarding to drive V-8 manual sedans on the planet, and the fact that you can pick one up for around $13,000 in late 2024 remains nothing short of miraculous.
