Fast n Furryious: 1997 BMW 540i E39
The BMW 540i wasn’t the fastest of the E39 generation 5-series, but the V8 powered machine came awfully close to dethroning its big brother, the infamous tire shredding M5. Imagine a world where a young Eli Manning juiced some steroids (or more steroids?) and managed to score a victory in one of the games against his legendary older brother Peyton and you get an idea of where the builder of this 540i is going. I like it. Find this 1997 BMW 540i offered for $4,850 in Sacramento, CA via craigslist.
From the seller:
1997 BMW 540i M5
fuel: gas
odometer: 139300
title status: salvage
transmission: manual
1997 bmw 540i m5 clone, 139k miles manual 6 speed transmission with v8. Current smog certificate in hand. Has halo head lamps and led tail lamps that have smoked lenses. Car has previous salvaged title . Runs and drives excellent. Beautiful black leather interior. Brand new tires 1/8/2021. Ready to be next Tokyo drift candidate. $4850 Call show contact info
located here in Sacramento
See a better way to drive a cool old thing? tips@dailyturismo.com
Had a 98 540 6-speed for a couple of years. It was a lot of car and performed every task with precision and power. Plus an insane 600W amp and ridiculous humongous subwoofer which the previous owner had strapped up against the back of the rear seat.
I specifically stayed pre-VANOS to keep the complexity and hopefully expenses down, especially after listening to stories about the cost of parts on a 2000 M5 that I would occasionally weekend swap for the Roadmaster. Swore I’d never bother getting an M5 as there just weren’t enough opportunities in a populated area to get the dang thing out of 2nd gear.
Of course, just when I had everything on the 540 nicely put together, it was time to leave the playground. I held off selling it until far too late, and some lucky bugger got a heck of a deal. But I’m not complaining, it was still a really good experience.