BMW E39 5 Series: Autocar buys a modern classic

Elsewhere, this 18-year-old motorway weapon wore its 120,000 miles well. Its Titanium Silver paint was shiny, all its electrics worked and even its locking wheel nut and original jack were present and correct. Small pleasures, maybe, but this car cost the equivalent of £50,000 when it was new and was now being offered for the price of a week’s holiday in Cannes.

Viewing a car of this vintage, though, is as much about gauging investment potential as it is about having fun, even at this end of the market. Going for a car when its price has bottomed out – as this example’s surely has – is especially appealing, because you’re more likely to at least recoup your initial outlay.

It’s the same story with many other not-quite-classic cars: a 2003 Mazda RX-8 can be nabbed for around £1000 and a V6-powered Rover 75 Tourer asks just £795, for example. Provided they’re fighting fit, you could get a couple of years use out of them and claim a tidy profit when it’s time to sell. Repair costs can spiral, however, and quickly exceed the value of the car, so don’t be sucked in at first glance by tidy bodywork or a seemingly healthy motor.

Back to the BMW, and having been sucked in at first glance by its tidy bodywork and seemingly healthy motor, it was time to hit the open road. There are two schools of thought when testing a car this well used: become increasingly paranoid with every passing judder and cough before eventually abandoning the transaction or turn the stereo up so you can’t hear such foibles and crack on. Obviously, if the car should fail to proceed at any point on such a short trip, there are clearly some underlying issues at hand, and buying at such a low price point means they’re unlikely to be economically viable to fix. But when I and the car’s then-owner unexpectedly coasted to a halt at a crossroads somewhere in south-west London, it had already been all but decided that money would change hands. Happily, it has since behaved itself, so that has been optimistically marked down as a nervous hiccup.

Of course it had to come home. All too often are cars of this ilk modified beyond recognition – fitted with gaping exhaust pipes, ill-advised lowering kits, badly tinted windows and illegal numberplates – and it stands to reason that future enthusiasts will hold original-specification examples in higher stead.

So what if you can’t plug in your iPhone, backfire at will or do a burnout? BMW’s engineers – as we know from various five-star Autocar road test verdicts – are well versed in the art of building an executive saloon, so a factory-spec example is all the more desirable.

This particular car is the entry-level 520i, and although its 2.2-litre straight six emits that trademark naturally aspirated six-cylinder hum and sends its power through a five-speed manual gearbox, be under no illusion that it shares any character traits with the legendary E39 M5.

Tipping the scales at 1700kg, the 520i’s performance is best described as leisurely, which is good news for the insurance company but rather embarrassing when you get flashed out of the fast lane on the M40 by a Chevrolet Matiz.

That said, swapping out the perished tyres for a set of value-friendly but pleasingly sticky new items has transformed the handling, and a pair of wiper blades for £16 is a supremely cheap lifesaver. It’s best not to get carried away with spending money on a bargain banger such as this unless it needs critical care and you’re confident about getting that money back.