Let’s all be real. The E39 BMW M5 is the best generation M5 of all time. Sure, the E60 M5 had a better engine, every M5 since has been much faster and the original E28 is the best looking and had the best engine (my personal opinion). But the best combination of engine, chassis, performance, handling looks and interior is the E39 M5 and, in this video, Doug DeMuro takes us for a tour of it.
The E39 BMW M5 in this video is just about the most pristine example we’ve ever seen. For being a twenty year old car, it’s perfect. The owner has kept such meticulous care of it throughout its ownership, with three different binders of service records and all of the original literature. It even has the original VHS (!) for the car, still in its original plastic. Considering that the car is in Ohio, it wouldn’t surprise me if all it was cared for by EAG, as there really isn’t a better BMW restoration shop in the U.S.
DeMuro digs deeper than just this car’s quality, though. He takes us through the entire car, soup to nuts, and claims that it’s the best M5 of all time and, in fact, the best performance sedan BMW has ever made. Honestly, I can’t argue with that, despite my contrarian nature. Saying that there’s nothing the E39 M5 does poorly is a huge understatement. There’s nothing that the E39 M5 doesn’t do exceptionally well. It’s about as perfect as sport sedans can be.
Sure, other M5s are better at certain things but none are as well-rounded, none are as complete as the E39 BMW M5. It’s fast, its engine sounds magnificent, its shift quality is superb and it handles better than all M5s. Oh, and it has the best turn signal stalks…
