1988 BMW M5

M5

3.5L Inline 6

5 speed

WBSDC9303J2791678

Clear

Gasoline

I am regretfully putting my 1988 M5 up for sale. This the first generation M5, a fantastic hand built example of what BMW was capable of near it’s peak with only 2200 examples made. It was the fastest sedan in the world in 1988, almost $100k new (in today’s dollars). This capability and attention to detail and quality show in every aspect of this vehicle. This car has undergone a through restoration within the last 15K miles and looks, runs, and drives better than M5s with half the mileage. Below is the extensive maintenance list. The car has a binder full of receipts going back to the early 1990s. This car has also undergone several modifications that enhance every aspect of driving it. In June this M5 won best in class at the Eurohangar European Car Show in the 80’s BMW category against a dozen other very nice cars. Enthusiasts recognized the significance of this car in BMW’s history as well as how good of an example this particular car is. This is a fantastic car to own. I drive it almost every day and love it. 2 weeks ago I drove from Detroit to Madison WI and back, a 900 mile trip. The car performed flawlessly and got a lot of thumbs up from people along the way. I would not hesitate to drive this car anywhere, BMWs of this vintage were built to last and this example has been properly maintained and will give you many more years of fun. And since it is a higher mileage example you won’t feel guilty driving it, because you will want to. I put all the maintenance records in an excel file, the first one dates back to 1991. This car had 200,000 miles by 1998. In the past 14 years and 40K miles the car was owned by a handful of owners who have brought the car back to its former glory, with extensive work done in the past four years alone. I got to enjoy the fruits of their labor, the only work the car needed in my stewardship was a couple oil changes (mobil 1 full synthetic) and a new oil cooler line. It amazes everyone who sees this car how fine of an example it is, and how well it drives. The car just rolled over 240k miles on my trip to Madison but you would never guess by looking at or driving it. In the past 10,000 miles the car has received the following maintenance: - Timing chain, guides, and tensioner replaced - Valves adjusted, throttle bodies synced - Compression numbers were taken at 228K and are great, 180 and 5% leakdown - New Fuel pressure regulator - Both fuel pumps replaced - O2 sensor replaced - Throttle position sensor replaced - Fuel injectors flow tested and cleaned - New thermostat - New K&N filter - New windshield and gasket - New sunroof and trunk gaskets - New reverse sensor - New driveshaft and guibo - New control arm bushings - New Power steering hoses - New Aux fan - New Battery - New oil cooler lines The car has also received the following modifications which really enhance the character of the car. Suspension: The self leveling has been removed and it has Bilsteins Sport shocks with H+R 1.5 inch lowering springs. only a few thousand miles on them. The PO also installed Ireland Engineering adjustable front camber plates. All other front end suspension components are new as well. A RaceSkids skid plate was installed to save the oil pan (not currently installed but comes with the car). The PO installed Ireland engineering urethane rear subframe bushings and the diff bushing replaced. Brakes: The M5 four piston front calipers were rebuilt and painted them with gloss black ceramic caliper paint. The front rotors are 750iL brand new. Rear calipers are rebuilt and painted and are off of an E34 540i. Rear rotors are vented and brand new. This is a popular and very effective upgrade for these cars. Stainless steel braided lines all around. Porterfield R4S pads. Motul racing fluid. Stops fantastic! Huge upgrade over stock. Motor: The timing chain, guides, and tensioner were done within the last 10,000 miles and the valves were adjusted and throttle bodies synced. The timing chain service had actually been done once before according to the records. The PO just wanted to be extra sure. Compression numbers were taken at like 228K and are great, 180 and 5% leakdown. The PO installed the Miller Mass Air Conversion and programmable WAR chip and after a lot of tuning really maximized the power and smoothness. If you are not familiar with the Miller system check out their website. http://www.millerperformancecars.com/ The PO also installed the polished stainless steel Billy Boat tri-flow cat back exhaust and installed an Innovate wide-band O2 with data logging and analog dash mounted analog AIr fuel ratio gauge. This is a very useful tuning tool. It is mounted in a removable vent and can easily be put back to stock (see pic). I will include a nice little Net Book running windows XP and all the Miller and Innovate software with the sale. The PO also installed a new Diehard Battery. Car runs and sounds amazing! Wheels and tires: The car has Style 42 BBS wheels with custom BBS center caps. Currently have 235/45 General UHP Acclaim tires on them (80% tread). Exterior: The car has been repainted recently and it looks very excellent. Probably the nicest E28 N5 in MI. The windsheild is 2 years old as is the gasket. The sunroof seal is brand new. The trunk seal was replaced and coated the tray it sits in with POR15. Underside is very clean. Windows are tinted. The only rust I’ve seen are some bubbles on the rear wing, otherwise the body is in excellent shape. Garaged winters. Transmission: The trans was rebuilt at some point. The housing looks clean as brand new. Clutch feels perfect. Shifts perfect. UUC short shift kit. New reverse light switch as well. Driveshaft was replaced with a rebuilt unit including new center support bearing and Guibo. Drivetrain is rock solid! Interior: The PO had an awesome leather wrapped Euro dash installed by Kormann BMW in NC. The PO had Corbeau racing seats installed which were too uncomfortable for the driving I would be doing so I sourced some stock 535i seats locally. The leather is in good shape and they are fully electronically adjustable and heated. The PO replaced the stock wheel with a Momo Monte Carlo. The interior looks very nice, especially with the leather covered dash. Certain spots such as the hand brake handle and the door armrests are showing some as expected with a car this age. Carpet is in good shape. The rear seat leather is cracking a little bit but still a very comfortable place to sit. Accessories: -Previous owner put a bunch of money in the A/C system. The AC compressor clutch started making noise when it was not engaged, I pulled the belt. I haven't messed with it beyond that. -Radio doesn't work. -Everything else works great. Cruise control, trip computer, heat, speedo, odometer, all guages, all lights. No ABS light or any other warning lights are on. -Tool kit is missing spark plug tool. I have an aftermarket one that goes with it. The Bad: There are only a couple parts of this car that aren‘t in top shape. The radio turns on but isn’t connected to the speakers. The exhaust sounds so dang good I never missed the radio. The A/C compressor clutch made some noise so the belt is disconnected. The A/C did blow some cold air when connected but the system probably needs to be recharged. The power locks can be touchy at times where it will occasionally lock then unlock, or unlock then lock when you have the key in the door, only takes an extra second to lock it again. The analog air/fuel gage lights up and powers on but stopped displaying the ratio a couple months ago. I haven’t touched it since I haven’t been playing with the tuning of the car. The brakes sometimes squeak which is acknowledged in many of the brake pad reviews. I have photos of the brakes and there is still a lot of life left in the pads. All of those issues are minor and don’t detract from owning the car. I would not hesitate to drive this car to California and back (besides the gas bill) and this car and my Miata switched off as my daily driver in the summer. The car was totally dependable and tons of fun. For more details on the ownership experience of this car and some history I wrote a lengthy review here that I highly recommend reading: My BMW M5 Here is a photo album with pictures of the car: Photobucket Album And a video walk around of the car with some engine revving: Youtube Video Why am I selling my favorite car? I have two other project cars in the garage that need work (the garage needs work before winter as well). A recent wedding and honeymoon also put a huge dent in my finances. This and my commute necessitates a car that gets better mileage. I am extremely happy I had a chance to own such a rare and significant car. The ownership experience was very rewarding. I thoroughly documented as many details about the car as I could in this ad, if you have any other questions please let me know. E30 M3 values have exploded in recent years and I wouldn’t be surprised if the E28 M5 prices will rise soon as well. I am not interested in trades. Only bid if you intend on buying it!! This vehicle is being sold "as is".