E34 M5 Touring Scores Huge Price At Auction
Gorgeous E34 M5 Touring is wagon heaven that comes with a manual transmission. It just found a new home thanks to Bring A Trailer.
Sadly, the US did not initially get to experience the lavish wagon that is the E34 M5 Touring. That is truly a crime, as it’s hard to imagine a more ideal 5 series BMW. This has everything you could possibly want and more. It’s a wagon, it’s got an iconic BMW inline-six, it isn’t new enough to have tons of computer interference when driving, and most importantly, it has a five-speed manual transmission. Fortunately, the US’s 25-year import law means that these beauties are now legal for import into the US. Unfortunately, though, they come with a hectic price tag.
This beautiful Daytona Violet Metallic E34 M5 Touring just sold on Bring A Trailer. It originally hails from France but was legally imported to the US and spent its time in Texas, where the listing was based. Unfortunately, if you’re in the same boat as us, your dreams of ever owning one of these beauties just got a bit more crushed thanks to its sale price. The winning bidder brought the hammer down with a throat-drying bid of $65,000.
What Does the New Owner Get for $65,000?
The E34 Touring gets its spirited power band from a 3.8-liter inline-six known as the S38. To purists joy, it’s mated to a five-speed manual transmission. The engine is good for 340 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque. Furthermore, power is sent solely to the rear wheels.
The M5 also has self-leveling suspension with electronic damper control, cruise control, a Blaupunkt stereo system and sits on a set of the iconic 18″ BMW M Parallel wheels. Inside, you’ll find power-adjustable and heated seats and, of course, a car phone.
All of these amenities and engineering marvels make the E34 M5 the ultimate blend of work and play. An enthusiast-loved manual transmission with world-class handling capability and suspension components with enough space to fit the whole family and groceries makes it ideal for all applications.
Interestingly, a lot of the pictures seem to show a bit of purple overspray, which leads us to believe it was relatively recently painted, too.
The odometer reads 190,000 kilometers, which is around 118,000 miles. However, according to the listing, under 1,000 of those miles were added under the seller’s ownership.
Off to More Sun & Adventure
According to the winning bidder’s previous listing, he is located in Hollywood, California. So, it looks like this beautiful wagon will spend its time in temperate weather. Additionally, based on the condition and mileage, this doesn’t really fit the bill to be an undriven collectors car like so many rarities wind up being. With any luck, its new owner is going to take it out and show it off to the world. Maybe it’ll even wind up at some California car shows!
So, perhaps $65,000 seems awfully lofty to a lot of us. However, when you consider the rarity, the extremely limited opportunity to buy one, and the amount of money and time saved by avoiding importing the vehicle one’s self, it really starts to look like a pretty decent deal.
Photos: Bring A Trailer