Highlights

• 13,000 miles from new
• Only just registered for UK roads
• Sat untouched for many years
• Amazing example 
• Great on the roads

The Appeal

The History and Paperwork

• Originally residing in South Africa, this 5 Series has lived a very sheltered life
• The original owners used the car as intended whilst in South Africa, and even bought it with them when they moved to the UK
• Upon arrival, it was never registered for the UK roads
• It sat quietly in a private estate gathering dust for multiple years
• The current owner happened to stumble across the car during a conversation with a friend 
• After some money had exchanged hands, it was theirs 
• They set about re-commissioning the car so that it could finally stretch its legs again 
• With 4 new tyres fitted it is ready for any adventure
• As it has so few miles on the clock this car should be great to drive and have a lot of life left in it
• Where else would you be able to get a super low mileage car that happens to also be 20 years old 

The Interior

• It has experienced very little use over the years
• The front seats are in great condition, with the rear seats looking as if they’ve never been sat in 
• Fitted with an electric sunroof
• You’ll be happy to hear that said sunroof opens on the button, and also flips up at the rear to allow ventilation
• The surroundings of sunroofs can sometimes corrode, this one appears to be in good condition
• The steering wheel looks almost new 
• Throughout the wood veneer finishes are in great condition 
• The headliner looks great for a car of this age
• There are a few areas that you may need to look into, the first being a non-working fuel gauge, and the second being a faulty ext. temp reading
• On the whole not large issues for a car that was sat for so long
• One sticking point for older BMW’s are the small cupholders below the air-conditioning controls
• Both the examples fitted to this car work as they should, with a picture to show this
• The LCD screen on the radios can also be a sticking point for BMW the ones fitted to this car work as intended
• The leather and wood door cards are looking great throughout the car too
• Even the boot is presented very well
• A few tools are missing from the toolkit though
• You’ll also find the original South African number plates in the boot 
• All that is left to do is open the door, hop in, and drive away

The Exterior 

• Finished in a lovely deep blue
• It still wears its original, unrestored, alloy wheels
• Five new and matching tyres have been fitted
• The headlights have presented well, but you may wish to give them a polish
• This isn’t necessary to get it through an MOT, it’ll just make the exterior look even better
• If you look carefully, you will find a few marks across the paint
• However, if you try and find a low mileage example like this, it’ll be near impossible
• Unlike many E39s and BMWs of the era, there are very few, if any, signs of paint bubbling
• Thanks to its time in South Africa and subsequent shielded storage it has been preserved very well
• If you were to send it to a professional detailer, they shouldn’t have an issue making it look like new again
• You should have no issue parking this on your drive as it is a very well-presented example indeed

The Mechanics 

• It only has 13,000 miles from new
• What more is there to say really
• This means that the engine, which are usually good for hundreds of thousands of miles, should still be in great condition internally
• Some re-commissioning work was carried out to get it back to life
• It passed its first MOT with no advisories
• This example was driven to the photo location with ease
• It felt pretty tight for this type of car
• The automatic gearbox behaved as it should, with smooth gear changes
• During the shoot, it was required to move around a bit
• It started the first time, every time
• This was helped by the new battery that has recently been fitted
• Hopefully, this will be a great motorway cruiser for you throughout your ownership

Summary