At $10,998, Will This Rare Six-Speed 2003 BMW 540i M-Sport Prove Broadly Popular?

Today’s Nice Price or No Dice 540i has an impressive 200K under its belt. With its M-sport options and six-speed stick, it’s no wonder those miles have piled up. Let’s all decide whether its price tag makes equal sense.

According to The Cattle Site, the Pinzgauer is a bovine breed historically raised for meat, milk, and draught work in the Pinzgau region of Salzburg, Austria, the region for which it is named. A short hour and a half drive east of Salzburg, the automotive conglomerate Steyr-Daimler-Puch honored Austria’s native cow by giving its name to a four-by-four rock crawler intended for military service. The 1975 Steyr-Puch Pinzgauer 710M we adjudicated yesterday must be quite the off-roader, as it has made it all the way from the steps of the Austrian Alps to Monterey, California, where it is now offered for sale for $25,000. Crude but unfathomably capable in almost any situation, the only thing that could seemingly stop our Pinzgauer was you. At least that’s the takeaway from the 68% “No Dice” loss it suffered in our voting.

It’s a bit of a longer drive, a little over three hours if keeping to the posted speed limits, heading west from the city of Steyr to BMW’s Tower Headquarters in Munich, Germany. And that’s not accounting for border crossing delays or scrambling for coins to pay tolls.

Of course, an easier way to get a fix for a bit of Bimmerlust is today’s 2003 BMW 540i M-Sport saloon. After all, it embodies pretty much everything one could want from a classic (but not too old) executive class example of the “Ultimate Driving Machine.”

Arguably, the penultimate edition of the E39 production run, next to the M5, the V8-powered M-Sport is appreciably rare, with just around 1,200 units making their way to the U.S. in 2003. That’s the last model year for the E39 saloon, making this a one-and-done model.

The M-Sport package has the goods too. That starts with the 290-horsepower M62 V8 under the hood. on these special editions, that’s paired with a Getrag 420G six-speed manual transmission, the same cog box used for the uber-E39, the M5. Other updates include a set of 18-inch M-Parallel alloys, sports seats and steering wheel, and an aggressive front fascia.

According to the ad, this 540i has all that, plus the M-Sport’s black-out trim and more-fun suspension. The seller claims this car has always had Georgia on its mind, so it is rust-free and clean underneath. A shot of the engine bay shows everything intact, though a bit dusty. Most importantly, though, everything here appears to be dry. That’s an important consideration on BMWs of any era, as cam cover gaskets and cooling system components can and do go south over time. There’s no mention made in the ad of what work has been done to the car over the years, other than the assurance that it has been “well maintained” and that it presently “Runs strong,” and “pulls hard.” The seller also claims the instrument cluster is free of CEL warnings and that an OBDII pull shows no issues. Overall, they tout that its current condition makes it a “Great candidate for enthusiast daily or weekend cruiser.”

The seller also notes the car has 205,877 miles on the clock, which is confirmed by the tattletale odometer shot offered in the ad. Those miles don’t show on the car’s exterior or in its leather-and-wood cabin, though the ad does explain that the “Interior and exterior show normal wear for the age/mileage.” Obvious in the ad is the clouding of the headlamp covers and some very minor wear-through of the dye on the front seat side bolsters. Aside from those issues, both the exterior and interior appear to remain up to the task. 

As a nod to modernity, an aftermarket Double-DIN stereo head unit has been installed in the dash. That may offer some appreciated added functionality, but it spoils somewhat the Early-Aughts aesthetic of the dash. Everything else seems to be original, or at the very least, factory in appearance. Sadly, we don’t get a glimpse into the toolkit in the boot lid to take inventory. The load space below, however, is clean and reasonably tidy, showing that someone cared enough to keep even that area looking its best. The title is clean, and the seller says they will provide the car’s history in a Carfax report upon request.

As a model that, while arguably not as desirable as its big brother, the M5, is at least as rare as that edition, there’s some cachet in this car. Plus, who wouldn’t want their E39 to sport a stick shift? That’s just icing on the cake. Yes, this car has a lot of miles under its belt, but not knowing how many consumables have been replaced over those miles should prompt us to learn more, not dismiss the car outright. We’ll now need to decide if the seller’s chosen $10,998 asking price means most of us will have heard enough.

What’s your take on this M-Sport E39 and that $10,998 asking? Does that feel to be too much, like the miles? Or is that a fair deal for a more-than-fair-condition car?

You decide!

Nice Price or No Dice:

Atlanta, Georgia, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.

H/T to Glemon for the hookup!

Help me out with Nice Price or No Dice. Contact me at [email protected] and send a fixed-price tip. Remember to include your commenter handle.