Perhaps no car better encapsulates what the past decade has done for classic cars than the E34 BMW M5. Back in the carefree days of 2011, you could buy one for £1,000. No, really. In perhaps one of the most legendary Shed of the Week finds ever, an MOT'd and taxed E34 was available for a bag of sand. Sure, it wasn't perfect, but it was a usable and drivable M5. For a thousand pounds. The writing was on the wall from that point...
In 2014 the M5 was back again, this time featuring in a 'Catch It While You Can' feature when an expensive one - hold on to your hats - was 17,000 euros. At that time a high mileage (187k) car would have set you back £4,495, the very best ones nudging £15k. If you hadn't bought by that point, the story intimated, then it was high time you did - values were only going one way.
And that they very much did, for a variety of reasons. The M5 celebrated its 30th birthday in 2014, and by that point the original E28 was enjoying its time in the limelight as a bonafide classic. As the values of that car were pulled up, so the E34 inevitably went with it; don't forget that this was also a hand-built M5, and one powered by a straight six - there was a far more tangible link between the first two M5s than the first two M3s. All of the E34s were 25 in 2011, opening them up for US exports, and it wasn't hard for anyone to see the appeal of an old-school M5 as the current car became ever more complex.
So values soared, those who couldn't get into an E28 ponying up whatever was required to get into an E34. Nowadays £4k will buy you nothing more than an M5 shell, with £10k the starting point for a presentable saloon and anything up to £50,000 being asked for the best examples. It really would have been worth a punt, surely, on one of those cheap M5s a few years back. Especially a Touring...
There were just 900 E34 M5 wagons made, as you likely know, against 11,000 saloons, all left-hand drive and all sharing that hallowed status alongside the four-doors as the last hand-assembled M cars. Interest has always been high in them thanks to BMW's inconsistent relationship with the fast estate car, and will probably only increase with the confirmation of an M3 Touring. This is the last M car with an estate body and six cylinders, after all. And a 2021 M3 will probably be a similar size to a 1994 M5...
Alright, that's perhaps a bit tenuous. But there will never be a point when an M5 Touring isn't extremely desirable, being as rare as it is. As proven by this one; it qualifies for High Mile Club through its 128,000 miles, though that's a fairly modest return for a car that's a quarter of a century old. And it would have been a very far-sighted buyer getting hold of an M5 Touring in the 1990s as an investment; the joy of the more practical M car is exactly that, the performance wrapped up in something that can be used by you, your family and whoever else needs a lift.
Bring all that together - the heritage, the rarity, the cachet - and that's how you end up with this, the £80k M5 Touring. This has arguably been coming, too, with £50k and £60k Tourings written about in previous years. Still, it's big money, especially when recently imported and therefore without much UK history. Don't forget the M5's reputation as being fairly high maintenance, too, with the EDC dampers often needing attention and the straight-six requiring care to keep it in fine fettle. They're classic cars now, and require classic car TLC.
To those in the know, however, it's is one of M Division's greatest hits, an icon of the breed and something to be preserved for future generations. Because whatever a future M Division Touring may bring - and we're expecting a lot - it's going to be a very different prospect to this one. It's an expensive punt, for sure, but don't be surprised if someone goes for it...
SPECIFICATION | BMW M5 TOURING (E34)
Engine: 3,795cc straight-six
Transmission: 6-speed manual, rear-wheel drive, LSD
Power (hp): 347@6,900rpm
Torque (lb ft): 295@4,750rpm
MPG: Less than a new one
CO2: More than a new one
First registered: 2020 (UK)
Recorded mileage: 128,000
Price new: Costly
Yours for: £79,990
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