Wanderlust

Tag: 5 Series

  • EU Market Find: BMW Individual Velvet Blue Metallic 528i

    EU Market Find: BMW Individual Velvet Blue Metallic 528i

    What: 1998 BMW 528i
    Color: BMW Individual Velvet Blue Metallic (metallic UNI; 379 / 576; BMW)
    VIN: Unknown
    Mileage: 6,990 kilometers
    Price: €29,784
    CarFax: N/A
    Window Sticker: N/A
    Location: Neustadt, Germany
    Link: Autohaus Cuntz

    Europe in the 90’s, man. What a strange time. The kind of time, in fact, where a well-to-do professional would put down real money for a brand new 528i, opt for BMW Individual Velvet Blue Metallic (great!), and also check the box for whatever this two-tone blue and beige, umm, statement piece is. Then, we can only assume, the owner came-to from whatever they’d ingested, and simply never drove it. Having covered just 6,990 kilometers in the past 27 years, a lot of statements can be applied here, but we can all agree that those who saw this car likely never forgot it.

  • BMW Individual Aubergine on Purple E39 540i Appears on Marketplace

    BMW Individual Aubergine on Purple E39 540i Appears on Marketplace

    What: 1997 BMW 540i
    Color: BMW Individual Aubergine (aubergine; non-metallic UNI; 348; BMW)
    VIN: unknown
    Mileage: 115,000 miles
    Price: $11,000
    CarFax: N/A
    Window Sticker: N/A
    Location: Fair Lawn, NJ
    Listing: Link

    We’re fond of tone on tone cars, wearing the same color on the inside as they do on the outside. White on white was popular in the 80s, blue on blue isn’t that uncommon, F40s were red on red, and green on green happens. Purple on purple though, that’s almost never seen… and yet here one is in the form of a 1997 BMW 540i that is purple inside and out.

    Technically, this color is Aubergine, the BMW version and not the Porsche version that appears to be darker. Some quick research shows remarkably that this wasn’t the only one built to this spec. Even still, it sounds like two or three may have been sold here in the USA. Even that begs the question on how two or three buyers would have landed on a color combination so unique. They all appear to be 540i configurations, though not all have automatic transmissions as does this car.

    Is there more to the story? We haven’t found it yet, but suspect there is. In the meantime, this car is an excellent example of an affordable tailored driver. Sometimes it’s hard to imagine a car this unique at an approachable price, but they happen and this purple on purple E39 is proof positive of that.

    Bonus points to the seller for both knowing the paint name and sharing a photo of the factory decal confirming it.