Wanderlust

Tag: E39

  • EU Market Find: BMW Individual Atlantis Blue Metallic 520i Touring

    EU Market Find: BMW Individual Atlantis Blue Metallic 520i Touring

    What: 1999 BMW 520i Touring
    Color: BMW Individual Atlantis Blue Metallic (atlantisblau; metallic uni; 399; BMW)
    VIN: Unknown
    Mileage: 298,805 kilometers
    Price: €3,500
    CarFax: N/A
    Window Sticker: N/A
    Location: Selb, Germany
    Link: Mobile.de

    While it’s easier to attain a Tailored Driver if your wallet is thick enough to require chiropractic intervention, we think it’s more fun when Tailored status is within reach of the everyman or woman. At €3,500 (about $3700 USD, plus shipping) this E39-generation 520i Touring painted in BMW Individual Atlantis Blue Metallic and paired with the frankly wild Boa Boa cloth interior and a timeless 5 speed manual transmission is exactly that- fun. Consider it more of a starting point though, as the 520i isn’t exactly going to win any awards in the speed department, and the rear hatch will challenge even the most recent of tetanus shots, but the point remains. Some elbow grease, maybe a different motor, and this could be a sub-$15,000 Cars and Coffee award winner.

  • Market Find: Green-on-Green E39 BMW 525i Wagon on Cars and Bids

    Market Find: Green-on-Green E39 BMW 525i Wagon on Cars and Bids

    What: 2002 BMW 525i Touring
    Color: BMW Slate Green (schiefgrün; metallic UNI; 449; BMW)
    VIN: WBADS43452GD86927
    Mileage: 193,400
    Price at Time of this Writing: $5,655 with 1 Day Left
    CarFax: N/A
    Window Sticker: see photo gallery
    Location: Moss Beach, CA
    Auction listing: Link

    From the discount tailored rack comes this well preserved and rare specification BMW 525i Touring we found listed over on Cars and Bids. Whether or not you count it as truly tailored is up to you. The exterior color of Slate Green was a standard offering on the E39. And, though we haven’t yet found it in period catalogues, the interior specification of Stone Green and Black doesn’t appear to be listed as special order on the attached Monroney window sticker.

    So, it’s a rare spec then and not a tailored ride. Even still, it’s a rare specification that includes tone-on-tone coloring with green on the outside and green on the inside. That all makes it very tasteful.

    Alas, it does have an automatic transmission so the true obscure wagon nerds who are seeking gears they can row may find that part a disappointment, but close inspection of the attached photos over on Cars and Bids also shows very detailed record keeping for this car’s nearly 200,000 miles logged, not to mention well-preserved condition in the many photos.

  • 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.