Stock #1572 VIN: WBSDC9308J2791xxx** 90,100 Miles Schwarz (Black) on Natural Tan Leather 5-Speed Manual Transmission Clean and Clear California Title Clean Carfax®️ / No Accidents / Original Paint 1-Owner for 30+ Years BMWCCA Member Owned
The E28 BMW M5 was a one-year-only model for North America. Only 2,241 examples were built worldwide. Of those, 1,239 came to the U.S. per the M5 Registry. The MSRP was around $50,000 (over $130,000 in today’s dollars). The lucky few who were able to purchase one knew they had something special. These were the original BMW “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” They were legendary on the Autobahn yet nimble enough to challenge most sports cars on mountain roads.
This M5 was built in September of 1987 and sold new by Cumberland Valley Motors, the BMW dealership in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania on December 19th, 1988. For the U.S. market, there were no color choices or options available. They came fully loaded and only 1 way. This M5 was mostly owned by 1 owner who was also a BMWCCA club member and avid enthusiast.
The first owners were Jacob and Florence Thigpen of Hanover, Pennsylvania. They owned this M5 for 31 years and added 88k miles. During their care, the car was only used for fair weather weekend driving and never used in winter conditions. Initially, they serviced it at the selling BMW dealership. By 1997, the Thigpens moved to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, and took this M5 with them. They continued servicing the car regularly at their local BMW dealers. They were fastidious with their service schedule and it appears they saved every service receipt from new with corresponding stamps in the BMW service booklet. Besides routine maintenance, here are a few highlights of larger repairs they had performed:
- Scheduled oil, minor, and major services
- Water pump, coolant hoses, brake accumulator, flex disc (2/00 @ 63,572 miles)
- New stock exhaust system (2/03 @ 74k miles)
- Front brakes, thrust rods, suspension bushings, center link, tie rods(8/07 @ 81,708 miles)
- Master and slave cylinders (12/07 @ 82,104 miles)
- Fuel pump and fuel filter (10/10)
- Services in preparation for sale at BMW dealer (7/19 @ 88,040 miles)
- New front struts and rear shocks (OEM factory)
- Upper and lower spring pads
- Bump stops
- Top off and bleed rear hydraulic leveling system
- Distributor cap and rotor
- Spark plugs
- Adjust valves/check timing
- Fuel hoses
- Valve cover gaskets
- Cover on rear of cylinder head
- New battery
- Charge A/C system
They sold their M5 to Enthusiasts Auto Group (EAG) of Cincinnati, Ohio on January 22nd, 2020 with 88,112 miles. EAG kept this M5 for the next year/130 miles and put it through their extensive rejuvenation program, which included the following:
- Engine drive belts (crankshaft, alternator, a/c)
- Distributor seals
- Water pump and all gaskets/flush system
- Power steering supply hoses
- Transmission selector and output seals
- Driveshaft flex disk
- New rear muffler assembly
- Rear pitman arms
- Front control arms
- Front sway bar end links
- Front thrust bushings
- Brake pressure accumulator
- Recondition/restore factory wheels with new center cap BMW roundels
- Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2 tires
- Replace any misc. clips, hardware, or fasteners needed
- Windshield wiper blades
- Driver side high beam light bulb
- Front seat belt receivers (both)
- Full leather conditioning
- Carpet steam cleaning
- Full engine bay detailing
- Paint correction and ceramic coating
- Install VDO Bluetooth radio (saved original radio)
- Install Jim Conforti/Turner Motorsports Performance Chip
- 48 hp gain
- 32 torque gain
- Rev limiter – 7,200 rpm
- Service cost – $12,950
EAG sold this M5 to the current Southern California owner on December 17th, 2020 with 88,244 miles. The current owner lives in the Pasadena area and is a mature enthusiast who enjoys vintage European performance cars. He has only added a couple thousand miles of light weekend fair-weather use. During his care, he continued the service schedule and had all maintenance performed by EAG’s recommended West Coast BMW specialist, Bavarian Workshop of West Hills, California, which included:
- Routine services and misc. repairs (1/23 @ 89,544 miles)
- New Bosch motronic (DME) unit
- Oil service/vehicle inspection (10W60 synthetic)
- Replace power antenna assembly
- Brake fluid flush
- Cooling system flush
- New BMW OEM battery
- Service cost – $3,597
- Major service and other misc. repairs (7/24 @ 90,278 miles)
- Spark plugs
- Adjust valves
- Valve cover gaskets
- Check oiling system and cam timing
- Crankshaft sensors
- Distributor cap and rotor
- Oil service with BMW full synthetic fuel
- Fuel filter
- Air filter
- Service cost – $3,556
- Replaced DME control unit under warranty (10/24 @ 90,385 miles)
- Once over at Bavarian in preparation for sale (2/25 @ 90,388 miles)
In total, over $20k was recently spent on regular services at both EAG and Bavarian.
The overall condition of this example is excellent and very original. Our photographer is an expert on these older M5s and, after spending a couple of hours with it including driving it, noted that it was one of the better examples he’s seen.
The exterior looks great, and the body appears to be wearing most, if not all of its original paint. The hand-painted pinstriping was done when the car was nearly new and has a few spots where it has faded. The hood paint meter reading is slightly higher, but there are no visible signs of repainting. All the trim and rubber seals are in excellent condition with no cracks or major scratches. The bumper rubber also looks near perfect. All the glass is original, including the windshield. There are no significant scratches or chips, and the proper factory stampings are present. All the exterior lights work. The factory original BBS wheels have recently been restored and have no signs of wear. They are wrapped in nearly full-tread Michelin tires that were installed 5 years ago and dated 2019. The tires have no signs of age. The front brakes have around ¾ life and the rear brakes are between a third and half-life.
The interior is equally as nice and also very original. The leather seats show minimal signs of wear with no major cracks. The leather has been conditioned regularly. The rear seats look unused. The headliner looks perfect and has no stains, tears, or sagging issues. The door panels all look like new with no warping or other issues. The dashboard has no cracks or other issues. The gauges all work, including the clock/computer. The power windows, mirrors, and sunroof work. The A/C blows, but not cold. The heat works as do the interior lights.
This is one of the best driving vintage BMWs I’ve experienced. It’s surprisingly quick and athletic for being nearly 40 years old. It starts easily and holds an even idle. The power delivery is strong throughout the rev range. It pulls hard all the way to redline without any hesitation. The transmission shifts smoothly with no grinding or clutch slippage. The clutch feels right to me but our photographer noted that it engaged slightly high, which is probably due to age but he also felt there was no need to replace it. The handling is tight and responsive. The car tracks straight and is compliant on uneven road surfaces. This example is easy enough to drive daily, while also highly capable for twisting backroad fun.
This M5 is California registered and it passes California’s strict smog test.
This M5 comes complete with 1 main key, 1 valet key, owner’s manuals, original maintenance/service book with factory stamps, complete tool kit with original BMW towel, 3-ring binder with extensive history from new, correct spare wheel/tire, jack, emergency roadside kit, BMW cassette player cleaner, original ECU chip, and binder with M Registry/model information.
**Note: VIN and other numbers withheld to protect against fraud. All numbers including VIN, Engine, and color will be provided to serious buyers.
Who’s in “charge” of whom?
Modern 4-door sport sedans try hard to do everything for you.
From adaptive cruise control to rev-matching, where’s the fun in driving?
Oh, they’ll let you charge it since many of the athletic sedans on the market are either electric or plug-in hybrids.
Driving “The Ultimate Driving Machine” (aka a vintage BMW) puts YOU in charge.
In the ‘80s, BMW’s marketing captured the spirit of what they were building, such as:
Of course, our friend, Jeff Zwart was also involved in BMW’s ‘80s campaigns and shot the following ads:
What a difference when enthusiasts are involved.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Paul at 714-335-4911 or [email protected]
This vehicle is sold “as-is” with no warranty, written or implied. In some cases, the vehicle does have the remaining factory warranty still in place and will be described above if that is the case. All taxes and fees are the responsibility of the buyer and are not included in the listed price. All vehicle sales will require a $170 administration fee. The vehicle listed is described to the best of our ability. The information is based on our own research and statements made to us by the previous owner(s). To the best of our knowledge, the above information is accurate. We are not responsible for errors in our description of options or any other details. The above-mentioned vehicle is used and can be expected to show some wear and tear. It is not a brand-new vehicle. We do welcome all local pre-purchase inspections on vehicles to verify their condition. For payment, we accept bank transfers, cashier’s checks, or cash. Checks take up to 10 business days to clear. The vehicle and title will be held until all funds are cleared and verified. Bank transfers usually only take 24 hours.
Note: For out-of-state buyers, California does not offer temporary tags/registration. Each State typically has a grace period to allow buyers to drive their new out-of-state acquisition to their local DMV for registration. Please check your State’s DMV website for more details. Also, California requires us to surrender standard plates less than 30 years old back to the state and will not be delivered with the vehicle. Personalized plates stay with the seller.