Someone could have 2 models a 2 door as a 110 and a 4 door 220. ... View more

On the other hand a 3100 mile car probably sitting for 17 years mostly undriven could have hidden problems for sure. ... View more

That's a very different and outlier experience from what I have seen in the e39 M5 community.  My car was quite reliable, in reality the engine is under-stressed at 400hp for a 5L motor.  I really only had two kind of failures over 12 years and about 80k miles.  One was the instrument cluster lost a couple pixels, it was replaced under warranty.  The other was a MAF sensor that went bad, but I bought a VW equivalent and solved the problem.  Other than regular wear items like tires, wiper blade kind of things it was an extremely reliable car.... surprisingly unlike my wife's Honda Accord with overheating problems, CV join issues etc...  ... View more

Having owned and thoroughly enjoyed a 2000 e39 M5 for 12 years I can definitively say...maybe! If you want an e39 M5 to drive there are a lot of reasonably priced good ones out there to choose from. They made a lot of e39 M5s so they are not rare in say the same way an 850Csi is rare. On the other hand if you have millions in the bank and want the best, lowest mileage M5 to grace your car collection, why not $200k? ... View more

Definitely a spectacular car! There are actually two versions of the Alpina e31 8 series. The first ones were developed around the 6sp 8 series prior to the CSi model coming out a couple years later. I don't remember all the changes but I think the engine was modified to put out about 350hp and It did not have the unique hood of the later B12 5.7. Of course it had the wheels, Alpina graphics etc... This and the Alfa Montreal may be my favorite cars of all time. ... View more

Audi TT with winter tires will go almost anywhere.  Only when the snow on the road is really deep do you really need the higher clearance of an SUV (although many supposed SUVs have a pretty low clearance as well). ... View more

So many great hot hatches never made it to the US.  If I had to pick one of those above I would go for the best maintained low mileage Mitsu Eclipse as it just seems more of a modern car than the others.  However if we are just talking about hot hatches in general I would get a newer Abarth. daughter has one and it is a hoot every time you go to the grocery store. ... View more

Although not totally hidden the Alfa Romeo Montreal had some neat partial headlight covers.  Also have always loved the 69 RS Camaro and the Buick Riviera that both made the list. ... View more