Market Find: E61 BMW 5 Series Touring Converted to M5

What: 2009 BMW 535i xDrive Sports Wagon Converted to M5 Specification
Color: Deep Green Metallic (tiefgrün; metallic UNI; A43; BMW)
VIN:  WBAPT73599CX02462
Mileage: 65,300 mi
Bid Price: $40,000 at time of publication
CarFax: Link
Window Sticker: N/A
Location: Round Lake, IL
Auction Listing: Cars & Bids

Straight out of the gate, it’s not a BMW Individual color. So, is it a rare factory spec? Not exactly, but we’re going to include it anyway. What we have here is an enthusiast built E61-era 5 Series Touring converted to M5 specification. Even better, the build looks primarily to factory specification.

The color is Deep Green Metallic, a standard one for that era 5 Series. However, that era 5 Series M5 is notable because it had a V10 engine and was available with a manual transmission. This car has all of that, making it effectively perfect spec for long roof fans.

Typically, builds of this nature tend to see the builders take liberties. Swapping in a few aftermarket “upgrades” may or may not upgrade the car, but definitely water down the quality of the clone. By that measure, the quality of the clone is most definitely associated with how likely the enthusiast observer is to mistake it for a factory-offered configuration. The more knowledgable the person left wondering if it’s real, the more successful the clone. Think of it like the mechanical equivalent of a careful respray such as that Gulf Blue E36 M3 we featured a few months back… maybe better, because though the paint on that E36 looked possibly factory, the aftermarket upgrades gave more hints that it was not.

This car looks OEM. Even better, it’s up for auction. This means that if you have always wanted the car but weren’t patient or capable enough to build one yourself, you can swoop in and buy it built. That may lose you some points from the built-not-bought crowd, but the money and time saved swooping in is often worth it for those who just want to enjoy driving a rare bird.