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Is the ex - David Smail car from Hamilton which sat on M parallels and had 850csi springs??

I know of Phil O’Reilly’s famous Cirrus blue M635csi in Wellington. An almost complete restoration car, and possibly one of the finest examples in NZ. Is that the blue car you talk of? Delphin was a dark metallic grey. The Zinnober red example is an amazing example too. Full m tech body kit, with style 5 wheels. Black leather. One of the finest examples in NZ too... stunning car in that colour. There was a ex UK green one example too that lived in Wellington. Sold to a guy in Huntly, about 6 years ago. Now in Melbourne - where a dealer has been trying to offload it between $60-$100k for the last year. Hasn’t sold.

Very interesting. Delphin is a very rare but nice colour.... I grew up in Cambridge, and after spending 12 years overseas I came home and I set about to buy a M635csi in 2001. Funnily enough one popped up for sale in Hamilton - an ex UK in Delphin grey with cream leather. It was a very early 86’ (number 296 from memory). It was only $30k. I missed out on it - but years later worked for the family in Hamilton who owned that car. They never really drove it for years and when I drove it in 2010 it had lost a lot of power and needed some recommissioning. Was sold to a car dealer in Dunedin. Pretty sure it is the only Delphin example in NZ.

Hi Graham, you owned your M6 in the UK- right? What colour was it - and do you recall what number it was of the 524 in rhd?

Hi Julian, So nice to see the interior looking the way it should. Looks fabulous. A very special M635csi ( have you introduced it to the Big Coupe website?). I actually really love the look of this car in white - not sure what other colours would lend itself so well to the body kit. Great to see it go to a good home and get enjoyed! Cheers!

Has anyone seen this one around anywhere in NZ? Never seen one in this colour in the flesh. Looks beautiful. https://bmwmregistry.com/detail.php?id=12678

I do get it (regarding having another stint in E39 M5 ownership) - seems like a pretty common phenomenon globally). Probably like a few on our board here, I have had the privilege of driving a few different ///M cars - including some newer machinery that put out some serious power. However, I don’t think I have ever driven / owned a vehicle like the E39 M5 which is an all -round absolute pleasure to drive. Totally intoxicating. I love the look of BMW coupes, but this is a stunning car to look at too. Rock star colour too man! In terms of driving them as a weekend toy, I can relate to that!!

Hi mate, awesome stuff. No doubts going to a good home. Congrats. Out of curiosity, which E39 M5 did you own previously? (Is it a car still owned within The Bimmersport community?)

Question for you guys then (now that you mention Max). What is the market value for a NZ new car with similar mileage to Max’s - without a rebuild??? Curious to hear your thoughts...

Wow - smart buying at that price. Despite fairly high mileage, there are a lot of others in NZ with similar travel. This one is in a desirable colour, is a facelift, and has the right specs. Why do you think it had a lower reserve than other cars in the market? Any issues or just a very motivated seller?

I saw one here a few months ago in a showroom here in San Francisco. Absolutely aggressive looking. 2 days ago I followed one on the freeway - what I love is the distinctive gold roll bars...very cool car! I still think it’s a shame that BMW changed the nomenclature for this model. I still see it as a M3 GTS!

Thanks man!!! As you know these cars are addictive. Goes incredibly well too. The BMW factory exhaust is great but I thoroughly recommend Dinan pipes. The sound is incredible- not super loud, but creates a lovely, deep burble!

I lived in Germany in the 90’s. I lived with a family who owned black e30 and E34 M powers. So funny, the next door neighbour had a Z1 in a very unusual pastel yellow.. hilarious.. on more than one ocassion when the z1 was leaving the street the E30 M3 would conveniently leave at the same time. The owner of the M3 ( the man of the house where I lived) would always say that the owner of the Z1 would always try and keep up as they hit the on ramp before the freeway.... he said by the time he hit the freeway however- he lost him every time!!! I remember thinking at the time that it was cool (the z1) ... but hated that colour!! Not sure about this particular example’s wheels either..

Some more photos

I think what happened here was that plenty of higher mileage or poorly maintained examples dropped to around $8k, 5-6 years ago and they got into a state where they never really recovered as they needed big money spent on them. Funnily enough, lots of these cars are now on Craiglist for $11-$15k with everything else going upwards as well. A really nice, 40k mile example popped up for sale recently for $45k. A friend of mine mentioned that 4 years ago a similar blue example with 30k Miles was available for $23k..! i looked closely at a couple of examples on the east coast. Didn’t work out as I was nervous of rust and the cost of transport to the west made it prohibitive. It was around $2k to get a car transported. As you say the prices are all over the place...obviously the time warp, like new example sold for $176k, but there are still examples commanding big dollars here.

Cheers buddy.

Cheers man! I really wanted Lemans blue as that to me is the ultimate colour in this car. However, this came along and I was intrigued by the colour. I had seen a few in Silverstone before but despite this being the replacement colour in 2002, it is different. Kind of blue in dull weather, grey in bright weather, and sometimes silver. Quite frankly, I think they would have sold more in this colour if people saw it in the flesh.

? I know!!! Like I said - M5 USA style!!! Moon roofs as standard too.. The rear diffuser is factory - unless different to Euro spec cars... but mine is the same as others here... a mate of mine has a Silverstone example here (Bluewater was the replacement colour) and the diffusers are identical... apart from the Dinan parts and the chromies - the rest is factory

Well spotted... they were done by the original owner - a wealthy financier with a fleet of cars - all with chrome wheels. I will recondition them in the factory spec, shadow chrome one day. However, believe it or not, they are ok in the flesh...work well with the Bluewater metallic.

Hi guys, I have been a Bimmersporter for a long time but not a regular contributor. I have a long history of BMW ownership - but despite a stint with a E34 535is and a joint ownership of a X3 with my wife, all of my BMW's have been coupes. 10 years ago two of my close friends concurrently owned E39 M5's in Lemans Blue. Their ownership piqued my interest. Currently living in the USA, I decided I'd finally pull the trigger on a E39 M5 purchase. I have been looking for 6 months - seeking ideally a face-lifted Lemans Blue example. Despite 10,000 E39 M5's being sold here (versus 30-35 in NZ), and a 1,000 sold in that hue, I couldn't find one that fulfilled my criteria. The market has gone a little crazy for these cars, and believe me there are ample, baggy examples with inter-galactic mileage that are struggling to find new homes. Decent ones are getting expensive. I finally did a deal on a very rare car - a July 2002 example in Bluewater Metallic - the 2nd rarest colour for the E39 M5 (83 made for the USA and 160 global) (they sold nearly 7,000 global in carbon black). It was delivered with black Ostrich sports leather (05SW) and Titanium trim. it was sold new with Dinan S1 modifications. It is a very quick car - and has a sensational Dinan exhaust note. Probably one of a handful in this colour with Dinan S1 specifications.

Have you seen the m-technic body kit available for E24’s? That was what I had planned for that car. 80’s style but a little more subtle. Another famous white M635 (a tourist delivery via the uk) in NZ, originally owned by the original agent for BMW in NZ, Ross Jensen had a m-tech body kit- and it looked grouse. However, good idea - get rid of the tail and keep the rest! It would be awesome if you got bigger wheels for the back too. Is it factory height? I dropped mine by 10mm with Eibach sports and they were the bomb.

That car was quite interesting in that from what I heard, Guido from BM workshop or Jerry Clayton sent the whole engine block to Dinan in California to get it modified. Think it had shrick cams, and the body kit was by Schnitzer. One of the stumbling blocks for me personally was the lack of paperwork on what was actually done with the modifications. Did Mark ever find any of that. Guido didn’t have anything either. On a personal level, Dinan does some great stuff. I live in the SF Bay Area now and have just bought a E39 M5 Dinan 1. Oh my god, what an amazing car! Dinan do it very well and are revered very highly here.

Well done mate!!!! It is a special car. Very unique. I was very interested in buying it for years... last time around was 2008 and they offered it to me at a bargain basement price. Sadly it hadn’t been driven for years and needed a serious tune - well short of factory 286 bhp - let alone the purported 360bhp it anecdotally was meant to be producing. I was so sad as I lusted after it since 2003. If I hadn’t have bought my 840ci sport the following week, I may have still bought it. I love the e24 m6’s. They were my first love.. I have the database of all 524 made in rhd with colour / interior and over several years built a register of all the NZ M6’s (and UK imports). Your car was number 328 / 524 and the only NZ new example in white I know of (there were 3 ex uk examples in white I know of - one is now black). if you ever want to get in touch to talk M6’s or want some info, PM me. Would love to help...