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2001 BMW 525iT — One Owner, Delivered in Munich
This car's first miles were on German roads. It was ordered through BMW's European Delivery Program in February 2001 and took delivery at the Munich Delivery Center on April 12, 2001, with 2 miles on the odometer. Over the next week it was driven south to a snowy Neuschwanstein Castle, west to Basel to drive the roads along the Rhine, and on to Zurich, where it was dropped it off for shipment home. On the autobahn it was held to 110 mph out of respect for an engine that was still breaking in. The car crossed the Atlantic through Bremen, Germany and entered the U.S. at Newark before arriving in Atlanta. It still wears its original German export plates, M-4577 Z.
That trip set the tone for the next 25 years. The car has since carried me to weddings in Chicago, skiing in Vail, Colorado, mountain biking in North Georgia, golfing in Hilton Head, and it has hauled more than a few Christmas trees on its roof rails. It has been driven, and driven well.
It's also a rare specification. It's a Touring, in Anthracite over Sand Beige leather, with a factory manual transmission and the Sport Premium Package, riding on its original BMW BBS cross-spoke wheels. I also ordered the Cold Weather Package, the Convenience Package, Xenon headlamps, the Premium Sound System, and the in-dash CD player.
The build plate reads production number 6,764,522, a sequential number off the Dingolfing line. Here's what sits inside that number. BMW built more than 1.48 million E39s. Only about 266,000 were Tourings. America took a small share of those, because U.S. buyers chose sedans. And almost none of those wagons were ordered with three pedals. Four filters, each one making this a truly rare machine. In 25 years of ownership, I've yet to run across another one like it.
The 2.5-liter inline six isn't the V8 of the 540i, and it doesn't need to be. BMW's sixes from this era are known for their smoothness, their willingness to rev, and their durability. Paired with the manual gearbox, the car delivers the balanced, connected feel that made the E39 a benchmark. At 146,000 miles, it's still on its original clutch.
The car remains remarkably original. Factory paint, no bodywork, no glass replacement. The Sand Beige leather is free of blemishes. The rear self-leveling suspension, a common failure point on these wagons, still works as designed. The only change is a period-correct BMW-style head unit with CarPlay, and the original radio and CD player are still in my possession.
I've kept the paper trail as well: the original European Delivery purchase order and program materials, the BMW of North America welcome folder, the E.H. Harms shipping tag from Bremen, the original 2001 5 Series sport wagon brochure, and the spare keys still sealed in their factory bag.
One owner, 25 years, and still the car I picked up in Munich.