1991 to 1993SedanM car
Photo: Ernesto Andrade, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The E34 is the second M5, assembled by hand by BMW M in Garching and sold here from 1991 to 1993 as a sedan only, with a five-speed manual.
Each part is scored from 0 to 100 on a fixed outside scale. Acclaim comes from published expert lists, launch reviews and awards; the more acclaimed a car, the less its ownership cost counts in this all-time score (its dollars below are unchanged). A part marked not measured carries no weight for this car, and the others share its weight.
No permitted price yet: we have not found three prices for this car from sources that allow this use.
Long-term value starts to count in the score once 75% of the 69 generations have permitted prices. Today 43 do.
About $3,552 a year to own ($2,528 to $5,128), about $17,695 over five years, bought at five years old or its own age if older, kept five years.
Expect about $2,500 to $5,100 a year; the bills that decide it are rust, timing chain tensioner and self-leveling rear suspension. Ownership risk: costly.
Guide Score method v5-final.14, an editorial score built only from permitted, sourced data. How it works.
Colors it came in, most wanted first. Pick one to see the page in it.
1993The best year to buy, reading 85 of 100, about $3,552 a year to own.
No logged change between model years sets it apart; every year reads within 2 points of it, so buy on condition and records.
No year to think twice about: none reads 3 or more points below the 1993, and no logged fault separates them.
From our log of the changes between model years, each with its source. Only changes the score reads count as reasons; recalls BMW fixes for free, options and tuning notes do not. The cost a year is for a car bought at five years old, or its own age if older, kept five years. How the score works.
US cars kept the 3.6-liter S38 at 310 hp; the 3.8-liter engine, the M5 Touring and the later six-speed stayed in Europe.
BMW built 1,678 for North America, and the 1993 cars wear the M System II "throwing star" wheels in place of the earlier turbine covers. The self-leveling rear suspension, the timing chain tensioner, cooling parts, the gearbox and rust are the things to check.
What to look for. The self-leveling rear suspension (leaking struts or lines, or a documented conversion), a cold start with no chain rattle and records of a tensioner upgrade, valve adjustments in the records, a cooling system that holds temperature in traffic, smooth power with no vacuum leaks, a gearbox that shifts cleanly into first and second, rust at the jacking points, sills, door bottoms, arches and windshield frame, and a clear accident history.
What goes wrong on this generation, roughly what a fix costs at an independent shop, and how to spot it before you buy. Every M5 generation compared.
Check the jacking points, sills, door bottoms and arches on a lift, and look for bubbling at the corners of the windshield and along the A-pillars.
The 3.6-liter M5 has a hydraulic self-leveling rear suspension. Its struts and the lines that feed them leak, new struts are hard to find so refurbishment is the usual repair, and many owners have converted to conventional shocks and springs.
Look for oil on the rear struts and lines, check that the rear sits level with a load in the trunk, and ask whether the system is original, refurbished or converted.
The S38B36's tensioner has a small oil reservoir sealed by three seals; it can work loose, leak and let the chain go slack, and a rattle for a few seconds after a cold start is the sign. The tensioner from the later E36 M3 is the common fix.
Start the engine cold and listen for a rattle at the front, look for oil around the tensioner plug, and look for a tensioner upgrade in the records.
The water pump, thermostat and viscous fan coupling all give trouble, and a failed fan coupling shows as rising temperature in traffic. Overheating an S38 can mean a new head gasket.
Watch the temperature gauge in traffic and on a long drive, check for coolant leaks at the radiator and water pump, and look for a cooling system refresh in the records.
Rust shows at the jacking points, arches, the bottom edges of the doors, the sills and the area around the fuel filler, and on some cars around the windshield frame. Classic & Sports Car says BMW's 1993 switch to water-based paint made the later cars more prone to it.
Check the jacking points, sills, door bottoms and arches on a lift, and look for bubbling at the corners of the windshield and along the A-pillars.
The five-speed gets a hard life and many have been rebuilt or replaced; weak synchros show on first and second. Good used gearboxes are scarce, BMW has not sold new or remanufactured units for years, and rebuilds are not cheap.
Shift through every gear cold and warm, and listen for whine, grinding into first or second, or a gear jumping out.
Hagerty's price guide names worn engine and transmission mounts, with the timing chain tensioners, as the E34 M5's most common problems.
Feel for heavy vibration at idle and a clunk when you get on and off the throttle, and look for mount replacement in the records.
VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: PASSENGER VEHICLES. A MALFUNCTION OR FAILURE OF A COOLANT SYSTEM COMPONENT, SUCH AS A THERMOSTAT, WATER PUMP, OR FAN BELT, CAN RESULT IN SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED COOLANT TEMPERATURE AND SYSTEM PRESSURE. IF THE INDICATIONS OF A CRITICAL OVERHEATING CONDITION IS NOT NOTICED BY THE DRIVER, IT IS POSSIBLE THAT DAMAGE TO, OR FAILURE OF, A COOLANT SYSTEM COMPONENT COULD OCCUR.
THE AIR BAG CONTACT RING LOCKING TAB LOCATED IN THE STEERING WHEEL ASSEMBLY CAN BREAK WITHOUT WARNING.
SCREWS THAT ATTACH WHEEL COVERS ON ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT WHEELS WERE NOT FULLY TORQUED AND MAY GRADUALLY LOOSEN AND SEPARATE FROM WHEELS UNDER EXTREME DRIVING CONDITIONS.
Live from NHTSA, across the 1991 to 1993 model years.
Our estimates at an independent shop, parts and labor; fuel from the EPA.
Pricing tires for this car? Compare the factory sizes at Discount Tire, and ask a local shop to match it.
Fuel from EPA fueleconomy.gov: its yearly cost is for 15,000 miles with 55% city driving, moved here to the miles a year the two-year budget uses. The rest are our estimates at independent-shop and retail prices from September 2026. Service is a year of routine maintenance at 10,000 miles: one or two oil changes, brake fluid, filters, and spark plugs spread over their interval. Repairs are separate. Tires are a mounted set of summer tires; brakes are pads and rotors on both axles. Prices vary by region and shop.
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Representative listings, last reviewed September 2026. Examples chosen by us, not a live feed.
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The cars this one gets weighed against, by lineage and by price.
The first M5, sold here for 1988 only, with a 256 hp version of the M1-derived six.
Second M5, hand-built by BMW M in Garching. US cars, 1991 to 1993, have the 3.6 S38 at 310 hp and a five-speed manual; the 3.8, the Touring and the six-speed stayed in Europe. BMW built 1,678 for North America.
The S62 4.9 V8 at 394 hp, the first V8 M5, with a six-speed manual.
The M5 began with the E28 in 1985, the first super sedan, hand-built with the M88 six. Every M5 since has been an executive sedan first, a missile second.
The M Index, once a month: any change to the M5's guide or score, with the reason, new recalls on M cars, and one thing to check before you buy.