The BMW M5 has been the definitive executive sports sedan for decades. While every generation of the car has managed to capture die-hard fans, the E39 generation M5s have garnered a reputation as one of the best of the breed. Thanks to the glories of YouTube, we can now watch as Larry Kosilla of AMMO NYC brings an E39 M5 that was abandoned for over a decade back to its former glory.

The M5 in question came into Kosilla’s sights by way of Matt Ivanhoe from the Cultivated Collector. This particular car was purchased new by the father of Ivanhoe’s friend, who drove and enjoyed it for some time. Eventually the next exciting piece of metal came through the garage, however, and the M5 was tucked away as part of a larger collection. The car has been well preserved in spite of the falling sheetrock coming down from above. The interior presents extremely well for a car of this period, with Ivanhoe and Kosilla both noting that the new car smell from the E39 era is still present. While the car rides on a set of handsome BBS LM wheels, the original owner kept all of the components that would be needed to put the car back to factory spec. These include the original wheels, headlights, as well as the factory suspension system that had previously been swapped for Bilstien PSS9s.

The restoration journey began with some help from Speedsport Tuning, who gave the vehicle a full fluid flush across the engine, transmission, cooling system, and steering system. From there, Larry drove the car back to his studio to begin the detailing process. While the caked-on layers of dust on the car look pretty gnarly, Kosilla points out that it very well may have helped to preserve the paint over the years. This is evident once the power washing and foam cannon process get underway, with the paint showing signs of promise almost immediately. From there, the wheels come off to give better access to the suspension and other grime-covered components underneath. The factory stickers on these parts are still in place after the wash, which only further points to this car’s actual condition.

The interior of the M5 looked solid on the surface outside of the dust and surface molding you’d expect from the car’s long rest. With some nice lathering and steam work, the seats and consoles clean up well, looking nearly as fresh as you can hope from a 23,000-mile car. After a polish run on the outside and some treatments for the faded trim, the M5 is looking better than new in many respects.

With the detailing process completed, Ivanhoe has listed this low-mile M5 for sale on Cars and Bids. As one might expect, bids for the car have already started to pour in, with the high mark sitting at $80,000 at the time of writing. That’s still significantly cheaper than the $110,895 MSRP of the current M5, but we won’t be shocked to see this one close that gap before the hammer falls.

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