E39 lovely car, indeed in saloon form togther with similar age 7 series two of the most handsome they ever made, and nothing at all IMO to be gained by going for the later shape, why not find one of the increasingly rare low mileage E39's still about, give it lots of TLC, rustproof it and run it for as long as you can, you know these cars inside out now, use that knowledge?

I might know someone who has does exactly that with his old Mercedes W124, 18 years old now and showing every sign of going for the next 18, whether its present owner lasts that long is another question entirely...;)

Thing is you don't need to go Diesel for economy either, good Gernam engines take very well to LPG conversions, if you're going for long term ownership term then its worth considering.

Edited by gordonbennet on 25/05/2014 at 12:15