BMW 5 Series E39

The E39 is the BMW 5 Series generation our specification records cover for US model years 1997–2004. Across that run EPA certified 65 versions of it for sale in America, under 10 trim names. It was sold as a sedan and Touring.

Dimensions are the figures the panel above does not carry. The E39 measures 188.2 in · 4,780 mm to 190.9 in · 4,849 mm long, sits on a wheelbase of 111.4 in · 2,830 mm to 114.2 in · 2,901 mm and weighs 3,450 lb · 1,565 kg to 4,057 lb · 1,840 kg. Length and wheelbase come from Transport Canada, which measures every vehicle sold in North America; curb weight from the same source.

Set against the E34 that preceded it, the E39 is 2.4 inches longer at the shortest version and 55 lb · 25 kg heavier at the lightest. Both figures are taken from the lightest and shortest version we hold for each, so they compare like with like rather than setting a base car against a loaded one.

Every version we hold under this code is rear-wheel drive. That matters on the used market more than it looks: which axles are driven changes the weight, the service list and the price, and the badge does not always say which you are looking at.

This archive holds 1 original US brochure covering the E39, with the text searchable. It is the source of the figures no government record collects — torque, acceleration and the equipment lists — and it is what BMW told American buyers at the time rather than what is said about the car now.

Gaps are left as gaps. We do not hold curb weight for 16 of the 65 and horsepower for 10, because Transport Canada does not publish a weight for every model and EPA began recording certified output usefully only in the late 1990s. A dash on this site means the figure is not in a source we can name, never that it is roughly the same as the row above.