Over a year ago I sold my beater e39 540i when I decided to motorcycle commute full time. Seeing as I didn’t need a daily, and had other cars for “fun driving”, it sat a few months before I decided to put it up for sale. It was one of the most well rounded cars I ever owned. It was great to drive, comfortable, attractive, fast, and relatively cheap to maintain. I chronicled much of my ownership here.
If I had infinite storage I’d probably have kept it, but it was taking up space in the driveway that I wanted for something else. In October 2017 handed over the keys to a new owner and figured that would be the end of it.
On Saturday I got a random friend request on Facebook. Usually these get ignored, especially when there aren’t any mutual friends, but I noticed we were both in a few of the same groups so accepted. Dude messaged me pretty much right away.
I figured “what the hell?” I was already going to be in the area, and I know how hard Oregon can be with lost titles.
I met up with him later on and we went to the police station to get “my” car. Since, I guess, the release of interest I sent to the DMV didn’t actually mean anything, it was still in their system as my car and I didn’t have any trouble getting it out.
We took a really windy backroad on the way back to his place. Me driving the E39 following him in a 750i. He knew the roads really well and had a pretty good pace. It really made me remember why I liked the 540 so much. It’s a heavy car, sure, but it handles the weight well. You can really chuck it into corners faster than a big old boaty sedan has any right to.
After giving her a pretty thorough run through, we got back to his house and I gave him the keys and signed over a bill of sale.
I need another V8 in my life, I forgot how easy it was to light up the tires with power.