2014 BMW 523i
“ What an opportunity! From the salt-free roads of Japan, a German saloon of the finest quality. ”
Bar some very minor and entirely rectifiable cosmetic issues, is effectively a brand-new car that just happens to be 12 years old.

Background
Traditionally, the BMW 3 Series was for junior executives on the rise, or slightly-more-successful-than-average sales professionals, or just anyone with a bit of cash and a penchant for something that offered ‘affordable’ access to rear-wheel-drive pedigree motoring pleasure.

Equally traditionally, the 5 Series was for their bosses.

Sportier and with more driver appeal than their counterparts from Stuttgart or Browns Lane, 5 Series cars were nonetheless seen as a sensible, sober choice for middle managers.

When the E24 cars emerged in 1988, people began to sit up and take rather more notice of what had long been considered a good, but rather dull, car.

And they definitely paid attention when the fire-breathing E34 M5 hit the tarmac with a tyre-shredding roar and a cloud of smoke.

Just as people had begun to catch their breath, the E39 emerged and promptly won more medals, rosettes, cups and trophies than a champion gymkhana pony.

Motoring journalists were falling over themselves to heap praise and accolades upon it.

And rightly so.

It established the 5 Series as the benchmark against which all other cars in its class would be measured – and they nearly always fell short of the 5 Series by a considerable margin.

The sixth generation of the BMW 5 Series, which would sell in numbers well above 2 million and become the most successful generation to date, carried on the good work and included the BMW F10 saloon car, a particularly fine example of which we have here with us today.

Overview
The headline news on this car is that it is a Japanese import, having been delivered new to the Land of the Rising Sun in 2014.

Now then. 

What exactly does that news tell you?

Firstly, it tells you that this car will have experienced the pampered and fastidiously curated existence enjoyed by nearly all prestigious, luxury Japanese imports. 

It may be something of a cliché to talk about the value of ‘honour’ in Japanese society and culture. But it’s no exaggeration to say that this tradition is alive and well even in the Japanese motor trade, where there is no place for Trotter-san or Daley-san. 

This is a world in which mechanics are assiduously diligent in their work, dealers are scrupulously honest in their valuations, and owners take obsessive levels of pride in the care and attention they lavish upon their expensive European cars.

Secondly, it tells you that the car has spent its life in a country where salt is thrown over the shoulders of sumo wrestlers, not chucked all over the roads with reckless abandon like it is in the UK. 

Ergo, Japanese cars are nearly always free of the sort of corrosion issues that routinely affect cars in the UK and elsewhere.

All of which good news goes a long way to explaining the excellent dynamic and mechanical condition of this car.

Of course, the other element that’s clearly played a role in keeping it so well-preserved is the fact that it’s only showing 2,666 miles on the odometer.

We’ve got pairs of socks that have covered more ground than that.

Estimate: £10,000 - £13,000

View Current Bid Price HERE