What to pay]

Four-cylinders and diesels are cheap –

£1500 will get you a tidy example and superb ones are under £6k. M20 sixes and 530i V8s fetch 20% more, with M30 and M50 sixes around 50% more; a mint manual 535i or late 525i could top £10k.

540i V8s are sought after and a mint sixspeed manual could fetch up to £25k.

Rough M5s £6-7k, usable examples fetch £14-25k and superb ones £35k+.

Six-speed 3.8 M5s can go as high as £40-50k for exceptional examples; M5 Tourings add 25-50%.