Right, well tomorrow morning I am taking some time off work and going to see an LMB M5, 113k miles. I know a bit about this car already, as I vaguely know the previous owner from not long ago. Needs some minor TLC, but I like easy stuff to sort tbh. Wish me luck!
If it is no good, I might seriously consider looking at some Megane R26 230's instead, or even old T5 Volvo's as they are such amusing barges.
My budget has dropped quite a bit from the early days. The realisation that digging into my nest egg is just not worth it. Cost of running seems to go up exponentially, and the E39 is now pretty well documented as an older car in the ways of home-maintenance, though I will probably let BMW service it still for the FSH.
Still love the Clio though. Just got 8 R888's for it and two new AD08's for shittier wet road stuff.