If you’re going the route of a sport sedan, you may as well go all-in and get one that’s manual shift like today’s e M5. Let’s see if it requires all of your wallet to do so.

There was one thing that I held back mentioning about yesterday’s . It was a detail that many of you noticed and called out as indicative of the car’s character. That was the chrome naked lady that had seemingly been prised off an 18-wheeler’s mud flap. Applied now to the Continental’s trunk lid, she rides the Lincoln badge right next to the faux spare tire hump.

That may have proved enough of a deal-breaker for some, and the car’s $4,000 asking price only added to those woes. That extended to a landslide 87 percent No Dice loss.

The 2.4-liter turbo diesel that powered yesterday’s Lincoln was BMW’s first attempt at an oil burner. It wasn’t a terrible engine, but it did fail to live up to the BMW’s promise that it offered the ultimate driving machines.

Fortunately, there have been cars since then, including this , to more than make up for the occasional hiccup in that covenant’s pledge.

The E39 edition may not be the M5’s fastest version, nor is it the most nimble. It doesn’t offer the staccato bark of the next-generation E60’s V10. What it may be, however, is the best all-around M5 money can buy.

The E39 was the first M5 to eschew BMW’s traditional inline-six for a new V8. The S62 was also BMW’s first V8 to use a double VANOS valvetrain, and that helped the 4.9-liter all-alloy engine produce a whopping 395 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of V8 twist.

Here that power gets routed through a Getrag 420G six-speed manual, onward to a limited-slip diff housed in the multilink rear end. The manual may be more work, but it should prove reliable and increase the car’s engagement factor.

The ad gives a quick rundown of the car’s previous owners and the general mileage at which the car changed hands. Right now that totals three owners and 138,000 miles. Also noted is a clean title and passing grade on all its smog tests.

The seller claims the engine to run without issue. The Getrag likewise gets a clean bill of health. On the downside, the seller notes that the ABS light is on. That may be a return performance since the under-hood shot reveals that someone has written “84 k” on the side of the ABS pump housing. NOTE:This was not correct. I miss-read the ad to say the ABS light was on. It is not.

Issues actuallynoted in the ad include localized problems with the finish of the Carbon Schwartz paint and outer clear coat. The seller also points out some curb rash on the factory Style 65 wheels and some rust that’s starting to make a guest appearance on the trailing edges of doors and the trunk lid.

The interior presents nominally well with black-and-gray sport seats, and there’s silver trim across the dash and door cards. The car even carries the highest tech in navigation and mobile telephony that the year 2000 had to offer.

This isn’t a completely stock M5. The ad notes the addition of adjustable Koni shocks paired with Dinan springs as well as up-rated Dinan antiroll bars, and a 3.45 Dinan diff in back replacing the factory 3.15 gears. Of course, the ECU has been flashed.

Maintenance on the car seems well documented and extensive, and aside from the ABS light and aesthetic issues, this is a car that seems to need little more than some cash to change hands for the sale.

The cash required is $13,999, and it’s now time for you all to weigh in on that asking. What do you think, is this E39 M5 worth that much as it’s described? Or, are the car’s minor foibles enough for you to demand negotiations?

You decide!

Chicago, Illinois, , or go if the ad disappears.

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