i like the iihgs.org crash tests, as they publish the raw data from every test.
The M5 is a 28 year old design at this point. In the day, it was extremely good. Now I'd say its only as good as a bottom-tier new car, safety wise. It has thin A and B pillars compared to anything recent. Great for visibility, not as good for side impact hits.
Random E28 crash movie:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu16v2Ey59I[/ame]
Note that the front glass and safety cell of the E28 are fine.
The damage to my car is visibly minimal. If i fixed the taillight, nobody would know that it had been hit unless they got a bit closer, but the panel gaps all around the trunk and rear doors are screwed.
I got an estimate this morning and it is of course quite a bit more than $1k. The other guys' adjuster is coming by to look at it this afternoon.
As far as what E28 M5's are running for... search on auto-trader for 1988 BMW M5s. Mine has 130,000 miles.... which constitutes "low miles" for a 21 year old car, and is lower mileage than many of the auto-trader cars.
The car has done a few hundred laps of BIR and chased down MUCH faster cars, and it has leather everything and working R12 A/C.