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Dutch BMW e39 530D owner, Student ;-)

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2K views 10 replies 9 participants last post by  Benoni 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi everybody,

I am Benoni, a 21 year old student from the south on the netherlands. I study International Business Economics at the University of Maastricht. I have been reading threads on this forum for a couple of weeks now and i think its time to introduce myself.

My dad drove a e39 525 TDS 1998 for a while and i just loved that car. it had run over 425.000 KM (264.000 miles) and was still running like new. Due to the fact my dad didnt drive as much as before and the taxes paid on cars in the netherlands is high we had to sell the car. We paid 126 euro's per month taxes (an E39 on gasoline is just € 70), thats without insurance.

In the netherlands we pay taxes per pound, the heavier the car the more taxes we pay, and if youre car is a diesel you pay almost double because the pollute the environment more. So basiclly we all have to drive in small gasoline cars here... And yeah, that sucks. So the e39 525 tds had to go, and because of the high mileage we sold it of course for a lower price.

You can imagine how pissed i was when i saw my dads car a couple of weeks later on the internet with a mileage of 215.000 KM and a double price for which we had sold it. But in holland we cant do anything about it...

In february i am going to study in Lisbon for 6 months, its part of my bacherlor degree and i want to go by car, because i want to do a lot of travelling there. Because of my budget (student :D), i though a Golf 3 TDI would be a good choice

And then one day i found a e39 530d 184 hp which had several problems and i just couldnt let that oppertunity go by. Of course the price was very very very good. I am quite good with cars so i said i could fix it all by myself and i succeeded this far.

Here a list of my problems which i solved
- Oil Leak, FIXED (a small pipe on the rights side on the engine which goes from the engine to turbo was not fitted right)

- ABS light, FIXED (bought me carsoft 6.5 and it said left side sensor, cleaned it and error disappeared

- ASC light, FIXED (gone away with the ABS light)

- Brake Light, FIXED (the sensor for the brake pads was broken, so i just made a direct link between the two wires)

- Leak in the Exhaust FIXED ( Both flexi pipes were gone, bought two of ebay for 80 euro's and my dad installed them)

- Large water Leak driver side (left hand drive, so for you guys Passenger side), FIXED, full with leaves and other dirt and there was some kind of hole there so i just sealed it

- Right motor support is gone, Almost FIXED, just ordered the part of ebay and waiting to get it delivered

The car has had some damage and is now a the paint shop to fix that, the left side needs a repainting because it hit the guardrail, but its a small damage, new front bumper, new front wing and some damage at rear stoplights. I checked most airbags, especially on the left side and they are still good, so they didnt deploy at the accident

Have a couple of things left to do
- Airbag (SRS) light, Carsoft can't connect to the module, it says "module not responding". I took the mid consol out to reach the module to see if everything is oke, and it looked fine, no broken wires or something, i checked side airbags, the airbags next to the windshield, and there fine, i didnt check the front airbags, but there is not sign of them being deployed. This one is a mistery to me...
- I drove a couple hundred miles with the car but it had a full gas tank. yesterday, just a few miles after the yellow light turned on (1/8 tank) my car stalled on the highway and i became very hard to start, had to crank it long several times and it started again. Drove to the nearest pump to put 20 liters in, then again hard to start, but after i drove 20 miles and turned it off it started without no problem. I think some problems with one of the 2 pumps getting the diesel to the engine..
-Change the rubber at the front left wheel, its the rubber from the steering system connector.
- Find the calbe for the left front fog lamp, cant find it, have to see if its cut somehere, found a brown wire which is the minus, but dont know which color the other one is (plus wire), i red somewhere yellow/red.
- The airco belt tensioner is broken and the tensioning lever is worn so i think i have to buy new supporting bracket for the airco pump.

After that is fixed i need to pimp the car up a little bit so i want to buy
- Nice rims
- Clear tail lights
- Already bought Smoke front lights and need to buy CCFL rings

I think i will post some pics how the car looked before the accident and after as soon as i got it back =D

And thats about it about me
 
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#11 ·
Pretty funny, I just found my old introduction thread..

4 Years later and i still owning an E39, This is my fourth.. After an ' 98 525TDS Saloon, a '99 530D, a 98 525TDS Wagon and now finally a 2001 520D i still love this car. Every E39 i have bought had mechanical and electrical problems and i managed to fix them all... I think i can call myself an E39 (diesel) expert.

Front suspension, brake system, clutch pumps, replaced engine, exhaust pipes, airbag problems, abs problems, Turbo cleaning and replacement, MAF upgrades (pierburg), Recondition and Painting leather, Air intake cleaning, EGR, Intercooler, Aux Install with nothing more than a cable and a blank cd in the cd changer, Fuel pump problems in the tank, Oil leakage, crack in oil sump fix, waterpump, oil filter housing, breather, Interior mod for placing an aftermarket radio together with the OBC multidisplay, Vinyl wrapping interior trims and many many more tings I all did by myself with the help of this Forum, Realoem, TIS and most important, My Two right hands ;)

I am four years to late, but i want to keep my promise of posting pictures ;)

Best time of my life - 6 Month Exchange period in Lisbon, Portugal along with my 530D, that is where i fell in love with this car :D
Vehicle Car Alloy wheel Family car Mid-size car


My Current E39, A 520D Facelift 136HP. I bought this car and replaced the engine as the crankshaft was broken. I have never seen a dirtier car. Used an industrial carpet cleaner to suck everything out. Found 40 euro's change, chocolate, coffee stains, etc ,etc
Vehicle Car Auto part Family car

I had the whole interior out. Seats, Dashboard, everything.

Leather Repainting
Car seat cover Floor Leather Car seat Flooring


Soldered a AUX cable to the left/right/ground coming from the CD changer. Used a blank CD, worked as a charm. No expenses !
Vehicle Car Center console Luxury vehicle Personal luxury car


I moved the worn out leather to the passenger seat and had the interior trims wrapped by silver vinyl with relief like small wire.
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Vehicle door Luxury vehicle


Headlight restoration
Hammer drill Tool Machine Rotary tool Handheld power drill


Of Course new Angel Eyes. 12,5 Watt per side. 4 Cree Led's per eye.
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Headlamp Automotive lighting


Changed Steering wheel
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Steering wheel Steering part


Always something to do. Last thing changed: New MAF Pierburg 09 ! I would suggest all BMW owners to get this MAF! Simply Amazing!
Vehicle Car Automotive exterior Auto part Engine


520D Land vehicle Vehicle Car Executive car Luxury vehicle


Latest Mod - Today - 25 May 2013. After my original CD player broke, decided to buy an Sony CDX GT26 with Orange (Amber) light. Wanted to also have the OBC in. This is the result, not pleased yet.. Thinking about spraying them Black matte next weekend, the only thing i had at home was glossy :p
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Center console Luxury vehicle


Anyway, These are just a few things i did but one thing i know for certain, i am going to keep this car a long long time =D
 
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