Hello all, I'm in the UK and am fairly well known in the world of E30s, but have been driving a E39 528i touring as a daily driver (and towing barge) for the last eleven years, which has now clocked up 315,000 miles. Mechanically, everything still works like it did when it left the factory, except for a dud PDC sensor in the rear bumper, but the bodywork is getting past its best. Not particularly with rust, although that is a battle that I seem to be slowly losing, but I don't think there is a single panel on it that doesn't have a dent or mark of some kind.
My solution to this is to have bought someone else's abandoned project - a 2002 530i m sport touring which had decided to lose oil pressure and was in need of a replacement motor. The previous owner had removed the old engine, sourced a replacement from an E46, swapped over (hopefully) all the bits that are different, and had got as far as sitting the replacement in the engine bay on its mounts, but little else.
The car is now in my workshop, on the ramp, with the engine and gearbox back out, and all undertrays/liners, fuel tank, etc. removed so that I can see exactly what I have.
It was advertised as being almost corrosion free, and it appears that it is. Small holes right at the back of each sill, surface bubbling on the lip of the right rear arch, and developing surface rust above the rear subframe, so that'll be coming out next, renewing the brake lines at the same time as killing the rust.
With all the loose bits that came with the car, I'm likely to be on here asking " where does this bracket go" or "is this an E46 or E39 part" questions, hence my reason for joining.