it was voted the best car in the world at one point mate, its pretty bloody solid. The problem with them i sthey mask problems really well so unless you keep on top of it you'll never know till its too late. Its a nice car but will not feel as lively as the E36. Eats miles though. I did 1200 miles in mine last week and it loved it :hihi

 

MickOD has got an E39 528i, although he hasn't been on the forum for a while. I think he may be offshore.

I saw it at the Aviemore meet, it was a pretty sweet motor, and was HUGE; would suit a family!!

As for power, it was definitely picking up easy as hell!

 

sounds like i could be looking at the right sort of car then guys.....
im not expecting it to be as quick as my old m3 but im sure the 528i would be quick enough for me to have some fun.
they are going so cheap lately so im hoping to get myself a bit of a bargain.
Deano.... are there any particular probs i should be looking out for???

 

loads of info on here mate, but for a start and rough guide

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/bmw/5-series-e39-1996/?section=bad

 

im sure anything with that engine would go well! and the 3er isnt far off 'family size' so the 5 will be sound id get a 4 dr for practicality tho mate

 

They would have the M52 engine as well, same as your e36 so reliability wise, it would be more or less the same as well. Just the usual cam / crank sensor, waterpump, belts, idlers, thermostat, etc

For a BMW owner these are normal and yes reliable but to first time owner, they might seem excessive. If it is newer M52TU engine then there is the double vanos which needs seals replace because when idling from cold to warm the rpm drops sharply and recover, sometimes it stalls.

M54 (530i) with the drive-by-wire is slow to respond when accelerating from standstill and a lot of owners have complain about no enough power getting to the wheel or too much etc. I don't have a M54 so can't say.

 

Danzo, Welcome back mate AGAIN:hihi

E39 Touring mate

That would be my next car I reckon:thumbsup

 

hi again rym me old mucca lol!!
wheres the A20 from the start of you name gone mate????
you knew i would come back to bmw sooner or later didnt u!!
been thinking about the tourer, bit more rare than the saloon and they do look good with some m5 alloys

im going to get looking now for some E39's and get the ball rolling

 

I got one 528i SE Auto couple of months back. As first time owner quite impressed.
Got some issues though as it looks like car was neglected even though with FSH.
Drives realy nice, soooo quiet on the inside that you barely hear the engine at non-motorway speeds. Accelerates like hell, really nice motor.
I suspect it may be the Nikasil engine as I got it at 75k miles for 1700 pounds and that looked cheap to me (got it from friend leaving the country). That is one item to look for. And that can be your bargain as well

 

hi again rym me old mucca lol!!
wheres the A20 from the start of you name gone mate????

I resigned my Moderators position mate and decided that I would amend my name because of that:thumbsup

you knew i would come back to bmw sooner or later didnt u!!

:hihi

been thinking about the tourer, bit more rare than the saloon and they do look good with some m5 alloys

They look awesome mate, it was only a few days ago that I saw one and it looked the business:cool

im going to get looking now for some E39's and get the ball rolling

Chi-Ching:rofl

I'll watch this space

:thumbsup

 

I think its like any car - buy and good one and your laughing, but buty a dog and it'll be a pain.

A family friend has an old 540 (S or a T plate) done over 200k now and has never missed a beat - he's had it from a few months old and its been driven pretty hard.

He's even managed to escape the issue of losing pixels which seems to affect a lot of E39's - other than that its the usual issues; cooling system is pretty weak, suspension wear etc.

There are a lot baout, so I should imagine that you'll find a good one.

 

we had one as a family car with two kids it was great yet still fun if your on your own;-) great cars mate

 

cheers for all the comments and input guys

as rym said, watch this space!!

as soon as i get the e39 ill post up some pics

 

I've had my 97 E39 528 touring for almost a year now (having had a B5 Audi A4 1.8T before) and in general, it’s a very nice car to drive and to own. Always nice to walk up to at the end of a c##p day in the office, step in, here the straight six fire up and then slip into a great drive home. It's great on all roads except when the going gets very twisty when its size and weight start to tell.

Only thing I would change is that I'd go for a manual over the auto. The steptronic box is okay but I'd much rather have the full control a manual gives when 'pressing on'. That said, the auto box is good in heavy traffic. MPG wise expect between 24 and 28 mpg (for the auto).

Problems I've had with mine and recommend you watch out for are;

1) Sticking auto box - fixed by a fluid and filter change (£300)
2) Drivers side main beam staying on all the time - faulty Light Control Module - new one needs to be coded to car - ended up getting BMW to fix this for me at a whopping £520 all in (so check all lights work and main beam bulbs haven't been removed to mask a faulty LCM)
3) High level LED brake light not working - fixed by replacing wiring loom which had snapped at the tailgate hinge (common problem)
4) Blue smoke on start up accompanied by rough idle for 30 seconds or so - failed oil separator (i.e. Crank Case Pressure Control Valve) which leaks oil into the cylinders if faulty
4) Leaky cooling system - fixed by replacing combined radiator and expansion tank - seal between old tank and expansion tank was buggered - took chance to replace water pump whilst system drained.

Otherwise, it's been fault free (touch wood) and destroys long trips. Highly recommend one as a family motor that will deliver a smile. I'll keep mine as long as it's worth running and then replace with another E39 touring (hopefully a 530 Sport manual). Reckon the E39 looks much better than the E60 and is the last of the 'old school' solid BMW's. The E60 feels very plastic by comparison.

Happy Hunting.

 

I've had my 1997 E39 540i touring for a couple of months not and its an amazing car.

I've presiously owned E30 325i, E36 325i, E46 330ci. Although this car is a lot larger it still pulls like a train as you would expect for a V8.

The advantage is that I can now take the pet huskie along for the ride.

I paid £3400 for a 1997 with 90,000 on the clock and full service history. It had also just had new discs and pads all round.

Not the cheapest car but it came with genuine 19" Breyton alloys and new pirelli tyres worth an easy £800. Also has tinted windows, leather interior and a colour coded body kit.

All in all its a spacious family car and I'm very impressed with everything except the fuel consumption.

Heres a pic of her:

 

E39's are great cars, very beautiful drive and are usually very well equipped. But I wouldn't call it a reliable car, you have to remember that these cars are fairly advanced even by today's standards.

So when a few sensors or relays or anything electronic starts to play u, you will start to understand why you cant say they aren't reliable. They also have their fair share of 'common' problems varying across the engine range, the 6's suffer from gaskets and seals, vanos's and the like. Whilst the V8's suffer less from gaskets, but more on the cooling system, side of things and steering boxes and even gearboxes because of the torque.

Its a lot about luck with second hand cars. Just hope yours is better then some other people and see what happens!

 

On of my favourite BMWs to date with regards to quality and durability.

I recall your last M3 wasn't a smooth ride especially after your 320i seems to be running well. Just bear in mind that many 5 series are also bought by people who cannot either afford to run them or refuse to maintain them. These should stand out somewhat and its advisable only to cherry pick a genuinely cared for example even if it has basic alloys and orange indicators, you can change these later so focus on a sound car first and foremost.

Had a few 525 & 530 models in the family and now just some M5s. Everytime I drove them I was nit picking usual suspension wear & tear issues (bushes/joints/links) that no one else found to be an issue which are cheap enough to replace. All have had niggly issues that again I only noticed and replacement of camshaft sensors was needed. The 525 IIRC also had a crankshaft sensor die whilst wafting along the motorway (about £65 from BMW). The 530 also sounded tappety for a few moments from cold and under load. This was never put right by BMW warranty and the car was px'd.

Other than this they are an impressive drive, handle their size exceptionally well, have the space that's just about right to carry some adults comfortably in the back and they are generally better equipped compared to series.

Happy hunting.