RE: Shed Of The Week: BMW 535i
Discussion
Pickled said:
pits said:
I miss my 540 dearly, but at the same time I don't, it was a source of constant problems and I gave up trying to fix the constant source of water leaks that I just gave up, bought it for £1000, sold it for £950.
Now I do disagree with what you say on mpg, my 540 was frugal, on a run I averaged over 30mpg constantly, average 70-80mph, I did find out that if you hug trucks and avoid hills that you could achieve a silly mpg figure.
My average 540 on a run figure
My super frugal, drive at 50mph rarely touching the throttle figure
I averaged in general 22mpg, which isn't bad and it did get driven flat out a lot of the time.
Impressive, I guess I've never had the same restraint. I always start a long journey with great intentions of trying to achieve a decent MPG figure, then get bored after 10 miles Now I do disagree with what you say on mpg, my 540 was frugal, on a run I averaged over 30mpg constantly, average 70-80mph, I did find out that if you hug trucks and avoid hills that you could achieve a silly mpg figure.
My average 540 on a run figure
My super frugal, drive at 50mph rarely touching the throttle figure
I averaged in general 22mpg, which isn't bad and it did get driven flat out a lot of the time.
I enjoy the mid range torque from a V8 too much. When I got rid of my 540 the average was 19. My newer S430 averages 24-25, the 928 I daren't even calculate. I did run a 750i for a while and the average on that barely crept into double figures!Then again who buys a V8 barge for its economy.
Edited by Pickled on Saturday 17th January 16:57
That said I only did that a few times to prove a point that the V8 was more economical then the old 528i.
I almost bought a 750 E38, it was cheap but required an inspection II service, I costed it all up at £300 straight away, then cater for anything else that needed doing, the man maths did not add up as it had done 198k miles, which yes is no problem in my eyes as my one E39 did 206k miles, but 750 parts aren't cheap nor easy to come by.
danp said:
Fantastic sotw, a timeless, elegant piece of design and from the day when all the 5's had an inline 6 or v8, must run one at some point.
Not strictly true, the E34 did come with a 4 cylinder M43B18 in the 518i, which by all accounts if you can ignore that it is a 4 cylinder and you're not interested in speed then they are great cars, much lighter front end as well so less bargey and lovely turn in response, though 112mph is pretty poor. However if you're in the bottom end E34 market the 518i is far superior to the 520i 6 cylinder, quicker off the mark and pulls better at speed, smoother all round as the 518i was gear differently.But as per your second comment, yes you must the E39 is a timeless car, I've driven an F10 and I like it, but I got out of it thinking "it isn't as good as the 39" I do prefer the E34 looks wise, and driving wise, but the 39 does everything very well, you are silly not to have one in your life, I hate saying it as I love the 34 so much but they are the best 5er ever made.
pits said:
I almost bought a 750 E38, it was cheap but required an inspection II service, I costed it all up at £300 straight away, then cater for anything else that needed doing, the man maths did not add up as it had done 198k miles, which yes is no problem in my eyes as my one E39 did 206k miles, but 750 parts aren't cheap nor easy to come by.
Mine was an E32 version (standard wheelbase), much less complex with it being basically 2XM20 lumps with a shared crank, so had 2 of everything, pretty straight forward servicing wise, only lack of access made it a chore. Considering its size, was quite a chuckable old thing.Having owned a 530i sport auto I'd agree with the journos who said that it was overall probably the best car ever made. For me the steering on all models was the only dynamic flaw. Even the rack and pinion cars felt a bit lifeless at low speed and overly sharp at high speed(not a patch on a Mondeo rack!) Never cared for the rake of the steering wheel either. At a comfortable height or angle it obscured the major dials.
That said, great cars but at shed money always a punt, although some say the v8s were fundamentally stronger than the sixes. A lot of the parts are available quite cheaply now. Certainly they need regular use or electrical gremlins start occurring. My own only ever needed a radiator, discs and front compression arms.
Being a high mileage driver I'd only have a diesel M sport now. I'd still love another, though.
That said, great cars but at shed money always a punt, although some say the v8s were fundamentally stronger than the sixes. A lot of the parts are available quite cheaply now. Certainly they need regular use or electrical gremlins start occurring. My own only ever needed a radiator, discs and front compression arms.
Being a high mileage driver I'd only have a diesel M sport now. I'd still love another, though.
Edited by driven mann on Sunday 18th January 06:16
Edited by driven mann on Sunday 18th January 06:26
pits said:
Not strictly true, the E34 did come with a 4 cylinder M43B18 in the 518i, which by all accounts if you can ignore that it is a 4 cylinder and you're not interested in speed then they are great cars, much lighter front end as well so less bargey and lovely turn in response, though 112mph is pretty poor. However if you're in the bottom end E34 market the 518i is far superior to the 520i 6 cylinder, quicker off the mark and pulls better at speed, smoother all round as the 518i was gear differently.
I'd be surprised if that was the case if talking about the later 520s which had the more modern M50 engine. Having run a 520 (manual) for a year, it was pretty reasonable all round to be honest, engine lovely and smooth. I can't imagine the 4 pot being better tbh (when mated to an auto, things may have been different?). I'd have to dig out the handbook to check the performance specs though.Lowtimer said:
MadDog1962 said:
outrageous insurance premiums quoted in the UK. For a bag of sand this one might be worth the risk.
What insurance premiums are those, then? There's nothing expensive about insuring an old midrange E39 unless you;re a truly terrible risk.Maybe I need to find better brokers? I'd welcome suggestions.
MadDog1962 said:
Hmm.... Well the numbers I've been quoted for relatively modest machines are about 4 or 5 times what it would cost me in the USA. Terrible risk? errr let's see, 52 year old married male engineer with no accidents claims or convictions in last 18 years, and nowt significant before that (one speeding rap in 1988 in UK and one Australia in 1996). I have full licences for the UK, Australia, Singapore and USA (Texas). Does that make me a terrible risk? Sure I don't have a UK no claims history, but I had no history in the USA either and premiums here are much more reasonable.
Maybe I need to find better brokers? I'd welcome suggestions.
I'm the same age as you, clean licence, and my 530i Touring is under £200 a year via Tesco.Maybe I need to find better brokers? I'd welcome suggestions.
I've had an E39 540i and an E31 840ci, the 540i being the far better car in my book. Cooling systems on both went but it's not really a massive problem, preventative maintenance is the key.
Interestingly, I have an E34 540i/6 with a 'swiss cheese lump' running 420bhp and it hasn't melted yet.
Cheers
Interestingly, I have an E34 540i/6 with a 'swiss cheese lump' running 420bhp and it hasn't melted yet.
Cheers
pits said:
Not strictly true, the E34 did come with a 4 cylinder M43B18 in the 518i, which by all accounts if you can ignore that it is a 4 cylinder and you're not interested in speed then they are great cars, much lighter front end as well so less bargey and lovely turn in response, though 112mph is pretty poor. However if you're in the bottom end E34 market the 518i is far superior to the 520i 6 cylinder, quicker off the mark and pulls better at speed, smoother all round as the 518i was gear differently.
Why are you talking about the e34?! I inferred that the e39 (i.e. the sotw style...) only came with sixes and eights...I'm not interested in 4 pots in a barge ;-)I love the E39.
I am on my third so that must say something.
528 touring. The super mobile sofa.
M5 Fantastic.
And now 540i.Pictured. Didnt buy any of these for shed money but the 540 was a good price for 70k miles.
All, yes all incuding the vanos on the M5, have beed totally reliable. This 540 though is the best package.
Being a M sport it has firmer springs does decent fuel (though I dont use it every day) and has a good amount of shove. Not up in the M5 league but very good in the mid range. The only thing that needs sorting is the pixels wihch the model suffered from over time. The auto box is very nice and can be used in manual mode.
Only thing I miss is having had an Alpina the buttons on wheel are a nice touch.
They are well built, soild, and for a old car can still hold thr own against many of the young whipper snappers.
I am on my third so that must say something.
528 touring. The super mobile sofa.
M5 Fantastic.
And now 540i.Pictured. Didnt buy any of these for shed money but the 540 was a good price for 70k miles.
All, yes all incuding the vanos on the M5, have beed totally reliable. This 540 though is the best package.
Being a M sport it has firmer springs does decent fuel (though I dont use it every day) and has a good amount of shove. Not up in the M5 league but very good in the mid range. The only thing that needs sorting is the pixels wihch the model suffered from over time. The auto box is very nice and can be used in manual mode.
Only thing I miss is having had an Alpina the buttons on wheel are a nice touch.
They are well built, soild, and for a old car can still hold thr own against many of the young whipper snappers.
Welshbeef said:
For those saying go for the 540i they were not common in the beginning so now its a case of what's available when your looking.
Top shedding.
Top shedding.
^^This, I wanted a 540i when I bought my 535i but I couldn't find one, the choice was between a dubious 540i or a well maintained 535i, it was obvious which one to go for! I've had the car two and half years and I still find myself looking for excuses to drive it. In that time I've found it loves eating rear tyres but I will admit it does get driven hard, apart from routine servicing its also had a couple of suspension arms and the parking sensors have packed in twice (dodgy sensors) so they're now disconnected(!), the only major expense has been a new alternator and even though its done 184k it drives perfectly, very comfy and no knocks, bangs, squeaks, nothing.
Regarding the recirculating ball steering I do find you have to turn the steering wheel quite a lot to make the front wheels do anything but you soon get used to it and it's beautifully weighted and feels very nice indeed. Performance wise, the 530i may be nearly as powerful but its about 30lbft down on torque which in a heavy car like the e39 is going to make a difference and of course you don't get the v8 noise, however, with the standard exhaust there isn't a lot of it unless you've had a stainless steel system fitted like I have and then it sounds absolutely superb.
Edited by njw1 on Sunday 18th January 21:41
Crisply styled (especially vs. the Bangle gurnfest E60) & with lovely interiors, but oh dear the borks. Bought my 528i Touring at 66k miles. Over the next couple of years it needed rear subframe bushes, air springs, airbag ECU, CPS, front wishbone bushes & new catalysts. Then it lunched its head gasket at 99k & this could not be fixed. Objectively, the worst car I have ever had, but when it worked it was a fabulous grand tourer. If any E39 you look at has had recent cat replacement, walk away. It's probably the head gasket on its way out with coolant combustion products poisoning the cat. If I didn't need an estate it would be an X308 every time if shopping in barge-land.
LewisR said:
Cotic said:
Ah, a BMW from the time that the numbers on the badge actually meant something...
Well, mostly, however:the 520i was later enlarged to a 2.2 but stayed as a 520i.
The 523i was a 2.5, which was replaced by a 2.5 525i.
The 540i was a 4.4.
Well, I did it. Not the SOTW example, but even cheaper, more brave pills and possibly more madness. Bought a 1997/R non-VANOS E39 535i over eBay - well, I actually lost it at the last second, but the winning bidder pulled out and I got a second chance on it. So, down to Devon from Surrey on the trains (South-West Trains from Woking to Exeter via Salisbury, Cross-Country from Exeter to Totnes, South Devon Railway to Buckfastleigh) and bus (Buckfastleigh to Ashburton). Arrived at Ashburton in near darkness, was picked up in the car, driven to the vendor's home nearby, signed the documents there and then, drove it home via the A30 through Chard, Yeovil and Salisbury, B-something or other to Winchester, A31 to Guildford, A246 and A24 back to Leatherhead. It ticked over 100,000 miles just a wee bit past Exeter Airport. Full history from new, all fluids had been changed regularly (watch out for "sealed for life" autoboxes, if they haven't had their fluids changed then the torque converter blows up - same goes for the M62 in L322 Range Rovers), sounded good, and the engine belts were visibly very new. I didn't even test drive the thing. Just got in and went. It never missed a beat.
When I got the thing back home, the weekend after, we had some lovely weather which enabled me to give it a good look-over, and it was cosmetically in as good condition as it was mechanically. There's the odd stone chip and the odd tiny bumper scuff that could do with attention, but you really have to look for them to find them. Maybe at some point I'll get it properly detailed, but as long as it's my daily driver and is parked on-street, it's going to spend most of its life caked in mud and will pick up the odd scratch now and again...
A few weeks later, it did let a coolant hose go in quite spectacular fashion (lots of smoke etc), but it just turned out the hoses needed doing. That said, it did cost me more than I bought the car for, between parts and labour from my trusty PH-recommended independent. Oh, and a week past Saturday, early evening, the offside rear window regulator went pop, with the window fully down, 18 miles from home, in filthy weather. That wasn't fun. Still got to get that fixed properly (the window's wedged up at the moment).
It's on cheap Nexen tyres (though there are loads of bills for Pirelli P7s), and the Subaru garage that latterly maintained it fitted the wrong compound brake pads, which squeal a bit, but it grips and stops very well nevertheless, so I'll replace them with the proper stuff only when they're worn out. The drive home was in apocalyptic weather - torrential rain, thunder and lightning, with enormous amounts of standing water, all the way to Winchester. I had no problems at all with the tyres.
As regards steering - I also own a rack'n'pinion 520i Touring (now in fine mechanical fettle following its engine swap - VANOS meant that replacing the leaky valve stem oil seals was costlier than a replacement engine from a scrap E46 320i) and I'll honestly say the 535i's recirculating ball steering is by far the nicer in feel and weight.
The autobox (which I think in the V8 E39s is sourced from General Motors, or is it the ZF found in the sixes?) is just lovely - very smooth and pretty quick. Manual override is very useful, far faster than the manual in the 520i. The torque of the V8 is just immense, MUCH more than the 530i (I did test drive one, so I remember what that felt like) - more of it and lower down. The sheer get-up-and-go of this thing is pretty amazing. Overtaking has never been easier!
I'll say this, though. The gurning-Alabama-redneck clatter of the V8 under acceleration (it's near-silent in the cruise) is getting on my nerves. It's an uncouth, idiotic racket - and, with four overhead camshafts, nothing like the warm woofle of my old Rover P6's Buick-derived pushrod lump. The 520i's M54B22 straight six is so much more musical. Also, neither I nor either of my sons are small, and the E39 is quite small inside. I'm beginning to wonder if an E38 750i should be my next purchase... space, grunt and music... and yes, I must scratch that X300/X308 itch at some point, but the cheapness and familiarity of the E39 cabin won me over. It's a little more prone to understeer than the 520i, and the different character of the steering and transmission have taken a little familiarisation, but it's everything I hoped it would be, it's comfortable, refined and handles really well. I thrash it regularly over some of the most challenging B-roads in Surrey (well, in the country!) and it never fails to take it all in its stride. The downside is 22mpg in daily use, but then the 520i Touring only gets 26mpg in daily use, and the performance gain is worth it! There's no real difference in efficiency between the two.
The one defect the car has which is a constant nuisance is pixel death on the dash. The 520i's are perfect, so perhaps between '97 and '01 they fixed the issue. Apparently BMW North America issued a "soft recall" for this, but BMW UK did not. I can live with it.
And the price I paid for this wonder chariot?
£595.
No, I can't believe it either. Bargain or what. I felt like it must be a joke for a while!
When I got the thing back home, the weekend after, we had some lovely weather which enabled me to give it a good look-over, and it was cosmetically in as good condition as it was mechanically. There's the odd stone chip and the odd tiny bumper scuff that could do with attention, but you really have to look for them to find them. Maybe at some point I'll get it properly detailed, but as long as it's my daily driver and is parked on-street, it's going to spend most of its life caked in mud and will pick up the odd scratch now and again...
A few weeks later, it did let a coolant hose go in quite spectacular fashion (lots of smoke etc), but it just turned out the hoses needed doing. That said, it did cost me more than I bought the car for, between parts and labour from my trusty PH-recommended independent. Oh, and a week past Saturday, early evening, the offside rear window regulator went pop, with the window fully down, 18 miles from home, in filthy weather. That wasn't fun. Still got to get that fixed properly (the window's wedged up at the moment).
It's on cheap Nexen tyres (though there are loads of bills for Pirelli P7s), and the Subaru garage that latterly maintained it fitted the wrong compound brake pads, which squeal a bit, but it grips and stops very well nevertheless, so I'll replace them with the proper stuff only when they're worn out. The drive home was in apocalyptic weather - torrential rain, thunder and lightning, with enormous amounts of standing water, all the way to Winchester. I had no problems at all with the tyres.
As regards steering - I also own a rack'n'pinion 520i Touring (now in fine mechanical fettle following its engine swap - VANOS meant that replacing the leaky valve stem oil seals was costlier than a replacement engine from a scrap E46 320i) and I'll honestly say the 535i's recirculating ball steering is by far the nicer in feel and weight.
The autobox (which I think in the V8 E39s is sourced from General Motors, or is it the ZF found in the sixes?) is just lovely - very smooth and pretty quick. Manual override is very useful, far faster than the manual in the 520i. The torque of the V8 is just immense, MUCH more than the 530i (I did test drive one, so I remember what that felt like) - more of it and lower down. The sheer get-up-and-go of this thing is pretty amazing. Overtaking has never been easier!
I'll say this, though. The gurning-Alabama-redneck clatter of the V8 under acceleration (it's near-silent in the cruise) is getting on my nerves. It's an uncouth, idiotic racket - and, with four overhead camshafts, nothing like the warm woofle of my old Rover P6's Buick-derived pushrod lump. The 520i's M54B22 straight six is so much more musical. Also, neither I nor either of my sons are small, and the E39 is quite small inside. I'm beginning to wonder if an E38 750i should be my next purchase... space, grunt and music... and yes, I must scratch that X300/X308 itch at some point, but the cheapness and familiarity of the E39 cabin won me over. It's a little more prone to understeer than the 520i, and the different character of the steering and transmission have taken a little familiarisation, but it's everything I hoped it would be, it's comfortable, refined and handles really well. I thrash it regularly over some of the most challenging B-roads in Surrey (well, in the country!) and it never fails to take it all in its stride. The downside is 22mpg in daily use, but then the 520i Touring only gets 26mpg in daily use, and the performance gain is worth it! There's no real difference in efficiency between the two.
The one defect the car has which is a constant nuisance is pixel death on the dash. The 520i's are perfect, so perhaps between '97 and '01 they fixed the issue. Apparently BMW North America issued a "soft recall" for this, but BMW UK did not. I can live with it.
And the price I paid for this wonder chariot?
£595.
No, I can't believe it either. Bargain or what. I felt like it must be a joke for a while!
Top barging! Mine averages 22 as well so nothing wrong there.
Funnily enough, I drove a 528i a few days ago and found it unremarkable and a bit dull after the 535i. Even the 3.5 adds a load of drama. There is a bit of redneck to them in comparison to say an LS400, there is that little tad of rumble at idle and It bloody wails when you boot it. The LS400 which is almost a bit eery its so refined (and admittedly pumps out more power, uses less fuel and needs less tlc) .
It's a silly car but I'm growing quite fond of it.
The 535 has a ZF4HP24 by the way.
Funnily enough, I drove a 528i a few days ago and found it unremarkable and a bit dull after the 535i. Even the 3.5 adds a load of drama. There is a bit of redneck to them in comparison to say an LS400, there is that little tad of rumble at idle and It bloody wails when you boot it. The LS400 which is almost a bit eery its so refined (and admittedly pumps out more power, uses less fuel and needs less tlc) .
It's a silly car but I'm growing quite fond of it.
The 535 has a ZF4HP24 by the way.
Edited by SuperHangOn on Thursday 26th February 08:05
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff