RE: Shed Of The Week: BMW 535i
Discussion
X5TUU said:
Had my champagne silver coloured E39 51plate 530iSE all of 12 weeks, got it for a steal from a Citroen dealer that took it as a partex and totally hated it, I've never got the love for these at all
What were the differences between what you wanted and what it did? A shagged out one can be pretty nasty, particularly if the suspension is very tired.
I ran one of these for a few years - the E39 is a really well built solid BMW and I thoroughly enjoyed driving it.
I also had an E60 for two years, and whilst obviously had moved the game forwards in terms of interior toys (such as bluetooth rather than a built in phone complete with curly cord as my E39...) the build quality of the E39 seemed in a completely different (better) league... e.g. the surfaces you touched felt more "solid" rather than the rther plasticy interior (especialy the silver strip across the dash) in the E60.
The 3.5 V8 was a great engine, and in the one I owned had the auto with sports overide - I actually thought that the gearbox suited the cars character really well. It was happy to mooch about, using the auto and low revs and was a very comfortable place to be, then when you wanted to press on the sports auto worked well allowing the engine to rev hard, and if you needed it there was the manual +/- overide (tiptronic-type) that was good to use. The only real issue with the tiptronic was if you were pressing on and went for a downshift, there was no rev-matching so the engine breaking was really strong - had to watch out for that changing down into a bend....
Mine was also Biaritz blue with those lovely multi-spoke deep dished alloys - it was a good looking although understated car. Mine had black leather interior and dark wood option - much much better than some of the garish "wood veneer" trims some of them came with, and also the multi-adjustable electic seats that were an optional extra - very comfy. The original purchaser of my car had thrown loads of extra's at it from new...
Issues?
That bl00dy gearbox. I think that at the time it may have been at the limit of what it was capable of with all the torque that the V8 put out, and mine went into limp-home mode when it broke. I used an excellent BMW independant (Quarry Motors in Sheffield - been using them for about 15 years now) to source and fit a reconditioned gearbox.
Out of all the cars I've owned, it's probably one of the few that I've actually missed (and I tend to keep cars and bikes for quite a while, not frequently changing).
I also had an E60 for two years, and whilst obviously had moved the game forwards in terms of interior toys (such as bluetooth rather than a built in phone complete with curly cord as my E39...) the build quality of the E39 seemed in a completely different (better) league... e.g. the surfaces you touched felt more "solid" rather than the rther plasticy interior (especialy the silver strip across the dash) in the E60.
The 3.5 V8 was a great engine, and in the one I owned had the auto with sports overide - I actually thought that the gearbox suited the cars character really well. It was happy to mooch about, using the auto and low revs and was a very comfortable place to be, then when you wanted to press on the sports auto worked well allowing the engine to rev hard, and if you needed it there was the manual +/- overide (tiptronic-type) that was good to use. The only real issue with the tiptronic was if you were pressing on and went for a downshift, there was no rev-matching so the engine breaking was really strong - had to watch out for that changing down into a bend....
Mine was also Biaritz blue with those lovely multi-spoke deep dished alloys - it was a good looking although understated car. Mine had black leather interior and dark wood option - much much better than some of the garish "wood veneer" trims some of them came with, and also the multi-adjustable electic seats that were an optional extra - very comfy. The original purchaser of my car had thrown loads of extra's at it from new...
Issues?
That bl00dy gearbox. I think that at the time it may have been at the limit of what it was capable of with all the torque that the V8 put out, and mine went into limp-home mode when it broke. I used an excellent BMW independant (Quarry Motors in Sheffield - been using them for about 15 years now) to source and fit a reconditioned gearbox.
Out of all the cars I've owned, it's probably one of the few that I've actually missed (and I tend to keep cars and bikes for quite a while, not frequently changing).
Pickled said:
Or had, dealer fit replacement engines.
Well, yes. The cheese engines (Nikasil) died and were replaced with non-cheese (steel liner) engines.Also the factor which caused the cheese to rot in the first place was high sulphur fuel, which itself was phased out in the UK years ago.
Lowtimer said:
jl34 said:
The author has kindly forgotten that the cylinder liners of these late 90's v8's are made of cheese.
Some of them were cheese - in fact very similar cheese to the Jag V8 cheese of the same era. By definition, the cheese ones all died years ago.Triumph Man said:
Anyone opened the can of worms that is recirculating ball (as found in the V8s) vs. rack and pinion steering (as in the 4 and 6 cylinder cars) yet? 
The reality of this is that after the passage of all the years, and the varying standard of maintenance they have all had, the differences between well cared for, unworn cars and nasty ill-maintained sheds, often with iffy geometry and four different makes of ditchfinder tyres, is far greater than the difference in quality of feel and precision of the two types of steering. My first E39, a 6-pot with rack and pinion, had been somewhat neglected before I had it and the steering was dull and full of friction, low on feel. Mate of mine at the time had a beautifully kept E38 740i with effectively the same steering as a V8 E39, and that had nicer steering than my R&P setup.
I do prefer the R&P setup if both are in good order, but a lot of the R&P cars out there now would be (and can be) greatly improved by stripping and cleaning and lubricating the rack, ensuring all the joints and bearing surfaces are in good order, and replacing the steering fluid a couple of times.
Devil2575 said:
No. Nikasil only affected the E34 V8s. The e39 engine did not have the problem.
I was being slightly slipshod. You are right that the 5-series V8 Nikasil was restricted to the E34 era, but the E39 did have Nikasil problems on the M52 sixes.In any case the point remains that in 2015 it is no longer a question that buyers need concern themselves with, unless they find a car that was laid up in, say, 1998 and not used since.
Lowtimer said:
Triumph Man said:
Anyone opened the can of worms that is recirculating ball (as found in the V8s) vs. rack and pinion steering (as in the 4 and 6 cylinder cars) yet?
The reality of this is that after the passage of all the years, and the varying standard of maintenance they have all had, the differences between well cared for, unworn cars and nasty ill-maintained sheds is far greater than the difference in quality of feel and precision of the two types of steering. My first E39, a 6-pot with rack and pinion, had been somewhat neglected before I had it and the steering was dull and full of friction, low on feel. Mate of mine at the time had a beautifully kept E38 740i with effectively the same steering as a V8 E39, and that had nicer steering than my R&P setup.
I do prefer the R&P setup if both are in good order, but a lot of the R&P cars out there now would be (and can be) greatly improved by stripping and cleaning and lubricating the rack, ensuring all the joints and bearing surfaces are in good order, and replacing the steering fluid a couple of times.
Lowtimer said:
Pickled said:
Or had, dealer fit replacement engines.
Well, yes. The cheese engines (Nikasil) died and were replaced with non-cheese (steel liner) engines.Also the factor which caused the cheese to rot in the first place was high sulphur fuel, which itself was phased out in the UK years ago.
Great cars the E39. Definitely the best-built 5 Series. Currently have a 1997 540i Touring. FBMWSH, engine and gearbox are perfect even at 186k and it drives spot on. It has over £20k in bills from main dealers, so has been well looked after. Bodywork requires TLC in the usual E39 weak spots. Very fast estate and a great Q car.
I'm after a commuter car, and a facelift 530d manual is at the top of my list.
535i is a nice car, but like others have said, the 540i is the one to go for.
I'm after a commuter car, and a facelift 530d manual is at the top of my list.
535i is a nice car, but like others have said, the 540i is the one to go for.
I'd rather have a facelifted 530i or 540i than a 535i. It's got similar weight and fuel economy to the 540i, with similar power and torque to the 530i. At this end of the market I don't think the small cost saving over a facelifted E39 is worth it.
The only real advantage, is that I think there are far more 535i manual cars than 540i manual cars.
I'm sure it's a nice car for £995 though, and that's the point of SOTW.
The only real advantage, is that I think there are far more 535i manual cars than 540i manual cars.
I'm sure it's a nice car for £995 though, and that's the point of SOTW.
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