RE: BMW 540i (E39) manual: Spotted
Discussion
danielj58 said:
okie592 said:
Less hp than a golf R and more to buy than a 2 year lease? Or even the lease on a m135i?
No ta.
That's not even apples to orange though... After 2 years how much golf R do you own?No ta.
I thought people took the piss out of the Americans for getting so little power out of a v8
TinyCappo said:
Utter BS.
I ran a 100k 540 touring with an auto box. apart from the servicing I Spent £200 having the sealed for life gearbox serviced and new fluid before putting another 45,000 miles on it over 2 years.
They are only as unreliable as the owners want to make them due to the low purchase price people arent maintaining them properly.
As for economy bristol to guildford every week 36-37mpg from the 4.4l v8 cruise on set to 80leptons.
Great. As for utter BS google E39 gearbox failures. You were lucky and did the correct preventative maintenance on the 'sealed for life' autobox.I ran a 100k 540 touring with an auto box. apart from the servicing I Spent £200 having the sealed for life gearbox serviced and new fluid before putting another 45,000 miles on it over 2 years.
They are only as unreliable as the owners want to make them due to the low purchase price people arent maintaining them properly.
As for economy bristol to guildford every week 36-37mpg from the 4.4l v8 cruise on set to 80leptons.
It's also a fact that the autobox is less economical than the manual.
Still don't let facts get in the way of telling people about how you got 36-37mpg out of an auto 540. A more realistic average in mixed use is 25mpg which isn't bad at all for a heavy old barge.
My parents had a 530i Sport Auto alongside my 530i Sport Manual for a few years - it didn't do 37mpg on a run, ever. It was about 15% less economical than my manual in any given circumstance. I can't see how anyone can argue the auto is as efficient as the manual because it absolutely wasn't.
my dad had a 540i auto e39 for about 2 years. it was a bit leggy when we had it but i drove it a couple of times, i have to say it was pretty quick and the v8 sounded lovely. the autobox suited it given it is quite a big heavy car. With tan sport seats, 18inch sport alloys and white indicators, it looked significantly better than the 2 cars in the article.
okie592 said:
danielj58 said:
okie592 said:
Less hp than a golf R and more to buy than a 2 year lease? Or even the lease on a m135i?
No ta.
That's not even apples to orange though... After 2 years how much golf R do you own?No ta.
I thought people took the piss out of the Americans for getting so little power out of a v8
Motorrad said:
TinyCappo said:
Utter BS.
I ran a 100k 540 touring with an auto box. apart from the servicing I Spent £200 having the sealed for life gearbox serviced and new fluid before putting another 45,000 miles on it over 2 years.
They are only as unreliable as the owners want to make them due to the low purchase price people arent maintaining them properly.
As for economy bristol to guildford every week 36-37mpg from the 4.4l v8 cruise on set to 80leptons.
Great. As for utter BS google E39 gearbox failures. You were lucky and did the correct preventative maintenance on the 'sealed for life' autobox.I ran a 100k 540 touring with an auto box. apart from the servicing I Spent £200 having the sealed for life gearbox serviced and new fluid before putting another 45,000 miles on it over 2 years.
They are only as unreliable as the owners want to make them due to the low purchase price people arent maintaining them properly.
As for economy bristol to guildford every week 36-37mpg from the 4.4l v8 cruise on set to 80leptons.
It's also a fact that the autobox is less economical than the manual.
Still don't let facts get in the way of telling people about how you got 36-37mpg out of an auto 540. A more realistic average in mixed use is 25mpg which isn't bad at all for a heavy old barge.
As for your dismissal of the economy figures. That was achieved a few times. You have the cruise control on and you are doing 100 miles of M4 non stop at a constant speed with no real elevation changes. The 30 miles cross country from reading vs the M25 would screw up the economy down to just below 30 but on the odd occasion when I could get a clean run form the M4 to the A3 on the M25 I would return home with an average for the whole journey of over 35.2-.3mpg.
chungasarnies said:
Can anyone who's actually had both tell us how big a difference there really is, or is this just something people on the internet say?
Yes, me. I have had both and the steering is miles better with the rack. The box has play around the straight ahead and reacts so much slower than the rack and lacks the same feel that tells you what the wheels are doing. The steering box was never poor, its just that the rack feels so much better.TinyCappo said:
I know about the gearbox failures but this is due to improper maintenance. Regardless of whether the dealer tells you otherwise. How am I lucky because I carried out the correct maintenance?
As for your dismissal of the economy figures. That was achieved a few times. You have the cruise control on and you are doing 100 miles of M4 non stop at a constant speed with no real elevation changes. The 30 miles cross country from reading vs the M25 would screw up the economy down to just below 30 but on the odd occasion when I could get a clean run form the M4 to the A3 on the M25 I would return home with an average for the whole journey of over 35.2-.3mpg.
I didn't dismiss your MPG figures merely stated a realistic average in mixed use would be around 25mpg.As for your dismissal of the economy figures. That was achieved a few times. You have the cruise control on and you are doing 100 miles of M4 non stop at a constant speed with no real elevation changes. The 30 miles cross country from reading vs the M25 would screw up the economy down to just below 30 but on the odd occasion when I could get a clean run form the M4 to the A3 on the M25 I would return home with an average for the whole journey of over 35.2-.3mpg.
I said you were lucky because your post read as if you bought a 100K mile E39 with an autobox then carried out the fluid change. There are a lot of reports of them failing long before that and damage could have occurred before you ever got the car.
You seem to want to turn this into an argument using terms like 'BS'(which it clearly wasn't as you've now admitted you know all about autobox failure on e39s). You're also painting a rather rosy and optimistic picture of 540 ownership with your tales of high 30's mpg and the wonder of the bork free BMW gearbox. It's also a fact that the autoboxes give worse MPG than the manual cars.
Personally I prefer to tell it how it is in case someone's reading this and thinking 'I'll buy one!'ie possibility of a f
ked autobox and mid 20s mpg given a light foot and not too much town work.I averaged a little over 26mpg with my 530i auto and that was mainly NSL A road 23 miles to work and back.
To Newcastle and back in the M5 I managed 26mpg at most while staying fairly legal. I'd expect the 540i to fair better but you're never going to average more than mid 20's unless a ridiculous amount of your driving is sitting at 60mph.
To Newcastle and back in the M5 I managed 26mpg at most while staying fairly legal. I'd expect the 540i to fair better but you're never going to average more than mid 20's unless a ridiculous amount of your driving is sitting at 60mph.
Patrick Bateman said:
I averaged a little over 26mpg with my 530i auto and that was mainly NSL A road 23 miles to work and back.
To Newcastle and back in the M5 I managed 26mpg at most while staying fairly legal. I'd expect the 540i to fair better but you're never going to average more than mid 20's unless a ridiculous amount of your driving is sitting at 60mph.
My commute is dual carriageway and motorway, average speed of 70-80 all the way in my auto 540i Sport. I avg 28-29.To Newcastle and back in the M5 I managed 26mpg at most while staying fairly legal. I'd expect the 540i to fair better but you're never going to average more than mid 20's unless a ridiculous amount of your driving is sitting at 60mph.
30+ is nonsense
My old man has a facelift E39 530i Sport Individual, finished in Velvet Blue with over £15k of factory fitted extras.
These include champagne nappa leather with velvet blue piping, 18" M Parallels, Xenons, Heated Seats, extended leather and velvet blue carpets and dash.
It still puts a smile on my face everytime I drive it. Quick enough, handles very well and feels way more solid thna most other cars on the road.
He gets around 25mpg average. It's an Auto, but that seems to suit the car and his style of driving.
Tyres are pretty pricey, but apart from that, it's just general maintenance which is reasonable. E39 Sports represent a good all round package and a decent respectable family saloon.
These include champagne nappa leather with velvet blue piping, 18" M Parallels, Xenons, Heated Seats, extended leather and velvet blue carpets and dash.
It still puts a smile on my face everytime I drive it. Quick enough, handles very well and feels way more solid thna most other cars on the road.
He gets around 25mpg average. It's an Auto, but that seems to suit the car and his style of driving.
Tyres are pretty pricey, but apart from that, it's just general maintenance which is reasonable. E39 Sports represent a good all round package and a decent respectable family saloon.
530i manual sport running on LPG here.
Had one and someone wrote it off on the m’way, saw it as a great opportunity to replace it with an Alpina B10 but went to test drive it (with every intent to buy) but found it to feel significantly heavier and less ‘spritely’ than the 530i.
Ended up buying another manual 530i as I think they are the ideal compromise of mpg, feel, speed etc. I’m not sure the extra 40 or so bhp in the 540i makes up for the mpg and weight.
Still love the E39’s though – aged very well. I only wish I had bought the touring as then I would not have to sell it.
Currently also running a V70 T5 as a ‘hack’ thinking it 5 years newer than the bmw and 30bhp up but I’m finding the V70 a nightmare to run – too much tech and all expensive to fix.
I’m now looking for a manual E60 530i, 545i, 550i touring to replace it with but they basically don’t seem to exist.
Had one and someone wrote it off on the m’way, saw it as a great opportunity to replace it with an Alpina B10 but went to test drive it (with every intent to buy) but found it to feel significantly heavier and less ‘spritely’ than the 530i.
Ended up buying another manual 530i as I think they are the ideal compromise of mpg, feel, speed etc. I’m not sure the extra 40 or so bhp in the 540i makes up for the mpg and weight.
Still love the E39’s though – aged very well. I only wish I had bought the touring as then I would not have to sell it.
Currently also running a V70 T5 as a ‘hack’ thinking it 5 years newer than the bmw and 30bhp up but I’m finding the V70 a nightmare to run – too much tech and all expensive to fix.
I’m now looking for a manual E60 530i, 545i, 550i touring to replace it with but they basically don’t seem to exist.
gentelman said:
IanCress said:
That, but in estate guise would be perfect. Looked for quite a while for a 540i Manual Estate but I never found one. Must have sold in tiny numbers.
That number would be zero. The manual wasn't available in the Touring at all. Sadly. Conversions have been done, but it's tricky.IanCress said:
gentelman said:
IanCress said:
That, but in estate guise would be perfect. Looked for quite a while for a 540i Manual Estate but I never found one. Must have sold in tiny numbers.
That number would be zero. The manual wasn't available in the Touring at all. Sadly. Conversions have been done, but it's tricky.
IanCress said:
gentelman said:
IanCress said:
That, but in estate guise would be perfect. Looked for quite a while for a 540i Manual Estate but I never found one. Must have sold in tiny numbers.
That number would be zero. The manual wasn't available in the Touring at all. Sadly. Conversions have been done, but it's tricky.Motorrad said:
TinyCappo said:
Utter BS.
I ran a 100k 540 touring with an auto box. apart from the servicing I Spent £200 having the sealed for life gearbox serviced and new fluid before putting another 45,000 miles on it over 2 years.
They are only as unreliable as the owners want to make them due to the low purchase price people arent maintaining them properly.
As for economy bristol to guildford every week 36-37mpg from the 4.4l v8 cruise on set to 80leptons.
Great. As for utter BS google E39 gearbox failures. You were lucky and did the correct preventative maintenance on the 'sealed for life' autobox.I ran a 100k 540 touring with an auto box. apart from the servicing I Spent £200 having the sealed for life gearbox serviced and new fluid before putting another 45,000 miles on it over 2 years.
They are only as unreliable as the owners want to make them due to the low purchase price people arent maintaining them properly.
As for economy bristol to guildford every week 36-37mpg from the 4.4l v8 cruise on set to 80leptons.
It's also a fact that the autobox is less economical than the manual.
Still don't let facts get in the way of telling people about how you got 36-37mpg out of an auto 540. A more realistic average in mixed use is 25mpg which isn't bad at all for a heavy old barge.
auto box - 32mpg on a motorway run
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