BMW 540i Sport Touring 6 speed - new daily driver

BMW 540i Sport Touring 6 speed - new daily driver

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Discussion

BriC175

Original Poster:

961 posts

181 months

Friday 17th July 2015
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Polynesian said:
That looks lovely, and a great space to spend the commute. Only thing, aesthetically, for me would be to source some wood trim- the alu looks uncomfortable with that nice cream/beige leather.

Great cars, and you get to be involved in the driving with your 6 speeder. Nice find!
iSore said:
Lovely car but that silver trim looks awful in there - I'd have dark wood or piano black.
Funnily enough, I actually have some vavona trim at my parents house that I bought but never fitted for one of my old E39s. I've been toying with the idea of fitting it for a while, as I actually also think it would look better. Think I'll fetch it and see how it looks. Would need a new gearknob though, as the alloy one would then look out of place!

alpinab3

203 posts

190 months

Tuesday 21st July 2015
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iSore said:
Lovely car but that silver trim looks awful in there - I'd have dark wood or piano black.
+1. Silver looks out of place.

BriC175

Original Poster:

961 posts

181 months

Monday 14th September 2015
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Couple of changes on the barge. New wheels, and walnut trim with illuminated gear knob. Also been to the Nurburgring and did a lap, but with wallowy suspension and being my first time, I took it easy.

Next on the 'to do' list is polish the headlights, and it needs a new ABS sensor. Just about to hit 170,000 but showing no sign of giving up any time soon! Also, for those of you interested - I've done 10,000 miles on the LPG system now, and apart from some initial mapping issues, it's been faultless.

Few pics:







Edited by BriC175 on Monday 14th September 08:32

sutts

901 posts

149 months

Monday 14th September 2015
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Looks great, I doubt there were ever more than a handful of manual 540 Tourings brought in to the UK. The wood trim definitely goes better with your interior colours than the silver did, especially next to the dash top.

Last week I bought a mint 2002 530i Touring in Stirling grey with black leather as my new daily. That has the plastic 'aluminium' trim, but it looks well against the rest of the interior and compliments the exterior colour too.

The E39 shape, especially in Touring form, has really stood the test of time I think.

BriC175

Original Poster:

961 posts

181 months

Monday 21st September 2015
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Small update. Polished the headlights using a 3M kit. Worked really well, and pleased with the results - should have done this a long time ago really.

Comparison of unpolished vs. polished:




Both done:


willmagrath

1,209 posts

147 months

Monday 21st September 2015
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I used to have sb51 nhm.....just saying.

Max M4X WW

4,800 posts

183 months

Monday 21st September 2015
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Love it, sold our (auto saloon) a couple of years back now. I do miss it slightly and always wondered what a Manual would be like even though the Auto box did seem to suit the car.

Caddyshack

10,870 posts

207 months

Monday 21st September 2015
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As another poster said, I would chnage the top hose BEFORE it bursts if the service record doesn't show it as being changed or at least carry a spare with the tools to swap it. I would see if it can run Evans waterless as that removes the pressure but not sure if this works on these as seem to remember a viscous fan may need it?

My 540 was excellent and only ever split the top hose, other than that pretty faultless.

Mr Tidy

22,450 posts

128 months

Monday 21st September 2015
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NO, NO, NO - I won't ever need one but these threads keep making make me want to go and look for a manual BMW V8 Estate in the classifieds!rolleyes

Lovely understated car OP - enjoy!thumbup

CB 987

384 posts

148 months

Tuesday 22nd September 2015
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Nice, a rare combo, from memory there were only something like 12 RHD 540i manual tourings in Sport trim ever registered in the UK.

A black one in the same spec lives locally to me, it is a Jan 2004 car, so one of the last E39's. I keep hoping I see it parked up again so I can leave a note for the owner, just in case they ever fancied selling.