My E39 540i Touring

[RS Grant]

g3org3y said:

Great choice OP, looks perfect.

Haha!! Go on... I know you want to say it, I'll even start it: "I told yo......"




Cheers,
Grant

[RS Grant]

Robatr0n said:

I cannot believe the difference a set of wheels have made. That looks sensational!

Reckon they'd work on my E34?

Yeah I'm sure they would, they really lend themselves to quite a few different BMW models.




...think they look great on either saloon or touring.


Cheers,
Grant

[RS Grant]

...cue the violin.

It seems like the big 5 will be appearing in a classified advert in the near future. Reason for sale, a stubborn female who says 'it's like driving a bus'... I made the point that the visibility is actually better than her Mazda 6, plus it has parking sensors which the Mazda does not; but apparently/unsurprisingly I'm wrong.

I don't keep cars very long as a rule, but this is far less time than I wanted to keep the 540i for and with the new wheels I was really enjoying the look of the car and the comments which it attracted both here and in the metal.

So there we have it. All told, a couple of months ownership and a genuinely regretful sale.


Cheers,
Grant

[RS Grant]

sprouting said:

Sad times, especially when you find a nice one. I swapped a lovely E34 535 for a E39 540 only to be told it was to big.

Thankfully i was able to keep hold of it and get the OH a Pug 205 auto which was to small

Women!

Haha sad times indeed, have had a few emails about the car already so depending on how they progress, it may turn out to be a quick sale.

I'm waiting for the inevitable post-sale moment, where I get told she misses the ability to throw prams/bags/etc into the boot without any issues or careful tetris-style arrangement.


Cheers,
Grant

[RS Grant]

Max M4X WW said:

Madness, my OH is 5'4 (I think) and drove our saloon to work every day for two years. Just pumped the seat up and was fine - she moans about my Octavia 100x more as it has 'big mirrors'

Women = Crazy.
Crazy = Women.




Cheers,
Grant

[RS Grant]

johnfm said:

So, you really like the car and you are selling it because your missus says you have to?

-10 man points.

Haha, just the 10?! It feels like a hell of a lot more!!

This car is something that we both need to use, so her refusal to drive the car is fairly valid. The 540's replacement will be far more thoroughly investigated and tested out before purchase to avoid being stung again.


Cheers,
Grant

[RS Grant]

carpetsoiler said:

I'm gunna have to agree there. Surely it would be more rational (and beneficial) to get a divorce?

Haha, ultimate man maths.. sacrifice half of everything, to keep hold of the car.


Cheers,
Grant

[RS Grant]

StuntmanMike said:

Bloody tempting, but an E39 won't cook and shag you.

Hahaha, almost spat my tea out at that comment!!


Cheers,
Grant

[RS Grant]

g3org3y said:

Real shame, lovely car.

I'd be interested, but Scotland is a bit too far for me. (though I did buy my E30 Cabrio from a chap in East Kilbride!).

I'm happy to collect potential buyers from local station/airport if it helps.. and the car would get you back down the road with minimal stress and maximum comfort.


Cheers,
Grant

[RS Grant]

MarkOmni said:

Loveling E39T with those Alpina alloys.

It's a pity that you have her let go, those V8's are simply fantastics

Thanks, you're right.. the wheels have made a huge difference. Two are losing a little pressure over a few days, so going to order some replacement Alpina valves from my local dealership since it's likely they're at fault post-refurb according to research I did on the Alpina Register.

Yeah the car is super smooth, always been wary of running a V8 before, but this has been a real eye opener in a good way.


Cheers,
Grant

[RS Grant]

andrewrob said:

My mrs loves our touring, when I was looking at 530s she was asking if it was much more to run the V8 ones so ended up buying a 540!
Helps having a petrol head wife, although she did manage 10mpg over a tank the first week we had it because she wanted to see how quick it was at getting around her favourite roads.

Hold onto her!! Has she got a sister...

On the subject of MPG, this 540i does almost the same MPG as the 530i which my dad used to run.. a few MPG difference at the most, yet the performance difference is far more noticeable.


Cheers,
Grant

[RS Grant]

Well, it's still here... and I'm not sad about that fact at all.

I put an advert up, but it looked terrible, not sure why the Pistonheads editor wouldn't let me add paragraphs and web links into the description. It used to?!

Anyway, I thought that I'd had very little interest but when I told one of my friends he said to check my junk mail... lo and behold, I discovered that all emails from Pistonheads (both PM and advert replies) had been going into that folder, again, fairly sure that didn't happen before?! Anyway, if you're reading this and had tried to contact me; then I'm sorry, you'll all have a reply this evening.

Anyway, a wee update on the car.. it's still fantastic!! After a quick snow foaming, I took a couple of pictures today when we were out with the dogs. I've not put any filters on them, in an attempt to show off the colour a wee bit more than other pictures in this thread, but have lost a wee bit of polish on the finished picture because of that unfortunately.






I'd noticed that a couple of the Alpina wheels had lost pressure, so did a bit of rooting on the net and it seems that after going for a refurb they can cause bother.. and since these wheels have just been refinished, I assume that's the problem.



I found the part number for replacement valves on the Alpina register, phoned up my local dealer and order a pair... and after I collected them, I thought that since I'll be taking a trip to my tyre fitter to get the them fitted, I might order another pair and just have all four replaced at the same time.


Cheers,
Grant