BMW E39 Touring - not a shed!

BMW E39 Touring - not a shed!

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MJ85

Original Poster:

1,849 posts

173 months

Sunday 6th November 2016
quotequote all
I have wanted to own an E39 for some time. Since 1998 to be exact! After sitting in one as a child, it was something I knew I should have. Not as an exciting car, or the only car ever, but something as a daily, something to move people and things in comfort. The E39 was the car for me. At the age of 31, I have now achieved this.

Having decided to move away from car finance and company cars, a car that can be bought easily with modest cash was the (my) answer. I had tried this earlier in the year, with an E46 328i. This didn't work for a couple of reasons: headroom and subframe/boot floor. Here she was, having fun:



After a few drinks one night, I did some searching on eBay and came up with the perfect car after a few minutes.

Why was it perfect? As mentioned, the E39 was for me, but a Touring would be better (more practical, slightly better image). An inoffensive colour was a bonus, as was a black leather interior and a lack of soon-to-go-wrong optional extras.

A trip to Blackpool on the train landed me with this:









I love the E39 interior. Lots of space and well laid out


102,000 mile 2001 525i SE Touring. Owned by a guy for less than a month (ooops, bad sign) with (apparently) everything working and no noises or problems. However, before I arrived, I was informed that the ABS/ASC had just stopped working. What a wonderful start.

This car was never intended to be for bangernomics. If I can run it for about the same as a typical new hatch, I'm happy. Having made an assessment of the car, I decided that the interior and mechanicals should be brought up to an excellent standard, whilst the bodywork should be presentable (I do meet clients with work, so obvious rust and issues aren't really suitable). Typical E39 rust had taken its toll a little, so no point in spending big money on it, as long as it passed the "10 feet test".

The drive home was fairly long, giving me a chance to get to know the car a little, as well as figure out any problems. Other than the aforementioned ASC/ABS problem, the only thing of note on the way home was... it was damn slow! I know the 328i has a chunk more torque a bunch less weight, but this difference was too great. It felt lethargic and only felt like it has anywhere near 189 horsepower at over 5,000 RPM. Not ideal for a motorway cruiser.

I set about changing parts to improve the car.

Clearly starting with the important bits, replacement tape cover wood trim (old one was cracked)


VANOS seals


Cam cover gasket, spark plug gaskets and spark plugs


Fuel filter


DISA rebuild with metal flap


Too much of this


Cracked rad wasn't much fun. Managed to nurse her home...


So some new bits were required


Previous rad was well past its best (famous chocolate cooling system)


Thermostat


Fan clutch


Aux belt


Waterpump with metal impeller


Then fixing the oil leak from the oil filter housing gasket


Found that the belt tensioner sounded rough, so that was replaced


Halo bulb went, eBay, surprisingly, didn't have any halogen type, so LED will do for now (yes, both sides were changed!)



Cold weather dip-stick tube with single wall


CCV system (twice, as I wasn't happy with the first non-genuine kit)


Fuel pump


and plenty of diagnostics


Engine bay was looking smart by this point. You can also see the replacement ABS unit


Plus a general tidy up. Headlight restore, leather treatment, new BMW front badge, new original spec wiper blades etc. etc.



And one of the reasons for having an estate...


Lots of little bits that I haven't mentioned... coolant temperature sensor, bleed screws, lower rad hose, used full exhaust system, removal of clutch delay valve, puncture fix, wheel balancing, undertray fixings, clips and bits....

What's next? I'm not happy with the replacement fuel pump (it whines) and I changed the MAF and then returned it due to it failing (non-genuine), so I'd like to replace that soon too. I think the biggest lesson has been that parts should be genuine or upgraded wherever possible. All the cheap parts have let me down!

For what appeared to be a well cared for car, it has required a fair bit of work. It still doesn't stop me loving it!


MJ85.










Edited by MJ85 on Sunday 6th November 19:22


Edited by MJ85 on Sunday 13th November 01:32

marmitemania

1,566 posts

141 months

Sunday 6th November 2016
quotequote all
I love it when people go to town on cars, it makes me feel a bit better about the thousands I have threw at older cars. Has all your hard work made any improvement to the performance? Nice looking car.

smn159

12,446 posts

216 months

Sunday 6th November 2016
quotequote all
I see a similar thread to this one in the making

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

I'm in smile

benjijames28

1,702 posts

91 months

Sunday 6th November 2016
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Must be good to have the skills to change all the parts yourself, good mechanics are not cheap.

MJ85

Original Poster:

1,849 posts

173 months

Monday 7th November 2016
quotequote all
Thanks everyone.

Yes, with each step, performance has improved. Notably, VANOS seals, fuel pump and cleaning the MAF.

I've forgotten to mention that the car has had fluids changed (gearbox oil, rear diff, engine oil and filter, coolant). It had a good history of oil changes through its life. This can be seen with the cam cover off; no gunge to speak of.

Campbells

29 posts

88 months

Monday 7th November 2016
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Lovely car mate. I had an e39 525i manual a while back and was equally unimpressed with the lack of grunt so I ended up selling for a 330ci

Lovely cars though. Best shape of 5 series imho.

Veeayt

3,139 posts

204 months

Monday 7th November 2016
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Lovely car man, and a nice job. However, I'd get rid of those wheels.

Hammerhead

2,698 posts

253 months

Monday 7th November 2016
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Nothing wrong with those wheels! I wanted a set just like those to replace the 'sport' alloys I had on my 540i touring smile

Nice looking car, OP, and great work getting it tip-top.

MJ85

Original Poster:

1,849 posts

173 months

Monday 7th November 2016
quotequote all
I've noticed there isn't much love for the wheels! I like them though, fill the arches quite well, reasonable size (17 inch) and easy to clean.

pits

6,423 posts

189 months

Monday 7th November 2016
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Wheels I've never liked myself, the only thing I would do next is get rid of the bus steering wheel for a facelift M sport wheel, so much nicer than what you have, I have a spare one if you're interested.

Should serve you well though, my last 525 was on 206k miles before the body gave up around it, and a few other bits.

Hammerhead

2,698 posts

253 months

Monday 7th November 2016
quotequote all
Good call on the steering wheel change. Did that on mine, too (+ other upgrades: MK4 Nav, chrome surrounds on dials, intravee/alpine in place of CD changer etc etc)

Before:


After:

The M wheel was so much nicer to hold.

dbdb

4,311 posts

172 months

Monday 7th November 2016
quotequote all
A lovely old car - it looks to be in good condition. Was it the DSC/Hydro unit that meant the ABS wasn't working. We ghad to replace one in an E90 325i - it seems to be a very common fault on BMWs.

The steering wheel change really updates the interior - and is more attractive too.

MJ85

Original Poster:

1,849 posts

173 months

Monday 7th November 2016
quotequote all
dbdb said:
A lovely old car - it looks to be in good condition. Was it the DSC/Hydro unit that meant the ABS wasn't working. We ghad to replace one in an E90 325i - it seems to be a very common fault on BMWs.

The steering wheel change really updates the interior - and is more attractive too.
Yes, the unit under the bonnet that gets hot from the exhaust manifold and the solder becomes soft and it fails! A little heatshield would have probably done the trick from new. I managed to get a replacement that didn't require coding for £96. Very happy with that. Previous owner was told it was a wheel sensor, which was BS.

I had that steering wheel on my E46 M3. I'd rather put any money into other parts of the car though, rather than changing things that are working well. Does the sport wheel have the air re-circulation button on it?

Jimmy Recard

17,540 posts

178 months

Monday 7th November 2016
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I agree. I'd stick with the four spoke steering wheel. The three spoke is more modern but IMO doesn't really improve or detract - it's just different.

Campbells

29 posts

88 months

Monday 7th November 2016
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I'm definitely being picky but if you were upgrading the wheel I like this over the other one which looks like it belongs on an e46 to me.


carinaman

21,214 posts

171 months

Monday 7th November 2016
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Good skills. Nice looking car.

Mr Tidy

22,065 posts

126 months

Tuesday 8th November 2016
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Top job OP. thumbup

That is a lovely looking E39 you have there, and it's getting to be in tip-top condition - great work!

They were a real quality car back in the day - looks like you even have front parking sensors!


BenWRXSEi

2,343 posts

133 months

Tuesday 8th November 2016
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Looks lovely!

I'll add some love for the wheels - the best to have on an SE in my opinion. I had a set on my old one. It's great to see the results of all the work I should have put into mine while I had it hehe

In reality it spent most of its time looking like this:



I spend £300 on a remap (it was a 525d) and smoked around in it (literally) for a couple of years and 40k miles. It's still going somewhere I believe, though!

80quattro

1,724 posts

194 months

Tuesday 8th November 2016
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I bought a nice spec facelift 530i SE earlier this year. Similarly to the OP, I've been doing some jobs on it to bring it up to a good standard. Its in for rear main seal and possible clutch whilst the box is out this week.

Its not as fun to drive as my previous E28 M535i, but feels so modern and smooth for a 15 year old car. So far so good, I'm enjoying it. Watching this thread with interest.

markirl

318 posts

136 months

Tuesday 8th November 2016
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Looks like you had to do pretty much identical maintenance to my 530i I had, absolutely worth it and fantastic cars! Very very hard to find a good one these days however.

I'd recommend getting an M3 steering wheel, they feel so so much better than the standard wheel.