E39 540i Touring

[Crombers]

Egbert Nobacon said:

Derin's right - my current E38 740 (4.4) is marginally more economical than my previous 530iA Sport and 528i SE.

As for consumption - it averaged 31/32 mpg on a recent run to Marbella and back and I wasn't slipstreaming and didn't cruise below 80/85 mph.

Even the ex BMW tech who looks after my cars has always commented on how relatively thirsty the 3.0 straight six engine's are compared to the V8's and the fact that in his experience the V8 is the more reliable of the two.

Having had a 528 / 540iA / B10 V8 in the family fleet for the past couple of years I can't see how the V8 is either more reliable or more frugal. Does not compute. As much as I love my V8s, credit were credits due the 528 is far more reliable and far better on fuel in my experience. The only point in support of the previous comment I can think of is if the 6 cylinder is an auto which could potentially ruin its advantage.

[ATM]

Crombers

You B10 van looks very nice.

[bob1179]

Crombers said:

bob1179 said:

Suspension shouldn't cause too many issues, other than the usual bush and damper wear, but then you'd get that with any car (good one to tell the missus...).

Not sure that's entirely accurate. The touring suspension is a more complex set up than the E39 saloon and is prone to expensive faults.

Past 70k you should be looking at replacing the rear subframe bushes as ride quality deteriorates, often to the extent where the subframe bangs off the boot floor. You'll get a little change out of £500 for this request, but not much.

More over, the air springs also tend to fail as the years creep up so expect to spend another couple of hundred quid on replacing the pair. This is over and above the usual shock absorber outlay. And keep your fingers crossed the rest of the air suspension accoutrements don't fail as there are a few expensive items in there, albeit they are less known to fail.

As with any large V8 car, ensure the maintenance budget is adequate!

You are entirely right. Aplogies for giving erroneous information.

[dcb]

derin100 said:

Oh, here we go again...the old "530i Best Car in the World Theory" again... How many more times!?

Nah - try reading what I wrote sometime. I never said 530 best car in the world ever,
I just gave the OP a choice.

Meanwhile, back at the plot. I have my Owners Handbook on my knee here, so
the gospel according to BMW for 540 auto fuel consumption is 16 mpg urban, 32 mpg extra-urban,
and 23 mpg combined.

For the 540 manual, 15/32/23. I don't know about you, but driving a V8 at 56 mph to
get to 32 mpg seems to me to be somewhat missing the point.

derin100 said:

btw...I don't know what this means? "530 / 528 about 5 mph slower"?

I was referring to top speed - I think you'll only get about 145 mph
out of a 528.

derin100 said:

231bhp/300Nm vs 286bhp/440Nm 0-60: 7.5 secs vs 6.3 secs

Seem reasonable numbers to me, but I rarely take part in the traffic
light grand prix - top speed and how it gets there are far more
important to me.

Each to his own.

BTW, I've just spent some time drawing some graphs of the various model's
fuel consumption. For the auto, from 520 to 540, there is a gentle slope
downwards, but for the petrol, there is a significant kink between the I6 and
the V8.

[ATM]

By my reckoning the difference between 25 mpg and 32 mpg over 20,000 miles is 175 gallons which is like 20 quid per week. Seeing as I have never had a V8 in my life I can live with that. I'm a bit curious about the sport bumper / black strips debate. I guess its no biggy but it has got me to thinking that there has been a serious damage repair at some point.

[SJobson]

Mustard hit upon the thing which was preying on my mind - it didn't look quite right, and wood in a Sport seemed pretty unlikely. Therefore, even with the Sport bumpers it's probably still too expensive because it's not a real Sport. Phone BMW customer services with the reg. no. and check what its proper spec is, and history. Whatever, it's an unusual spec with manual box and comfort seats together.

Derin clearly drives very carefully - best I've achieved from my (auto) 540iT is 29.5mpg on the French autoroutes. In the UK it generally averages 21-22mpg, which is fine.

And a 530i is weedy in comparison - I took my 540 around Rockingham at the weekend and was pulling 110mph on the banking without trying, same as a well driven Lotus Exige (hey, it was quicker in the twisty bits ). It's effortless, whereas a 530 requires more commitment.

[derin100]

dcb said:

derin100 said:

Oh, here we go again...the old "530i Best Car in the World Theory" again... How many more times!?

Nah - try reading what I wrote sometime. I never said 530 best car in the world ever,
I just gave the OP a choice.

Meanwhile, back at the plot. I have my Owners Handbook on my knee here, so
the gospel according to BMW for 540 auto fuel consumption is 16 mpg urban, 32 mpg extra-urban,
and 23 mpg combined.

For the 540 manual, 15/32/23. I don't know about you, but driving a V8 at 56 mph to
get to 32 mpg seems to me to be somewhat missing the point.

derin100 said:

btw...I don't know what this means? "530 / 528 about 5 mph slower"?

I was referring to top speed - I think you'll only get about 145 mph
out of a 528.

derin100 said:

231bhp/300Nm vs 286bhp/440Nm 0-60: 7.5 secs vs 6.3 secs

Seem reasonable numbers to me, but I rarely take part in the traffic
light grand prix - top speed and how it gets there are far more
important to me.

Each to his own.

BTW, I've just spent some time drawing some graphs of the various model's
fuel consumption. For the auto, from 520 to 540, there is a gentle slope
downwards, but for the petrol, there is a significant kink between the I6 and
the V8.

Yep...Extra-Urban doesn't actually mean 56 mph

But then again you'd know better than me as I've only owned six cars with this engine...AND the handbook tells you it'll do 31 mpg...AND every other piece of published data is telling you it'll do 31 mpg...AND Egbert told you he did 31/32 mpg all the way to Marabella (difficult to believe he crawled it at a steady 56 mph all the way to Marabella ...but may be you think he's "missing the point" in his V8 too?)....AND even Simon's telling you he got 29.something on French Autoroutes...AND I know Simon always runs with his air-con on! Take that into account and Simon I'd venture was running even better than me actually!

So despite your initial statement that no V8 will run at 30 mpg there seems to be a wealth of opinion and published data to the contrary?

Anyway...bottom line is: Getting back to the OP...that either way he's nor bothered about nit-picking the extra 5mpg either way.

However, I am also not into the "Traffic-Light Grand Prix". Unfortunately, these were the only comparative figures I could readily find on the internet. Furthermore, I can't actually remember how many times I've been 145mph in my wife's 528i (or many other cars for that matter) or up to the limited 155 mph in my 540i.

Do you really do this so regularly in your 530i as for it to be as important a parameter as you seem to suggest in your post?!

However, 440Nm vs 300Nm should (of course) tell you what really happens in the real world...not away from the traffic lights...but where it really counts...if you are as you seem to suggest into that kind of thing? But you weren't seriously suggesting the 530i actually out-performs the 540i...were you?!

As you said: "...it's not only top speed...but how it gets there." Oh Yes, indeed! Isn't it just !?;)

Edited by derin100 on Tuesday 21st October 00:52

Edited by derin100 on Tuesday 21st October 00:58

[SJobson]

derin100 said:

AND even Simon's telling you he got 29.something on French Autoroutes...AND I know Simon always runs with his air-con on! Take that into account and Simon I'd venture was running even better than me actually!

Derin, I don't think I was running better than you - I managed to get a diesel Volvo S40 to achieve only 37mpg at a steady 70mph for 20 miles up the M40 a couple of weeks ago. I seem to have a heavy right foot even on cruise control

[dcb]

derin100 said:

Yep...Extra-Urban doesn't actually mean 56 mph

I live and learn. I found this

http://www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/information/consu...

Extra urban isn't cruising at 56 mph as I thought - it's
averaging *39* mph and maxing it at 75 mph.

derin100 said:

But then again you'd know better than me as I've only owned six cars with this engine...

Calm down, calm down. Try reading what I wrote.

30 mpg is possible in a V8, if it is driven gently enough.
My assertion is that 30 mpg isn't very likely in practice,
due to any outbreak of even slightly enthusiastic driving
getting MPG downto low twenties or high teens or lower.

Your definition of "slightly enthusiastic" will vary from mine.

derin100 said:

Do you really do this so regularly in your 530i as for it to be as important a parameter as you seem to suggest in your post?!

Yes - time is money. A 130 mph comfortable cruise ability was
one of the most important requirements when buying the car.

The acceleration and the cornering were way down the list.

BTW, we haven't mentioned the differences in steering rack
between the sixes and the eights. It's rack'n'pinion in the sixes,
I forget what in the eights. It might matter to the original poster.
A test drive will sort it out.

[Crombers]

dcb said:

30 mpg is possible in a V8, if it is driven gently enough.
My assertion is that 30 mpg isn't very likely in practice,
due to any outbreak of even slightly enthusiastic driving
getting MPG downto low twenties or high teens or lower.

Your definition of "slightly enthusiastic" will vary from mine.

Neither my B10 or 540 has achieved 30mpg on anything more than going down a very steep hill. So yes it's achievable, but extremely unlikely in day to day driving. You will certainly never average 30mpg in my experience.

As for the cars Sport status, the insurance database has it registered as a Sport so I assume it's just a differently specced sport. Obviously the bumper trim may indicate replacement at some point.

I don't think it's over priced either. Buy it ATM and put and end to all this chat

[VerySideways]

My 540i touring (auto) got 28.8mpg at 70mph cruise. That was the best i ever saw. Most of the time it was more like 19mpg average.

If you can afford the fuel though it's a cracking car.

[ATM]

Crombers said:

I don't think it's over priced either. Buy it ATM and put an end to all this chat

Are you crazy? If I buy it there will be a lot more chat.

[dan101smith]

dcb said:

BTW, we haven't mentioned the differences in steering rack
between the sixes and the eights. It's rack'n'pinion in the sixes,
I forget what in the eights. It might matter to the original poster.
A test drive will sort it out.

It's a fairly straightforward job to stick an M5 steering setup in a 540i though.

And if you're looking for a capable 130mph cruiser, then I'd imagine the gearing in the 540i is longer?

[eliot]

540 driven carefully 150 miles round trip milton keynes to swindon - all A roads 34MPG:

BUT it was boring! - driven normally(!) more like 24-25


If you do 8000 miles a year the difference in fuel costs between a car that does 25 mpg and 30 mpg is £239.

Edited by eliot on Tuesday 21st October 13:13

[chazzer]

Crombers said:

dcb said:

30 mpg is possible in a V8, if it is driven gently enough.
My assertion is that 30 mpg isn't very likely in practice,
due to any outbreak of even slightly enthusiastic driving
getting MPG downto low twenties or high teens or lower.

Your definition of "slightly enthusiastic" will vary from mine.

Neither my B10 or 540 has achieved 30mpg on anything more than going down a very steep hill. So yes it's achievable, but extremely unlikely in day to day driving. You will certainly never average 30mpg in my experience.

As for the cars Sport status, the insurance database has it registered as a Sport so I assume it's just a differently specced sport. Obviously the bumper trim may indicate replacement at some point.

I don't think it's over priced either. Buy it ATM and put and end to all this chat

One of the quickest and best ways to tell if its a sport or not is the colour of the headlining if its a dark charcoal colour it is if its anything else it isn't. Looks good and as it has been said go and buy it and wallow in 540ness btw I get about 22-27 mpg from mine or 7mpg if im trying

[dan101smith]

^^^ It has the dark A and B pillars, so it must have the dark headlining, Shirley...

[mrmarkyb]

ATM said:

This caught my eye on auto trader. I am looking for another car. Looks good and I prefer a manual box and it has a sunroof. What do people think?

2002 540i touring
63,000 miles
£6,695

Looks an excellent motor to me... If I had roughly £7k burning a hole in my pocket right now I'd certainly be looking at it!

Regarding all the hoo-ha over fuel consumption... What I know is the following...

My Dad had an E34 540i sport with the 6 speed manual, from new in 1995... He had it for 3 years and 90,000 miles and it averaged about 23-24mpg the whole time he had it... Now that's including 155mph autobahn cruising, backroad thrashes, motorway cruises, trips to the shops... Everything basically... On a motorway cruise he would get approx 30mpg average (as long as not straying above about 80mph really), thanks mainly to astronomically tall gearing for a petrol car (almost 40mph per 1000rpm in 6th)... I believe (though I may be wrong) the E39 540i Manual had the same gearbox and final drive ratios???

He has also had (from new) a couple of E39 M5's (though each only owned for approx 12 months each), and an E39 530i (with an auto box)... The M5's were a similar story economy wise to the E34 540i... Not quite as good, he averaged approx 22mpg in each of them overall, but on a motorway cruise they would return a steady 28mpg as long as staying below about 80mph... As I understand the final drive ratio is a fair bit shorter on the M5 than it is on an 540i, therefore the engine is revving a few hundred rpm higher for the same wheel speed...

In contrast to the manual V8's, the 530i Auto he had never got better than 23mpg average, and never bettered about 25mpg, even cruising on the motorway at the legal speed... Seems that the Six cylinder engine, whilst hardly highly stressed itself, isn't as lazy and effortless as the larger V8's, and combined with the auto box the situation isn't helped economy wise...

For what it's worth, I had a healthy E34 520i myself for a couple of years and only got between 27 and 30mpg (even on a motorway cruise) average... So the lazy 4 litre V8 is in reality only about 15% worse on fuel consumption, despite an extra 136bhp and a shedload more torque!

Beemer V8's are ripe for LPG conversions too of course (Evo have just bought an E39 Alpina B10 and are converting it to LPG to run as a long termer if you didn't know)... Probably what I'd do myself if I didn't have a company car (E90 320D which manages about 46mpg average)...

Of course though, drive any like you're late for an accident, and the fuel consumption will barely be in the teens so it's all academic!

[Hammerhead]

I remember seeing that car in the PH classifieds last year as I was mulling over buying it. The interior put me off as I'm not a fan of that shade of leather but it does look a cracking buy.

Black dash/door tops with grey leather and it would have been sat on my driveway

[chazzer]

dan101smith said:

^^^ It has the dark A and B pillars, so it must have the dark headlining, Shirley...

[5 wh]

I sold a similar car a few weeks ago(540i Sport Auto Touring 2002/52 fully loaded inc nav,phone,Xenons)for £4900.I delivered it to the purchaser in South Yorkshire,a trip of 125 miles.Out of interest I reset the MPG computer before I set off.At the journeys end I had averaged 31.9mpg and I didnt dawdle on the way there.

Amazing mpg for a large 4.4 V8 engined auto estate car.