My BMW E39 540i Sport

[Max M4X WW]

Everything you said reminds me of my old one, I was going to suggest exhaust mods but maybe not if you are selling. I will post this anyway..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_a33CLgP7GY&li...

kiethton said:

Love the colour of yours, had my 540i up for sale a few months ago - first person called after a couple of days and I decided I couldn't let it go and have since spent £2k getting it perfect.

Glad you still have yours

[80quattro]

I've just sold my E60 545i SE, and my E28 M535i might be going soon. I've never owned an E39, so read the OP's comments with interest, as I might stick my toe in the water very soon. Thing is, I would really want a manual, and at least a 530i. Looking at specs, would an SE with upgrade wheels drive similarly to a Sport? I'm used to waft and high tyre walls, but don't want anything more bargelike than my E60 was.

[AdamGP]

Lovely looking 540, I will be looking for one come the end of summer, yours seems to fit the bill perfectly

[petrolveins]

AdamGP said:

Lovely looking 540, I will be looking for one come the end of summer, yours seems to fit the bill perfectly

I'll add you onto the steadily growing list. I'm going to struggle to bring myself to sell it.

[Caddyshack]

Mine was great, I took it from 70,000 miles to about 160,000 and it was just great, I drove to my wedding in my 911 and my wife was driven in my 540.

One tip is to change the top hose on the rad as they always fail.

I often say that it was possibly the best car I have ever owned when based on the "car for life" basis

Saw one the other day and thought it still looked great.

Drove my mates B10 first and made me buy my 540 as could not find a B10 at the time.

The sat Nav would be a bit dated now.

[petrolveins]

Little update for you all, had all the family in the car and a bootful of st last weekend on the M25 when all of sudden I lost all pressure in one rear tyre, in the outside lane doing 70, not ideal when there's 4 lanes of motorway and 2 lanes of slip-road between you and the hard shoulder! Back on the road in 20 minutes, having had to empty the whole boot, full size spare was a god-send (actually a front wheel from the staggered setup, but far better than a space-saver!) continued on our way no trouble at all. I decided to go for a set of Vredstetin Ultrac Sessanta I had on my E46 previously and impressed me, had them fitted yesterday.

I've also noticed the 50mph wobble when the car is cold, weird as it seems to stop once I've been driving the car a while, decided to buy the bushes anyway and waiting for them to get fitted.

I'm driving down to the South of France next month so want everything perfect. I will take in the Route Napoleon on my way down to so looking forward to that.

On another note, I'm slowly making progress with my next car. If I replace the 540i and Elise with one sole car I'm thinking 996 Carrera 2, Cayman S or Z4M. Trouble is I do like the idea of 2 cars still, less compromise that way, a comfy cruiser and a loud b-road/track day hero. Current thoughts are along the line of a R129 500 SL and and E36 M3. But I think 1 car is more sensible, the 911 would be a dream come true too.

[sparks_E39]

Lovely car. For the mileage I do I should of just got the 540i. I'm considering a late E38 740i Sport and chopping in my 530i. I really want a V8!

[Neil G60]

Good to see another E39 being loved and cared for, they're at at critical age and mileage now where they're cheap to buy and,assuming you want them to be in tip top condition, expensive to run. Rocker cover gaskets, dead pixels, suspension bushes, cooling systems etc all cost money. Nice to see one in a different colour too. Mine's Cosmos Black and a complete PITA to keep looking nice

[Court_S]

That is lovely.

The E39 is such a good looking car, especially the sport versions. I came close to buying a black one with champagne leather and regret not doing so. A family friend had an early one that just refused to die...it had 296k on the clock when it went. The biggest issue it had was rust.

Agree with the previous comment about them being cheap to buy but needing a lot of TLC. Guess the same can be said of the E46 too.

[S3_Graham]

sparks_E39 said:

Lovely car. For the mileage I do I should of just got the 540i. I'm considering a late E38 740i Sport and chopping in my 530i. I really want a V8!

Sparks, I switched out of the 530 as i wanted a V8, don't look past an E55 or CLK55 (like mine) they aren't much more than a decent 740!

[Max M4X WW]

Spotted you at MBW earlier but was rushing around and lost you in the carpark

[NiceCupOfTea]

Very nice - add me to the list of interested parties!

[petrolveins]

Max M4X WW said:

Spotted you at MBW earlier but was rushing around and lost you in the carpark

Oh when was this?

[dom9]

Lovely looking car - I'm finding it harder and harder to resist a V8 e39!

[Max M4X WW]

petrolveins said:

Max M4X WW said:

Spotted you at MBW earlier but was rushing around and lost you in the carpark

Oh when was this?

Probably about 3pm yesterday?

[petrolveins]

Max M4X WW said:

petrolveins said:

Max M4X WW said:

Spotted you at MBW earlier but was rushing around and lost you in the carpark

Oh when was this?

Probably about 3pm yesterday?

4pm it would have been, was picking someone up. Good spot! Wasn't there more than a few minutes.

[Jonny P]

petrolveins said:

On another note, I'm slowly making progress with my next car. If I replace the 540i and Elise with one sole car I'm thinking 996 Carrera 2, Cayman S or Z4M. Trouble is I do like the idea of 2 cars still, less compromise that way, a comfy cruiser and a loud b-road/track day hero. Current thoughts are along the line of a R129 500 SL and and E36 M3. But I think 1 car is more sensible, the 911 would be a dream come true too.

Great looking E39, I had the modest but lovely 528i. I am interested to see which car(s) you go for next as I have similar thoughts for later this year. One car or two, Porsche, BMW Lotus etc.

I love your idea of a classy Merc SL for pottering and a naughty e36 M3 in the garage.

[petrolveins]

Jonny P said:

Great looking E39, I had the modest but lovely 528i. I am interested to see which car(s) you go for next as I have similar thoughts for later this year. One car or two, Porsche, BMW Lotus etc.

I love your idea of a classy Merc SL for pottering and a naughty e36 M3 in the garage.

Drove a Z4M at the weekend, and it wasn't special enough. Lotus has rather skewed my idea of what a fun car is and set the bar very high, noise mostly. Z4M was too quiet. It just felt too safe and modern, and well.... dull. Went to a local Porsche specialist and wasn't that impressed either, didn't drive anything, but the sales guy wasn't much older than me, knew full well I'm not buying car imminently and just proceeded to tell me the 996 wasn't a good daily as its too old, a Z4M is st and a Cayman S is what I want because "it's so balanced you can slide it about". I explained I actually really liked the 996, and suddenly it was a great daily and you can get the back-end out on T-Junctions. Didn't like him one bit.

I think the two car garage is where it's at. E36 M3 with a naughty Eisenmann Race exhaust on it and then something 80s and achingly cool for the weekend.... a 635CSi. Could get both for the same money as the Elise and then sell the 540i and have some money to run them both. I want something that I enjoy, isn't an obvious choice and is something I want for me, not impress others.

[petrolveins]

Some good news. The 50mph wobble I was suffering was cured by new bushes. The big 5 feels superb again.

[kiethton]

and mine is dead again!

I dont even have the time to sort it for the next few weeks

Tracking down an electrical drain is a nightmare! Had the alternator done as that's what it was traced to and its returned (although with a longer period to drain) of just 10 days!