BMW E39 528i SE Auto - Bangernomics

[ATM]

Bought this yesterday. W reg 2000 528i with genuine BBS wheels.

£600

My plan is just to use it for a bit and try not to spend any money on it. That's probably impossible so let's say try not to spend too much money on it.

Why did I decide I needed another car?

Well my other car is an E46 coupe with a 5.7 litre engine which I've been using as my daily driver. There are a few jobs that need doing to it so I thought it was time to get something else to use for day to day stuff. Also I'm hoping to use get the E46 out on some Track Days this year. So I've been looking round for a while but not bought anything. My mate bought a Mazda MX5 last week for 650 quid which inspired me to do better. I've never bought a car this cheap since about 15 years ago when I bought a Fiat Panda for 500 quid. Obviously I'm not comparing a 528 to a classic Panda.

There are some problems:

Lacquer Peel on boot lid
Electric windows on Passenger side dont work
Boot lid catch doesn't stay closed

Here are some pics I snapped to send to my mates who think I'm mad

Edited by ATM on Friday 4th May 09:56

[ATM]

walsh said:

I had one of these as an only driver for about 2 years.

It was brilliant. I paid about the same as you, got 25000 miles out of it. Spent £7.20 on some ATF fluid for the power steering, and 30 quid to replace the windscreen washer hose, and get the headlight adjusted.

Oh, and new rear tyres, but that was my fault.

Pretty bomb proof, provided you don't care about replacing stupid bits (pixels on dash for example),Apart from the overheating issue. Thats a bit of a pain.

Pixels are going on mine. I might just put some black insulation tape over the area and ignore.

The tyres all have tread and match but some are starting to look old. It has 235 40 18 tyres all round but they look a bit stretched on the 10 inch wide rears. If I'm honest the main reason I bought the car was the wheels as I'm hoping to be able to transfer them to my fun car. Maybe I'll use these old looking tyres for some drifting practice.

[ATM]

aspirated said:

Interesting spec, looks like it has the facelift Amber taillights which I thought only came on the police spec e39s?

It was imported from Japan.

[ATM]

trowelhead said:

Nice work is it auto?

Be fun to see how many miles you can rack up without spending anything.

Auto - Yes. I apologise for pointing out the title of the thread does say auto.

So day 3 of ownership and money spent so far nothing - other than tax, insurance and fuel.

I was on the motorway yesterday trying not to fall asleep and the driver in front slammed on their brakes. I hit mine and the vibration was quite alarming. It definitely woke me up. So if I don't touch the brakes it's fine. I would guess the brakes are at fault but I've heard a lot about the e39 wobble. So is this wobble from bushes or is it simply the brakes?

[ATM]

papercup said:

ATM said:

Boot lid catch doesn't stay closed

Open it up, the little spring will have snapped. Usually has a hooky bit both ends. Just bend the end of the spring out to make it a hook, and hook it on!

Meant to have a look at this yesterday.

Will go and have a look and maybe take some pics.

[ATM]

BorkFactor said:

Check the brakes first

Assume I am a total car novice - how do I do this?

[ATM]

papercup said:

walsh said:

ATM said:

Auto - Yes. I apologise for pointing out the title of the thread does say auto.

So day 3 of ownership and money spent so far nothing - other than tax, insurance and fuel.

I was on the motorway yesterday trying not to fall asleep and the driver in front slammed on their brakes. I hit mine and the vibration was quite alarming. It definitely woke me up. So if I don't touch the brakes it's fine. I would guess the brakes are at fault but I've heard a lot about the e39 wobble. So is this wobble from bushes or is it simply the brakes?

The "E39 Shimmy" is normally something you can feel at a 60-70 mph cruise, rather than a wobble on the brakes.

I know a lot of them do it, but I cant for the life of me remember what causes it.

Mine did warp a disk toward the end of my ownership. Only slightly, but enough to produce a vibration at higher speeds.

The E39 shimmy has nothing to do with brakes, its usually felt in a straight line around 40-50mph, from memory (My current 540 doesn't do it, the previous one did...). New front lower arms (which come with the bushes installed) fixes it.

Your brake issues are something else, and sound like they need looking at! New disks and pads ought to do it.

OK

I'll probably just order some then.

[ATM]

Any ideas what this is?

Edited by ATM on Friday 4th May 09:57

[ATM]

dragonheart said:

Its a reader for Japanese toll booth cards. If you look you should find a card slot in the mirror.

Damn

Was hoping for some form of phone.

[ATM]

Normally I'm a sucker for quality. But this is Bangernomics.

So do I order the cheapest Discs and Pads I can find or spend a bit more?

[ATM]

ATM said:

Normally I'm a sucker for quality. But this is Bangernomics.

So do I order the cheapest Discs and Pads I can find or spend a bit more?

Ordered Front Discs and Pads for 66.95

[ATM]

One thing I have noticed is that when braking if i touch a white line the car lurches to the side. So I'm guessing I also have some movement in the suspension.

I had some vibration on another car under braking. It turned out the caliper was sticking and cooking the disc.

In this car I've checked the car will roll freely when in neutral after a drive and it seems fine.

[ATM]

addz86 said:

It was only registered last July, seems odd someone would import a 15 year car from Japan but for the money looks a great buy!

Agreed.

There was a lot about the transaction which didn't add up -

Why would someone import it in the first place?
Why would someone sell it for only 600 quid?

Originally I wasn't planning to buy it, my mate was. When we got to the seller's house and started looking at the car and talking to him there were a few things which didn't feel quite right. So my mate was starting to talk about backing out of the deal so I swooped in and declared my interest.

At the end of the day when you're buying a car for 600 quid you have to assume that it isn't going to be right. As long as it is all above board legally then it's game on as far as I am concerned. So we saw the V5 in the seller's name at the address and he had the MOT so the deal was done.

The car is easily worth more in parts but that seems to be the way now at the bottom end of the market.

[ATM]

I've just fitted my new shiny Mintex brake discs and pads up front. Had a good look at the suspension arms and ball joints and they all look very good. My front shocks are yellow and the springs are blue.

While the front wheels were off I had a good look at them and my thought is they are genuine bbs. They have some numbers stamped on inside the spokes so I might do some digging on exactly what they are. Then we can get into the debate about keeping them and getting new tyres or switching to something smaller.

Took the car for a little spin to get some heat into the brakes. Steering wheel is rock solid now when braking. Built up to some 85 mph to almost stationary stops fairly hard on the brake pedal and was quite surprised at how well it hauls up. You actually feel a bit stupid hustling the old girl like that.

Anyway the car now feels great. Good enough to let my mum drive it. If she'll have the nerve is a different question for another day.

[ATM]

longblackcoat said:

bearman68 said:

On my E39 I've had a load of trouble with the front discs. I remembered now I have followed the thread through. Heavy ish braking will produce a fair bit of vibration in the wheel. So I've changed the front discs and pads, and all is well...... for a few thousand miles tops. And then it starts again. I found this with cheap brakes, so I put a decent set on with a 2 year warranty, and 6 months in, I can feel the same problem. When I put the discs on, I was pretty careful, and clocked the discs to ensure they were running true, and spent a while not braking heavily to bed them in, but still no good.
So, I'm about to change the discs for the 3rd time in about 5k miles. What's going on??

It's not the brakes, it's the front bushings, IIRC. Had this with an E39 530D about ten years back. Changed disks several times, like you, then got it sorted. Seemed to need re-doing every 30k or so.

Wouldn't 30k from a set of front discs be classed as acceptable?

[ATM]

ATM said:

Pixels are going on mine. I might just put some black insulation tape over the area and ignore.

The tyres all have tread and match but some are starting to look old. It has 235 40 18 tyres all round but they look a bit stretched on the 10 inch wide rears. If I'm honest the main reason I bought the car was the wheels as I'm hoping to be able to transfer them to my fun car. Maybe I'll use these old looking tyres for some drifting practice.

Update

Went to Manchester this weekend and then to Hemel Hempstead. Car behaved faultlessly although I started to worry about the rear puncture. I pumped it up to 2.5 bar before I went to Manchester and then when I checked it 4 hours later it was already down to 1.8 bar.

So I had the rear tyre puncture repaired today. Whilst looking at the rear wheels I realised I'd made a mistake. The rear wheels are not 10 inch Wide. They're all the same 8.5 inches wide and ET10 - so I guess this is the offset. They all wear matching 235 40 18 Dunlop tyres. The tread looks quite good on these although the rubber is cracking a bit - probably from Sun damage.

The list of fixed and remaining problems is now:

Fixed
Vibration when braking - new discs and pads £67
Rear Puncture - repaired £15

Remaining
Lacquer Peel on boot lid
Headlight Covers look cloudy
Chrome trim all looks nackered
Electric windows on Passenger side dont work
Boot lid catch doesn't stay closed
Remote locking doesn't work so have to use Key in door
Radio only picks up Radio 2
Sat Nav says No Disc
Slightly jerky gearbox
Revs occasionally die
Pixels on Dash
Speedo reads in KM

[ATM]

I'm really starting to like this car now. It drives really well. The mpg is worse than I thought but I'm not bothered. It must be better than my v8. I'm still undecided about the lowered suspension and big alloys. I guess it would drive a lot nicer without these but the expense of changing is probably more than the car is worth. So in true bangernomics style I'm trying to not start spending money on it. I have got my eye out on ebay for some genuine e39 alloys and if anything pops up locally which is cheap enough I'll probably buy. The MOT is not due for another 4 weeks but I thought I'd get it in early just in case. I've just dropped it off so lets see what happens.

[ATM]

Failed

On headlight adjustment

So I've asked them to fix this

Looks like I've now got another 12 months cheap motoring to look forward to IF nothing breaks

[ATM]

My 600 quid bruiser is back. Update to issue list and expenditure:

Fixes - Expense
New front discs and pads - £67
Rear Puncture repair - £15
MOT headlight adjustment - £12
MOT test - £40

Remaining
Lacquer Peel on boot lid
Headlight Covers look cloudy
Chrome trim all looks nackered
Electric windows on Passenger side dont work - EDIT the passenger rear window now works but the driver side rear does not
Boot lid catch doesn't stay closed
Remote locking doesn't work so have to use Key in door
Radio only picks up Radio 2
Sat Nav says No Disc
Slightly jerky gearbox
Revs occasionally die
Pixels on Dash
Speedo reads in KM

[ATM]

Recently I've become more wary of the lack of grip from the tyres. They seem to spin up very easily when its a bit damp and the abs also cuts in when braking firmly. So I know I need to do something but have been a little indecisive around switching to a smaller size wheel or just getting new tyres.

Now I'm thinking I should just use the set of summer tyres off my e46. They're 225 40 and 255 35. Hopefully these will fit fine on the 8.5 inch wide wheels on the bruiser.

So I already have these tyres doing nothing and I'm leaning towards some more track specific tyres for the e46 anyway.

Here is how she looks after a £3 wash by the Eastern Europeans with lots of acid based chemicals.