BMW E39 Touring - not a shed!

[MJ85]

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

[MJ85]

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.

[MJ85]

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.

[MJ85]

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?

[MJ85]

JakeT said:

I believe the Cold weather stuff is to prevent moisture building in the oil on shorter journeys and then freezing, ruining the CCV system.

Yeah, there is a cold weather CCV system (personally I don't think we need it in the UK, more for cold states in the US) which have insulated pipes (standard system only has one insulated pipe) and then the cold weather dipstick tube.

The oil drain from the CCV system routes back to the dipstick tube and then into the sump, allowing reuse of the oil. The standard system appears overly engineered for no gain. There is a double wall where the return oil drains down the outside of the main hole where the dipstick goes. This is extremely narrow, so blocks up and causes oil to backup to the CCV system and causes all sorts of problems. The single wall fixes all of this. The price has come down considerably (used to be £150 or something, but is now £56.04 delivered, from Cotswold BMW on the M3 Cutters site).

Tubes side by side


Angle grinder to open it up so you can see the double wall


The whole point of this fix was to heavily reduce oil consumption, which was terrible when I got the car. Now much, much better.

Some other random pics...

Lower rad hose. Once you pull out the temperature sensor, it rarely reseals, so a new one of those was required too



Clutch pedal cover had split on the corner, £2.92


Showing the bowing that knackered BMW radiators show. If you look underneath the car, and yours looks like this, get it changed. Euro Car Parts, genuine rad and expansion vessel was £125.99 with a discount code. Seemed okay to me.


Showing the potential difference in "Vavona" wood trim. I picked up a used full set to make a good lot from two.


Sun damage to the right hand piece of trim. Much nicer without said damage


Much better

[MJ85]

BenWRXSEi said:

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

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!

What colour leather is that? Looks interesting. That does look like it was a good car. What made you move it on?

[MJ85]

80quattro said:

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.

Ah, I had rear main seal, pilot bearing, clutch, flywheel, release bearing and random bits changed on my old M3. Might as well make the most of the access. How much did you pay for a 530i LCI, if you don't mind me asking?

[MJ85]

BenWRXSEi said:

MJ85 said:

What colour leather is that? Looks interesting. That does look like it was a good car. What made you move it on?

Ah yes, I'd forgotten about the leather. It was a sort of caramel brown interior I got from a pre-facelift 540 sport a friend was breaking.

It was a good car in fairness, and I still sort of miss it. I moved it on for a few reasons - partly because my 'fun second' car went from an MR2 to a Westfield which meant I was driving the daily more often, and also because a collection of not-too-bad-on-their-own things started to need attention all at once (fuel pump, tyres, MOT, tax, service was due, suspension was clonking etc). If had been a 530d sport I probably would have stuck with it but at the time it wasn't worth throwing the money at an SE when I was hankering after a more involving daily.

It's still the first car I ever drove on track though

Ha, good effort. Here is that 328i SE showing me up... Again, not the normal car for track work!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxCufWScNKA

[MJ85]

pits said:

I've got a feeling that is the trim I sold you last week, £15 on eBay?

Hi. It was a few months ago and quite a bit more than that.

[MJ85]

pits said:

MJ85 said:

Hi. It was a few months ago and quite a bit more than that.

Shame, if you need any bits let me know I sell bits much cheaper than most on eBay

Sure thing!

[MJ85]

Aaaand... she's for sale on a well known auction site! A house project and use of the Range Rover has meant that she just isn't being used and I could do with something even cheaper. I've just picked up a B5.5 Passat for peanuts!

Hopefully she will find a nice new home with someone!

[MJ85]

Oh yes, quite unrelated!

[MJ85]

Unfortunately, no.

[MJ85]

Aaaannnndd she's sold.

Final pictures, the clean before she was picked up:









Sale price was £1,550.

[MJ85]

She's been replaced with two cars:

2003 Passat PD TDI 130 estate - £550



2001 Renaultsport Clio 172 (track car) - £400