e39 5-Series. Money pit?
Discussion
Seriously thinking about getting one of theses. It would have to be a straight-6 petrol but I only have a budget of £3k. But, with this in mind, would buying an e39 I be committing financial suicide. The petrol costs, tax, and (now minimal) depreciation I can stomach, but how expensive are they in terms of maintenance, consumables and likely repairs?
Had a couple of E39's and ran them both over the 100k mark, ok so I sold my 540 as the cats were on the way out and wouldn't have made another MOT but for everything else they were pretty reasonable.
Biggest risk of expense is tyres if you have the wider sport alloys or 18's and get unlucky with a puncture.
OEM parts for everything else (radiators, brake discs, etc) are pretty cheap to get hold of from euro car parts and the like and there are enough E39's out there to keep scrappers in business when you need something at a semi-bargain basement price like a new brake caliper, etc.
Do it, you'll love it
Biggest risk of expense is tyres if you have the wider sport alloys or 18's and get unlucky with a puncture.
OEM parts for everything else (radiators, brake discs, etc) are pretty cheap to get hold of from euro car parts and the like and there are enough E39's out there to keep scrappers in business when you need something at a semi-bargain basement price like a new brake caliper, etc.
Do it, you'll love it
Frances The Mute said:
You can get a lot for that money - namely a late 530i sport which would be my choice.
They're can be quite efficient in terms of overall running costs, too.
Not for £3000 for a late one. A ropey 2000/2001 example maybe. A cheap E39 isn't cheap for long...They're can be quite efficient in terms of overall running costs, too.
Op is better off buying a really nice late 528 for £2500. If it hasn't had a replacement cooling system it will need it soon. About £400 all in. They are fantastic cars but they are not cheap to own, and cost just shy of £100 to fill! That lasts me 350 miles in my 528. They are all old now and stuff like suspension will probably be knackered and that's another £500 fix. For the money they are brilliant cars and I utterly adore mine.
Edited by sparks_E39 on Wednesday 24th August 00:11
sparks_E39 said:
Not for £3000 for a late one. A ropey 2000/2001 example maybe. A cheap E39 isn't cheap for long...
Op is better off buying a really nice late 528 for £2500. If it hasn't had a replacement cooling system it will need it soon. About £400 all in. They are fantastic cars but they are not cheap to own, and cost just shy of £100 to fill! That lasts me 350 miles in my 528. They are all old now and stuff like suspension will probably be knackered and that's another £500 fix. For the money they are brilliant cars and I utterly adore mine.
Well my 2000 528 cost me £800 and just went through it's service and MOT with no advisories and nothing major in the service. Whoever had it before seemed to care about it - it came with conti-sports and SP9000s.Op is better off buying a really nice late 528 for £2500. If it hasn't had a replacement cooling system it will need it soon. About £400 all in. They are fantastic cars but they are not cheap to own, and cost just shy of £100 to fill! That lasts me 350 miles in my 528. They are all old now and stuff like suspension will probably be knackered and that's another £500 fix. For the money they are brilliant cars and I utterly adore mine.
Edited by sparks_E39 on Wednesday 24th August 00:11
It has 180,000miles on it - possibly everything had already broken and been replaced though...
wsurfa said:
Well my 2000 528 cost me £800 and just went through it's service and MOT with no advisories and nothing major in the service. Whoever had it before seemed to care about it - it came with conti-sports and SP9000s.
It has 180,000miles on it - possibly everything had already broken and been replaced though...
Fair play i see the logic. Some of the best cars i've had have been the ones that people spent a fortune replacing plenty of expensive parts and then decide they want out due to fear of the next big thing.It has 180,000miles on it - possibly everything had already broken and been replaced though...
aka_kerrly said:
wsurfa said:
Well my 2000 528 cost me £800 and just went through it's service and MOT with no advisories and nothing major in the service. Whoever had it before seemed to care about it - it came with conti-sports and SP9000s.
It has 180,000miles on it - possibly everything had already broken and been replaced though...
Fair play i see the logic. Some of the best cars i've had have been the ones that people spent a fortune replacing plenty of expensive parts and then decide they want out due to fear of the next big thing.It has 180,000miles on it - possibly everything had already broken and been replaced though...
All suspension components
Anti roll bar links
Cam sensors
Radiator/cooling system
ABS sensor
Dead dashboard pixels (£80)
Ignition barrel
Breather pipe
Previous owner paid £3000 for reconditioned gearbox.
£800 is a bargain for an E39 in good nick, I wouldn't let mine go for less than a grand.
sparks_E39 said:
Frances The Mute said:
You can get a lot for that money - namely a late 530i sport which would be my choice.
They're can be quite efficient in terms of overall running costs, too.
Not for £3000 for a late one. A ropey 2000/2001 example maybe. A cheap E39 isn't cheap for long...They're can be quite efficient in terms of overall running costs, too.
Edited by sparks_E39 on Wednesday 24th August 00:11
As well as cooling systems, I believe autobox issues above 100k miles are to be expected as well. I had a 530i SE for about a month - got rid as I started to get transmission error messages on the dash and it would lurch like crazy into reverse gear at times. I had already replaced radiator and gear oil cooler.
You do see lots for sale having had a new or reconditioned box which a) supports the theory of failures and b) means that you can press ahead with a purchase of what is a fantastic car without too many worries.
HTH.
You do see lots for sale having had a new or reconditioned box which a) supports the theory of failures and b) means that you can press ahead with a purchase of what is a fantastic car without too many worries.
HTH.
I had a 2000 528i sport for a year (June 2010-Aug 2011) had 128k which i took to 134k, Had to replace front tyres, have the ABS ECU re-manufactored (£160) and it over heated. I flushed the full coolant system through and got any air out the system, then filled up again with water. Sold it the next week to some Polish guy who lived 250 miles away, Never heard anything back from him so i pesume was ok. So total outlay in 14 months was £200 for tyres and £160 for the ECU
I have just sold my mint 530i sport, been in the family for 5 years. It was a facelift model with the 18 inch parras. Only costs was for general serving and tyres. Had it for sale on here and autotrader, first 2 weeks at 3 grand, no calls and next 2 weeks at 2750 with no calls. Ended up trading it in and getting 2500 for it, which I thought was ok. Totally regret selling it, but due to changing jobs and having a 600 mile a week commute I had no choice.
I can only speak for the late 525d I had for two years and ran from 120,000 miles to 290'000 only big thing was a recon turbo which cost about £500 fitted. As long as you're sensible-i.e don't go anywhere near a BMW dealership,even the parts department, they cost next to nothing eg front and rear discs and pads £100 the lot, Heater hedgehog £25- ebay and the thousands of Eastern European e39 fans are your friends.
Only changed mine because it got written off and the two year old Merc I replaced it with is very close to going and me spending four months payments on a far better old BMW 530d Sport.
Only changed mine because it got written off and the two year old Merc I replaced it with is very close to going and me spending four months payments on a far better old BMW 530d Sport.
infradig said:
I can only speak for the late 525d I had for two years and ran from 120,000 miles to 290'000 only big thing was a recon turbo which cost about £500 fitted. As long as you're sensible-i.e don't go anywhere near a BMW dealership,even the parts department, they cost next to nothing eg front and rear discs and pads £100 the lot, Heater hedgehog £25- ebay and the thousands of Eastern European e39 fans are your friends.
Only changed mine because it got written off and the two year old Merc I replaced it with is very close to going and me spending four months payments on a far better old BMW 530d Sport.
Where did you get discs and pads that cheap? And what make?Only changed mine because it got written off and the two year old Merc I replaced it with is very close to going and me spending four months payments on a far better old BMW 530d Sport.
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