0a’s BMW E39 528 SE

[0a]

Only owning the 3 cars for the last few months gave me the itch to buy another. The question was - pug 205, Saab 9000 or another Merc.

So the logical choice was a BMW E39.

I had a nice manual 525 in the crosshairs, had arranged to meet the seller last night, and was actually on the train when I performed the history check. The car came back as Cat B and o wasn’t convinced by the seller’s response (perfectly possible he’s right - I just know that my report has the Cat B on it, and so would the report of anyone I sell it to!).

As I was on a train to London I looked at the other E39s available in the rough area and decided that this one looked the best.











The car is as good as it looks in the photos - which is nice!

In the last year it has had:

Radiator
Electric fan
Water pump
Pulleys (?)
Belts
Thermostat
Radiator hoses
Rocker gadget
Front discs
Rear discs
Rear pads
Rear springs
Rear spring bushes
Front suspension struts
Pollen filter
Air filter
Radiator cap
Lower radiator hose
Rear suspension arm
4x tyres

So for £1,395 I think this seems like reasonable value.

It certainly drove well on the 120 mile trip this evening.

[Turbotechnic]

Nice motor OP, I'll stick my neck out and say the last of the proper BMWs. They looks spot on, slightly understated with no fuss just how a BMW should look. I need to pull my finger out and snap up a 530i sport before it's too late. Happy motoring

[0a]

thanks. There are a couple of things to think about doing on it, but nothing urgent:

- one of the front lights is misted up
- only has 1 key
- stone rash on the bonnet is starting to corrode
- wipers could do with changing

[sprouting]

My passenger side headlight was replaced with a brand new one 8 years ago and is still perfect. The driver's side was replaced with a refurbished one about 3 years ago and is misting up again so I would recommend new if you can.

[d_a_n1979]

0a said:

thanks. There are a couple of things to think about doing on it, but nothing urgent:

- one of the front lights is misted up
- only has 1 key
- stone rash on the bonnet is starting to corrode
- wipers could do with changing

Lovely looking E39 there

I nearly went for an Oxford Green 528i before I bought my 2nd 530i, it was a lovely motor but the sills had gone when I looked properly, so pay attention to those and any other surface rust you see

The jacking points are a known weakness on this car, so get all the covers off underneath when you can to check all the underneath out for any rust!

Keys are easy to sort, £150 via BMW or cheaper via someone on Facebook. I’m not on there, but the E39 pages are a great source of info (and unfortunately the usual knobbers)

As for wipers, the Goodrain ones fit well and can be bought off eBay, if your wipes haven’t got the necessary clips in place. If they have, then any decent hook fit wiper will fit (Bosch aero etc)

Front lights misting is common, the sals go and they really can’t be sealed properly. But as yours is a ore facelift, you can get new lenses via eBay IIRC, so can replace and seal them at the same time

Looks like it’s been maintained really well, so enjoy driving it

[1Toomanycars]

Lovely old cars these, and I've owned mine for coming up 5 years now as a 3rd/4th car.

We cover fairly minimal miles a year with it, but have never had to spend a penny on it (bar the mods i carried out when bought it, but that was by choice) and it's never let us down, but for the car with the least value in our ownership, it gets pampered the most!

Mind you, the car hasn't cost us anything directly, but we did have the entire driveway and front garden dug up (room for about 8 cars), resurfaced and a garage erected for it.

Costs us just over £100 per year in a classic insurance policy too.

Edited by 1Toomanycars on Sunday 23 December 10:51

[0a]

Wipers now done with Bosch items - £21 from ECP, ordered, applied discount, picked up 1 hour later.

These are really impressive cars going down a B road compared to other barges. I’m no car reviewer, but this old cheap car does seem to flow with the road so to speak.

[sprouting]

I think the i6 cars are much better to hustle than the v8's. Mine loves a long distance jaunt but feels big and heavy trying to hustle along on smaller roads.

[PowerslideSWE]

As a serial e39ist I approve.

It looks great in SE spec too, and the 528 is a really nice engine.

Edited by PowerslideSWE on Tuesday 25th December 19:22

[0a]

PowerslideSWE said:

As a serial e39ist I approve.

It looks great in SE spec roo, and the 528 is a really nice engine.

Yes I have always liked the SE spec. A colleague with a 318D M sport said the wheels are far too small. I’m pleased about that. He had his bill for pointlessly large and uncomfortable tyres a couple of months back...

[Mr Tidy]

Oa, that looks like a lovely E39.

If you want a spare key, depending on where you are I got a flip-style one cut and coded for my Z4 from Mike in the North West:- https://www.facebook.com/ZedShedNW/

Or there is BMKeys in East London.

[0a]

Thank you very much for the responses!

I attended the annual barge thread in the e39 where I think it looked okay:



As posted on the same thread, I have now driven the car 1,000 miles (it has been an unusually quiet few weeks), so now have a better view on what it’s like.

These e39s drive very well. The refreshed suspension does that old merc thing of being comfortable but firm fantastically - but the e39 handles a lot better (it is a later car though). I’m quite impressed. I have a 330 mile drive back up north on Sunday where I will be able to compare it more directly against the W124 and r129 (as well as the D2 A8 and Lexus LS400 - both of which were dead boring to drive compared to the mercs).

The viscous fan appears to be on when the car is cold, so that will need looking at. It seems fine when the car is hot which is a bit strange.

The car also seems to have developed a rattle from the rear door (I read around on the web and it seems to be the rear door seals - a good slam and it’s now fixed, from the reading this will be temporary).

Other than that, it’s all good.

On reflection, the interior is in stunning condition for 137k miles - none of the usual bolster wear at all.

[harrykul]

Any interior pics Oa?

Also, if yours is an auto, I'd put a gearbox service on your to do list as a preventative measure.

[0a]

If anyone fancies this drop me a PM. It will be ebayed with no reserve soon. I never bothered to fix the ABS/traction warning light - it has driven fine for months with them on. No doubt a bit of spend required to fix.

Good cars these e39s. I have enjoyed my time with this one. However I have 5 cars and my mechanic is struggling to get time for the ones I want to keep.

[rayyan171]

Very nice, looking to restore ours soon. The viscous fan coming on when cold is normal I believe, when we were driving ours it always came on when cold, and went off when warm. Nice big whoosh coming from the engine when leaving in the morning!