E39 finally gives up...
Discussion
Well, tonight my beloved old 530iAT finally gave up on me... It has developed a gearbox fault and I think it's simply not going to be economical to repair.
It's been like a comfy pair of slippers for the 67K miles I have done in it (it's now showing 147K). It's been a good car, hardly the paragon of reliability, it's let me down a few times and it's cost me a few £££s along the way, but certainly no more than the depreciation would have been on a newer, duller car; and when it was working (which to be fair was most of the time) it has done its job perfectly. It has also spurred me on to do some of my own repairs and maintenance, which has been great fun, and taught me a lot. So all in all I don't think it owes me anything now, it's time to let it rest in pieces...
I will be sad to see it go, not least because I will realistically have to replace it with something small and economical and boring... Ho hum.
So, my question is what bits can I get away with removing before I send it to the scrap yard? I suppose some of the bits could be sold on fleabay like interior trim cargo net etc... Anybody have any advice?
It's been like a comfy pair of slippers for the 67K miles I have done in it (it's now showing 147K). It's been a good car, hardly the paragon of reliability, it's let me down a few times and it's cost me a few £££s along the way, but certainly no more than the depreciation would have been on a newer, duller car; and when it was working (which to be fair was most of the time) it has done its job perfectly. It has also spurred me on to do some of my own repairs and maintenance, which has been great fun, and taught me a lot. So all in all I don't think it owes me anything now, it's time to let it rest in pieces...
I will be sad to see it go, not least because I will realistically have to replace it with something small and economical and boring... Ho hum.
So, my question is what bits can I get away with removing before I send it to the scrap yard? I suppose some of the bits could be sold on fleabay like interior trim cargo net etc... Anybody have any advice?
Well yes ok, it's a 'think' as opposed to a 'know', it just has the feel of an expensive problem.
It all started the other morning, I pulled away from our house and there was a 'thump' and the little cog light came on... I stopped, switched the car off and then on again and the light went away. I was on my way to work so decided to chance it. I'd seen the light before (though without the thump), after a ferry crossing 6 months ago and it didn't come back after switching it off.
All was well for about 30 miles up the motorway when the thump happened again and the box dropped to 4th and wouldn't select gears manually using the steptronic. I was near my exit so I pulled up off the motorway an switched off again and all was well. I was close to work so I drove it there. When leaving work it was fine all the way home.
Today I drove to work and all was still well with the car, but on the way home I got the thump again. I stopped again which cleared the fault, but as soon as I got to about 70 it happened straight away. It drove ok apart form that and as soon as I came off the motorway I stopped and the fault cleared, but I'm not going anywhere further than walking distance in it now, I feel it in my bones that it's about to lunch itself. (By the way, I do know this isn't a particularly reliable method of car fault diagnostics...)
If it was just the light, I'd say it was an E39 glitch, battery, sensor, or some such problem, but the thump suggests something mechanical. Even investigating such things makes it a bit uneconomical, it's a 10 year old gas guzzler and worth buttons in today's market.
It all started the other morning, I pulled away from our house and there was a 'thump' and the little cog light came on... I stopped, switched the car off and then on again and the light went away. I was on my way to work so decided to chance it. I'd seen the light before (though without the thump), after a ferry crossing 6 months ago and it didn't come back after switching it off.
All was well for about 30 miles up the motorway when the thump happened again and the box dropped to 4th and wouldn't select gears manually using the steptronic. I was near my exit so I pulled up off the motorway an switched off again and all was well. I was close to work so I drove it there. When leaving work it was fine all the way home.
Today I drove to work and all was still well with the car, but on the way home I got the thump again. I stopped again which cleared the fault, but as soon as I got to about 70 it happened straight away. It drove ok apart form that and as soon as I came off the motorway I stopped and the fault cleared, but I'm not going anywhere further than walking distance in it now, I feel it in my bones that it's about to lunch itself. (By the way, I do know this isn't a particularly reliable method of car fault diagnostics...)
If it was just the light, I'd say it was an E39 glitch, battery, sensor, or some such problem, but the thump suggests something mechanical. Even investigating such things makes it a bit uneconomical, it's a 10 year old gas guzzler and worth buttons in today's market.
Cheers for the kind offer miniman, I work in Bristol, so that's a real possibility if you are around in the evening weekdays?
I hear what you are saying sprouting, and you make a convincing case. I'm just not sure I want to carry on with the E39, the problems seem to be popping up a bit too regularly these days. When all is said and done it's my daily drive, it just needs to plod up and down the motorway reliably, and it's not really doing that job well any more. I get my PH kicks elsewhere and I purposely bought an old barge with the view to run it till it died. Still, you have made me think that maybe I should save it, but there are financial limits. Then of course there is the excitement of getting a new car
I hear what you are saying sprouting, and you make a convincing case. I'm just not sure I want to carry on with the E39, the problems seem to be popping up a bit too regularly these days. When all is said and done it's my daily drive, it just needs to plod up and down the motorway reliably, and it's not really doing that job well any more. I get my PH kicks elsewhere and I purposely bought an old barge with the view to run it till it died. Still, you have made me think that maybe I should save it, but there are financial limits. Then of course there is the excitement of getting a new car
Ok, fair point. Then rather than a dull drive to work, how about a step back in time to a e34 525i. Motoring heaven if you ask me. Cheap to buy and apart from maybe some age related parts, depending on the quality of initial purchase, should make happy hassle free motoring.
Sorry gone totally off topic
Sorry gone totally off topic
Sorry but... what? Why does this mean you have to scrap the car? Even if it costs £1500 to rebuild its surely worth it, what can you buy for £1500 that will be even half as good?
What can you buy for £15000 that will be even half as good? Certainly not a newer BMW - been there, done that, got the t-shirt, got back into the E39.
I will never understand this curious obsession we British have with the value of our cars. It's a car you've had for a long time and you really like. It is broken, so... fix it. Then continue to enjoy it.
What can you buy for £15000 that will be even half as good? Certainly not a newer BMW - been there, done that, got the t-shirt, got back into the E39.
I will never understand this curious obsession we British have with the value of our cars. It's a car you've had for a long time and you really like. It is broken, so... fix it. Then continue to enjoy it.
Edited by Fox- on Friday 16th December 23:40
Hi
I agree with Fox above - there's nothing really you can buy that will be in the same league and do call Automatic Man in Acton for the gearbox rebuild if needs be. I paid £1475 inch VAT in 2007 when my gearbox went kaput at 172K miles. It's now on around 220K and I'm just keeping this car long term - when things go wrong, I'll replace and fix. When the F11's are down to a reasonable price I may jump into one of those, but there's some lovely E61's which might tempt me.. E39 will still stay as a workhorse though!
Cheers, Dennis!
I agree with Fox above - there's nothing really you can buy that will be in the same league and do call Automatic Man in Acton for the gearbox rebuild if needs be. I paid £1475 inch VAT in 2007 when my gearbox went kaput at 172K miles. It's now on around 220K and I'm just keeping this car long term - when things go wrong, I'll replace and fix. When the F11's are down to a reasonable price I may jump into one of those, but there's some lovely E61's which might tempt me.. E39 will still stay as a workhorse though!
Cheers, Dennis!
You can get a full rebuild at ZF in either Belgium or Holland. Can't remember which country, but do recall that a chap with a high mileage 535d got his done there, in a day, for about £700 all in. was a thread on it somewhere.
Certainly not worth binning an E39 just because the gearbox needs a bit of work.
Certainly not worth binning an E39 just because the gearbox needs a bit of work.
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