1998 BMW 523i SE 100k miles? opinions please

[willd58]

My friend and I have now seen a 1998 BMW 523i SE 100k miles Auto

Its a 1 owner car with 6 months warrenty from the dealer, Full Service History with 13 Stamps

Cost is within the budget of £2k

Obviously the sensible options here are Primera or Mondeo, but its worth comparing and at least seeing what can be had in the budget.

What should my friend be prepared for reliability/maintenance wise if he goes with the BMW?

Is a warchest of £1k a year a sensible thing to have in reserve/in case things go wrong?

[jboy72]

willd58 said:

My friend and I have now seen a 1998 BMW 523i SE 100k miles Auto

Its a 1 owner car with 6 months warrenty from the dealer, Full Service History with 13 Stamps

Cost is within the budget of £2k

Obviously the sensible options here are Primera or Mondeo, but its worth comparing and at least seeing what can be had in the budget.

What should my friend be prepared for reliability/maintenance wise if he goes with the BMW?

Is a warchest of £1k a year a sensible thing to have in reserve/in case things go wrong?

The only sensible option sub-£2k IS the e39 523i. My friend owns a 1998 523i SE and has done 170,000 miles since he acquired it (250,000 now showing on the clock). Wanting a newer car he bought himself a 2003 525i with 100,000 on the clock. Although he loves his new car, he was slightly surprised to find that his 523i drives every bit as tightly as the 525i and kind of wonders why he really bothered. Although a 2002 Primera / Mondeo for the same money as a 1998 e39 may seem tempting, your friend should drive all 3 and I can virtually guarantee that there is only one he will want to drive home. The pre-facelift e39 is not - in my opinion - the best looking car out there BUT the combination of the quality materials, quiet cabin, smooth inline 6 engine (legendary is how this engine is often described) and rwd are compelling. I say this not as a particular fan of BMW by the way (and so with no particular axe to grind) - Im not tub-thumping...! But I always fancied an e39 just to see what all of the fuss is about and having owned mine for 6 months, I now know what all the fuss is about. They are very good cars.

In terms of recurring problem areas, I think these can generally be summed up as Nikasil, vanos, coolant system and suspension. I think a 1998 523i might actually escape the former two (google to find out more) but with a mileage of 100,000, unless there are recent receipts, your friend should budget for the radiator, thermostat, water pump (or all 3!) to go. My radiator went within 7 days of owning my e39 and I have to admit I was fearing the worst as I wondered what was going to go in subsequent weeks but that has actually been the only thing so far and the 12 month MOT came with no advisories only one month ago... I think a war chest of £1000 should cover it.

You could check out www.bmw5.co.uk for more advice.

But I would go for it.

[bazking69]

Engines are generally bulletproof and good for hundreds of thousands of miles if looked after. 100k really is still in its youth if it has had regular servicing.

The water pump is a simple and cheap job when the bearings do go, which they will soon if it hasn't already been done.
The E39s do suffer with radiator issues that might land you with a £200-£300 bill at worst.

Apart from the usual E39 foibles like the pixels in the display etc it is a tried and tested product built to high standards to last and wear well.

A 100k 1 owner car with FSH and a 6 month warranty sounds about as good as you can ask for IMO.

[stone-islandV8]

Dependant on what the build date of the car was...google Nikasil, its well documented.Nikasil engines ran roughly mid 1996-mid1998 though a lot of the cars may well have had a change to an Alusil engine....and if you know what you're looking for its easy enough to tell.

At 100k miles budget £100-£150 for a gearbox oil change.

Don't necessarily agree with pre-facelift not the best looking...in reality apart from a couple of trim changes and the headlights and tail lights theres not much difference and if it bothers you that much the angel eye headlights can be added for circa £320.

The 523 is probably the sensible compromise but the 528 shouldnt be ignored.

HAving had 3 E39s, a 520, a 535 and currently a 540 the main issues have been pixels disappearing on the display, engine swap on the 520 (it had a nikasil engine which gave up the ghost) and a coolant problem on the 535 sorted with a new pipe and new rad cap. So far the 540 owes me a PCV valve.

Good cars when looked after at silly prices now.

Edited by stone-islandV8 on Wednesday 8th July 22:07

[Kinky]

I've had a '99 Touring version for a few years now - and it's been an absolute dream and delight. The only problem I've had was related to the ignition switch. The fuel consumption is not brilliant compared to the 525 - but that aside I can't argue. It's been a used and abused workhorse

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...