E39 530i Touring
Discussion
I may be changing jobs and loosing the company car. This means for the 1st time in several years I have the opportunity to get a car I actually want.
Having thought about it for a while it seems the E39 touring provides the right level of practicality and in the 530i guise has a bit of poke.
So I'm thinking of something like this:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2009...
I'd apreciate any advise or pointers as to specific issues I should be keeping my eyes open for.
Thanks,
Phill
Having thought about it for a while it seems the E39 touring provides the right level of practicality and in the 530i guise has a bit of poke.
So I'm thinking of something like this:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2009...
I'd apreciate any advise or pointers as to specific issues I should be keeping my eyes open for.
Thanks,
Phill
Looks a very nice example. I've had two E39s, a 528 & 540 saloon and moved to a B10 touring over 18 months ago. I have to say I absolutely love it, not that I have much to cart about but if I ever do then there's plenty of room.
I personally find the touring handles better than the saloon, although that could be down to more than the saloon vs touring angle.
It's the suspension however that you need to look out for in these carss. For example, the rear axle carrier subframe bushes on mine were seriously bad at 66k. This causes the subframe to bang off the floor of the car any time you hit a serious bump. They would also cause a slight rocking to be felt when you pulled up and stopped. £500 should see them replaced.
Circa 80k you can expect the rear suspension air bags to think about going pop.. I had the pair of mine replaced at 70k along with the bushes - circa £400 for those. Upfront the control arms were replaced, another £500 I think I paid for those - that cured what felt like a warped disc shudder through the steering wheel.
Other than that, check the Touring gate for rust as they tend to go round about the handle.
Best of luck
I personally find the touring handles better than the saloon, although that could be down to more than the saloon vs touring angle.
It's the suspension however that you need to look out for in these carss. For example, the rear axle carrier subframe bushes on mine were seriously bad at 66k. This causes the subframe to bang off the floor of the car any time you hit a serious bump. They would also cause a slight rocking to be felt when you pulled up and stopped. £500 should see them replaced.
Circa 80k you can expect the rear suspension air bags to think about going pop.. I had the pair of mine replaced at 70k along with the bushes - circa £400 for those. Upfront the control arms were replaced, another £500 I think I paid for those - that cured what felt like a warped disc shudder through the steering wheel.
Other than that, check the Touring gate for rust as they tend to go round about the handle.
Best of luck
I've had my 51 plate E39 530i touring for over 5 years now. It's done 124k and I've had none of the issues referred to by the previous poster. Other than routine servicing,I've only had 2 minor problems. The throttle pot failed a few months ago, that was a £175 fix and the water pump went a fortnight ago. Replacement cost £32.
It averages about 27mpg in mixed driving, although you can get 32-33 at legal speeds on a long run motorway run.
It's without doubt, the best allround car I've owned and I wouldn't hesitate to buy another. You can find a buyers guide here and lots more info and good friendly advice on the 5series forums in which that guide appears.
The car you're interested in looks nice, but the asking price seems a tad optimistic. I'd use a UV lamp to check the seats for stains as the music accompanying the video in the advert is straight from a low budget porn film
It averages about 27mpg in mixed driving, although you can get 32-33 at legal speeds on a long run motorway run.
It's without doubt, the best allround car I've owned and I wouldn't hesitate to buy another. You can find a buyers guide here and lots more info and good friendly advice on the 5series forums in which that guide appears.
The car you're interested in looks nice, but the asking price seems a tad optimistic. I'd use a UV lamp to check the seats for stains as the music accompanying the video in the advert is straight from a low budget porn film
Edited by sparkythecat on Tuesday 27th October 22:38
Thanks for the pointers, so having looked at the buying guide and from your experience, the weak points seem to be:
The cooling system
The rear airbags and various other suspension bits.
Rust around the tailgate.
There are about 5 on trader at the moment that look promising. I'll let you know how I get one.
Thanks,
Phill
The cooling system
The rear airbags and various other suspension bits.
Rust around the tailgate.
There are about 5 on trader at the moment that look promising. I'll let you know how I get one.
Thanks,
Phill
Edited by hadenough! on Wednesday 28th October 07:16
sparkythecat said:
The car you're interested in looks nice, but the asking price seems a tad optimistic.
Just bought it...for the asking price.Very very nice car Having viewed 2 cars that were more expensive and nowhere near as dood and one that was £1500 cheaper but had another 45k miles it seemed like a reasonable buy.
Not a bargain but a good long term prospect. I phoned the dealer (Barons Hindhead) who confirmed they had serviced it from 3k miles right up to 72k in feb this year. Its on 81k now.
Phill
Nice one fellow - looks lovely.
Do a bit of research though on my rear bush suggestion. You'll find a number of BMW forums in both the UK or US where the vast majority of owners will pool together to have these swapped out by sharing tools / knowledge etc such is the wear rate on them. Many won't appreciate the impact of the worn bush on the ride quality, neither do some of the dealers infact but i can guarantee you its there.
Mine potentially went early in comparison but then there's not many B10 V8 Tourings out there to benchmark against.
Worthy of searching on bmwland.co.uk or forum.bmw5.co.uk!
Enjoy your new chariot!
Do a bit of research though on my rear bush suggestion. You'll find a number of BMW forums in both the UK or US where the vast majority of owners will pool together to have these swapped out by sharing tools / knowledge etc such is the wear rate on them. Many won't appreciate the impact of the worn bush on the ride quality, neither do some of the dealers infact but i can guarantee you its there.
Mine potentially went early in comparison but then there's not many B10 V8 Tourings out there to benchmark against.
Worthy of searching on bmwland.co.uk or forum.bmw5.co.uk!
Enjoy your new chariot!
Crombers said:
Looks a very nice example. I've had two E39s, a 528 & 540 saloon and moved to a B10 touring over 18 months ago. I have to say I absolutely love it, not that I have much to cart about but if I ever do then there's plenty of room.
I personally find the touring handles better than the saloon, although that could be down to more than the saloon vs touring angle.
It's the suspension however that you need to look out for in these carss. For example, the rear axle carrier subframe bushes on mine were seriously bad at 66k. This causes the subframe to bang off the floor of the car any time you hit a serious bump. They would also cause a slight rocking to be felt when you pulled up and stopped. £500 should see them replaced.
Circa 80k you can expect the rear suspension air bags to think about going pop.. I had the pair of mine replaced at 70k along with the bushes - circa £400 for those. Upfront the control arms were replaced, another £500 I think I paid for those - that cured what felt like a warped disc shudder through the steering wheel.
Other than that, check the Touring gate for rust as they tend to go round about the handle.
Best of luck
You're not wrong...but...I personally find the touring handles better than the saloon, although that could be down to more than the saloon vs touring angle.
It's the suspension however that you need to look out for in these carss. For example, the rear axle carrier subframe bushes on mine were seriously bad at 66k. This causes the subframe to bang off the floor of the car any time you hit a serious bump. They would also cause a slight rocking to be felt when you pulled up and stopped. £500 should see them replaced.
Circa 80k you can expect the rear suspension air bags to think about going pop.. I had the pair of mine replaced at 70k along with the bushes - circa £400 for those. Upfront the control arms were replaced, another £500 I think I paid for those - that cured what felt like a warped disc shudder through the steering wheel.
Other than that, check the Touring gate for rust as they tend to go round about the handle.
Best of luck
You can nearly half the prices quoted if you shop around a bit, do some bit's yourself and use a good general mechanic rather than a main dealer or specialist.
For instance I did the rear sub carrier bushes on my previous 540 for around £275. Bought the bushes from Euro car parts, hired the extraction tool of a guy on bmwland forums and handed that lot to my usual mechanic. Rear suspension bags are a piece of pee to DIY. I got a pair of nearly new looking ones for £100 from a breaker.
Brilliant cars, I@ve had 2 now but doing the Alfa thing at the moment. I reckon I will be repacing the Alfa with an E61 in a few years.
hadenough! said:
sparkythecat said:
The car you're interested in looks nice, but the asking price seems a tad optimistic.
Just bought it...for the asking price.
Let me know next time you're going car shopping. I'll do the deal for you and you can give me 50% of any discount I get. It's a win win situation!
Asking price indeed
Edited by sparkythecat on Thursday 29th October 23:05
sparkythecat said:
hadenough! said:
sparkythecat said:
The car you're interested in looks nice, but the asking price seems a tad optimistic.
Just bought it...for the asking price.Let me know next time you're going car shopping. I'll do the deal for you and you can give me 50% of any discount I get. It's a win win situation!
Asking price indeed
Edited by sparkythecat on Thursday 29th October 23:05
t out there and this is a rare genuine car.I have to say that I would never normally agree to paying asking price
But having seen a few 530i SE saloons between 6.7k and 6.3k and talking them down to 5.9k I saw a minty example at 5.4k
Flush with confidence I was ready to pick holes and leverage a lower price
However, it was faultless... nearly
When we parked up after the test drive it was weeping a little steam, popped open the bonnet and water was slowly seeping from the radiator top hose
We then discussed the option of me taking it there and then and getting it repaired and the vendor paying for the repair
However, not wanting to stress over not knowing how much the cooling system was loosing coolant on the 40 miles of heavy traffic journey home we agreed that the vendor would get it repaired at no extra cost and I'd pick it up 6 days later
True to his word it was repaired by a BMW dealer, paper work provided, it's on my drive now and is better than a lot of the tat I see advertised online
After long search and research (partly on here - thanks pistonheads.com) you could say I capitulated to the asking price
But the car looks like it came off the production line yesterday instead of 2001
Either it was professionally cleaned by Santa's little helpers or the one previous owner with full BMW FSH changed his shoes and softened his hands every time he got in it
I'm very happy with it and happy with the price I paid
As well as that the paperwork was immaculate and handled very professionally and efficiently - allowing for Royal Mail...
I would happily recommend this vendor - he had a few Bimmers on the drive he was scheduling to sell
So Jonathan, if I hear of anyone in the market for a quality uswed BMW I'll push them your way
m
But having seen a few 530i SE saloons between 6.7k and 6.3k and talking them down to 5.9k I saw a minty example at 5.4k
Flush with confidence I was ready to pick holes and leverage a lower price
However, it was faultless... nearly
When we parked up after the test drive it was weeping a little steam, popped open the bonnet and water was slowly seeping from the radiator top hose
We then discussed the option of me taking it there and then and getting it repaired and the vendor paying for the repair
However, not wanting to stress over not knowing how much the cooling system was loosing coolant on the 40 miles of heavy traffic journey home we agreed that the vendor would get it repaired at no extra cost and I'd pick it up 6 days later
True to his word it was repaired by a BMW dealer, paper work provided, it's on my drive now and is better than a lot of the tat I see advertised online
After long search and research (partly on here - thanks pistonheads.com) you could say I capitulated to the asking price
But the car looks like it came off the production line yesterday instead of 2001
Either it was professionally cleaned by Santa's little helpers or the one previous owner with full BMW FSH changed his shoes and softened his hands every time he got in it
I'm very happy with it and happy with the price I paid
As well as that the paperwork was immaculate and handled very professionally and efficiently - allowing for Royal Mail...
I would happily recommend this vendor - he had a few Bimmers on the drive he was scheduling to sell
So Jonathan, if I hear of anyone in the market for a quality uswed BMW I'll push them your way
m
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