bmw e39 530 diesel sport????
Discussion
I have just bought a bmw 530 diesel sport2002, its an excellent car so far, apart from a few little things. I bought it from a friend who buys cat c's and d's. This was a cat d and needed a new front bumper, slight damage to the bonnet and a new airbag. It still needs a new airbag, does anyone know of a place where i could get one for cheap and how easy it is to replace?
There is a nasty sounding clunking noise when conering or driving on a bumpy road, i understand this could be the bushes? Are these easy replace? Its done 125,000 miles, does anyone know the service intervals and what they entail? Also i would like to upgrade the stereo, something with satnav and ipod compatibility, bluetooth so i can use the phone, maybe touchscreen, recommendations and rough prices please. All the work will probably be carried out by myself depending on the ease of the job. Thank you in advance for your replies.
There is a nasty sounding clunking noise when conering or driving on a bumpy road, i understand this could be the bushes? Are these easy replace? Its done 125,000 miles, does anyone know the service intervals and what they entail? Also i would like to upgrade the stereo, something with satnav and ipod compatibility, bluetooth so i can use the phone, maybe touchscreen, recommendations and rough prices please. All the work will probably be carried out by myself depending on the ease of the job. Thank you in advance for your replies.
I hope you didnt pay mre than 2k for the car!
You need to download the manual for the car and read up on the car and how it tells you it needs a service. Does it have service history?
No idea on the suspension, but if it is related to the accident then it could be expensive. Hopefully as you say it is just bushes or whaetever- nothjing to do with thecar being in a crash previously^^
You need to download the manual for the car and read up on the car and how it tells you it needs a service. Does it have service history?
No idea on the suspension, but if it is related to the accident then it could be expensive. Hopefully as you say it is just bushes or whaetever- nothjing to do with thecar being in a crash previously^^
First things first - that clunking noise could be drop links as much as bushes. Best get it checked out by a specialist. Don't use a dealer - they'll rape you. Forza West come highly, highly recommended but they're in Chepstow which might not be good for you.
Secondly. Your gearbox. Is it auto? Yes? Get the filter changed pronto. It might not have been changed since it was first rolled off the prodcution line. There are mixed reports as to whether you should change the gearbox oil or not but if you find the box starting to hunt gears or change for no apparent reason most of the time it's the solenoids packing up (5 in the diagram here - http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=DL81... Try to look after the gearbox. It's 2k for a re-conditioned one.
On that front I'd take out a warranty with a reputable warranty firm asap. Warranty Direct. Make sure the gearbox and turbo is covered!! £499 or so.
In terms of service lights - when you turn the ignition on look to the left of the dash. How many green lights are showing? Is there a faded red one on too? Does it say inspection below it? Perhaps there's a clock face too? If inspection is showing it means it needs at least an oil and filter service (inspection I) and at most an inspection II (full service including all mircro filters.) The clock face means your brake fluid needs changing.
As soon as i bought mine I had an inspection II done. I specced Castrol SLX longlife oil (mine's a 52 plated on 131,500 as of 27.1.10.
You can get pixels done for £100 on the dash and radio.
If you need anything else just fire away!
Cat D should have a VIC check and an independent engineer's report to tell you what repairs were done and by whom etc.....
Secondly. Your gearbox. Is it auto? Yes? Get the filter changed pronto. It might not have been changed since it was first rolled off the prodcution line. There are mixed reports as to whether you should change the gearbox oil or not but if you find the box starting to hunt gears or change for no apparent reason most of the time it's the solenoids packing up (5 in the diagram here - http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=DL81... Try to look after the gearbox. It's 2k for a re-conditioned one.
On that front I'd take out a warranty with a reputable warranty firm asap. Warranty Direct. Make sure the gearbox and turbo is covered!! £499 or so.
In terms of service lights - when you turn the ignition on look to the left of the dash. How many green lights are showing? Is there a faded red one on too? Does it say inspection below it? Perhaps there's a clock face too? If inspection is showing it means it needs at least an oil and filter service (inspection I) and at most an inspection II (full service including all mircro filters.) The clock face means your brake fluid needs changing.
As soon as i bought mine I had an inspection II done. I specced Castrol SLX longlife oil (mine's a 52 plated on 131,500 as of 27.1.10.
You can get pixels done for £100 on the dash and radio.
If you need anything else just fire away!
Cat D should have a VIC check and an independent engineer's report to tell you what repairs were done and by whom etc.....
thanks lads, its not an automatic, also it doesnt have an lsd, i would have thought with a sport model it would? when i turn the ignition on three green lights come on but go out after a few seconds. i dont think a cat ds need a VIC check, just the cat cs, as said above. i also dont really think the damage was that bad to affect the suspension. i live just outside of cardiff so i may take it to that place in chepstow to get it looked at. any ideas on the stereo? it has a tape deck with a cd changer in it at the moment, ive read on here that the tape decks could fetch a fair amount on ebay and i could put a cd player in place of the teape deck.im not really that bothered about not keeping it looking that original tbh, there is enough space to put a touch screen in surely? any ideas would be greatfully welcomed.
Hi there OP,
Some of the questions you asked have had a response, I'll go with providing some feedback to the audio side of things you asked about
Currently, Audio upgrades for E39's seems split amongst owners - theres the 'Needs to be OEM and nothing else' type and the 'Will go for aftermarket' type owners.
For Aftermarket you have a few options
1. Go for a Single DIN conversion kit and then install say an Alpine/Pioneer/Kenwood motorised flip out/up screen unit. Probably the simplest to do in terms of fitting. Downside is that in use the Air vents are partially covered up.
2. Go for a Janus Design double DIN installation kit, to allow a Double DIN unit from the likes of the above brands to fit into the aperture. this method is ALOT of work which involves modification of the Airbox to allow the unit to fit. Pro car install shops charge around 3-4 hours labour for this modification alone, so potentially £150-275 ish. It's about £140 for the Janus Design install kit so that brings the 'fitting' element to around £300-450 ish. The price of the Double DIN unit would be on top of that of course. This method will see you spending £900-1000+.
3. Wait till mid 2010 for the forthcoming Dynavin solution to be available. This is a chinese manufacturer who are making a head unit that has it 'all in one' and 'mimics' the BMW design of the OEM 16:9 screen for the E39 dash aperture. It has the Amplifier, GPS, DVD player all built into the unit. Downsides are it's an unknown Chinese brand/manufacturer at this stage, will probably be in the UK for 'around' £650-750 and will have less quality internal circuitry and IC's compared to a Alpine/Pioneer unit of the same price. Upsides are, it'll certainly look nice and be a real alternative to spending £300+ on 2nd hand OEM BMW bits on Ebay!
4. Some sort of in car PC install. This will require some fabrication skills in order to mount the screen section into the dash and make it 'look' nice. The rest of the install currently involves putting a Small form Factor PC in the boot of the car and connecting it all up. Software solutions run on the setup mean all sorts of stuff is possible.
Hope the above helps! cheers, Dennis! West London & Slough UK!
Some of the questions you asked have had a response, I'll go with providing some feedback to the audio side of things you asked about
Currently, Audio upgrades for E39's seems split amongst owners - theres the 'Needs to be OEM and nothing else' type and the 'Will go for aftermarket' type owners.
For Aftermarket you have a few options
1. Go for a Single DIN conversion kit and then install say an Alpine/Pioneer/Kenwood motorised flip out/up screen unit. Probably the simplest to do in terms of fitting. Downside is that in use the Air vents are partially covered up.
2. Go for a Janus Design double DIN installation kit, to allow a Double DIN unit from the likes of the above brands to fit into the aperture. this method is ALOT of work which involves modification of the Airbox to allow the unit to fit. Pro car install shops charge around 3-4 hours labour for this modification alone, so potentially £150-275 ish. It's about £140 for the Janus Design install kit so that brings the 'fitting' element to around £300-450 ish. The price of the Double DIN unit would be on top of that of course. This method will see you spending £900-1000+.
3. Wait till mid 2010 for the forthcoming Dynavin solution to be available. This is a chinese manufacturer who are making a head unit that has it 'all in one' and 'mimics' the BMW design of the OEM 16:9 screen for the E39 dash aperture. It has the Amplifier, GPS, DVD player all built into the unit. Downsides are it's an unknown Chinese brand/manufacturer at this stage, will probably be in the UK for 'around' £650-750 and will have less quality internal circuitry and IC's compared to a Alpine/Pioneer unit of the same price. Upsides are, it'll certainly look nice and be a real alternative to spending £300+ on 2nd hand OEM BMW bits on Ebay!
4. Some sort of in car PC install. This will require some fabrication skills in order to mount the screen section into the dash and make it 'look' nice. The rest of the install currently involves putting a Small form Factor PC in the boot of the car and connecting it all up. Software solutions run on the setup mean all sorts of stuff is possible.
Hope the above helps! cheers, Dennis! West London & Slough UK!
i want to listen to my ipod instead of having loads of cds in my car which will inevitably get nicked, i can take the ipod out with me. i have an itrip atm but its stopped working so im just going to upgrade the sytem, the itrip doesnt really go as loud as id like it too. i love blasting out my punk as loud as possible.
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