RE: Shed of the Week: BMW 528i (E39)

RE: Shed of the Week: BMW 528i (E39)

Author
Discussion

gamefreaks

1,955 posts

186 months

Friday 30th November 2018
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Shed said:
Joji also did the E36 and E90 3 Series, and the least said soonest mended Z3.
It’s sentences like this that make me wonder if ‘Shed’ is a real person. I’m beginning to suspect ‘Shed’ is a Markov chain text generator program that has been fed a corpus of Top Gear and Honest John articles...

pSyCoSiS

3,581 posts

204 months

Friday 30th November 2018
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Also, I think these were the only 5er that came with just 6 cylinder engines as a minimum, whether it be diesel or petrol (not sure if the Continent got 4 pots?).

nav p

324 posts

186 months

Friday 30th November 2018
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Its Biarritz Blue btw not Avus

Nice car that.

helix402

7,832 posts

181 months

Friday 30th November 2018
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Badge delete was a no cost option.

Triumph Man

8,670 posts

167 months

Friday 30th November 2018
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pSyCoSiS said:
Also, I think these were the only 5er that came with just 6 cylinder engines as a minimum, whether it be diesel or petrol (not sure if the Continent got 4 pots?).
The continent got a 520d, with a whopping 136 bhp. Interestingly even my UK market handbook features "520d" on the cover (BMW used to list every variant on the cover)

kellyt

158 posts

118 months

Friday 30th November 2018
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helix402 said:
Badge delete was a no cost option.
I always assumed anyone with the badge delete had a tragic 520 and was embarrassed. 528 is perfectly respectable.

pSyCoSiS

3,581 posts

204 months

Friday 30th November 2018
quotequote all
Triumph Man said:
pSyCoSiS said:
Also, I think these were the only 5er that came with just 6 cylinder engines as a minimum, whether it be diesel or petrol (not sure if the Continent got 4 pots?).
The continent got a 520d, with a whopping 136 bhp. Interestingly even my UK market handbook features "520d" on the cover (BMW used to list every variant on the cover)
In all fairness and given the success of the E60 520d models, the E39 520d probably would have been a good seller for BMW UK, like the 320d was for the E46 range.

KPB1973

918 posts

98 months

Friday 30th November 2018
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Limpet said:
For the VAG stuff you also have VAGCOM/VCDS that can do everything the dealer tools do, and more. Could you run one of these on a similar basis? Genuine question, I don't know much about the E39.
To an extent, but they were complex for their time and working on one shows two things - firstly the level of engineering that went in to them, and secondly, how they had inherent flaws in some of the components used to deliver it. ABS sensors, chocolate cooling system, crankcase breathers (on 3.0d engines), injectors.

In terms of codes....earlier E39s have a different ODB connection but you can get an adapter cable. BMW's fault codes a bit more transparent than, for instance, VWs. £35 will get you a really good generic code reader which will tell you pretty much everything about all E and F series beemers.

My main advice for anyone buying an E39 is to get it up to temperature and let it run for a while whilst watching the temp gauge like a hawk. I got burned on this with one that drove perfectly but cooked itself the next day.




daveco

4,122 posts

206 months

Friday 30th November 2018
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I think autocar got a 0-60 time of 6.8 seconds out of a manual 528, and a fairly impressive 0-100mph time as well.

greenarrow

3,551 posts

116 months

Friday 30th November 2018
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pSyCoSiS said:
Triumph Man said:
pSyCoSiS said:
Also, I think these were the only 5er that came with just 6 cylinder engines as a minimum, whether it be diesel or petrol (not sure if the Continent got 4 pots?).
The continent got a 520d, with a whopping 136 bhp. Interestingly even my UK market handbook features "520d" on the cover (BMW used to list every variant on the cover)
In all fairness and given the success of the E60 520d models, the E39 520d probably would have been a good seller for BMW UK, like the 320d was for the E46 range.
I remember years ago a friend taking me out in Woods Bournemouth's Courtesy car, called "baby", an old E34 525 TDS. It went surprisingly well 4 up and I think only had 143 BHP, so yes a 520d would have been fine.

Yep, the 528i, for me the one that got away. Twice I was on the verge of buying and the Mrs Jettisoned the plans! In 2009 haggled down a seller to £1750 on an immaculate 528i, which was then only 11 or 12 years old. Imagine trying to find an equivalent 2007 model now for that money!

Surely in 5 years time it will be impossible to buy an E39 like this for £1500, based on E34 values?

Triumph Man

8,670 posts

167 months

Friday 30th November 2018
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daveco said:
I think autocar got a 0-60 time of 6.8 seconds out of a manual 528, and a fairly impressive 0-100mph time as well.
Would that fuel the rumours that these engines are sometimes (a lot of the time) more powerful than the manufacturer's data? The 530i manual with 230bhp was supposed to do 0-60 in 7.1 seconds so the 528i surely must have been running more than 193 bhp

daveco

4,122 posts

206 months

Friday 30th November 2018
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Triumph Man said:
daveco said:
I think autocar got a 0-60 time of 6.8 seconds out of a manual 528, and a fairly impressive 0-100mph time as well.
Would that fuel the rumours that these engines are sometimes (a lot of the time) more powerful than the manufacturer's data? The 530i manual with 230bhp was supposed to do 0-60 in 7.1 seconds so the 528i surely must have been running more than 193 bhp
I think the 2.8 litre engine was always under rated power wise but I'd say BMW could have been doing some tinkering with their press cars hehe

over_the_hill

3,185 posts

245 months

Friday 30th November 2018
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darkblueturbo said:
I used to have an E39! Awesome. I’m tempted, but the kids need Christmas presents more than I need a new shed.

So what does the F stand for in the newer BMW models?
No they don't. It's time you go back to traditional values and teach them about the true meaning of Christmas.




Limpet

6,293 posts

160 months

Friday 30th November 2018
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KPB1973 said:
Limpet said:
For the VAG stuff you also have VAGCOM/VCDS that can do everything the dealer tools do, and more. Could you run one of these on a similar basis? Genuine question, I don't know much about the E39.
To an extent, but they were complex for their time and working on one shows two things - firstly the level of engineering that went in to them, and secondly, how they had inherent flaws in some of the components used to deliver it. ABS sensors, chocolate cooling system, crankcase breathers (on 3.0d engines), injectors.

In terms of codes....earlier E39s have a different ODB connection but you can get an adapter cable. BMW's fault codes a bit more transparent than, for instance, VWs. £35 will get you a really good generic code reader which will tell you pretty much everything about all E and F series beemers.

My main advice for anyone buying an E39 is to get it up to temperature and let it run for a while whilst watching the temp gauge like a hawk. I got burned on this with one that drove perfectly but cooked itself the next day.
thumbup

helix402

7,832 posts

181 months

Friday 30th November 2018
quotequote all
Triumph Man said:
Would that fuel the rumours that these engines are sometimes (a lot of the time) more powerful than the manufacturer's data? The 530i manual with 230bhp was supposed to do 0-60 in 7.1 seconds so the 528i surely must have been running more than 193 bhp
The featured car has the M52tu B28. Power is restricted to meet German tax laws of the era I believe. The main restriction is the inlet manifold. You can fit the manifold from an M54 B30 to gain more power. Though you need an adaptor plate to fit the throttle body. These are available from Bimmertune. No remap is needed though you’d probably get more power if you did have one. You also need the B30 DISA valve.

Loplop

1,937 posts

184 months

Friday 30th November 2018
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Superb Shed!

In fact, it seems wrong to be calling it a shed!

I've been in possession of a 52 plate 530i Sport for the past 3 weeks and I'm loving it so far, despite the niggles from it being laid up for around a year.

My other BM is an E34 540i and as much as I adore the old girl (she's still my favourite!) The E39 is a massive leap ahead and in manual guise with the steering rack on the 6 pot models is a far better steer. Surprised to find that it actually 'shrunk' on a b road, it feels surprisingly agile for what is a very big, heavy car.

Performance in my 530i Manual is only a bit off my 540i Auto from a standstill, I'd say in gear at motorway speeds the 540 would disappear. However I used to average around 20mpg mixed in the 540, whereas I'm getting around 34 mixed in the 530.

The current oil consumption (DISA and CCV replacement required.) Probably offsets the decent fuel economy though...

sinbaddio

2,357 posts

175 months

Friday 30th November 2018
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Wow - absolute cracker of a car!

mrbarnett

1,090 posts

92 months

Friday 30th November 2018
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So far, everyone seems to be in agreement that this is one of those increasingly rare machines that is impossible not like / admire / love.

I am as much in awe of this machine as the next person but cumm'on, this is PH; where's the contrary opinion? Someone please come along and slag it off, just to restore normality. shoot

CraigyMc

16,326 posts

235 months

Friday 30th November 2018
quotequote all
KPB1973 said:
Limpet said:
For the VAG stuff you also have VAGCOM/VCDS that can do everything the dealer tools do, and more. Could you run one of these on a similar basis? Genuine question, I don't know much about the E39.
To an extent, but they were complex for their time and working on one shows two things - firstly the level of engineering that went in to them, and secondly, how they had inherent flaws in some of the components used to deliver it. ABS sensors, chocolate cooling system, crankcase breathers (on 3.0d engines), injectors.

In terms of codes....earlier E39s have a different ODB connection but you can get an adapter cable. BMW's fault codes a bit more transparent than, for instance, VWs. £35 will get you a really good generic code reader which will tell you pretty much everything about all E and F series beemers.

My main advice for anyone buying an E39 is to get it up to temperature and let it run for a while whilst watching the temp gauge like a hawk. I got burned on this with one that drove perfectly but cooked itself the next day.
All of the above is spot on. Mine ate its water pump (plastic impeller, gets more brittle with age and eventually becomes plastic chunks of coolant-system shrapnel) on the first day I bought it. Shutting the engine off immediately was a good move. It went back to the dealer that day and he had it fixed at his cost, which was nice, and 30K miles later it was still trundling about.

You may also have issues with minor electrical stuff (mine had a broken window regulator on the nearside rear, which never bothered me: left it broken) and a passenger side seat occupation sensor (which is a ballache to fix and causes an airbag warning problem).
Apart from that, great car. It even took an accidental 3ft launch off a yump well. I miss it.



Triumph Man

8,670 posts

167 months

Friday 30th November 2018
quotequote all
mrbarnett said:
So far, everyone seems to be in agreement that this is one of those increasingly rare machines that is impossible not like / admire / love.

I am as much in awe of this machine as the next person but cumm'on, this is PH; where's the contrary opinion? Someone please come along and slag it off, just to restore normality. shoot
Ah faaaacking old German Heaps, Korean is where it's at. Steering box blahdy blah....




lol jks I love my E39, and I know only the V8s had a steering box. That's a whole different argument...