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

[Limpet]

Triumph Man said:

Riggers said:

Triumph Man said:

And show me an 17 year old (as my E39 is now) Ford or something that doesn't have issues.

Show me a 2001 Ford Mondeo full stop.

A bit of geeking out on How Many Left tells me there are 8700-ish Mondeos still on the road that were registered in 2001 of just under 70,000 registered that year. By contrast, there are 4700 2001 E39s left, of 15,000 originally sold.

So the survival rate of the 5 Series is almost a third. The Mondeo's? Just over 10 per cent of cars.

Having said that, I ran a ratty 55-plate Mondeo diesel for a year, then simply threw it away before it failed its MoT. My current car is a 540i that has in 9 months already cost me more than half what I paid for it in maintenance, and is in the garage as I type racking up another invoice. However, I love the 540i and am prepared to stump up for stuff in a way that simply made no sense for the Mondeo. So maybe that's why 5ers live that bit longer...

I also get the sense that old E39s are generally (well now anyway) more enthusiast owned, so whilst you might see a 2001 Mondeo or Focus, it might well have cloudy headlights, be limping along with tired old suspension, and leak stuff. An enthusiast with an E39 would ensure this was fixed, and is probably more likely to write up about it, and before you know it the internet is full of information that this and that will go wrong and they are a lump of crap.

Of course this is a generalisation, and there are people who are fanatical about the preservation of their Mondeo 1.8 LX, but hopefully you get my point.

I think there's a lot of truth in this.

Most people aren't going to lavish any real care on a cheap, easily obtainable car that is in plentiful supply on the market. Fords hit this value way earlier than BMWs, so suffer from it earlier in their lives, and end up going off the road quicker. You get the odd 'owned from new' gem, but most are 5+ owner cars that are bought, run for nothing, and either sold on to another owner who does the same, or scrapped when something breaks that costs more than the peanuts value of a replacement car.

I've bought a few used Fords over the years, and I would say the number out there at 5 years old or more with anything approaching a full service history is actually pretty rare. If you do find a good one though, they will do huge mileages without any real expense.

[J4CKO]

Alright I suppose but its no Metro.

[Rumblestripe]

I don't get the fondness for this shape? Box at the front for the engine, box at the back for petrol and stuff and a box in the middle for people. Oh, and a "Hofmeister Kink"..

Yeah, nice engine, drives the rear wheels (so don't forget those winter tyres) but otherwise a bit meh.

[kellyt]

J4CKO said:

Alright I suppose but its no Metro.

Stand in the corner.

[Triumph Man]

Rumblestripe said:

I don't get the fondness for this shape? Box at the front for the engine, box at the back for petrol and stuff and a box in the middle for people. Oh, and a "Hofmeister Kink"..

Yeah, nice engine, drives the rear wheels (so don't forget those winter tyres) but otherwise a bit meh.

You want boxy, try the E34. This is positively swoopy in comparison!

[Bear-n]

Something just doesn't seem right.

The lad selling it is just a bit of a trader in low price cars on gumtree and the such-like (fine of course), but is a massive BMW fan (slow WFH day), has listed in on GT with a different phone number to the PH advert and hasn't been able to shift it since at least 12th November at that price

(If only it was as easy to get such information on my bloody PHSS victim).

[aaron_2000]

J4CKO said:

Alright I suppose but its no Metro.

This is where I ashamedly admit I kind of dig the Metro.

[pSyCoSiS]

kellyt said:

It's that Almandine Black (Purple) CL600 that has taken on the daily commute. Less reliable than the BMW, but what an engine!

W215 CL600. Nice. I have the CL500. Lovely car, not a cheap thing to keep...

Both a lovely set of rare colours! The V12 is sublime, but they do throw up big bills now and then (see the C215 recent buying guide).

My Dad currently has an individual E39 530i Sport in Velvet Blue, Champagne Nappa Leather with Velvet Blue Piping, Xenons, Heated Seats, 18" M Parralels, etc. He has had it 8 years now and we recently upgraded him to an E60 550i Individual. But you know what, the colour combo, solid build and air of quality about the E39 means he is still hesitant to let it go! The car is 18 years old, but still looks modern for it's age. Plus, there is a lot more bork associated with the E60 models as well. He is going to test the 550i for a month, and if happy, he will keep, if not, then the 550i goes and the E39 stays!

[gowmonster]

I have one of these with grey leather, that's about the only difference I can see, mine has a very rusty boot lid.

98k miles on mine has the leaky rocker gasket (due to be fixed soon when I can get the time) upper front control arms could do with a refresh.

great car, toyed with getting rid a few times cause I don't "need" 3 cars and a motorbike but I just can't get rid, I've driven it all week so far

[tch911]

pSyCoSiS said:

Both a lovely set of rare colours! The V12 is sublime, but they do throw up big bills now and then...

My Dad currently has an individual E39 530i Sport in Velvet Blue, Champagne Nappa Leather with Velvet Blue Piping...

Thank you, very kind. I can see, from your old man's choice of cars that you 'get it'. The key to Bangernomics is either:

- Buy the cheapest sttiest one, drive it until it breaks, then bin it.
- Buy the best one you can find, run it properly and enjoy driving a majestic car, for the same annual cost as it would to lease a new Golf.

I have always advocated searching out the Individual, or Designo models, as people usually tend to love these more. And a well-looked-after high-mile car is always better than a smokey low-miler.

I anticipate spending up to £3k a year on the CL600, worst-case. Some people would say that is bonkers given it's humble purchase price, but then there are others who will be lining up to buy this, I am sure. Previous owner to me was of the same mentality. A Ferrari-collector, he spent £9k on the car in four years, it was a complete no-brainer to buy.

Your father's Velvet Blue car sounds sublime, do get in touch with me if he decides to sell it!!!!!

[aaron_2000]

How does an E39 compare to an E46 to drive?

[tch911]

E39 RUST

For anyone new to BMW, or indeed new to the obsession that can become E39, E31 and E38.

If a car has rusty sills or rusty arches, I would walk away from it. Too much trouble by half.

On an apparently clean car, it is worth checking in two tell-tale spots:
- Inside the fuel cap, a classic water trap on these. Any owner worth their salt will chammy this out from time-to-time
- Around the rear boot-lid lock, and look up underneath the number plate recess at the number plate lights

It is here, on mine, that the very first signs of bubbling appeared. Getting a perfect colour match was never going to happen and I like my cars 'perfect'.

[paulmaurice99]

Love how we’ve digressed onto Mk3 Mondeos (and briefly MX5s) and pleased to see people sticking up for them. I think the poster who did bring them up was right: people generally won’t spend heavily to keep them in good condition, because ultimately they aren’t sufficiently sought after to justify the expense.

Part of the appeal though is you don’t feel obliged to. My 55 plate has minimal rust and is barely looked after. My cherished MX5 however...

Nice shed it would seem.

[_Neal_]

Really good shed, I went from E39 M5 to a 2003 530i Champagne II (Auto) and it was a great "do it all" car for a few years. Champagne leather was maybe not the best choice for two v.young kids, but other than that it was an excellent car, as said above, a lovely balance of taut handling on a B road and comfy on the motorway. Didn't find the (non-electric) seats that comfortable on long journeys though, to be honest.

It had a few issues but they were age-related and sorted as they came up - washer hoses needed replacing, air con pipe and condenser, coolant system overhaul including a new viscous fan, but all done by trusted local mechanic or, if they were easy, by me reading things online and fiddling. Prices were very sensible for all parts - no ///M tax even on the M-Sport cars - and very readily available. Just go into any purchase with your eyes open and be prepared to spend a bit getting the car sorted so it drives how it should.

All the classic issues are well known, and there's a load of information available on various forums, obviously. Apologies if anyone has mentioned it already but the ABS module failure referred to in the article is a pretty easy fix - either remove your module and send it to be rebuilt by a specialist (c,£400, with warranty) or, more cheaply (sub-£200) buy a second hand module and have it coded to your car by a BMW specialist. Symptoms are ABS, DSC and brake pad warning lights on the dash, but get the car diagnosed before you replace the ABS module, as I believe wheel speed sensors can throw the same problem (and are a lot cheaper to replace).

[sasquartch]

I had a 2002 530i SE until a few years ago and ran it to around 170k miles

Great car in many respects but there was always something that needed doing. Suspension and cooling system need regular replacements

It got to the point where the transmission was playing up (the torque converter would drop out of lock sometimes) and a whole load of other issues (ABS, heater-likely the hedgehog, start of rust to name a few) so as I needed a daily driver that was reliable I called it a day and virtually gave it away as a PX

However it was completely unmolested and an enthusiast with a bit of time could probably have ended up with a really good car

RX52 NXE are you still alive ? DVLA says it's MOT'ed but MOT History site says not ????

[Riggers]

Bear-n said:

Something just doesn't seem right.

The lad selling it is just a bit of a trader in low price cars on gumtree and the such-like (fine of course), but is a massive BMW fan (slow WFH day), has listed in on GT with a different phone number to the PH advert and hasn't been able to shift it since at least 12th November at that price

(If only it was as easy to get such information on my bloody PHSS victim).

Strong sleuthing. And although there's no problem with being a trader in low-price cars, he does have this up as a 'private sale'. Now, you can side-step Haymarket's trader ad rates if you like, and even side-step HMRC if you feel like indulging in a spot of mild tax fraud. And maybe he's a perfectly honest seller. Maybe. But if he is a trader, and he's not advertising himself as such... what else is he telling porkies about?

Bit of a red flag, I think.

(BTW The number will be different as it'll be a redirect, probably on both ads, for security reasons.)

[F4R]

As long as you're not expecting a sporty drive the e39 will be a pleasant thing to waft around in, and the straight six does sound very nice indeed. I had an E46 328i manual and it felt lazy and slow so it would put me off buying anything less than an e39 530i

[SuperBaaaad]

E39's are awesome. Here's my 540i:

[kellyt]

[quote=SuperBaaaad]E39's are awesome. Here's my 540i:

Sweeeeettttt!

[Triumph Man]

SuperBaaaad said:

E39's are awesome. Here's my 540i:

V nice.

I've always wondered what the BMW "L" shaped tail lights would have looked like on the saloon, but my photoshop skills are limited to opening the programme...