The New E39!

[jamster1432]

Hi All

The names Jamie, J for short. Im 23 from Oxford im an IT Consultant and also run my own IT Consultantcy Company on the side. (felt like saying "hello Cilla" then?!)

Ive been contemplating on getting an Audi A6/A8 TDI over the last couple of weeks and after some good advice on here and from my mother (mother knows best haha!) I decided to purchase a E39 BMW.

Ive always had a soft spot for these models, love the look of them and after taking a cruise with a couple of friends on saturday into London to have a look at a couple, I came back with the below. (Apologies for the lack of pictures - I assure more will be coming at the weekend)



So for the sum of £3850, I now have the following;

E39 BMW 530d M Sport (Auto)
Professional SatNav with euro maps
DVD Player and 6CD Changer
Full unmarked black leather (Rear seats hadnt been sat in or looked brand new!)
Electric/Memory Seats
Dual Zone Climate
Electric mirrors with kerb function
Auto headlights
Auto dimming mirror
The spare tyre has not touched the ground in its life, still has the paper protector under the screw top
No marks on any of the interior
Toolkit all unused and intact
torch in glovebox is present, untouched and working (touched now)
Full BMWSH (Verified)
One owner from new!
All brand new Dunlop tyres

If ever I go to any BMW Meets, come see, it looks like its done 60k not 160k! (its coming up to 160k)

Downsides:

PDC doesnt work, front centre left and right not working and rear middle left not working.
Pixels on dash gone

Thats about it. Will put some pictures up when ive cleaned it properly at the weekend and got the camera out!

Cheers
J

Edited by jamster1432 on Thursday 17th November 14:52

[M5Dave]

Nice motor, enjoy.

These 18" M Parallel Spoke alloys really do make the E39 Sport look fantastic.

[jamster1432]

M5Dave said:

Nice motor, enjoy.

These 18" M Parallel Spoke alloys really do make the E39 Sport look fantastic.

Thanks very much!

Racked up nearly 200 miles already! They do make the car stand out more! Did look at getting the 525d Avus Sport but liked the look of this just with the better alloys.

[WillowPillow]

Very nice. Also considering one of these albeit a 530i - or 540i! - i'm also around the same age as you. How are you finding the autobox? If you're not used to them that is? I don't know whether to go for manual or auto E39...

[ChrisDT]

Stunning - I wish i'd bought a silver one instead of Black, and the 18's do look so much better than my 17's (I feel insignificant now )

[Fox-]

Absolutely fantastic looking car, congratulations. But then I would say that, as it looks identical to mine

It's not an M Sport though, it's a Sport. M Sport didnt come along until 2005, after the end of E39 production.

[Fox-]

WillowPillow said:

Very nice. Also considering one of these albeit a 530i - or 540i! - i'm also around the same age as you. How are you finding the autobox? If you're not used to them that is? I don't know whether to go for manual or auto E39...

We have both auto and manual 530i Sport's in the household. The manual is mine which I bought when I was 22. I prefer it to the auto - it's more fun to drive and as a bonus its a bit quicker and a bit more economical as well. That said the auto is absolutely lovely for wafting about - its such a smooth combination with that engine. The tiptronic function is a bit gimmicky, though - it isn't really responsive enough to be a proper manual replacement. So if you like to waft, get the Auto, otherwise you'll love the manual.

[Jw Vw]

Very nice car OP. Prefer the E39 over the E60 and yours looks lovely.

[The Stiglet]

Fox- said:

Absolutely fantastic looking car, congratulations. But then I would say that, as it looks identical to mine

And mine!

Glad you found your way over J. Hope you enjoy it, looks absolutely fantastic...oh wait, we've been down this route already...

[jamster1432]

WillowPillow said:

Very nice. Also considering one of these albeit a 530i - or 540i! - i'm also around the same age as you. How are you finding the autobox? If you're not used to them that is? I don't know whether to go for manual or auto E39...

540i! I hope you have the pennies to fill it! Mine is averaging around 27mpg at the moment as im doing short runs (TBH didnt expect it to be as bad as this - but was told so cant go back on my words!)

Finding the autobox ok, ive never had an Auto before so it is all new to me. I have found that when crusing at around 30/40mph it has a little bit of a hissy fit to which gear it wants to be so on the little journeys tend to leave it in tiptronic.

Also found that the tiptronic seems to get better MPG. Is this the case with anyone else?

Cheers
J

[Max M4X WW]

The Stiglet said:

Fox- said:

Absolutely fantastic looking car, congratulations. But then I would say that, as it looks identical to mine

And mine!

Me too!

Nice looking car I also have a 540i but doing 23mpg doesn't bother me too much if yours does 27!

[Fox-]

jamster1432 said:

Finding the autobox ok, ive never had an Auto before so it is all new to me. I have found that when crusing at around 30/40mph it has a little bit of a hissy fit to which gear it wants to be so on the little journeys tend to leave it in tiptronic.

Also found that the tiptronic seems to get better MPG. Is this the case with anyone else?

Cheers
J

It shouldnt do that - its a wonderful smooth box when driving around town.

27mpg is about right for a 530d Auto around town though - they are not economical cars when doing stop start trips from cold. Used to get 29mpg from a 530d manual on this sort of driving.

[The Stiglet]

Max M4X WW said:

I also have a 540i but doing 23mpg doesn't bother me too much if yours does 27!

Snap and circa 27-28 mpg on a motorway cruise.

[jamster1432]

Fox- said:

It shouldnt do that - its a wonderful smooth box when driving around town.

27mpg is about right for a 530d Auto around town though - they are not economical cars when doing stop start trips from cold. Used to get 29mpg from a 530d manual on this sort of driving.

Well i think i know what it is, took it out at lunch and i think its my foot! ha!

im using the pedal like a manual and apparantly its completely different as they have sensors or something (as my mate says)

Well im going to get it remapped in the next week or so, so should be a lot better. Anyone had the Remap and DPF removal as this is what was mentioned to me when I called?

Also just bought some new ice white LED rear number plate bulbs and some smoked side indicators as im not a fan of the chrome ones. Also the new toy should come tomorrow in the form of the 2012 Sat Nav CD :P

Thanks
J

[Fox-]

I wouldn't remap it, the diesels have a GM autobox which is not as strong as the ZF box.

I believe its only rated to 10nm more torque than the 530d develops as standard.

[jamster1432]

The Stiglet said:

Snap and circa 27-28 mpg on a motorway cruise.

hmm motorway cruising its not too bad, when I Picked it up from London, fuel barely moved by the time I got to oxford. Average about 38-45mpg

I think a PistonHeads BMW Meet is in order

J

[jamster1432]

Fox- said:

I wouldn't remap it, the diesels have a GM autobox which is not as strong as the ZF box.

I believe its only rated to 10nm more torque than the 530d develops as standard.

really... i was only looking at eco maps not performance but i suppose each map increases the performance anyway :S

J

[R_T]

Fox- said:

It shouldnt do that - its a wonderful smooth box when driving around town.

27mpg is about right for a 530d Auto around town though - they are not economical cars when doing stop start trips from cold. Used to get 29mpg from a 530d manual on this sort of driving.

Great choice of car! My E39 530d Auto is showing 34mpg average on the computer with the majority of the driving in town. Have had 40mpg+ on fast long journeys fully loaded.

[Oi_Oi_Savaloy]

Great cars - if you haven't already done so get the oil breather changed (diy is v straight forward too). I've learnt the hard way on this - just spent £2,000 buying and fitting a new turbo because I didn't know these things need changing. It's a £40 part.......

http://home.tiscali.nl/luuk60/ for DIY EGR clean and oil breather change.

Instead of chipping her why not choose a different downpipe? The downpipe is restrictive so one of these:

http://www.ecotune-scotland.co.uk/product/BMW_E39_... might be the way forward. It's what I'm doing next.

You can also reset the accelerator potentiometer too (google) that might help a little bit with the jerkiness. It'll learn the way you drive once you've re-set it.

Oh and any jerkiness under braking isn't necessarily warped discs - it's more the bushes need changing....

Mine achieves 37.1mpg overall. I get over 42mpg on a run (at 80) and that's tank to tank rather than watching the computer. Mine's now done 163,000 miles.

[AJ-T]

Looks lovely. When I get home from being offshore Im going to look at a few E39's. I have no idea about BMW's but want a new car to replace my Hyundai Getz 1.1 (embarrassing I know) My other car is a pretty mental Focus RS which is again nothing like a BMW. So far I have read all good things about the E39 and for me, its still the best looking 5 series.

Any help or advice be greatly received on what to look for. Im looking to spend 6k ish on a top spec 530i sport or champagne edt. Cheers, Andy.