E38 750iL or E39 540i

[161BMW]

Where are the (cheap) very late well looked after E38 750iL or E39 540i I can't find any ????

[Rollcage]

Because they don't crop up all that often.

You can't have your cake and eat it very often in the automotive world!

[Devil2575]

Same place as all the cheap and well looked after E30 M3s...

[Lowtimer]

You can either have a cheap one or you can have a very well looked after one. Not both.
Or you can buy a neglected one and put a lot of cost and effort into resurrecting it. Your choice.

Incidentally, why not an E38 740i?

Edited by Lowtimer on Thursday 27th February 10:03

[sparks_E39]

You can't have both.

[161BMW]

I saw a really really nice very late E39 540i advertised. Not listed in PH today so much have sold. Was a London one. Had loads of money spent on it and loads of toys. I think these cars are bargains for what they offer. But obviously expensive to run.

[161BMW]

Lowtimer said:

You can either have a cheap one or you can have a very well looked after one. Not both.
Or you can buy a neglected one and put a lot of cost and effort into resurrecting it. Your choice.

Incidentally, why not an E38 740i?

Edited by Lowtimer on Thursday 27th February 10:03

Yeah I am learning the hard way about a neglected one and putting it right (ie my e30)

[andrewrob]

How cheap is cheap?

[sparks_E39]

I paid a few hundred over £3000 for my E39 530i in June last year. It's a great condition one and was at the upper end of the market but still costs a bit to run, costs are in my blog in my profile. A cheap one would need lot's more work.

[Rollcage]

I think one you'd get a really cheap one is to go to an auction.

I bought my old 1998 E38 728i from one - 56k, 8 stamps in the book, £680.

[161BMW]

andrewrob said:

How cheap is cheap?

About £3k

[andrewrob]

I picked up a 540 touring a few weeks ago for £3300 with 70k miles.
Some E39s are up at silly prices though. Fuel economy isn't great (didnt expect it to be) I'm just having mine converted to LPG.

[sparks_E39]

161BMW said:

About £3k

Ah. Well that puts you in the position to buy a very nice example of either. Not many E39s (non M5/Alpina) are worth more than about £4k. By cheap I assumed you meant like £1500 or something!

[Cheburator mk2]

161BMW said:

I think these cars are bargains for what they offer. But obviously expensive to run.

And here I think you are wrong...

I bought our 1 previous owner 1997 540i Touring for £3000 in 2009. It had 100k miles, it has just turned 130k. I think I can get £2000 for it pretty easily, considering it has just had Bilstein B8s fitted all round, the rear sub bushes were done last year and is sitting on 4 genuine M-Parallels with 4 brand new correctly sized Good Year F1s. Everything on the car works, including the BMW fitted mobile phone in the centre arm rest.

So, let's compare the costs:

£3k to buy, £500 for the Bilstein, £600 for the Goodyears, £250 for the rear subframe bushes, £150 for thermostat, viscous fan coupling and cam sensor, £340 for two Oil services and one Inspection II, £1000 for depreciation = almost £6k for 4yrs

E61 M5 - bought for £31k from Sytner in July 2011, Admiral paid out £22k when stolen in Sep 2013. £9k depreciation, 2 sets of tyres £2k, Oil service £500, 2 sets of brake pads fronts and rears £400 = almost 12k for 2yrs.

[161BMW]

I was assuming the fuel economy and maintenance of both these cars is quite a bit unless you can find one that's had load of recent work done.

[lufbramatt]

sparks_E39 said:

I paid a few hundred over £3000 for my E39 530i in June last year. It's a great condition one and was at the upper end of the market but still costs a bit to run, costs are in my blog in my profile. A cheap one would need lot's more work.

interesting stuff, been looking for a 530i or Alpina equivalent recently. Just holding out for the right manual one. Are the maintenance/repair costs getting the work done at a garage or DIY? Having spent what seems like months reading up on the things, they don't look too hard to work on- the last generation of "mechanical" cars.

[Cheburator mk2]

161BMW said:

I was assuming the fuel economy and maintenance of both these cars is quite a bit unless you can find one that's had load of recent work done.

That is also true, but somehow I still think that the depreciation that you would suffer on a newer car will dwarf the running costs of a 5-er or a 7-er. Of course, the latter is only true on the basis that the BMW is not a total lemon...

[sparks_E39]

lufbramatt said:

sparks_E39 said:

I paid a few hundred over £3000 for my E39 530i in June last year. It's a great condition one and was at the upper end of the market but still costs a bit to run, costs are in my blog in my profile. A cheap one would need lot's more work.

interesting stuff, been looking for a 530i or Alpina equivalent recently. Just holding out for the right manual one. Are the maintenance/repair costs getting the work done at a garage or DIY? Having spent what seems like months reading up on the things, they don't look too hard to work on- the last generation of "mechanical" cars.

I go through a BMW indie for most things and pay around £45 an hour labour I think. Which is half of what BMW charge. They're okay to work on, I'm not that mechanically minded though so I'd rather get an expert to do it.

[161BMW]

The attraction for me is IMO I think the E39 and E38 are the last " good looking" 5 Series and 7 Series IMO.
They both have very driver centric cockpits similar to the E46. Though IMO the new 5 Series is a looker. The E38 750iL just offers so much value for money so many toys. And the E39 5s they all have really sublime reviews especially in 530i or 540i form

[TinyCappo]

Try Forum.bmw5.co.uk Very good place to pick up a tidy E39 and the odd 7.

I had a E39 540 last year put nearly 30,000 miles on it in a year and spent about £1500 on servicing and parts.

other than a fuel tank level sender, a new rear suspension level sensor (I had the touring) and a new drag link that was really it. Other than that It was just Brakes and servicing. some of those things I changed myself, some I got a local Indi to do who was awesome.