BMW E39 530i Sport (another one)
Discussion
There seems to be some E39 love her on PH so I thought I'd post up a few pics of mine. Don't expect any epic 'Lexspace' rebuilds though! Just to manage your expectations!
I got hold of the car in November 2009 with just shy of 61k on the clock. It was a one-owner car; a doctor in Bath who bought it ex-demo from Wellsway. It came with every receipt for every nut and bolt since new, all keys and even an original E39 sales brochure, oh and a Tracker. It's now at 89k.
The car's had various parts resprayed in my ownership, some minor rot sorted on the rear slam panel and numerous mechanical bits attended to including the usual E39 trouble spots such as the new cooling system, rocker gasket, hedgehog, and various suspension arms and bushes. I don't really want to add up the receipts...
I also fitted a decent modern hi-fi so I've got Bluetooth, CD, ipod, DVD etc - the OE set up really ages the car with its tape deck! (with Dolby NR obviously). I've always been into car hi-fi as it's the only place I can listen to my music without being moaned at. I never grew out of the teenage metal phase...
Speakers are all JL Audio in the stock speaker pods for maximum invisibility:
With a Diamond Audio sub firing through a bulkhead cut out:
It's all powered by a JL 500/1 v2 for the sub and a Genesis Profile 4 for the speakers - both amps were sourced second hand through Talk Audio. Second hand amps really are the way to go...
I also had the wheels refurb'd at Spit and Polish who diamond cut the spokes and lip FOC. Here it is at Munich Legends after a service and machine polish by their in-house guy:
I recently had some coilovers fitted too.
I weighed up the pros and cons of conventional springs/dampers and coilover. I was on the verge of pulling the trigger on a set of Koni FSDs, then a set of Monroes coupled with Eibachs or H&R springs. I even looked at getting some Hartge springs following a very enlightening chat with the tech guru at Birds. In the end, ‘premium’ kit was bl00dy expensive with a set of Billies coming in at over £600 just for the dampers alone. Plus if I was unhappy with the ‘stance’ (I hate that word) I’d be stuck with it. I’ve also had experience with cheapo coilovers (FK Highsports) which were terrible and expensive ones (KW V1s) which were amazing but over £1000 for the E39 (remember the car's only worth £4k absolute tos). I spoke to a guy who used to look after my Corrados ( http://www.johnmitchellracing.co.uk/) who works on all sorts of expansive rebuild projects and he recommended a set of AP coilovers. He’s a friend and I trust the guy so I knew he’d be accommodating in the event that they weren't what I was after. AP are the ‘budget’ brand of the KW stable which also include Weitec which have now been absorbed into the KW product range. What the APs lack are damping adjustability and the stainless ‘Inox’ coating and I guess the internals are slightly different too. The APs were applied with spray on wax following fitting so they should stand up to corrosion well. So the car was booked in…
I also had a set of new top mounts F&R , Goodrich braided hoses, Pagid front discs and pads a new fuel filter fitted (everyone E39 owner should do this!). Whilst the wheels were off I also completely decontaminated them and applied a hard wearing sealant to protect the finish.
Fitting is quite an involved process, especially on a 13 year old car. I went down for the day to assist/get in the way:
New shiny bits:
10mm spacers F&R:
Braided hoses:
Wheels off and being decontaminated, this was second application of the excellent CarPro T.R.I.X. product which dissolves iron and tar:
Removing the old sticky wheel weight glue - I wish tyre fitters would take a bit more care when fitting new rubber:
FK1000P applied, a great sealant with very good longevity and temperature resistance:
And buffed off after being left in front of a heater to cure over tea break:
Getting there:
Rear deck apart:
Language was quite Anglo-Saxon at this point:
Pressure bleeding the brakes:
Laser alignment as the very accommodating NADUK ( http://www.naduk.co.uk/), it was about 8pm by this point. We came back with all ‘greens’:
So the journey home was great right up until the rear top mount on the passenger side popped though! You can just about see the spring in the photo.
I limped the car home and had it trailered back to the workshop the next day. Basically the lower washers on the to mount were too small and allowed the lower rubber portion of the top mount to deform enough to ‘pop through’, not something which could have been foreseen by any stretch. Apparently KW have seen this on a very limited number of cars, the replacement washer they sent wasn’t to John’s satisfaction so a new larger washer was sourced from BMW and was deemed man enough for the job. If you’re running AP or KW (or maybe even Weitec) coilovers watch out for this potential problem! So the car was reassembled with new parts, and now brand new OE BMW bump stops and we’re back to 100%.
The car now as it stands. It actually looks much better in the flesh and the 10mm spacers really set the look off, especially when the car’s viewed from the three-quarter:
In terms of ride quality and handling it’s definitely comparable to the factory M-Sport set up. You can feel there’s less travel running this ride height but the damping’s good and the comfort is probably 80-90% as good as stock. These aren’t a track kit by any stretch, they’re too soft for that but I wanted a set up that would retain the OE top mounts for close-to-factory NVH. Plus the car’s not low enough to compromise camber levels and it’s still driveable cross-country without having to worry about every bump in the road. Only time will tell about their corrosion resistance but there’s a lot of waxoyl on the threads and bodies.
I got hold of the car in November 2009 with just shy of 61k on the clock. It was a one-owner car; a doctor in Bath who bought it ex-demo from Wellsway. It came with every receipt for every nut and bolt since new, all keys and even an original E39 sales brochure, oh and a Tracker. It's now at 89k.
The car's had various parts resprayed in my ownership, some minor rot sorted on the rear slam panel and numerous mechanical bits attended to including the usual E39 trouble spots such as the new cooling system, rocker gasket, hedgehog, and various suspension arms and bushes. I don't really want to add up the receipts...
I also fitted a decent modern hi-fi so I've got Bluetooth, CD, ipod, DVD etc - the OE set up really ages the car with its tape deck! (with Dolby NR obviously). I've always been into car hi-fi as it's the only place I can listen to my music without being moaned at. I never grew out of the teenage metal phase...
Speakers are all JL Audio in the stock speaker pods for maximum invisibility:
With a Diamond Audio sub firing through a bulkhead cut out:
It's all powered by a JL 500/1 v2 for the sub and a Genesis Profile 4 for the speakers - both amps were sourced second hand through Talk Audio. Second hand amps really are the way to go...
I also had the wheels refurb'd at Spit and Polish who diamond cut the spokes and lip FOC. Here it is at Munich Legends after a service and machine polish by their in-house guy:
I recently had some coilovers fitted too.
I weighed up the pros and cons of conventional springs/dampers and coilover. I was on the verge of pulling the trigger on a set of Koni FSDs, then a set of Monroes coupled with Eibachs or H&R springs. I even looked at getting some Hartge springs following a very enlightening chat with the tech guru at Birds. In the end, ‘premium’ kit was bl00dy expensive with a set of Billies coming in at over £600 just for the dampers alone. Plus if I was unhappy with the ‘stance’ (I hate that word) I’d be stuck with it. I’ve also had experience with cheapo coilovers (FK Highsports) which were terrible and expensive ones (KW V1s) which were amazing but over £1000 for the E39 (remember the car's only worth £4k absolute tos). I spoke to a guy who used to look after my Corrados ( http://www.johnmitchellracing.co.uk/) who works on all sorts of expansive rebuild projects and he recommended a set of AP coilovers. He’s a friend and I trust the guy so I knew he’d be accommodating in the event that they weren't what I was after. AP are the ‘budget’ brand of the KW stable which also include Weitec which have now been absorbed into the KW product range. What the APs lack are damping adjustability and the stainless ‘Inox’ coating and I guess the internals are slightly different too. The APs were applied with spray on wax following fitting so they should stand up to corrosion well. So the car was booked in…
I also had a set of new top mounts F&R , Goodrich braided hoses, Pagid front discs and pads a new fuel filter fitted (everyone E39 owner should do this!). Whilst the wheels were off I also completely decontaminated them and applied a hard wearing sealant to protect the finish.
Fitting is quite an involved process, especially on a 13 year old car. I went down for the day to assist/get in the way:
New shiny bits:
10mm spacers F&R:
Braided hoses:
Wheels off and being decontaminated, this was second application of the excellent CarPro T.R.I.X. product which dissolves iron and tar:
Removing the old sticky wheel weight glue - I wish tyre fitters would take a bit more care when fitting new rubber:
FK1000P applied, a great sealant with very good longevity and temperature resistance:
And buffed off after being left in front of a heater to cure over tea break:
Getting there:
Rear deck apart:
Language was quite Anglo-Saxon at this point:
Pressure bleeding the brakes:
Laser alignment as the very accommodating NADUK ( http://www.naduk.co.uk/), it was about 8pm by this point. We came back with all ‘greens’:
So the journey home was great right up until the rear top mount on the passenger side popped though! You can just about see the spring in the photo.
I limped the car home and had it trailered back to the workshop the next day. Basically the lower washers on the to mount were too small and allowed the lower rubber portion of the top mount to deform enough to ‘pop through’, not something which could have been foreseen by any stretch. Apparently KW have seen this on a very limited number of cars, the replacement washer they sent wasn’t to John’s satisfaction so a new larger washer was sourced from BMW and was deemed man enough for the job. If you’re running AP or KW (or maybe even Weitec) coilovers watch out for this potential problem! So the car was reassembled with new parts, and now brand new OE BMW bump stops and we’re back to 100%.
The car now as it stands. It actually looks much better in the flesh and the 10mm spacers really set the look off, especially when the car’s viewed from the three-quarter:
In terms of ride quality and handling it’s definitely comparable to the factory M-Sport set up. You can feel there’s less travel running this ride height but the damping’s good and the comfort is probably 80-90% as good as stock. These aren’t a track kit by any stretch, they’re too soft for that but I wanted a set up that would retain the OE top mounts for close-to-factory NVH. Plus the car’s not low enough to compromise camber levels and it’s still driveable cross-country without having to worry about every bump in the road. Only time will tell about their corrosion resistance but there’s a lot of waxoyl on the threads and bodies.
Edited by Neil G60 on Friday 14th March 11:02
Looks absolutely lovely mate - nice one
Only thing you need to finish it off is a nice set of original Parallels!
here is my old 530D M Sport
[URL=http://s204.photobucket.com/user/sshenton1975/media/bm2.jpg.html]
Loved that car - it was absolutely stunning. Did the swirl flap mod and had it remapped. Only got rid of it as I moved on to a E39 M5!!(rubbish picture!)
Enjoy yours!
Only thing you need to finish it off is a nice set of original Parallels!
here is my old 530D M Sport
[URL=http://s204.photobucket.com/user/sshenton1975/media/bm2.jpg.html]
Loved that car - it was absolutely stunning. Did the swirl flap mod and had it remapped. Only got rid of it as I moved on to a E39 M5!!(rubbish picture!)
Enjoy yours!
Looks lovely op. I have recently sold mine and gone to an f01 730, which is great. But I do miss my e39, amazing cars. I changed mine from 66s to 18" parras. Ride was still great and it looked ace! Still have the parras if you are interested? Sat in the garage collect dust, only had them refurb end about 2 months before I sold it, wheels and tyres are perfect!
Stu530 said:
Looks lovely op. I have recently sold mine and gone to an f01 730, which is great. But I do miss my e39, amazing cars. I changed mine from 66s to 18" parras. Ride was still great and it looked ace! Still have the parras if you are interested? Sat in the garage collect dust, only had them refurb end about 2 months before I sold it, wheels and tyres are perfect!
Drop me a pm with a price and what tyres it's running. I'm sure they'll be out of my price range after what I've just spent but it can't hurt to ask :-)Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff