Thinking about an E39 530i

[Marc p]

So after spending the previous few years only having new cars as a daily, I'm kinda done with them. I'm going to be making a few changes to the collection shortly so once I've got rid of the 944 and the A4, my first purchase is a new daily and I really do have my heart set on an e39 530i, I've always had a soft spot for them as my dad had a couple of e39 530d's as company cars when I was younger but my 'want' was truly re-ignited the other day when I saw a pristine e39 530i in metallic black with the champagne interior parked up between a new 5 series and a Macan, not only did this thing still look fantastic, but (IMO) completely overshadowed the modern cars either side and had me almost mesmerised.

I've already done some digging and reading and come to the conclusion that it has to be the facelift 530i in sport trim. I don't really have a budget as all for sale are well within what I'd be willing to spend, it'll just be finding the right one.

The question I would like some owners input on is whether I go auto or manual? I work from home a lot but when I do drive for work, it's generally motorway mileage with the odd bit of city traffic and can be a lot of miles, so it has to be easy to live with and I'm wondering if there are there any pro's/con's that owners have come across? (i.e. un-reliable autoboxes, heavy clutches, general driveability).


p.s. Anyone got a nice black over champagne 530i they fancy parting with?

[d_a_n1979]

a) go for it

b) get yourself over to the bmw 5 forums, we’ve a wealth of knowledge on there

c) personally I love the auto box, work from h9me myself, but travel up 2 junctions of the M6 more or less daily to training & back and its the perfect car to do it in. Plenty of poke when needed, but a smooth, effortless drive too

When it comes to buying an E39 there is a lot to check/go over; you’ll find a decent buyers guide on the 5 forums, but lots of similar topics too

[bmwmike]

3 champagne edition for sale on trader at the mo.

Cosmos black mmmmmm

Got me wondering too.. tbh.

[Marc p]

d_a_n1979 said:

a) go for it

b) get yourself over to the bmw 5 forums, we’ve a wealth of knowledge on there

c) personally I love the auto box, work from h9me myself, but travel up 2 junctions of the M6 more or less daily to training & back and its the perfect car to do it in. Plenty of poke when needed, but a smooth, effortless drive too

When it comes to buying an E39 there is a lot to check/go over; you’ll find a decent buyers guide on the 5 forums, but lots of similar topics too

Thanks for that, I'll go sign up now, out of interest, how many miles does yours have on it?

bmwmike said:

3 champagne edition for sale on trader at the mo.

Cosmos black mmmmmm

Got me wondering too.. tbh.

Beautiful aren't they?

I just started to think the other day that if I got an e39 and put a modern head unit in it that gives me GPS, phone connectivity, backup camera, etc, then what does a new car really offer for 10x the price...…..

[Yadizzle1]

Marc p said:

I just started to think the other day that if I got an e39 and put a modern head unit in it that gives me GPS, phone connectivity, backup camera, etc, then what does a new car really offer for 10x the price...…..

Genuinely have been feeling the same about new cars recently. I picked up an E46 330ci recently and it drives just as well as the newer cars and gives off an even better sense of quality (dare I say!) than the F10's and F30's I've had the chance to drive.

I've got a carplay unit that is waiting to go in the car and it's been in my mk2.5 mx5 for a few months, totally brings the car up to date and with apple carplay or android auto you've got nav/music/voice control, can't think of much else I'd want in terms of tech in a car!

I can't give any input into what it's like to have an E39, but I can say that the M54 engine (which I believe is the same as you'd find in the 530i) is incredibly good, very smooth and torquey and returns high 30's on a m'way run, I've been enjoying it with a manual gearbox as that's my preference but I can't imagine it being hampered too much by the slushmatic.

[d_a_n1979]

Marc p said:

Beautiful aren't they?

I just started to think the other day that if I got an e39 and put a modern head unit in it that gives me GPS, phone connectivity, backup camera, etc, then what does a new car really offer for 10x the price...…..

Replied to your posts over on the 5 forums

I'm one of the lucky few that's managed to land a Jap import; so mines just covered 87k miles the other day

My previous Sapphire Black 530i had only done 106k miles when I sold it, my 1st E39 530i, a slate green one had done 146k miles when I sold it. All ran faultlessly and you'll see that there are E39s well into 200k plus miles, with no problems!

[Marc p]

Yadizzle1 said:

Genuinely have been feeling the same about new cars recently. I picked up an E46 330ci recently and it drives just as well as the newer cars and gives off an even better sense of quality (dare I say!) than the F10's and F30's I've had the chance to drive.

I've got a carplay unit that is waiting to go in the car and it's been in my mk2.5 mx5 for a few months, totally brings the car up to date and with apple carplay or android auto you've got nav/music/voice control, can't think of much else I'd want in terms of tech in a car!

I can't give any input into what it's like to have an E39, but I can say that the M54 engine (which I believe is the same as you'd find in the 530i) is incredibly good, very smooth and torquey and returns high 30's on a m'way run, I've been enjoying it with a manual gearbox as that's my preference but I can't imagine it being hampered too much by the slushmatic.

I would say it is better quality, around 2006 I had beautiful 1999 E36 318is Coupe and my dad had a new E46 M3, both were solid, no rattles, the buttons had no play with just a solid click when pressed and everything you touched just felt firm and well built. Then more recently I had an E60 525d then an E92 320d, now I will say that I did really like these car's(god knows why I went to Mercedes then Audi after, curiosity maybe) but they just lacked some of that build quality, I then borrowed an F30 the other day and wow, now I won't say I didn't like the car, it's a nice car but everything just somehow felt hollow, it's hard to explain as it was just the feeling it gave me.


Then onto tech, like you say, with a modern head unit in an older car, what can a new car offer and it got me thinking and the only things that I think the Audi has that the E39 will not be able to have is adaptive cruise, better ncap scores and adjustable steering resistance(but that's numb at whatever you set it). So I could have my Audi at £35k or a nice E39 for £5-6k(including some new tech and bushing refresh) with loads of free funds to get back into motorsport or put towards the 360 I've been hankering for, no brainer for me.

[Marc p]

d_a_n1979 said:

Replied to your posts over on the 5 forums

I'm one of the lucky few that's managed to land a Jap import; so mines just covered 87k miles the other day

My previous Sapphire Black 530i had only done 106k miles when I sold it, my 1st E39 530i, a slate green one had done 146k miles when I sold it. All ran faultlessly and you'll see that there are E39s well into 200k plus miles, with no problems!

I'll head back over shortly

To be honest, I'm not overly put off by high mileage examples but I'd need proof of good maintenance schedules with a high miler. Back in the day, my dad had a '98 530d SE Tourer and then a '02 530d Sport Saloon and did 30k miles a year in both with them going back on over 100k each and they were almost faultless as the '98 one had a weird fault in that very occasionally it would just cut out and you would just turn the key and it would start up fine again, BMW could never find the issue and I think it only did it like 4-5 times over 100000 miles so nothing too major. A bit sad but I can still remember the registrations for those 2 cars

[E-bmw]

I myself did something similar several years ago now.

Came into a little money & decided on the newer F60 (IIRC) 530 Sport, tried a few & couldn't get on with them, just didn't feel right, I had had an e39 523 a few years before so as I was wondering if I was using rose tinted glasses tried a 2001 e39 530 Sport & bought it on the spot.

I just think they are the best (non M) cars they ever made.

However they are old girls now so you must leave your rose tinted glasses at home when you view & must at least get an inspection mirror & lamp underneath.

Having said that they are fantastic to live with as a daily with certain work you will either need to budget for or see proof of being done recently.

Cooling system refresh - The later ones had metal water pumps, but not pre-facelift, the rads do fail at the bottom, the hoses will be past it & the thermostat housing will be brittle. renew the lot & it will thank you for it with long engine life.

Suspension refresh - Obviously any original bushes etc will be shot, you can buy full kits with everything in by Lemforder to change the lot over a weekend & after a geo set up (reduce the rear camber slightly - rear tyre life will double) they handle superbly.

Electronics - Again mainly pre-fl, they can be a bit hit & miss, auto wiper setting means completely random. ABS units fail regularly at £800+, but as you are looking at FL you should miss a lot of these, just check everything a few times over & over.

On mine & fitted LPG & for the loos of the spare ended up with a full/full range over 600 miles & on LPG a monetary equivalent of 54mpg with slightly lower tax.

On the subject of gearbox it is manual all the way, you only really need 3 gears unless pressing on.

Take your time & get a good one, after the above work & a head unit as you say it served me excellently for 5 years.

I only sold mine because Mrs E got a large co.car & we didn't want 2 biggies, it was bought by someone on here.

[Triumph Man]

E-bmw said:

Cooling system refresh - The later ones had metal water pumps, but not pre-facelift, the rads do fail at the bottom, the hoses will be past it & the thermostat housing will be brittle. renew the lot & it will thank you for it with long engine life.

Suspension refresh - Obviously any original bushes etc will be shot, you can buy full kits with everything in by Lemforder to change the lot over a weekend & after a geo set up (reduce the rear camber slightly - rear tyre life will double) they handle superbly.


On the subject of gearbox it is manual all the way, you only really need 3 gears unless pressing on.

I've just done a radiator, thermostat, and water pump and it's a fairly easy job. The worst bit was the fan shroud which takes a bit of "finangling". Same with suspension, it's fairly straightforward to replace - I'd never done it before and didn't cock it up too much.

For a hamfisted novice such as me, they are fairly easy to work on, and things are mostly well thought out, which is nice.

And I agree with a manual, 1st is there as crawler gear just to get the thing off the line.

Plus they have a certain feel about them, I get in mine after a hard day's work and just go "aaahhhhh". I gave somebody a lift last week who couldn't believe it was nearly 18 years old.

Go on OP, you know you want to!

And as Dan has said above, the 5 series forum is an absolute gold mine of information and advice.

[lufbramatt]

Great cars, easy to work on. I've done the suspension refresh, cooling system, vanos seals, all the usual suspects and none of it was particularly difficult.

Big thing is rust. That's what will kill the car. The oily bits are all fixable and parts easy to get hold of and not too expensive.

[E-bmw]

lufbramatt said:

Big thing is rust. That's what will kill the car. The oily bits are all fixable and parts easy to get hold of and not too expensive.

Quite right, it must be rust free & the rest all just comes apart & goes back together like it was designed to.

[Acidrop]

I've had two Sports and to this day it's the cars I loved the most owning. Beautiful drive and I think it's the best looking BMW they've ever made. Not the fastest things in the world but for a relaxed driving experience I think you'll be hard pushed to find anything better for the money.

I wrote my first 525i Sport off and decided I wanted a newer car, so bought a 4 year old Audi S4. I hated every minute with it and put it back up for sale after a month and then bought a 530i Sport.

[pits]

They are good, but to be honest they are all rusty these days and all a bit long in the tooth, will be selling mine soon because I don't use it and it is starting to show signs of it age, annoying as I have just got it to where I want it to be with the dark green comfort interior, but I've insured it for 2 years and not driven it for 2 years.

[hman]

Great cars ... when they were new.

Now you’d have to find one that’s had all of the common faults fixed or those faults will occur.

I had one, sold it after 5 months of things constantly breaking, and then the tin worm showed up.

Never again.

[Touring442]

I bought a 2006 530d last year for £2100, 130k with FSH, pro nav, leather and unlike the usual E39, it's not a tired rusty old nail. The E60 may/may not be a better car but they're far more durable. BMW cured many of the stupid design faults from the E39, that crap cooling system, failing ABS units, dash pixels and rampant body rot.

[hman]

E60 has different issues, I owned a 6 cyl diesel for a couple of years,

The stainless steel exhaust manifold split
The thermostats needed replacing
And because the thermostats failed - The DPF failed to regenerate and expired
The battery saving circuit failed and killed the battery
The lower pulley sheared it’s rubbers and threw the aux belt off
The torque converter failed
The radio was terrible

[d_a_n1979]

hman said:

Great cars ... when they were new.

Now you’d have to find one that’s had all of the common faults fixed or those faults will occur.

I had one, sold it after 5 months of things constantly breaking, and then the tin worm showed up.

Never again.

I’m on my 3rd E39

No faults at all, some simple body work on the 1st two; current ones an import and spotless.

The E39s have common weaknesses (cooling system, suspension etc), but don’t really have many faults per se, certainly nothing like the E6* range!

The OPs not posted for a while though, on here or the 5 forums, so not sure where he’s up to re his purchasing

[Marc p]

d_a_n1979 said:

I’m on my 3rd E39

No faults at all, some simple body work on the 1st two; current ones an import and spotless.

The E39s have common weaknesses (cooling system, suspension etc), but don’t really have many faults per se, certainly nothing like the E6* range!

The OPs not posted for a while though, on here or the 5 forums, so not sure where he’s up to re his purchasing

Currently just in the waiting stage, my 944 goes in to RPM for a service and MOT on the 5th August and then they are putting it up for sale for me, then my A4 is going back to Audi on the 19th September so I'm hoping the 944 sells in those 6 weeks and pays for the e39 otherwise I'll have to resort to using the Corvette as my daily!

[Touring442]

hman said:

E60 has different issues, I owned a 6 cyl diesel for a couple of years,

The stainless steel exhaust manifold split
The thermostats needed replacing*
And because the thermostats failed - The DPF failed to regenerate and expired
The battery saving circuit failed and killed the battery
The lower pulley sheared it’s rubbers and threw the aux belt off*
The torque converter failed*
The radio was terrible*

Four of those faults are just as - or even more common on the E39 530d.