Should I sell my 325is to get a E39?

[RagtopE30]

I am looking for some input from the members on the forum who are fortunate enough to own both an E30 and a E39. I currently have a Cabrio (which will never be sold), a 1986 325es which will be sold soon, and a nice 1989 AWII 325is which has been lowered and sports a set of 16" Konig Remembers.
My question is this. Should I sell both the es and is to buy a 1998ish 528i sport?

Discuss the pro's and con's! Oh and what is up with the large amount of 528i E39's with bad head gaskets around the 165k mile mark?

[mach schnell]

No. Don't do it.

No real gain in buying an E39. They're nice and luxurious, and handle pretty well, but cost much more to maintain, and will have electrical/sensor issues much more often. Tires are bigger and more expensive. More sensitive to suspension bushings, more bushings to replace. Lots of sensors, airbag lights, check engine lights, and so on.

E30 build quality is hard to beat, the handling is a lot of fun, and E30's are becoming scarce in clean condition. E39 528i's are, comparatively speaking, a dime a dozen, and boring.

As for bad head gaskets at 165k miles.... well.... 165k miles is a ton of miles. A ton. And a lot starts to break when you have a ton of miles on your car. The very large majority of cars will not ever reach this kind of mileage. Your sense of what is "normal" build quality is definitely skewed by having a couple E30's.

Cliff Notes: Don't do it.

[RagtopE30]

Your sense of what is "normal" build quality is definitely skewed by having a couple E30's.

I agree with this statement! I did venture into the e36 world very briefly (resulted in crushing 2 e36's) I was not impressed at all.
I was hoping that BMW got their act together by the time the e39 came around......

[TurboJake]

No.

[dannyyisntt]

No.

Nope.

[goarmy]

e39 motor + e30 = fun

[foofopps]

My father used to have an e39 m5 and the engine was so beast. However it was too big of a car for my liking. I also feel that a lot of the e36 and e39 cars have electrical gremlins. I'd only go to a 5 series if I had a family and car seats, ect.

i.e. Don't make a compromise if you don't have to.

[M-technik-3]

Agreed, My Zinno M3 is approaching 300K miles and is still strong and rattle free. I can't imagine owning anything with build quality like that except for a Mercedes Benz.

[RagtopE30]

^I hope you are referring to the pre-Dodge Benz cars! The DodgeBenz cars are the worst for build quality and reliability!

[pandaboo911]

Only on the really old mercs are quality. If it was an e34 maybe but not an e39

[RagtopE30]

^ I have also looked at a couple of AWII E34 tourings but the white is kinda boring.

[Raxe]

I have an E30 and a '00 528i, can't say I'd recommend it unless you have killer maintenance resources or don't mind having the car at the shop. Mach Schnell up there did a great job summing it up.

[dannyyisntt]

In all honesty my dad has a 2000 528i sport and loves it. He's got 230k on it with no real troubles.

If you can afford to maintain it, then it'll make a comfortable daily. As with all cars, make sure your previous owner took care of it and did proper maintenance.

However I will note that it's too big of a car for my taste and feels nowhere near as fun to drive as my e36 or e30

[Raxe]

Just realized my posts sounds pretty down about the car. Don't get me wrong, it handles very well and is really nice to drive. Mine is lowered and on wider wheels and is still very smooth. The problem is when something goes wrong; unless you're very familiar with the cars and have access to a real scanner, it's a big pain in the butt to fix on your own.

[RagtopE30]

Ok, Thanks for the input! Based on the quick and very persuasive responses I will avoid the pitfall known as the e39.