E39 for my dad?

[dannyyisntt]

My dad has a 2000 528i with 230k on it. He says that his mpg is in the high twenties on average. It's extremely comfortable for long rides. And he hasn't run acrossed any particularly odd or expensive issues with it. As with any car, maintenance is key. Find a good PO and good from there.

[OniKyan]

Japanese cars last forever, but are as boring, bland, and dated as James May's hairstyle. I now, and will forever, keep faaaar away...

Japanese cars peaked in the mid 80's, since then it's been all downhill.

[s14pwd]

Japanese cars last forever, but are as boring, bland, and dated as James May's hairstyle. I now, and will forever, keep faaaar away...

By quality, I was speaking purely to the mechanical side of things (Drivetrain, engine, cooling....)

Yes they are boring and the plastics are cheap and all that fun stuff, but like you said they run forever. From the OP's post I believe his dad wants something like this. BMW's are great, but they do require allot more maintenance, hell I DD mine in the summer, but always need a Honda/Toyota in the stable for when the BMW starts acting up.

[Stanley Rockafella]

Japanese cars peaked in the mid 80's, since then it's been all downhill.

+1 for accuracy

[agent]

I have hoses on mine that are original at 192k and my radiator is almost a decade and a half old so I think a lot of the stories are overblown.

I want to go to Vegas with you. But not in your car. Your cooling system is a ticking time bomb.

+1 on the 530iA. I bought mine to DD at 100K and just rolled 125K. I love the car, but anybody considering one needs to plan on spending some money on proper upkeep. Since purchasing the car I have:

replaced entire cooling system, water pump, thermostat
replaced all pulleys & belts
replaced the valve cover
replaced valve cover gasket
replaced spark plugs
replaced OFH gasket
replaced CVV
replaced DISA
rebuilt the VANOS
had the ABS module rebuilt
replaced the thrust arms and installed HD thrust arm bushings
replaced the torque converter

...and just bought its second set of tires. The first set of tires I bought were pretty sticky, so I wasn't expecting them to go much farther than they did.

Not including tires, in roughly twenty months of ownership I have put about $3,000 into it. I did everything myself and with the help of friends with the exception of the ABS module (BBA) and the torque converter (Treehouse did the work, I sourced the parts), otherwise that number could easliy be triple what it is. The torque converter was an unexpected expense ($1,400 of that total) but I bought the car knowing it needed all the rest of those things done, as it falls under scheduled preventive maintenance. That's also part of the reason why I got a great deal on it. With continued scheduled maintenance I fully expect this car to go 250K+.

[cferb]

Japanese cars have the worst quality of any car I've ever driven, right up there with American cars. I've daily'd an 02 Accord, 00 Eclipse, 05 Camry, and 96 Civic. They're motors are built nice, but interior styling sucks trash, falls apart after a while, and I've had electrical problems the whole lot all the dang time. I couldn't even enjoy my morning commute because everytime I would get in my car, I'd get pissed that my windows didn't roll up, my sunroof leaked, my seats were le super uncomfortable, or dread the day I would find out my interior problems increased...

Japanese cars last forever, but are as boring, bland, and dated as James May's hairstyle. I now, and will forever, keep faaaar away...

You must have bad luck, because every time I get in an older(90s) Japanese car everything looks like it's only a few years old. My 91 Subaru looks brand spanking new on the inside(can't say much for the outside, the paint they used is garbage), even though everything is in fact made of cheap materials, it actually stays together much better than any e30 I've owned.

German cars, especially old ones are terrible for reliability. I was in a similar situation, my dad wanted a car with good gas millage and reliability, I was trying to keep him out of an econobox. We settled on a 2006 Audi A4, keep in mind it was only like 3-4 years old at the time. Worst car ever.... It was fun to drive and all, gas mileage was good, but fuck everything that could break did, and it was expensive as balls to fix. HVAX made crazy fan noise, turbo relief valve burst, tranny went out, glove box hinge broke, the list goes on, and my parents are gentle with cars.

Therefore, what he is looking at is probably for the best, can't get better than Jap cars for quality and reliability.

Also not true, Audi does not represent all German cars, I hate when people make that assumption. Audi's fall apart, BMWs are near Japanese reliability in my experience.

[mbonder]

I've had experience with two e39's a 1997 528i and my current ride, a 2002 530i. Both are 5 speed cars, my buddy currently owns the 1997 and it's got 240k miles on it and counting as he drives it nearly every day. My 530i has 111k on it.

I can tell you that the 528i got 26/32 mpg and the 530 is seeing 24/30 mpg. I haven't done it yet, but if driven all highway the 530 should be able to hit damn near 500 miles on a tank and I did it a couple of times in the 528.

As for maintenance, the usual things for BMWs, cooling system and suspension, but if you keep up with these, the cars are relatively bulletproof. I'd take one over an e60 any day of the week. I would go for either a 528 or 530 for your father, the 540 does worse on gas and has a more complicated engine that will require more maintenance.

I can't say enough about how awesome I think e39s are, they are comfy while being sporty enough when they need to be, get good mileage and are reliable when taken care of.

[agent]

i'd take one over an e60 any day of the week....

I can't say enough about how awesome i think e39s are, they are comfy while being sporty enough when they need to be, get good mileage and are reliable when taken care of.

qft

[RCM3]

I know youre looking at a 525 or 528, but I love my 98 540i/6 speed. I get around 19-21mpg overall if I keep my foot out of it. at 178k I did the complete top end which was somewhat costly ($2900), but other than that there have been no other issues. Great car, I would for sure get another one.

[JinormusJ]

Yes they are boring and the plastics are cheap and all that fun stuff, but like you said they run forever. From the OP's post I believe his dad wants something like this. BMW's are great, but they do require allot more maintenance, hell I DD mine in the summer, but always need a Honda/Toyota in the stable for when the BMW starts acting up.

A BMW only starts acting up if you don't do preventative maintanence; I've been dailying my new e30 an did all the preventative maintanence on it, and I would go be the first to say that I trust my Bimmer is as much, if not even more, totally reliable in all respects as opposed to any ofthe jap-attacks I've had. If your looking for something simply to get you from point A to point B, get a jap-attack. If your looking for something you could actually wake up in the morning and live with, go German. I've lived 4 years of my dad shoving what car I should drive down my throat because of it's "reliability". Once I finally balls'd up and chose my own car, it's been much more of a pleasure to drive now; heck.. After my dad saw my car an I let him drive one, he wants one now too..!


I doubt I could go 4 for 4 and call "Bad Luck".. I can rule out 1, maybe even 2, but 4..? Even my pop's Toyota Sienna minivan has issues; granted it's lasted almost 300k miles, he's put a lot of work into it, the interior is now essentially trash, and not to mention it's from 2000... My mom's 2006 Lexus RX300 (big 4x4 cross over thing) has already been in the shop a couple times for electrics.. The list goes on man.

Honestly, Japanese cars are only good in the respect that they're fuel mules that last forever. Looking to buy a Honda and expect anything more is just bad news..

[redsubdivisions]

BMWs are meant to be maintenanced. If you skip out on it, it will skip out on you. As much as I loved my 240SX, it did give me problems. My E30 and even my old E34 wagon were pretty reliable. Get your dad a 528i E39 and call it a day.

[cferb]

A BMW only starts acting up if you don't do preventative maintanence; I've been dailying my new e30 an did all the preventative maintanence on it, and I would go be the first to say that I trust my Bimmer is as much, if not even more, totally reliable in all respects as opposed to any ofthe jap-attacks I've had. If your looking for something simply to get you from point A to point B, get a jap-attack. If your looking for something you could actually wake up in the morning and live with, go German. I've lived 4 years of my dad shoving what car I should drive down my throat because of it's "reliability". Once I finally balls'd up and chose my own car, it's been much more of a pleasure to drive now; heck.. After my dad saw my car an I let him drive one, he wants one now too..!


I doubt I could go 4 for 4 and call "Bad Luck".. I can rule out 1, maybe even 2, but 4..? Even my pop's Toyota Sienna minivan has issues; granted it's lasted almost 300k miles, he's put a lot of work into it, the interior is now essentially trash, and not to mention it's from 2000... My mom's 2006 Lexus RX300 (big 4x4 cross over thing) has already been in the shop a couple times for electrics.. The list goes on man.

Honestly, Japanese cars are only good in the respect that they're fuel mules that last forever. Looking to buy a Honda and expect anything more is just bad news..

Dailying a car for 3 months hardly qualifies you to talk about the reliability of it. I'm sorry your dad made you buy boring econoboxes but there are plenty of Japanese cars out there that are every bit as enjoyable as a BMW. A lot of offerings from Acura, Infiniti, and Lexus would make a reasonable alternative to an e39(personally I would still go for the e39 but I am after all a BMW guy), of course they do have their trade-offs, but not everything in Japan is like a Camry.

[Stanley Rockafella]

Get your dad a Ford Fusion and call it a day.

fixed for ya ;)

[DisgustipatedAP1]

Dailying a car for 3 months hardly qualifies you to talk about the reliability of it. I'm sorry your dad made you buy boring econoboxes but there are plenty of Japanese cars out there that are every bit as enjoyable as a BMW. A lot of offerings from Acura, Infiniti, and Lexus would make a reasonable alternative to an e39(personally I would still go for the e39 but I am after all a BMW guy), of course they do have their trade-offs, but not everything in Japan is like a Camry.

+1 to this

Making broad generalizations about Japanese cars just sounds silly. Peaked in the 80's? Yeah ok...

[Pl3wA]

get the 8 series...