RHD vs LHD e39 528i

[Lyrred]

Hey guys,
I plan on purchasing an e39 5 series. I have been looking around a while and many of them have either been in terrible condition or too pricey. I recently stumbled upon a 1999 528i for a good price.

Apart from the obvious, driving on the right, what other differences do the cars have (I live in the Bahamas so the RHD shouldn't really affect me on the road). Will the engine parts be any different? Will body parts be different? In general, are e39s expensive to maintain? (I do all work on my car, so don't include mechanic costs). I currently own a LHD 1987 325is but Im finding it increasingly difficult and pricey to keep driving it because of the amount of old parts that are failing and bound to fail.

[freeride53]

That is sick! RHD FTW.

[MrBurgundy]

^+1

[JinormusJ]

As far as I know, body panels and engine compartment should be the same; I would think the obvious is that the steering rack would be flipped and the steering plumb would come into the bay from the other side of the car. podsibly the engine could be different swings as the headers may have had to have been relocated to the other side; I'm not sure though

I don't know much else about the basics of e39s except for the fact that they pretty much one of the sexiest BMWs ever built

[Lyrred]

That is sick! RHD FTW.

Will the specs be any different? I know sometimes us model LHD are dumbed down a bit.

^+1

Yes

As far as I know, body panels and engine compartment should be the same; I would think the obvious is that the steering rack would be flipped and the steering plumb would come into the bay from the other side of the car. podsibly the engine could be different swings as the headers may have had to have been relocated to the other side; I'm not sure though

I don't know much else about the basics of e39s except for the fact that they pretty much one of the sexiest BMWs ever built

They are sexy for damned sure.


Thanks all. How about maintenance pricing?

[Lyrred]

Bump

[slammin.e28]

Steering rack is different.

You can run a RHD e39 rack in an e28, flipped upside down, for a nice box-to-rack conversion, FYI.

[Swanny]

Play around on realoem and just put that the car is rhd. Should give you the proper schmatics.

I just picked up an e39 wagon it is amazing! Under powered for sure from the m52 but its just so.....nice. Interior bits are a little flimsy like the cup holders and the door trim but its all pretty cheap to replace and remove. Just be smart when looking for parts. Ive noticed a HUGE difference in pricing just because its a newer BMW and the sellers think they can get away with large markups.

[Lyrred]

Play around on realoem and just put that the car is rhd. Should give you the proper schmatics.

I just picked up an e39 wagon it is amazing! Under powered for sure from the m52 but its just so.....nice. Interior bits are a little flimsy like the cup holders and the door trim but its all pretty cheap to replace and remove. Just be smart when looking for parts. Ive noticed a HUGE difference in pricing just because its a newer BMW and the sellers think they can get away with large markups.

Yea, thanks. I will. I usually use peclicanparts for parts. And I've searched a bit for common parts in there. They are quite affordable. Going to check out the car today and take it for a test drive. Will provide pics later.

[nando]

That is sick! RHD FTW.

why? German cars were never meant to be RHD.

[agent]

Off the top of my head the most common issues besides the typical maintenance items are front thrust arm bushings, VANOS seals, ABS module, headlight adjusters, and dead pixels on the MID and the cluster (if it's the "high" version). Most folks will need to enlist the services of various specialists for all but the bushings. ZF transmissions have a torque converter seal design flaw which typically requires replacement of the TC around 100K, though "early" cars (pre-2001) use GM transmissions.

[lambo]

Steering rack is different.

You can run a RHD e39 rack in an e28, flipped upside down, for a nice box-to-rack conversion, FYI.

[slammin.e28]

^_^

Friend is putting a M70 in his and had to ditch the box. I have seen this in person. ;):nice:

[Asbradley21]

I just picked up a LHD E39 528i/5 as a daily for a hair over 4k a couple months ago. A fucking steal, even having to fly to get it sight unseen. All records, all maintenance, new cooling system, etc. Only thing it needed was a cam position sensor, which took all of 15 minutes to replace.
If the e39 you're looking at has the original cooling system go ahead and either walk away or budget a new cooling system in it (I mean whole thing too, all lines, waterpump, radiator, thermostat). They ALL will fail, plastic waterpump impellers FTL. Other than that though, e39's are pretty easy to maintain. They don't suffer the rear subframe issues that plague e46's and e36's, and single vanos m52's are nicely reliable, although you will still have to deal with vanos seals. Other things are relatively small and may not effect all e39's, like interior bits falling out, dead display pixels. And make sure you check the health of suspension bushings, particularly front. oh yeah and stay away from the automatics if you can, not only do they also fail, they're boring as hell to drive.

[Lyrred]

Pics

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