your view on a 2001 525i I may be getting soon

[femme325is]

I want this car Femme if you don't. You should get it.

ya know, if you blow this guys mind away he may give it away to you too ;) lol

BTW guys. Thanks for all the kickass info. R3v sometimes really does come through on some threads :P

[cferb]

Any reason to go that route over the ±$300 Dr. VANOS kit?



Err, the 5-speed, right? That is a very cool combination though, the Sport Package has the shadowline and Style 5's among other things.

Yea I guess, I didn't pay that much attention, it was manual, whatever that would amount to. And yea, style 5s, and shadowline, and I think a sport suspension too, a few little m things too like the steering wheel and shift knob IIRC

[TDE30]

It all comes down to if you want to do the work or not. Dr. VANOS means you receive a fully assembled VANOS unit which is just a bolt-in thing. Besian seals are an install-it-yourself thing. The Besian seals require you to disassemble your VANOS unit and install the seals yourself, in other words.

Dr. VANOS actually uses Besian vanos seals.

Read this post:

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...27&postcount=6

Ah okay, good info. I've never disassembled a VANOS unit myself, but if anything it sounds like it'd be a good learning experience to replace the seals and everything.

[Ben Carufel]

Any reason to go that route over the ±$300 Dr. VANOS kit?

It all comes down to if you want to do the work or not. Dr. VANOS means you receive a fully assembled VANOS unit which is just a bolt-in thing. Besian seals are an install-it-yourself thing. The Besian seals require you to disassemble your VANOS unit and install the seals yourself, in other words.

Dr. VANOS actually uses Besian vanos seals.

Read this post:

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showpost.php?p=14706027&postcount=6

[SpecM]

Err, the 5-speed, right?

yea, I think only the 540i's came with 6-speeds

[TDE30]

Also plan on replacing your VANOS seals with something like the Besian vanos seal kit. That's next on my to-do list.

Any reason to go that route over the ±$300 Dr. VANOS kit?

Too bad, it was a 6 speed with the sport package, not a common car.

Err, the 5-speed, right? That is a very cool combination though, the Sport Package has the shadowline and Style 5's among other things.

[cferb]

My dad had a 99 528i for a while, he loved it, he hasn't liked a car that much for as long as I can remember, and he goes through cars once every 1-2 years. It was a great car, drove like a much smaller car, plenty of power, though not fast, never had any problems either. Someone rearended him though, knocked him into the car in front and totalled it :(

Too bad, it was a 6 speed with the sport package, not a common car.

[Ben Carufel]

My E39 528iT went 260,000 miles before its stock GM transmission failed. Fluid was never changed.

The car was fully dealership maintained (meaning 15k mile oil changes), and now at 276,000 miles there are no signs of problems due to the lengthened oil change intervals.

An M52/TU is going to be a pretty bulletproof engine. Minor things need work, but nothing major. If you're handy enough to work on an E30, you can probably handle working on an E39.

To add to what others have said: DSC/ABS pump failures are an E39 thing for sure. There's a place that rebuilds the pumps for about $300 vs. a new one from the dealer for $1200+. Install is supposedly very easy. Front cupholders fail all the time if you use them -- your best bet is to just get a TEC cupholder and not use the stock front cupholders. Once you get into higher mileage numbers (200k+) you'll want to keep an eye on your DISA valve and CCV, which both have a tendency to fail. The best solution, which I did a few months ago, is to pull the intake manifold and replace both of those as well as all the vacuum hoses under there, which will be extremely brittle at this point.

Also plan on replacing your VANOS seals with something like the Besian vanos seal kit. That's next on my to-do list.

[madformx5]

I want this car Femme if you don't. You should get it.

[SpecM]

change the fluid (NOT FLUSH, just drain + refill) and the filter asap

[gearheadE30]

The GM unit fails around 120k to 140k usually, but they can go a lot longer if maintained. It is the same unit that has been having issues in 325i/328i e36s and e46s. The trannies aren't exactly the same, but they exhibit the same failures due to lack of maintainence.

[SpecM]

Edit: I am 90% sure that gearbox is a GM unit. Carefully scrutinize it before buying, that could be a costly component.

yep

Femme: the 528i had a m52b28, rather than the m54b25 like the 01+ 525i. Bigger engine, a little more power (192hp, iirc). Good engine, just give the cooling system a good work-over, as stated above.

[BMWLA]

the only real problem we saw on these were abs units failing and overheating but that was due to a lack of proper maintenance 99% of the time

[TDE30]

E39 528i: $3000±
Aluminum thermostat housing from TMS: $24.95
M52 replacement water pump with metal impeller from TMS: $59.95

Give the cooling system and suspension components a good going-over and you may have scored yourself a hell of a bargain for less than $3100. It's a larger BMW saloon, so those are usually the two common faults, other than that the E39 is a very solid car (with the exception of various interior bits which may or may not be painted.)

Edit: I am 90% sure that gearbox is a GM unit. Carefully scrutinize it before buying, that could be a costly component.

[Axxe]

Not a 2001 then, must be 1997-2000 IIRC.