Ok so I wanna sell my car to buy an e39

[Kovs]

Having owned one of these for 6 months, and seeing the repair bills my father accumalated from the prior 6 years of ownership, my advice is to keep your E30. Unless you have an unlimited car budget or plan on doing the work yourself, a 540 is a very frustrating car to live with... they're addictive when everything is perfect (rare) and wallet draining when they're not (most of the time).

[devonjordan]

Pretty much nailed it. E39 540s are cheap to buy nowadays, but the maintenance doesn't depreciate. Make sure you get the sport package with the manual trans; the automatics will die an expensive death. They all do.

I've had mine for about eight years now and will probably keep it around for a couple more years. At least until I've stopped shoveling money into my E30. Latest wheels I've been running are the M-par "replicas" in 19x9 and 19x10 from Lakeshore. Cheap, but fit well and they look fantastic (no OEM M-pars in 19"). Other than that, the typical bits added: M5 front bumper, H&Rs, Bilsteins, Supersprint cat-back.

Here's a lousy partial pic of mine.

Oh shit, is this the Dave that had the Turbo system on the M20 crap out twice? Brandon @ CMW did it for you right? Small world this is...

[Fidhle007]

I hope you have deep pockets and a good mechanic...


Seriously, E38s and E39s are paying for our brand new tire machine. If you want a family car buy an E46 wagon or sedan. Fives look good but they were designed and assembled by retarded monkeys.

[Raxe]

They're quite fast, and quite expensive. Nice cars though if you take care of them.

[Stephen]

If you do, i get your spare e30 shit.

[DatUtahGuy]

M5 or GTFO

[Jean]

LOL.... exactly why it makes more sense to find the right car and pay the right price for it. Good condition e39 540i 6speeds are in the 15k+ range.

[Adrian_Visser]

A buddy just bought a 99 540i for cheap from a repo auction. He put almost what he paid for it into the car again for maintenance to fix it up to driveable condition first it was a "vanos rattle" or so it seemed to me. According to the shop he took it to the timing chain was chewed to shit ($4000 incl. labour) then after the mechaincs put it together they had to do the vanos anyways so he put about $6000 into a car he paid $9000 for... ouch

[balooshinakus]

My dad has an e39 540i 6sd, and it's pretty damn fast, way too fast for me to be mature with that's for sure.. It is expensive though.. New tires are about a grand. Random maintenance is very expensive on it as well.. I redid my e30's suspension (about $1400) for the price he paid to have 1 headlight bulb and igniter..

[Dave McLaren]

They go nicely and the maintenance work can get expensive.

^^^Pros & Cons.

Pretty much nailed it. E39 540s are cheap to buy nowadays, but the maintenance doesn't depreciate. Make sure you get the sport package with the manual trans; the automatics will die an expensive death. They all do.

I've had mine for about eight years now and will probably keep it around for a couple more years. At least until I've stopped shoveling money into my E30. Latest wheels I've been running are the M-par "replicas" in 19x9 and 19x10 from Lakeshore. Cheap, but fit well and they look fantastic (no OEM M-pars in 19"). Other than that, the typical bits added: M5 front bumper, H&Rs, Bilsteins, Supersprint cat-back.

Here's a lousy partial pic of mine.

[hendrixvodu]

i agree with jean on the maintenance , the valve comer gasket on the m62 sucks ass not looking forward to doing it, also look for power steering leaks and the power steering is known for being noisy, and it is normal to have chatter on start up/chatter in general

[416stroker]

Radiators / Driveshafts / Valve cove leaks, suspension components.....

I wouldn't even bother with a 525 auto... maybe look for a 528-540 with a manual only?

My younger brother bought an 03 540i m-sport 6spd, it's nice and it does go. But please buy one with maint. records. Tires for the 540 in the 265 size aren't cheap either lol

O ya no autos for me I hate them. The only way im going to get one is if I can get around 5k- 4600 for my car.

[Jean]

Radiators / Driveshafts / Valve cove leaks, suspension components.....

I wouldn't even bother with a 525 auto... maybe look for a 528-540 with a manual only?

My younger brother bought an 03 540i m-sport 6spd, it's nice and it does go. But please buy one with maint. records. Tires for the 540 in the 265 size aren't cheap either lol

[416stroker]

perhaps consider a 7? i really like mine a lot very very nice car

I like the 7's when there done right they can take some wide fucking wheels in the rear and with a small drop they look nasty.

[416stroker]

I was specifically thinking of the intake reseal job, but everything on the motor will be more expensive than a comparable 6-cylinder model (to be expected, of course). Lots of plastic stuff breaks, as is typical of later model BMW's, but the 540i has more plastic things that can go, mostly the little vacuum nipples around the intake, especially the one on the oil separator on the back of the manifold.

Just thought it was worth a mention. I've done a lot of high $$ jobs on those V8's.

Ok Ill make sure ill ask for service records on the car.