What to look for when buying an E39

[walktheboard]

hahahahahah I love the name.

has it had a lot of owners, or something? what sparked it?

[henryki]

hahahahahah I love the name.

has it had a lot of owners, or something? what sparked it?

I'm the third owner, but I tend to call my cars dirty whores, sloots, etc. And the previous owner had 2 kids, I've spent hours already scrubbing the leather and I've been through 2 bottles of leather cleaner :crazy:

[henryki]

You want a 530i.

Off the top of my head, the most common issues are:

Pixel loss in the MIDs and "high" clusters
Cooling system failure (completely replace every 100k)
Suspension (replace every 100k)
Thrust arm bushing failure (causes the E39 shimmy, particularly under braking)
Torque converter seal failure (~100k; facelift I6 models)
Broken headlight adjusters
Oil filter housing gasket failure (I6 models)
CVV failure (over 100k; I6 models )
DISA failure (M54 engine)
External temperature sensor broken/missing
Broken can holder
Power seat cable binding/failure

Someone who has experience with the 540s should weigh in too. From what I understand they're more costly to maintain than any of the I6 models.

been awhile since I've been on r3v, but I ended up getting a 2002 530 that had literally all these problems minus one or two.

My torque converter seal went and I found a 5 Speed manual swap kit, so it was easier to swap it over to manual than to replace the torque converter.

Two questions, what do you mean by the broken can holder? and CCV failure?

[agent]

CVV = crankcase ventilation (cyclone) valve. It and its and related hoses need to be replaced on about the same schedule as the cooling system. They offer a "cold weather" version of it though you won't need it in CA.

The flip-out can holders are flimsy and will break if you try to use them for anything more then a 12oz can which is no more than half full.

[gwb72tii]

so would you buy a one owner 2001 325i with 120k, or a 2 owner 2003 530i with 110k for a DD? both are about the same price.

[Farbin Kaiber]

More room in the e39 than the e46.

-e46 owner

[E30 331is]

VANOS seals are a must as well with the CCV and Cooling stuff.

Doing all that this weekend. Looking at mainly a whole days of work with $450 in just parts.

[doorman]

so would you buy a one owner 2001 325i with 120k, or a 2 owner 2003 530i with 110k for a DD? both are about the same price.

I'd pick the one with the best paperwork from the PO!

Love my e39 touring. Bought it from the second owner who's a manager at a local BMW dealership. He bought it from the original owner instead of letting the guy trade it in. I got tons of paperwork when I bought it.

Currently 137,000 on her and you'd never guess by looking anywhere under, on or in the car.

Out of all 3 of our BMWs it's by far my favorite.

[henryki]

Time to bump an old thread!

updates on my E39, I 5 speed swapped it! love driving it now.

I've done a lot of work with the car since I first bought it, and there's still a lot to do!

so far I've done these things:

5 speed swap
H&R Sport springs
CCV system
all new power steering lines and reservoir
Intake manifold gaskets
valve cover gaskets
replaced every vacuum line
new thermostat (twice, if you have a BMW with an M54 DO NOT BUY AN AUTOZONE THERMOSTAT, SPEND THE EXTRA $20 AND GO GENUINE ALL OF THE AUTOZONE ONES FAIL)
new pulleys, tensioners, and belts
intake boots
MAF
brakes front/rear (rotors and pads)
head light adjusters (I'd recommend to do this first mainly for night time safety, its easy and takes a little over an hour to do it)
found a junkyard electric sunshade for $12 win! (my old one was broken at the sliding hinge)
replaced passenger bottom half of dash (just for one trim clip for the dash wood trim)
both front window regulators (driver side just went out again yesterday)
Fuel filter
cup holders
new xenon ballasts + bulb
oil filter housing gasket (I'd recommend doing this with any M54 that looks like it is leaking oil onto the power steering lines and steering rack)

Thats all I can remember from the top of my head I know there's still more


Now here's the things I have to still do, and if you're looking to buy an E39 its good stuff to look out for

Front suspension (steering wheel shimmy's a bit from 40-60mph and front tires have slight signs of cupping)
rear suspension (ball joints)
Shocks
Pixel repair (ANNOYING)
Driver side window regulator
brake lines + system flush
voltage regulator
windshield rubbers
back window rubbers
heater control valve (very common fail issue and is annoying as hell


These are all the things I can come up with for now, if anyone has any questions regarding swapping a manual into a 525/530 E39 PM me! I hope I can help!

[Swanny]

Time to bump an old thread!



updates on my E39, I 5 speed swapped it! love driving it now.



I've done a lot of work with the car since I first bought it, and there's still a lot to do!



so far I've done these things:



5 speed swap

H&R Sport springs

CCV system

all new power steering lines and reservoir

Intake manifold gaskets

valve cover gaskets

replaced every vacuum line

new thermostat (twice, if you have a BMW with an M54 DO NOT BUY AN AUTOZONE THERMOSTAT, SPEND THE EXTRA $20 AND GO GENUINE ALL OF THE AUTOZONE ONES FAIL)

new pulleys, tensioners, and belts

intake boots

MAF

brakes front/rear (rotors and pads)

head light adjusters (I'd recommend to do this first mainly for night time safety, its easy and takes a little over an hour to do it)

found a junkyard electric sunshade for $12 win! (my old one was broken at the sliding hinge)

replaced passenger bottom half of dash (just for one trim clip for the dash wood trim)

both front window regulators (driver side just went out again yesterday)

Fuel filter

cup holders

new xenon ballasts + bulb

oil filter housing gasket (I'd recommend doing this with any M54 that looks like it is leaking oil onto the power steering lines and steering rack)



Thats all I can remember from the top of my head I know there's still more





Now here's the things I have to still do, and if you're looking to buy an E39 its good stuff to look out for



Front suspension (steering wheel shimmy's a bit from 40-60mph and front tires have slight signs of cupping)

rear suspension (ball joints)

Shocks

Pixel repair (ANNOYING)

Driver side window regulator

brake lines + system flush

voltage regulator

windshield rubbers

back window rubbers

heater control valve (very common fail issue and is annoying as hell





These are all the things I can come up with for now, if anyone has any questions regarding swapping a manual into a 525/530 E39 PM me! I hope I can help!

Well done, thats a pretty damn complete list of all the common issues with buying an e39. All 3 of mine had varying degrees of all these problems.

[henryki]

Well done, thats a pretty damn complete list of all the common issues with buying an e39. All 3 of mine had varying degrees of all these problems.

haha yeah I've been making sure it will be a solid DD for my commute to school everyday. And its proven to be a great vehicle and I'm averaging 25-27 MPG combined highway and city. But its pretty common for me to get 35ish MPG on freeway driving alone (which is great being a college student with a part time job dealing with California gas prices haha)

Any other recommendations or things to look out for?

[flyboyx]

Man, I haven't seen a post from either one of you two in a long time. I love to see old members come back.

[Swanny]

Man, I haven't seen a post from either one of you two in a long time. I love to see old members come back.

[henryki]

Man, I haven't seen a post from either one of you two in a long time. I love to see old members come back.

Yeah sorry about that haha, been busy flying! Finally got my PPL and now I'm finishing up my instrument rating. But I ended up selling my E30, which is one of the main reasons for the lack of posts lately...

[flyboyx]

Yeah sorry about that haha, been busy flying! Finally got my PPL and now I'm finishing up my instrument rating. But I ended up selling my E30, which is one of the main reasons for the lack of posts lately...

congrats!!!!! give me a holler if you need some advice along the way.

its a ways down the road for you but i know that express jet has an atp bridge program that if you are accepted, you get your atp for free with no obligation to take a job there. something to think about......