Someone Should

[everlast]

115000 km?? Wow, that's low. If that's real, that's a great deal.

[Philboski]

Yeah....if that's a real number, I am sorely tempted.....

[carjoe]

Originally Posted by Philboski

Here's a nice one.....

http://www.usedottawa.com/classified-ad/11357145

ROFL.

Hey Zarbat: http://www.usedottawa.com/classified-ad/11346657
Go get er. When you get an M bumper, I'll take the OEM one off your hands...

[gervs]

Check the add again, it's been modified, it's now 215 XXXKM's. Too bad. I'm still tempted, i'm getting annoyed of driving a 4 banger.

[zarbat007]

Sorry guys, I posted the ad in midnight after finishing a long project and I accidentally put 115.
I re-posted the add after someone who was seriously interested decided to lease a brand new 128i instead..

Anyways its not a good time to sell the car, and BMWs are usually sought after by enthusiasts. The car is not modified in anyway, all I did was put the glass headlight and the M bumper. I barely drive it during winter.

Previous owner was an industrial engineer and he took long road trips with this car. Took great care of it too!









I have a lot more other invoices.

[zarbat007]

Originally Posted by carjoe

ROFL.

Hey Zarbat: http://www.usedottawa.com/classified-ad/11346657
Go get er. When you get an M bumper, I'll take the OEM one off your hands...

Thats a 540 *shifty*

Whats wrong with your OEM bumper? Did it break or something?

BTW: get these rims before I do! http://www.usedottawa.com/classified-ad/10597645
If I had an E39 I'd pick then up tonight!

[gravles]

Originally Posted by zarbat007

Sorry guys, I posted the ad in midnight after finishing a long project and I accidentally put 115.
I re-posted the add after someone who was seriously interested decided to lease a brand new 128i instead..

Anyways its not a good time to sell the car, and BMWs are usually sought after by enthusiasts. The car is not modified in anyway, all I did was put the glass headlight and the M bumper. I barely drive it during winter.

Previous owner was an industrial engineer and he took long road trips with this car. Took great care of it too!









I have a lot more other invoices.

I noticed this at 115km too and was like damn !! Still a great deal at 215km, car looks great and I am tempted to pick up another 328i....

Thinking...

[carjoe]

Originally Posted by zarbat007

Thats a 540 *shifty*

Whats wrong with your OEM bumper? Did it break or something?

BTW: get these rims before I do! http://www.usedottawa.com/classified-ad/10597645
If I had an E39 I'd pick then up tonight!

I know it's a 540. Go drive it. Seriously.

Yeah, I tore my bumper over some ice this winter. Frig. I might be able to fix it with an aero lip or maybe just a quick patch. It's very much under the visible part.

As far as those rims, I can't believe he still has them. The price is right. I thought about picking them up but I love my 5's more. He sent me some more pics if anyone wants them.

[zarbat007]

Originally Posted by carjoe

I know it's a 540. Go drive it. Seriously.

Yeah, I tore my bumper over some ice this winter. Frig. I might be able to fix it with an aero lip or maybe just a quick patch. It's very much under the visible part.

As far as those rims, I can't believe he still has them. The price is right. I thought about picking them up but I love my 5's more. He sent me some more pics if anyone wants them.

I don't want to spoil myself test driving a 540 . I'm sure they are a blast to drive, but they have so many common problems it really scares me.

For your bumper, if you just want to patch it, this is what you want, assuming E39 bumpers are polypropylene:

http://semproducts.com/Catalog.asp?prod=245

Done anything to the E39 recently?

[carjoe]

That's pretty cool stuff.

What have I done to the car? Aside from drive the hell out of it and throw it sideways every chance I get? Heh...Actually, I havent' done anything. It's in need of another oil change but otherwise it's been solid.

I have to do one set of VCG's and o-rings, motor mounts, and I think I have a slipped belt in one of the back tires. I was going to get all new winter tires next year anyway... Really, nothing unexpected maintenance wise so far.

The only difference between the 540 and 528/530's. Powah. Maybe the steering and handling but I can assure you maintenance will be awfully close...

[zarbat007]

Originally Posted by carjoe

The only difference between the 540 and 528/530's. Powah. Maybe the steering and handling but I can assure you maintenance will be awfully close...

Nice power at that too.

From what I learned with my research on 540s:

Catalytic converters more likely to go
Valley pan gasket replacements are PITA
Steering gear box leakage can be very $$$
Finicky engines, can be hard to diagnose rough idles
The infamous chain guide and tensioners, and of course, cooling system (almost all BMWs have cooling system problems anyway)

Other than that, everything esle is pretty much the same.


I stil wouldn't hesitate to pick up a 540i if it was a great deal. When I first got my first BMW (92 325i) everyone thought I was nuts for spending all that money on it. I can imagine explaining to my father why I need to overhaul the whole cooling system and chain tensioners when they are not broken.

[chromius]

Originally Posted by zarbat007

From what I learned with my research on 540s:

Catalytic converters more likely to go
Valley pan gasket replacements are PITA
Steering gear box leakage can be very $$$
Finicky engines, can be hard to diagnose rough idles
The infamous chain guide and tensioners, and of course, cooling system (almost all BMWs have cooling system problems anyway)

I'd have to agree with Joe, I think maintenance/repair costs are gonna be very similar, with the 540 maybe just a little more simply because of some extra components that aren't in the 528.

Cat converters are just as likely to go on either 528/530/540, but unfortunately on the 540 there are more of them, and they are more expensive due to the higher temp requirements. So far though, the 4 on my car are 10 years old, and last year got fantastic DC numbers. Avoid short trips, get them good and hot and they'll last a long time especially if you make sure the engine is in tip top shape and not running rich or burning oil, cuz that's a quick way to ruin a cat.

Valley pan isn't so bad, not much more work than intake manifold gasket replacement. (approx 1 day).

Steering box leaking, not really sure if that's common or not, but from what I've seen 90% of the time it's just a leak from lines rather than the box itself. But I've seen plenty of racks leak before too though. Now if the box needs replacement, then yeah, that's big money for sure.

Idle problems are much more common on 528's. 540's idle problems are almost always one of three possibilities, intake mani gaskets, VC gaskets, or MAF's, all of which are easy enough to diagnose and repair.

Chain tensioner is an easy cheap replacement as preventative maintenance.

Cooling system, well yeah it sucks.

Although like any car, sometimes you can get lucky and get a really good car built on a Wednesday, or get really unlucky and get a car built on a Friday before a long weekend...it's luck of the draw sometimes with any model.

[zarbat007]

I don't think I'll buy a 528i. 530i at least for sure.

Sure every car will last better if taken care of, but that's not always the case.
Especially when buying a used German car. Many owners don't believe in preventative maintenance.


I plan to get a 530, great engine and I think 225 HP will be plenty enough. I talked to Rudi @ Duss Bros and he agreed they are well built.

I will however get a 540 only if its a great deal with service records.

[chromius]

Ahh good call, the 530 is a great choice. Best of both worlds.

[zarbat007]

Originally Posted by chromius

Ahh good call, the 530 is a great choice. Best of both worlds.

530i has been my #1 choice since I started thinking about getting an E39.

So looking to sell your E39 anytime soon?