E39 530i Touring

[Grrrmachine]

Before I go and join the deviants on the 5er forums, what's the take on these old chariots? Are they getting unbearably ropey with age, or are they still a decent motor for their price?

With a sprog on the way and lots of motorway miles to eat up, I need a safety-conscious estate with some decent grunt, and these old buses seem to offer the best bang for the buck at the moment. They still sell in Germany for well over 4000Eur, or 3 bags in english money.

[darkchild]

There is a very nice one for sale on the 5'er forum at the mo'. Its had an eye watering amount of money spent on it to keep it like that though in fixing all the common faults. I'd imagine its the exception rather than the rule.

http://forum.bmw5.co.uk/topic/115203-pr ... r-169-nav/

Late E39 ABS modules...

[DanThe]

ABS module? Easy fix that one! They are a bit of a cooont to work on compared to the saloons, and they are not half as nice a ride either! Unless you 110% need a touring id say go for the saloon, I work on/service a saloon version of my 540i and its a dream to drive compared to my daily wagon even with the 18 inch wheels

Why 6 pot? Buy a 4.4 and do it properly!

[B7]

A lot of them are getting ropey now. Especially in the rears of the sills but get a good one and they are a lot of car for the money. I had 3 saloons (2 of them 3.0's) and loved them.

With the touring's, the self levelling suspension is a damn sight more reliable than the later E61's as is most of the car. They are generally screwed together better and I think are a nicer drive than the e61's.

ABS modules are catered for by numerous companies like BBA reman.

Buy the best you can afford / find. And invest money in right places (cooling and suspension) and it'll give you sterling service for not a lot of money.

Bens one on the 5 forum (linked above), is the kind of thing you should be looking for.

[DanThe]

E61s are horrible! Don't get me wrong they go round corners like a 3 series, but for the day to day drive its like the suspension doesn't exist. I finally got rid of all the faults on a customers last week, cost over £1200 in repairs, he told me its going up for sale this weekend while the check control is clear!

[Brianmoooore]

I've run an E39 328i touring for the last three years, as a towing barge and general load lugger.
Came with a Prins VSI LPG conversion, the longest MOT fail sheet I've ever seen, and 250,000 miles on the clock. Paid peanuts for it, unsurprisingly.
New rear brake lines, new rear subframe bushes, a bit of welding on one rear sill, a £20 SRS module off ebay, and a host of silly little things, and it earned a clean MOT sheet, plus everything working as it should.
30,000 miles later it still drives like new, and all it's had, apart from normal service items, is a couple of ARB bushes, an ARB drop link, and the infamous ABS module rebuilt by BBA reman (they actually comprehensively messed up the rebuild, and turned a car with no ABS into one that was undrivable, but sorted this out by sending me a complete rebuilt pump assembly).
That was up to last June, when it decided to start using coolant. After a false diagnosis of a problem with the LPG vaporiser, I came to the conclusion that it was an engine problem, and rather than pull apart an engine approaching 300,000 miles, I dropped in a low mileage Z3 engine with the same type number, that had spent the last ten years sitting in a corner of my workshop - three days before embarking on a 2500 mile trip around France.

[Grrrmachine]

Cheers for the advice gents. With a baby on the way and in the middle of a house renovation, I definitely need the extra space of a Touring. I'd heard warnings about cooling systems and the horrors of the ABS module, but didn't know the suspension was a weak point too.

[B7]

Suspension is a weak point on any BMW (and to be turthful, any car these days with the state of the roads), with brake reaction bushes and rear diff carrier bushes being the faves. They are a heavy car. That + shite UK roads = a car that drives like shite I'm afraid.

Dan, you are not wrong mate

[Blitz]

A W210 would have been a better option if not for the rust especially upper spring cups.

[anothere21323i]

Cheers for the advice gents. With a baby on the way and in the middle of a house renovation, I definitely need the extra space of a Touring. I'd heard warnings about cooling systems and the horrors of the ABS module, but didn't know the suspension was a weak point too.

Depending on what size of car you need, have you considered an E46 Touring? I was in exactly the same situation as you with a baby on the way, so I hunted high and low and found a 46k from new, one owner 330i Touring which has been fabulous. It's on 64k now and the only fault I've had is a failed coil pack - when I checked it was still the original one from 2001! I know they get a bad rep on here, but a good E46 is a great car in my opinion.

The other option is an Audi A4 Avant. I've got a 2007 3.2 Quattro S Line as my daily and it's fantastic.

[Grrrmachine]

I looked at E46s, but the missus wasn't impressed with the size (oo-er!). And over here, a 330i is regularly a grand more than similar age/condition 530i, so with the E39 it's a lot more car for the money.

This chariot will be making regular trips of a few hundred miles at a time (the in-laws live 200 miles away ) so it needs to be something suitably executive.

[bab-91]

I'd opt for W124 Estaste. Practically a tank and they are so slow, excitable Sloths will pass you.


Can't get safer than that, think about baby Grrrr.


Maybe a 300 4matic Estate, I just happen to have one in your size, O, suits you!

[Blitz]

Problem is w124s are very old now.

[Grrrmachine]

Her indoors has the power of veto over whatever I get, because she needs to drive it too occasionally. This means I'm in that dubious area of buying something new enough to suit her tastes, but not so new that I lose serious cash when she inevitably hits something. So it has to be made in this millennium, which rules out any decent Mercedes.

99% chance it'll be a 530i Touring, unless exactly the right X-Type (3.0 estate) turns up at a reasonable price. It's surprising how well they'e held their value over here.

[bab-91]

Problem is w124s are very old now.

Parts are horrendously expensive and some like to dissolve their spring mounts. On the up side, normally, those that have survived have had monied elderly owners.

I like them, only car I've fallen asleep in.

[DanThe]

Whats with the merc fan club? You have obviously never had to fix one!

Although the E39 is a big car the boot space isn't as big as my E34 boot, I could get 4 wheels & tyres in the E34 with ease, not so with the E39, an E46 is much smaller.

The good thing about E39's is there are loads in scrap yards and being broken for spares by the poles (over here at least)
So when you need an ally arm because the ball joint is falling out its £30 for a good used one rather than £200 for a quality new item
Air bags can be had cheap too, mine came with an invoice for a pair of rears supplied and fitted for £150
Rear subframe bushes are a cooont to do, even with the 'special tool' its best to make a few days work of it and completely remove the thing along with the diff and fit some new brake pipes while its out, dampers will be shagged on anything over 100k miles thats been driven normally, my fronts are waiting to be done, top mounts are also clunking now and I'm only at 114k miles

[Simon13]

e46 fan here and wife uses it as daily, much cheaper to run and they don't munch suspension and brakes like an e39 will do. They're reputation is vastly tarnished on here un fairly at that. A good one is a lovely thing to drive

e46 is big enough for a woman and baby and pram no sweat

[Brianmoooore]

Apart from the ARB bushes and link I mentioned in my post above, my E39 has been trouble free in the suspension department for the 3 years/30,000 miles I've had it, unlike the E34 touring it replaced, which needed suspension/steering components every few months.

[bab-91]

Whats with the merc fan club? You have obviously never had to fix one!

Nought wrong with an old Merc Bus.

[ross_jsy]

The auto boxes like to shit themselves. Mine did on a 528i at about 75k and it seems to be a common fault. Other than that it was a great old bus

[Brianmoooore]

The auto boxes like to shit themselves. Mine did on a 528i at about 75k and it seems to be a common fault. Other than that it was a great old bus

My car has came with a fairly comprehensive service history and massive sheaf of invoices, and there's no indication that the approaching 300,000 mile auto box has ever been touched.

[Simon13]

the oil won't be very nice in that gearbox then

[Brianmoooore]

the oil won't be very nice in that gearbox then

Had the cooler lines off, back in June, when I did the engine change, and the oil looked and smelt fine. A little darker than it should be, possibly, but passable IMO.

[DanThe]

Hope you have a spare box in your garage Brian

[Brianmoooore]

Hope you have a spare box in your garage Brian

I have! A nice low mileage box that's been tucked away since the touring it came from was written off eleven years ago, along with most of the suspension from the same car.
Also have a complete non TU engine and manual box from an earlier 528i, with 100k+ on it, but I'm not sure what problems, if any, I would have, getting that to work with the body electrics of my current one.

[bss325i]

Is your current car a M52tu then Brian?

[Brianmoooore]

Is your current car a M52tu then Brian?

Yes, twin vanos motor.

[DanThe]

Some MS41 ECU's have can bus wires in the plug, its the black/yellow at one end, usually connected only to the auto box ECU, I don't know how much data they can move compared to the MS42 though

[bss325i]

Is your current car a M52tu then Brian?

Yes, twin vanos motor.

Little point in going to the trouble of converting to an earlier single vanos M52 when there are plenty of tu's about.

Even better, a M54B30 is a straight fit where an M52tuB28 is. Just needs a suitable remap then.

[Brianmoooore]

Little point in going to the trouble of converting to an earlier single vanos M52 when there are plenty of tu's about.

I suppose it would be a bit daft to that that, now that I've configured the low mileage Z3 engine to E39 spec. and fitted it.
Makes much more sense to unbolt the manual box and flywheel from the earlier engine, and just fit that.
I presume that fitting a clutch pedal and hydraulics into an auto. E39 is relatively straightforward?

[bss325i]

Little point in going to the trouble of converting to an earlier single vanos M52 when there are plenty of tu's about.

I suppose it would be a bit daft to that that, now that I've configured the low mileage Z3 engine to E39 spec. and fitted it.
Makes much more sense to unbolt the manual box and flywheel from the earlier engine, and just fit that.
I presume that fitting a clutch pedal and hydraulics into an auto. E39 is relatively straightforward?

TBH, its not something I've done yet but i can't see it being much work.

If you're converting to manual then it will need reprogramming to lose the EGS from the PT CAN.