E39 523i

[boomer]

Anyone had any experience of these?

If so I'd appreciate your thoughts

[B7]

Yeah, don' bother. I had 2 525 e34's, the first a 12v (good old M20) and the 2nd with the 192 bhp 24v vanos and both were great cars. Desperate fo an e39 I bought a 2000 W 523 with the M52 twin vanos lump and the steptronic box. It was as flat as a pancake in the performance stakes compared to the e34's. Maybe its because it's an auto I thought?

WRONG

Mates gone and bought a 96 523 manual and it's still flat below 3000 rpm!

Forget the 523, go for the 528 with the 192 bhp lump (523's are 170). They are much better.

Also the e39s, although much better specced and more modern than the e34, suffer from loads of niggly problems like ABS lights, Airbag lights, pixels missing on the dash display, premature suspension wear, door seal wear, thermostat problems etc.

I seriously torn between whether I go for a very late wide grille e34 or an early 540 e39 at the moment for my everyday car.

[boomer]

Ahh,

Cheers

[snoops]

e39 540

[B7]

e39 540

Agree and I would.......especially in 6 speed manual form!

But an excellent compromise (but still a bit more money as its facelift) is the 530i. Thats a fantastic engine, the insurance is more sensible than the 540 and as it's a 6 pot (M54) you get the rack and pinion steering for a sharper front end.

I still rate as well (and I'm not a fan of oil burners) the 530D. I've driven a couple of these and they are a serious car. The torque is fantastic and they are a very quick car with the ability to return a regular 35-40mpg!!! F*** me, thats getting close to the ideal world surely!

If ever there was proof of my old mans saying "son? theres no substitution for outright CC's", the e39 is it. It's a very heavy car with all the kit they stuck in it and it needs (and deserves) good power output and good toque to carry it about. Anything under a 192 lump and the car is ruined IMO.