Anyone got experience of the E39?

pumaboy2000 · 01-29-2014, 04:30 PM

Hi all, been offered a 2002 E39 525i for a great price. FSH and one owner from new with 102,000 on the clock. MOT and tax till June. SE auto model.
Have been reading up and pretty much all the info says they are great cars.
Has anyone here got any first hand experience or pointers?
Will not be my daily driver, more a 'weekend' car.
Thanks in advance,
Craig.

Jamie_E92 · 01-29-2014, 04:34 PM

I had a manual imola red one 525i

Was a big barge felt underpowered for such a big car. Great on the motorway but not very fun to drive. A good cheap smoker

pumaboy2000 · 01-29-2014, 04:38 PM

Thanks for the reply Jay. Did you have any issues? Have heard the main problem is a potentially weak cooling system?
Thanks.

Danny.B. · 01-29-2014, 04:41 PM

I had a 530iA sport. it was lovely! never had any issues with it!

pumaboy2000 · 01-29-2014, 04:52 PM

Yeah heard lots of good things, would have the 530i through choice, just so happens it's a 525i thats up. Went to view a "mint" 530i earlier today though from a private seller. Within 60 secs had found rust, a nasty scrape along 2 doors on the passenger side, badly kerbed wheels, 2 broken cupholders and the stereo flap thing jammed! Told the seller they had wasted both of our time, and they maybe want to look up the definition of "mint!"

Alex.J · 01-29-2014, 04:55 PM

I had and still have a 530i e39!

It shaaaaat it's radiator, split a hose and cooked the engine!

So I never got round to stripping it, so it's sat in my parents garage! Not seen it for 2 years ha, had it for 5!

If you want any msport bits, mines got em all ha!

Jamie_E92 · 01-29-2014, 05:03 PM

Never had any problems with it mate just didn't really do anything for me!! I was 21 at the time tho haha

pumaboy2000 · 01-29-2014, 05:03 PM

Did you get any warning of the impending overheating? Did it cook the engine pretty much immediately? Obviously if i noticed the temp guage go near the red i would stop.

Alex.J · 01-29-2014, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pumaboy2000

Did you get any warning of the impending overheating? Did it cook the engine pretty much immediately? Obviously if i noticed the temp guage go near the red i would stop.

Personally I think it had cooked the engine before the radiator exploded!

No warning till after it popped , then it hit the red ! Which surprisingly, wasn't a shock!

pumaboy2000 · 01-29-2014, 05:10 PM

OK, so be prudent to have the system checked then if I go for it. I would have thought the guage should have shown the problem before the rad exploded.

DavS1 · 01-29-2014, 05:54 PM

My old man had one, it was just a 520i with the 2.2 6cyl, was a good car, never had any problems, my mate had a 540i v8 auto, again great car, done a water hose in but it was a well used 160k car and a good few years old at the time, another mate had a 525td and again was well used high miler and ofcourse....cooling system failed while his wife was driving down south and it cooked/killed it.

Otherwise, you hardly ever see any in for repair, being a mechanic myself I can't say i've ever done a lot of work on them other than serviceable parts, and the odd shocky.

m20b25 · 01-30-2014, 09:20 AM

Had an M5 for a bit. Rapid.

Had a 523 touring manual as a stop gap and that was a good comfy car. Then something happened and it lost power as it got warm at the same time as tax and mot were due so sold it for parts. Good cars though, if I needed something as a decent runabout, I'd go for another. Quite a few abused sports knocking around, due them being cheap. I went for the manual one as heard a few stories about auto boxes going wrong but auto definitely suits the car better.

Woody80 · 01-30-2014, 03:37 PM

I had a 520i touring for 3 years before my E91, it was a way of doing posh"Bangernomics"! It was a brilliant car, really comfy and sounded great but didn't go as well as it sounded!

Was fairly faultless apart from the alternator needed swapping out and the rear airbags for the self levelling suspension.

m20b25 · 01-30-2014, 05:05 PM

Oh yes, one of my bags went once. Very easy to swap though, takes around half an hour. Plenty of decent cheap second hand ones knocking about

pumaboy2000 · 01-31-2014, 03:39 AM

Thanks to all for the replies and advice. Decided to go for it! If it turns out problematic it's no major loss as it was cheap enough. Had a great drive home in it yestetday, 110 miles from Greenock to Dundee. Really quiet and smooth. Think the thermostats are going to be the first job as temp guage only sat on a quarter the whole way home.
Craig.

Mani59 · 01-31-2014, 05:47 AM

Saw one the other day....still looks great! Good choice!!

Dirty Tool · 01-31-2014, 06:51 AM

The E39 is a great car and still looks modern IMO. Had a few E39's in the family (528i and 520i). The main thing to look out for the cooling system faliures (its pretty much imminent, happened to both). Other problems were a HVAC panel packing up on the 520i, but apart from that no other problems! Bulletproof cars if taken care of.

01-29-2014, 04:30 PM	#1
pumaboy2000 Private 8 Rep 89 Posts Drives: 320d SE auto Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Dundee iTrader: (0)	Anyone got experience of the E39? Hi all, been offered a 2002 E39 525i for a great price. FSH and one owner from new with 102,000 on the clock. MOT and tax till June. SE auto model. Have been reading up and pretty much all the info says they are great cars. Has anyone here got any first hand experience or pointers? Will not be my daily driver, more a 'weekend' car. Thanks in advance, Craig.
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01-29-2014, 04:34 PM	#2
Jamie_E92 Captain 44 Rep 825 Posts Drives: Phoenix yellow e92 325d Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: lancs iTrader: (0) Garage List 2006 325i [0.00]	I had a manual imola red one 525i Was a big barge felt underpowered for such a big car. Great on the motorway but not very fun to drive. A good cheap smoker
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01-29-2014, 04:38 PM	#3
pumaboy2000 Private 8 Rep 89 Posts Drives: 320d SE auto Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Dundee iTrader: (0)	Thanks for the reply Jay. Did you have any issues? Have heard the main problem is a potentially weak cooling system? Thanks.
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01-29-2014, 04:41 PM	#4
Danny.B. Lieutenant Colonel 102 Rep 1,581 Posts Drives: E90 330d M Sport Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: England - Lincolnshire iTrader: (1)	I had a 530iA sport. it was lovely! never had any issues with it! __________________
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01-29-2014, 04:52 PM	#5
pumaboy2000 Private 8 Rep 89 Posts Drives: 320d SE auto Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Dundee iTrader: (0)	Yeah heard lots of good things, would have the 530i through choice, just so happens it's a 525i thats up. Went to view a "mint" 530i earlier today though from a private seller. Within 60 secs had found rust, a nasty scrape along 2 doors on the passenger side, badly kerbed wheels, 2 broken cupholders and the stereo flap thing jammed! Told the seller they had wasted both of our time, and they maybe want to look up the definition of "mint!"
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01-29-2014, 04:55 PM	#6
Alex.J Major 58 Rep 1,241 Posts Drives: BMW E92 335i MSport Join Date: May 2013 Location: Nottingham iTrader: (9)	I had and still have a 530i e39! It shaaaaat it's radiator, split a hose and cooked the engine! So I never got round to stripping it, so it's sat in my parents garage! Not seen it for 2 years ha, had it for 5! If you want any msport bits, mines got em all ha! __________________
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01-29-2014, 05:03 PM	#7
Jamie_E92 Captain 44 Rep 825 Posts Drives: Phoenix yellow e92 325d Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: lancs iTrader: (0) Garage List 2006 325i [0.00]	Never had any problems with it mate just didn't really do anything for me!! I was 21 at the time tho haha
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01-29-2014, 05:10 PM	#10
pumaboy2000 Private 8 Rep 89 Posts Drives: 320d SE auto Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Dundee iTrader: (0)	OK, so be prudent to have the system checked then if I go for it. I would have thought the guage should have shown the problem before the rad exploded.
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01-29-2014, 05:54 PM	#11
DavS1 Major 55 Rep 1,271 Posts Drives: Emfree Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Glasgow iTrader: (0) Garage List 2011 BMW M3 [0.00]	My old man had one, it was just a 520i with the 2.2 6cyl, was a good car, never had any problems, my mate had a 540i v8 auto, again great car, done a water hose in but it was a well used 160k car and a good few years old at the time, another mate had a 525td and again was well used high miler and ofcourse....cooling system failed while his wife was driving down south and it cooked/killed it. Otherwise, you hardly ever see any in for repair, being a mechanic myself I can't say i've ever done a lot of work on them other than serviceable parts, and the odd shocky. __________________ Monte Carlo Blue M3 Comp
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01-30-2014, 09:20 AM	#12
m20b25 First Lieutenant 21 Rep 352 Posts Drives: E90 M3 Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: London iTrader: (0)	Had an M5 for a bit. Rapid. Had a 523 touring manual as a stop gap and that was a good comfy car. Then something happened and it lost power as it got warm at the same time as tax and mot were due so sold it for parts. Good cars though, if I needed something as a decent runabout, I'd go for another. Quite a few abused sports knocking around, due them being cheap. I went for the manual one as heard a few stories about auto boxes going wrong but auto definitely suits the car better.
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01-30-2014, 03:37 PM	#13
Woody80 Second Lieutenant 24 Rep 298 Posts Drives: 335d Touring Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Nottingham iTrader: (0)	I had a 520i touring for 3 years before my E91, it was a way of doing posh"Bangernomics"! It was a brilliant car, really comfy and sounded great but didn't go as well as it sounded! Was fairly faultless apart from the alternator needed swapping out and the rear airbags for the self levelling suspension.
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01-30-2014, 05:05 PM	#14
m20b25 First Lieutenant 21 Rep 352 Posts Drives: E90 M3 Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: London iTrader: (0)	Oh yes, one of my bags went once. Very easy to swap though, takes around half an hour. Plenty of decent cheap second hand ones knocking about
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01-31-2014, 03:39 AM	#15
pumaboy2000 Private 8 Rep 89 Posts Drives: 320d SE auto Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Dundee iTrader: (0)	Thanks to all for the replies and advice. Decided to go for it! If it turns out problematic it's no major loss as it was cheap enough. Had a great drive home in it yestetday, 110 miles from Greenock to Dundee. Really quiet and smooth. Think the thermostats are going to be the first job as temp guage only sat on a quarter the whole way home. Craig.
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01-31-2014, 05:47 AM	#16
Mani59 Moderator 15899 Rep 8,141 Posts Drives: F32 435i Luxury & G26 i4 35 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Leicestershire iTrader: (1)	Saw one the other day....still looks great! Good choice!! __________________ Visit my (mainly) BMW gallery http://jetone.co.uk and BMW miniature model collection http://bmw-miniatures.co.uk
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01-31-2014, 06:51 AM	#17
Dirty Tool Second Lieutenant 29 Rep 267 Posts Drives: F80 M3 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: London iTrader: (0)	The E39 is a great car and still looks modern IMO. Had a few E39's in the family (528i and 520i). The main thing to look out for the cooling system faliures (its pretty much imminent, happened to both). Other problems were a HVAC panel packing up on the 520i, but apart from that no other problems! Bulletproof cars if taken care of.
	Appreciate 0 Quote