ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,189
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Bmw E39 Touring ChasR
@chasr
Club Retro Rides Member 170
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Feb 19, 2021 12:43:41 GMT
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The pictures above really show how the E46 is a mini E39 in terms of design. I've got a completely standard E46 325i Sport saloon with a manual gearbox. It's practical as it's got 4 doors and a large boot, has enough grunt to have fun if you feel like it but is also one of the comfiest cruisers I've owned, particularly as it has the alcantara seats rather than the leather. I have noticed that prices of these are starting to rise quickly though, I suspect as a result of the 'COVID effect' but also due to dwindling numbers in general, as even the latest ones are now 16/17 years old. Oldest E46 will now be 23 years old. So hardly a spring chicken
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Feb 19, 2021 14:26:27 GMT
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The pictures above really show how the E46 is a mini E39 in terms of design. I've got a completely standard E46 325i Sport saloon with a manual gearbox. It's practical as it's got 4 doors and a large boot, has enough grunt to have fun if you feel like it but is also one of the comfiest cruisers I've owned, particularly as it has the alcantara seats rather than the leather. I have noticed that prices of these are starting to rise quickly though, I suspect as a result of the 'COVID effect' but also due to dwindling numbers in general, as even the latest ones are now 16/17 years old. Oldest E46 will now be 23 years old. So hardly a spring chicken No, though I have to remind myself mine is 20 years old because it doesn't look it in my opinion, the design has aged well, particularly the saloon and touring. I was never as much of a fan of the coupé dimensions, nor with the E36 either and specifically wanted a saloon or touring with a manual box, preferably without leather, so that narrowed my search a bit. I spent ages looking for an E39 525/530 Sport a few years ago and never found a decent one in my budget. I saw a few older 528 Sport examples but they were already very high mileage and most had sketchy history. I went to see one that had heavily tinted windows and cheap tyres and just walked away without even knocking the door.
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,189
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Bmw E39 Touring ChasR
@chasr
Club Retro Rides Member 170
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Absolutely pseudonymous! I think the thing with the E46 is despite being a similar car underneath to an E46, the heavy facelift of the car everywhere really transformed the look of it. There were certain aspects of the E36 I preferred but the exterior of the E46 won me over. A nod to the past, while still looking modern for the time. The HVAC setup, at least for RHD cars seemed to be a huge improvement over the E36. The pollen filter change is a bit of a joke in an E36! That said, I suspect one reason why the E46 has aged well is because the E9x range looked dated when it came out. I remember first seeing an E90 saloon on the motorway when it was brand new, and I thought it was a Nissan Primera at the rear! Yes, the inside improved, but that's about it. Did BMW play cautiously with the design, with other BMWs to have Bangle's then perceived horrific creations, like the E85 1 series, E61 5 series and the E63 6 Series? When I bought my M3, I must have seen 5 examples before I went for this one. I was fairly open on spec however, but it had to be a decent car, which wasn't "too far gone". My thread on the M3 here details how iffy some of them were, many which have now been scrapped it would seem. It was a similar story when my friend bought his E61. He originally wanted a manual 530d M Sport. Many were a little tired, and some were just abused examples. I remember seeing one in Northampton which was not a great example. In the end, a 535d SE turned up locally. It wasn't his perfect spec, the SE being the obvious one, but it was a very well cared for car despite the miles and this was very obvious. I can't say I agree with them being junk as someone said here. Ours wasn't perfect (brake discs, iDrive unit, Condensor, suspension airbags at the rear), but I wouldn't say it's been terrible, or any different to an E39, which have similar issues (iDrive can be replaced with the BM54 unit..)
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Last Edit: Feb 20, 2021 8:02:44 GMT by ChasR
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shin2chin
Part of things
Making curse word cars slightly better
Posts: 820
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E39 is the last good BMW in most enthusiasts opinion. My touring had been looked after when I bought it and had had the ABS unit rebuilt which I believe is a common fault with these. It looked solid body wise but was hiding a fair bit of rot under the cill covers, both sides jacking points were crunchy and needed rebuilding. Clutch wasn't cheap with DMF but I went with a solid flywheel conversion which worked well. As with all BMWs of this era the cooling system needs looking after, mine had a new rad after the tank split but this was relatively cheap. I think E39s will end up rising in price like E30's etc if they haven't already.
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Last Edit: Feb 20, 2021 8:30:44 GMT by shin2chin
1977 PORSCHE 2.0na 924 1974 VW Beetle 1600
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Feb 20, 2021 19:12:41 GMT
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Having owned a couple of 525’s, a 528 and now a 530 I would advise you to stick to your guns and go for a 530.
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gte86
Part of things
Posts: 611
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Feb 20, 2021 20:03:44 GMT
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Having owned a couple of 525’s, a 528 and now a 530 I would advise you to stick to your guns and go for a 530. That's what I'm thinking. If only I wanted a saloon, there are loads in budget
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Having owned a couple of 525’s, a 528 and now a 530 I would advise you to stick to your guns and go for a 530. That's what I'm thinking. If only I wanted a saloon, there are loads in budget My 2p worth, get an SE with good bodywork, they tend to have a bit better spec when I’ve been looking (heated seats/nav) and then add the sport bits later, 90% of sport models will have a damaged front bumper anyway that would need paint/repair.
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gte86
Part of things
Posts: 611
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That's kinda what I'm leaning towards. There is tidy looking sport on autotrader for 4k but it wouldn't leave much budget to tidy it up underneath. There was a silver m sport that sold on ebay for 1850 last week. I'd prefer to buy something like that and then I can spend the rest on arms, brake pipes etc etc The hardest bit is going to be being patient
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,189
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Bmw E39 Touring ChasR
@chasr
Club Retro Rides Member 170
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The problem with a cheap one is that those items will consume cash over a car that's not been neglected for years. It seems once that tipping point has happenned, the car won't be right without 000s spent (Sills, poor/cheap viscous fans/shot prop components (CVs are big money on these). I know of someone doing exactly this and the woods exit is still a £1000 or 2 away. Unless folks cheat on the brake pipes, they are nightmare to do. Hopefully an E39 is easier than my E46 (check my thread; it's still not working yet). A better SE is probably a better bet. You can at least "Alpina" those, which was done by some Alpina dealers back in the day .
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Last Edit: Mar 9, 2021 9:06:58 GMT by ChasR
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That said, I suspect one reason why the E46 has aged well is because the E9x range looked dated when it came out. I remember first seeing an E90 saloon on the motorway when it was brand new, and I thought it was a Nissan Primera at the rear! Yes, the inside improved, but that's about it. I'd have to disagree on that point too, I think the E6x/E9x and onwards range are awful interiors. Seemed to be about that time when they went from sprung seats with foam padding, to hard plastic seats with thin foam lining. Obviously a very subjective thing but my backside says it prefers the E38/E39 + E46 seats to all later models. Even the E65/66 seats are hard, only managing to be comfortable because of so many gadgets in them like the cooling and massage funtions. I can't say I agree with them being junk as someone said here. Ours wasn't perfect (brake discs, iDrive unit, Condensor, suspension airbags at the rear), but I wouldn't say it's been terrible, or any different to an E39, which have similar issues (iDrive can be replaced with the BM54 unit..) A different perspective is all the difference. You're speaking as an enthusiast, with knowledge of one or two examples, and you are among the minority, prepared to do & pay for proper maintenance. I'm speaking as a specialist servicing / breaking business, so we see how often an E60 needs XYZ compared to an E39 - and we've been going long enough to remember E39s when at the same point in their life, so an accurate comparison, rather than comparing them both at the same time (now) when one is obviously older and the other younger. E60s have a lot more "serious" problems. Melting battery cables, terminal module failures, ECU issues, coding issues, and so on - a lot more FTP problems than the E39 ever had. Even now, the percentage of E39 parts requests for mechanical parts is far lower and the upgrade parts (Sport bumpers, wheels, interiors) much higher, than the same ratios within the E60 requests. So individually there are I'm sure a few good cars out there - but I categorically would not consider an E60 for a long term car, a few weeks at best, whereas I'd happily pull any E39 out of my junkyard and drive it to Italy with minimal prep.
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v8ian
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,757
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I had a e39 3.0d tourer with a 5 speed, did 200k of 300k in my possession, I loved that car, I got rid of it when the turbo pooped its self and went thru the engine Faults, there are a few, as mentioned the rear airbags do have a tendency to pop, and the rear Subframe bushes are prone to fail, all suspension has a habit of wearing as its a big heavy car, ARB drop links seem to be a perennial failure, with the estates there is a loom fault with the lift up tailgate glass..... it breaks, shorts or something, my glass used to pop open when going over bumps, Heater Hedgehog was a regular fail, probably worth buying a genuine one rather than the GSF rubbish, heater fan failed on my car, that was a genuine PITA to fix, as the centre console, A post air bag,s full dash panel and then the full crash pad has to come out too, monster of a job for a £30 part, the one problem I could never get to the bottom of was Key Failure, at the time, you could. not buy aftermarket keys, not sure if you can now, BUT, BMW make 10 keys for the car, they keep the spares, if you end up buying all the keys, thats it, they do not make spares, then its a new lock set £££££ Saying all these negative things about the car, I would have another at a drop of a hat, probably the best car I have ever owned, I recently bought a Low mileage F11, (530d Lux tourer), the most uncomfortable car I have had the displeasure of owning, Quick as you like, but was always in the garage, I was fortunate enough the dealers failed to fix an ongoing gearbox fault, and I quoted the customer protection act, and after 6 months of unhappy ownership got a full refund, Good Luck with your search, they are a cracking car
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Atmo V8 Power . No slicks , No gas + No bits missing . Doing it in style. Austin A35van, very different------- but still doing it in style, going to be a funmoble
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gte86
Part of things
Posts: 611
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Hopefully looking at one this wkend
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gryphon
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 330
Club RR Member Number: 157
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Bmw E39 Touring gryphon
@gryphon
Club Retro Rides Member 157
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Thanks for the thread - I've been looking out for an e39 touring for a little wile too and there's some good information here! (Open to diesels as well though, so long as it has 6 cylinders)
Prices do seem a little mad for them at times. Going to look at a local 530D - I suspect the rust will be worse than the listing shows, but it's very local and sounds looked after...
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lmr
Part of things
Posts: 50
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I bought the full fat, mid life crisis E39 540 V8 Touring over 5 years ago. Some details of the work done are in the thread below forum.retro-rides.org/thread/212174/bmw-e39-540-touringMy plan was to keep it three or four months, but ownership has extended by 5 years. This car has really got under my skin. I do occasionally think about replacing this with a newer model, but really cannot think of a better alternative. I test drove an Audi RS6 recently. It was blindingly quick, but no better to drive than what I have. All the advice given in this thread seems sound, and generally reflects my period of ownership. Good quality suspension components definitely improve the ride. Make sure the tracking is done afterwards otherwise front tyres scrub very quickly. Buy a large quantity of your preferred cavity wax and every time you are working on an area of your car, give it a good squirt, as there are definitely plenty of rust traps. Have a look in the area under the battery and spare wheel to ensure the tailgate isn't leaking. Retrofitting bumpers is an expensive evercise, so try and get a car with them already fitted.
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gte86
Part of things
Posts: 611
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Didn't go this wkend as my wife was suffering after her vaccination. There are 2 within a mile of each other I'm hoping to see at the wkend. The work in swapping an Se to Sport spec is putting me off as I don't really want to start painting bits unless I really have too
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I've had mine for 80k miles. £1500 7 years ago, 1 Owner cherished car, spent about 400 per year fixing stuff, it's had crank sensor, cam sensor, cam tensioner spring, Radiator, fan, rocker gasket, Heater hedgehog, 3 gearbox oil changes, shocks all round, springs at the back, all the rear arms, drop links, full set of brakes and an upgrade to the 325mm discs on the front. rear arms were an to do and the wiring for the crank sensor, needs someone with tiny hands to fit , but the rest was ok. Could do a rad and fan in about 20 mins now. I've done most of the labour myself with the help of a trusty mate with a ramp. Latest issues are a gearbox oil leak, that I can't find, but it's using a pint a week and I've got pretty good at topping it up, I tried a new cooler, but still leaking nice fresh ATF... I fitted an M5 rear ARB which made the turn in loads better Both rear jacking points were wheetabix, so they were chopped out and welded up and now the fronts need doing. Rust is gradually popping up all over.... But it's a great drive. I should replace it, but can't find anything i like that's equally inexpensive and awesome However
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gte86
Part of things
Posts: 611
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Mar 14, 2021 17:19:50 GMT
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Picked up an 530iT Needs some tidying up but it seems OK as base. Wheels look tiny tho
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Mar 15, 2021 15:59:54 GMT
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Those are 18s, so just need a clean
looks good, any known problems?
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gte86
Part of things
Posts: 611
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Mar 15, 2021 18:14:22 GMT
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17s. Style 66's. I've got some spacers coming tomorrow. Going to get it on the ramp and start a build thread tomorrow
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