Advice on e39

[kahny1]

Hi guys im looking at grabbing a 97-2000 BMW 523i and was wondering if you guys can answer a few q's

1. Reliability - how reliable? expensive to maintain?
2. Fuel Economy - ok so its not a 4 cylinder - but any idea of the L/100km?
3. Issues - anything I should look out for prior to purchasing?

Thanks alot

[justlikemusic]

Hey I have a '97 523i and they are solid cars. Currently it is off the road getting some minor things worked on.

For reliability I would check:

1. Compression test
2. If it blows any smoke at all, or hasn't had the CCV valve replaced, replace it. I have a supplier which I can get these from for $150 so they aren't expensive. Mine started blowing a little smoke, and I this is the issue. I have a thin oil layer over my intake manifold because of it, so thats all clean now, and it's ready to go all back with cleaned injectors and cold air intake... and traction control throttle body delete!

Takes only a couple hours or so.

3. VANOS Seals... engine will be single Vanos M52 and if you hear a slight 'marbles chatter' coming from the engine on startup and it isn't the lifters, it's the Vanos (BMW Variable valve timing control)

4. Make sure the waterpump is in good condition or has documented history of it being replaced if possible, and the thermostat and radiator also.

Also Google search for "buying E39 523i" should bring up more comprehensive information on things I may have missed.




Other than that... I have had the car for over three months before I stopped driving it, and absolutely thrashed it. The gearbox is relatively tough for an auto, the steering is great. The car feels a bit sloppy, but with stiffer springs I'll be hoping to fix this a bit. I am looking into some mods for a tighter gearbox change.... but the rest is pretty decent.

I have done a cold air intake, fan delete, throttle body delete which should give me some more power and more importantly throttle response. Also with the intake manifold cleaned of oil and intake tract smoother it should give me a noticeable improvement on power. I wouldn't mind upping the diff ratios since I can get to 120km/h in 2nd gear from a 5 speed auto box. That's another thing for the research table.

[kahny1]

Originally Posted by justlikemusic

Hey I have a '97 523i and they are solid cars. Currently it is off the road getting some minor things worked on.

For reliability I would check:

1. Compression test
2. If it blows any smoke at all, or hasn't had the CCV valve replaced, replace it. I have a supplier which I can get these from for $150 so they aren't expensive. Mine started blowing a little smoke, and I this is the issue. I have a thin oil layer over my intake manifold because of it, so thats all clean now, and it's ready to go all back with cleaned injectors and cold air intake... and traction control throttle body delete!

Takes only a couple hours or so.

3. VANOS Seals... engine will be single Vanos M52 and if you hear a slight 'marbles chatter' coming from the engine on startup and it isn't the lifters, it's the Vanos (BMW Variable valve timing control)

4. Make sure the waterpump is in good condition or has documented history of it being replaced if possible, and the thermostat and radiator also.

Also Google search for "buying E39 523i" should bring up more comprehensive information on things I may have missed.




Other than that... I have had the car for over three months before I stopped driving it, and absolutely thrashed it. The gearbox is relatively tough for an auto, the steering is great. The car feels a bit sloppy, but with stiffer springs I'll be hoping to fix this a bit. I am looking into some mods for a tighter gearbox change.... but the rest is pretty decent.

I have done a cold air intake, fan delete, throttle body delete which should give me some more power and more importantly throttle response. Also with the intake manifold cleaned of oil and intake tract smoother it should give me a noticeable improvement on power. I wouldn't mind upping the diff ratios since I can get to 120km/h in 2nd gear from a 5 speed auto box. That's another thing for the research table.

Mate your a legend!
Thanks for all the advice - sounds like a sweet car
Just going to wait for the right time and car and pounce on it

[justlikemusic]

Also the pre-99 models go pretty cheap. Don't spend over $17k on a good one... if you spend over 20k go for a 99 model facelifted E39.

Phone pic of it...

[justlikemusic]

No problems mate... I bought mine from Pickles Auctions in Perth and paid $9920 for it.

Only problems with the car were rubber on the front widscreen was cracking and needs replacing. Engine was using oil and they probably thought it was a head gasket. Compression tested fine and no oil in water or vice versa... if you know what to look for, and I did, it's the Crankcase Ventilation Valve which sends oil back down to the dipstick and air back to the manifold which was stuffed!

[justlikemusic]

Still smoking... either valve stem seals or piston rings from Nikasil block. =(

Petrol in Australia is pretty much 89 RON at the worst.... however I run 98 ultimate RON since I bought it, and am hoping it is just valve stem seals that my smoking problem is. How you go with yours?

[tezza0710]

Hi Kahny1

With reference to your desire to purchase an e39 5 series, be very, very careful about the car you buy. I picked up a '97 528i in September '08 and so far has cost me $4600 with another $1000 due in the next couple of weeks.

The car looked and drove fine initially, It is Oxford Green, has M5 rims (style 65), has lowered King springs all round otherwise stock standard. My first highway trip showed up a very bad shimmy. With a lot of research under my belt I came to the common conclusion that the front thrust bearings needed replacing, luckily I decided to do a tyre rotation first and found the Front right worn to the steel belt and the left rear had a longitudinal cut about 20cm long; result 2 out of round tyres-problem fixed ($800 for 4 new tyres).

Next problem - the car started overheating at idle, it was booked in for a service, so I asked mechs to check the cooling system, a faulty fan hub was diagnosed and fixed, everything OK for a week, overheating came back more seriously, back into mechanic. The next diagnosis was a faulty auxiliary fan (electric) this evolved into a blown head gasket (common for this engine I was told-$2300). When the head was removed it was then found to be cracked ( also common - now $3600). the car is now back on the road and behaving impeccably). The latest is that the rear ball joints and a lower control arm bush need replacing plus a 4 wheel alignment-another $900.

My advice to you - get any potential purchase checked out by an expert or risk paying out big money as I have!!!! Don't get me wrong, I love the car but hate the company (BMW) for faulty design work. I'm told the M54 is as bad.