My '97 e39 BMW 5 years on - another MOT bagged :-)

Pinter75

Pinter75

Pinter75

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Howdy,

MOT time again for my e39 540i i bought about 5 years ago. Now with 211,000 miles on it - sailed through another MOT :-)

I did have an advisory - an Oil leak.

I do know this because my rocker cover gaskets are leaking oil onto my manifold and causing a bit of smoke and smell. Most embarrassing sometimes!

All was going well until 2 days after the MOT it started missing all over the place and would not go over 20mph alongside loads of drama!

Turns out one cat had disintegrated, melted and blocked the exhaust, meaning that one whole bank would not ignite. On a v8 this is a bit of a problem!

So whipped off busted cat, replaced with new - sweet again.

While I was taking it apart, I also did the rocker cover gaskets.

All BMWs run hot, and this one especially. 4.4L creates quite a bit of heat, so much the engine will still be warm for days after a good run!

This had turned the rubber gaskets into hard brittle useless seals.

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Here is the cover, with the gaskets which are obviously busted!

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A shot of some engine bits.

All back together and working again.

Cost = parts.

:-)
 
I remember you posting here when you were considering buying it and IIRC you were warned off it because it was too cheap and therefore must be a shed.

Nice buy! :D
 
This car must barely get used, no wonder it never goes wrong! If i garaged my cars and never used them i am sure my running costs would be zero too.
 
IIRC, it had around 190k when he bought it (and I remember both you and I think myself warning him of impending doom Fox!)

Sure he's not doing many miles, I think this is the best (perhaps, only) sane way of running an aged high mile e39.

Works for me & my silly mile example, I remember wincing at his mileage when he bought it, mine will be knocking on the door of 270k by Christmas (possibly January mind you! :o )
 
[TW]Fox;19855791 said:
Didn't it have 200k when you bought it? How many miles have you covered in total :p
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Bought at 186k, now 211k, and yeah it ain't a daily driver ;-)

if I had to drive it daily, it would have probably died long ago.
 
Cool that its still going, nice motor given even if you gave it away now it would equal what...£500pa in depreciation?

Thats not bad going for V8 motoring :)
 
Yup about 480 pa.

It is worth more parted out than a total car. Still looks good for it's age. Most people refuse to believe it is 14 odd years old!

Maintenance is the key.

Coil and plug cleaning and checking.

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It is really smooth and quiet again, since I did the exhaust. The center joins had corroded too and were blowing.
 
This is very true.

TBH the original lights and bumper were a bit crap.

BMW must have given it a facelift for a good reason ;-)
 
Lucero said:
So that's one side down. What about replacing the gasket on the other side too :)
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No point if it's not leaking. I wouldn't bother, you might as well stagger the work/cost. It's not like changing a spring on one side, it either seals or it doesn't and it's not going to suddenly dump all his oil or anything.
 
I have done both sides.

I have had the gaskets in the boot for nearly 2 odd years. I finally got some time to get it done.
 
bledd. said:
lol @ oil splattered road
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Yeah I feel rather guilty about that. The road was only re-laid about 2 years ago too.

I will however do my best to clean it all up :-)

On another note, more maintenance today. I have developed a rough idle.... Popped off the ICV or Idle Control Valve and it had so much crap in there it was stuck. A clean with carb cleaner and all is good again. It is almost as if now the car has a better exhaust, other bits need attention.

Keeps me busy at least :-)
 
Well I am surprised it's still going ...then again as mentioned, you haven't done many miles so it has an easy life. The engine looks nice and clean under the rocker covers, no goopy crap in there then? ...certainly looks like a well cared for engine. Is there any rust at all? ...or even paint bubbling.

Consider yourself fortunate not to have had one with VANOS ...something you need never worry about.
 
Moeks said:
Well I am surprised it's still going ...then again as mentioned, you haven't done many miles so it has an easy life. The engine looks nice and clean under the rocker covers, no goopy crap in there then? ...certainly looks like a well cared for engine. Is there any rust at all? ...or even paint bubbling.

Consider yourself fortunate not to have had one with VANOS ...something you need never worry about.
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I do have some rust now, I live very close to the sea, which speeds things up!

Bit on the lip under the boot, and a touch on one of the sills.
 
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