Need some advice on buying a BMW 97 540i

Pinter75 · 8 Jul 2006 at 21:05

Howdy,

The time has come to replace my ageing e36 316i which still works but is seriously worn :-(

It is totally gutless and starting to rust (sea air), so as much as I love her she is going into retirement.

So..... a replacement is needed. I fancy a E39 5 series :-)

I was looking at fully loaded 528i's but a local loaded 540i (540i Auto) has come onto the market in my budget!

Hmmm 4L of V8 BMW wonderfullness seems like one hell of a leap from my weedy 1.6L. What are the things to watch out for. I hear that the V8's suffered from the engine problems due to fuel grade so that should have been replaced under warranty. It has done around 185,000 miles, but I only do <5000 a year.

Insurance is circa £500 fully comp no excess, so thats all good.

Any advice?

Ta!

Scania · 8 Jul 2006 at 21:08

Awaits Fox....

How much is it for a starters?

The 540i is a great car, but it'll be a lot pricier to run than your e36 thats for sure. Expect around 18mpg about town, and every other expense will be considerably higher.

I'd consider the 528i also it has better steering than the V8 model due to a different steering setup and all the better for it imo,
I changed from an e36 318i (175k) for my 728i & compared to the e36, it feels like its powered by hyperdrive!

Early M60 aluminium V8 engines had a problem with high sulphur content petrol. Around a quarter of these engines have been replaced, the rest received an EPROM mod to run the engine hotter but this reduced power. None of the V8s in the E39 should suffer from this.

http://www.bmwworld.com/models/e39.htm

[TW]Fox · 8 Jul 2006 at 21:18

Just about to watch a film, but a quick sentance before I type a big reply..

RUNNING COSTS - 540i's cost PROPER money to keep running.

Scania · 8 Jul 2006 at 21:22

[TW]Fox said:
Just about to watch a film, but a quick sentance before I type a big reply..

RUNNING COSTS - 540i's cost PROPER money to keep running.

Spoken for truth, I recently spent £450 at a specialist having an Inspection 2 service and a few other odds 'n sods done. The cost would have been double @ a BMW dealer and I have the smaller engined 728i

The 540i is NOT a cheap prospect and at the mileage yours has done, will inevitably start to need replacement parts over time, as would any car.

Right car, wrong engine imo. Look at the 532i & 528i I would'nt personally go for an e39 V8 (M5 excluded!)

Pinter75 · 8 Jul 2006 at 22:20

Thanks guys,

Hopefully if the guy still has it I'll go and see it on Sunday.

It is priced at £3995 ono.

I have a local BMW specialist who works on my cars, after being stung by the main dealer. Seeing as the 540i is an expensive beast to keep running - servicing costs may outweigh the value of the car. But if this car were to last 2 years or 10,000 miles before any stupid cost repairs are needed - I will be a very happy chappy!

It has 12 months MOT, and as I said my milage is very low (I work from home).

A 528i would still me a massive leap from my worn 175,000 mile e39 316i (compression is low on all cylinders buy circa 25%!), so I may go back to looking at those. It is just this V8 beasty caught my eye.

R124/LA420 - A 7 is far far too big for me, as I don't drive trucks for a living ;-)

Awaits Fox's reply :-)

[TW]Fox · 8 Jul 2006 at 23:40

Put it this way, one of the guys on the BMW forum has just had some work done on his replacing some suspension components etc on his 540i.

The bill?

£2000 inc vat. That was from sourcing the bits himself and using a cheap independant. They are NOT cheap cars, and this is why £3995 gets one these days - its merely the start. If you can't afford to spend another £3995 on it, please, downsize.

Awesome cars, I would love one, but you really need big pockets - ie, bigger than only spending £3995 on a car.

A 528i is NOT a slow car. Near 200bhp, 150mph and 0-60 in 6.8 seconds with the manual gearbox. Also a slightly sharper handling car and whilst it's still not as cheap to run as a Mondeo it's no 540i either - a good compromise, by all accounts.

Scania · 9 Jul 2006 at 01:05

Pinter75 said:
Thanks guys,

Hopefully if the guy still has it I'll go and see it on Sunday.

It is priced at £3995 ono.

I have a local BMW specialist who works on my cars, after being stung by the main dealer. Seeing as the 540i is an expensive beast to keep running - servicing costs may outweigh the value of the car. But if this car were to last 2 years or 10,000 miles before any stupid cost repairs are needed - I will be a very happy chappy!

R124/LA420 - A 7 is far far too big for me, as I don't drive trucks for a living

If your lucky, 10k should be achievable if and its a very big if, the cars been well looked after.

Example, I had my bottom front suspension arms replaced at my last service, the garage said that the rear shock absorbers have "about 8k" left in them, therefore I know I have a big bill in the near future, at that 540i's mileage, its only to be expected that quite a few suspension components will be worn.

The question is, how worn? If the cars been well looked after, the suspension on the e38 & e39's are good for an average 100k so I'm told. therefore you may well have 10k of life left in the suspension.

Is it an automatic? whilst a great box to drive with, they do not like huge mileages, my advice there would be get the gearbox filters & oil changed as soon as possible (ignore the fact BMW state the gearboxes are sealed for life and require no maintenance!) an exchange gearbox, again, is an expensive job.

If its a decent example (and it sounds ok) you may well get yourself quite a bargain. But, it'll really bite you @ that mileage if its an example thats not ok, but requiring many expensive repairs hiding under its gleaming surface..........

My main advice, before buying it, would be to go out and try to drive some other examples of the e39 540i, if you just drive that starship mileage example your looking at, you only have it as a benchmark. Try a 50k miler example and see how well they compare. - I did this when hunting for my e38, it brought home - starkly - how relatively bad some of the examples I tried were, it helped me to get my car which (touching wood!) has proved to be quite reasonable in costs & required repairs over the 12months & 11k miles I've owned it.

I'm sure a particular 730i I looked at (£4500 on the screen) would have cost me that again in repairs had I not realised by driving my car, just how bad the suspension and a few other bits on it actually were. Meaning, I drove the 730i, was well impressed with it, but subsequently drove the car I eventually bought, and I bought it after feeling how much better i.e. less worn, it actually felt.

I hope the above makes sence!

As for the e38 & trucks mate, my artic does a good job of making the e38 feel tiny by comparison, little else does!

Pinter75 · 9 Jul 2006 at 01:46

Thanks again guys :-)

I'll go and have a look at the starship E39 and see what it it may need replacing in the future/any service history.

Yup it is an auto.

There are a few 528i's about also, so I will look at those. My old man had a E39 520i and while it being a nice drive was totally under powered (apparently).

I'll post an update after I have had a look at a couple.

R124/LA420 Your 7 is awesome in black, and those wheels mmmmnnnnn :-)

TomO · 9 Jul 2006 at 11:00

Pinter75 said:
Thanks again guys

There are a few 528i's about also, so I will look at those. My old man had a E39 520i and while it being a nice drive was totally under powered (apparently).

I'll post an update after I have had a look at a couple.

R124/LA420 Your 7 is awesome in black, and those wheels mmmmnnnnn

520 - 150bhp
528 - 193bhp

pretty much same weight and almost 25% increase in power.

as has been said, unless you can afford the running costs, which i would guess not if you are looking at £4k cars, then get the 540. if not then a 528 or similar is still a nice car.

Adz · 9 Jul 2006 at 11:22

R124/LA420 said:
Example, I had my bottom front suspension arms replaced at my last service, the garage said that the rear shock absorbers have "about 8k" left in them, therefore I know I have a big bill in the near future, at that 540i's mileage, its only to be expected that quite a few suspension components will be worn.

What did that cost you, out of interest? Was it a main dealer, specialist or backroad independent?

Scania · 9 Jul 2006 at 12:59

Adz said:
What did that cost you, out of interest? Was it a main dealer, specialist or backroad independent?

Backroad independent (the same place looks after my Dads e39 & Mums e46) £450 including Inspection 2 Service - less than half what BMW had quoted. :eek:

Breakdown of costs of my last service.
Oil £22.98
Oil Filter £6.60
Oil Flush £9.98
Fuel Filter £6.10
Fuel Conditioner (whatever the hell that is!) £9.98
Air Filter £8.08
Pollen Filter £33.54 (!)
Bottom Suspension arms £91.44
Brake pad sensor wires £20.35
Spark plugs £18.00

Labour £160.00
VAT £67.73
Total £454.78.

Edit, the £160 labour charge includes re-fitting a snapped exhaust bracket, a job I'd been quoted £250 for alone by another garage !!! :eek:

Adz · 9 Jul 2006 at 13:45

That's really quite reasonable. Those front wishbones for instance, I'm about to pay £65 for a pair for my Omega. £91.44 + VAT for a 7 series seems quite fair to me.

£160 labour, again, not bad for the work done.

6thElement · 9 Jul 2006 at 13:52

The 528 E39 was often called one of the best cars available by the motoring press and better than the other cars with larger engines in the range due to its steering setup.

Scania · 9 Jul 2006 at 14:44

6thElement said:
The 528 E39 was often called one of the best cars available by the motoring press and better than the other cars with larger engines in the range due to its steering setup.

One had rack & pinion (the 528i iirc) the V8's had a recirculating ball set up, again, iirc.

[TW]Fox · 9 Jul 2006 at 15:33

6thElement said:
The 528 E39 was often called one of the best cars available by the motoring press and better than the other cars with larger engines in the range due to its steering setup.

Correct. Throughout its production much of the press asked the rhetorical question 'Is this the finest car in the real world?'. It was certainly the best of its type.

It's one of the most complete cars ever made - perhaps closer to 'perfect' than much else has ever got (If perfect is fulfilling its design breif etc). Infact, you could say the only thing wrong with it is that it has a BMW badge...

Scania · 9 Jul 2006 at 15:48

[TW]Fox said:
Infact, you could say the only thing wrong with it is that it has a BMW badge...

And whats inherently wrong with BMW then? they hardly have an image for cheap / poor cars do they?
What would be a better badge? Ford? Vauhxall? Mercedes?

Sorry mate, but thats a bit of a daft statement imo.

[TW]Fox · 9 Jul 2006 at 15:49

R124/LA420 said:
And whats inherently wrong with BMW then?

Sorry mate, but thats a bit of a daft statement imo.

There are thousands and thousands of people who purchased Audi A6's and Mercedes E Class's knowing the E39 was a better car becuase 'They couldnt see themselves in a BMW' or 'Becuase BMW drivers are all ******'.

The marque has a negative image.

Scania · 9 Jul 2006 at 15:52

[TW]Fox said:
There are thousands and thousands of people who purchased Audi A6's and Mercedes E Class's knowing the E39 was a better car becuase 'They couldnt see themselves in a BMW' or 'Becuase BMW drivers are all ******'.

The marque has a negative image.

Thats just plain daft imo. - Not what Fox's saying, more that people actually do what he said - More fool them don't you think?

Stereotypes, rarely proven to be true in my experience.

Sagalout · 9 Jul 2006 at 15:56

Fox is right.

Of course its just a stereotype, and by definition a sterotype is usually wrong, but the brand does have that image associated with it.

Pinter75 · 9 Jul 2006 at 21:44

Ok, A little update,

I went to view a 528i and it was a little suss. The air con fan was stuck and it had no gas. Cloth interior and no toys, plus a dodgy looking Xenon upgrade :-(

Spoke to the owner of the 540 and popped up to have a look (he was not there). The car looks sweet, has 12months MOT, 3 owners from new and full service history upto end of 2004. Also has full grey leather interior :-)

There are quiter a few bargining points to beat the price down on, mainly marked bumpers and some busted interior trim - also that mileage issue. Mine has identical marks caused my muppets around here who can't park or don't care!

HPI checks are all clear.

I'll go up and see it properly tomorrow and have a test drive - more updates to come.