My cheap E39 540i 6-Speed

[Rilot]

After looking at a lot of ropey E39s I finally found one that was good. Funnily it was the first one that caught my eye but I only got to look at it today as it is 200 miles from my house

Details:

1997 R Bmw 540i 6-Speed manual Touring.
147k with a fsh.
Celis front lights installed.
Gray leather sports seats.

The good:

Got a fsh from bmw and bmw specialists.
All weak points have been sorted with bills to prove.
Recent lower control arms, suspension bushes, and tie rods.
Recent rear subframe bushes.
Rad and waterpump replaced 50k ago (right on cue)
Most stuff works as it should.
Drives really really well due to the suspenstion work. Feels very tight.
Engine feels very lively
Sports exhaust sounds ace.

The bad:
A few rust spots on body leading edges.
Rear screen wash not working (wipe is fine)
Leather isn't electric.
A few lines missing on some displays.

So, offered him £2700, settled on £2800 and I pick it up tomorrow.

Pics on my flickr: http://flickr.com/rilot
I'll take some better ones tomorrow when I've got it home.

So, a 280bhp missile with a manual box for Mondeo money. Me happy.

 

[iaind]

Is it a 540 or 530? Your post said 530 but the title said 540...

Must be rare to find a manual one of these, especially if its a 540

 

[Luke]

So where's this 540i then?

 

[Rilot]

It's a 540i
Miss typed it. Posted from my iPhone you see.

 

[Luke]

That seems like a whole lot of car for the money!
Have you worked out the likely servicing costs on that then?

 

[Rilot]

Minimal as I will do it myself.
E39s are easy to work on and parts are plentiful.

 

[Jez]

Much better than the other rubbish suggested in your thread Good buy.

 

[[TW]Fox]

The E39 is a bit over-rated, really.

 

[wez130]

the good thing about the E39, it never looks dated, if i didn't know it was 97/98, you could stick a Y/51 plate on it and it wouldn't look out of place, great buy there rilot

 

[gobbo]

Bargain! Looks pretty nice that does actually.

OT, what method do you use to upload to Flickr from your iPhone?

 

[mattpc]

nice car, im jealous.

 

[mjt]

not sure about the angel eyes but the schnitzers are kinda cool

better than an omega

 

[Draeger]

So, a 280bhp missile with a manual box for Mondeo money. Me happy.

Perfect.

Nice buy. Bet that is a hoot to drive.

 

[Moeks]

Oh very nice find that, a 540i manual, very rare

 

[Scania]

Nice!

Happy load-lugging tyre shredding & fuel station visits!

 

[digisatman]

nice ride, good price, looking to get a e39 of some sort myself in the near future.

 

[Rilot]

Bargain! Looks pretty nice that does actually.

OT, what method do you use to upload to Flickr from your iPhone?

A little app called mobile fotos. It's dead good.

Think I better get drawing up a to do list.

Sort rust spots
Remove clutch delay valve
Fit celis rear clusters
Fix rear wash
HID conversion
Find and fit some electric sports seats
Get an iPod interface cable
Disassemble instrument cluster and re-solder display connections (fix missing lines)
Grab a 2001+ grill from ecp
Replace awful bmw speakers with something better

 

[[TW]Fox]

The speakers are not actually that terrible, its the head unit. Get an amp first.

 

[Scania]

The speakers are not actually that terrible, its the head unit. Get an amp first.

Indeed.

I had a car stereo shop show me a different head unit & amp wired into my old e38's crap as I thought them speakers, the difference was night & day.

Punchy Bass & nice crisp treble! - The £800 (!) price including the HU, Amp & fitting made me put up with the OEM.

 

[mr tommo]

Whats the removal of the CDV all about it? Quite a few Z4 owners have done the same I just haven't looked it up yet.

oooh and nice car for the money