What to look out for in an E39 5 Series ?

aquous

aquous

aquous

Associate
Joined
14 Jan 2005
Posts
477
Gonna start looking at E39 520 / 523i, preferably in the SE trim this week. Budget is 4k, lower is a little better.

Was wondering if someone had a quick checklist of things that I should look out for on them :) or some decent examples (links off autotrader would be much appreciated :D )

As always, any help appreciated.
 
Know its not much help but wanting a premium car with a limited budget is always a bad idea, you might get lucky but no doubt you will get a nail.

Things to watch out for with your money to spend, lack of leather due to the poor trim would be a good start ;)
 
What sort of budget should I be thinking. I guess I can push to 6k (excluding insurance), but dont really want to go higher than that.
 
Friend of mine bought a 528 for 4k and it was brilliant. Pushing your luck though, if its an auto Id be concerned as you'll be looking at high mileage ones at this price.
 
I think you need over £6000 for a decent 5 Series and money kicking around to keep it going. They were NOT cheap cars when new so just becuase some of the older and lesser cared for examples are now going cheap does not mean they are cheap cars now.

They are fantastic cars but they are also large premium saloons and repairs and general running costs ARE expensive.

I am a HUGE E39 fan and it is my dream to own one - they are my favourite car - but I won't buy one until I have at least £8000 to spend on one that won't be a constant headache, and enough spare cash to fix it if it ever breaks.
 
Disagree to an extent.

My old mans e39 528i (1997 iirc) will no doubt fetch less than £4k when its sold on, but, it has been a superb car and I'm more than confident it would continue to be so.
The reason is he's owned it from new & its had full BMW servicing.

I'd have no problem in buying an aged e39 if it were a one owner car with a thorough history.

I paid less than £6k for my e38, and had I been looking for an e39 I doubt I'd have spent that much.

Theres such a huge choice of e39's available, simply disregard the muti owner examples and spend a bit more buying it from a dealer with a warranty.

I'd have a word with your local BMW dealer(S) make yourself a complete pain in the rear if necessary, get them to offer you first refusal on any e39 that they get in as part ex, but are either too old or high mileage to go on the BMW dealers forecourt.

I know of 2 people who aquired e39's for under £4k from BMW dealers! - No warranty, sold as seen, but when the cars obviously been pampered and the previous owner has part exed it for an e60 or whatever, your on to a good start.

My local BMW dealer offered me a 160k Mile 2001 740i Sport for £5.5k back in August, I very nearly bought it in favour of my 728i. Insurance & fuel costs persuaded me otherwise.

It was interesting none the less, and shows whats possible. ;)

[TW]Fox said:
I am a HUGE E39 fan
Click to expand...
Decided if your going to become an e39 owner yet mate?
 
Last edited:
You only disagree becuase you have been lucky not to suffer any problems. They are not by any means unreliable cars, but stuff happens, parts need replacing from time to time and when they do, they are VERY expensive.

Even ours, which was a 23k mile 2 and a bit year old car when purchased has had a few things fixed under warranty so on an 8 year old one..
 
[TW]Fox said:
You only disagree becuase you have been lucky not to suffer any problems. They are not by any means unreliable cars, but stuff happens, parts need replacing from time to time and when they do, they are VERY expensive.

Even ours, which was a 23k mile 2 and a bit year old car when purchased has had a few things fixed under warranty so on an 8 year old one..
Click to expand...

Yes, I've been lucky, but, I did buy mine from a reputable dealer, with, a warranty. Paying a premium price in the process.
Had I bought the £3.5k 730i I was initially considering, I'd be skint & immobile I'm sure.

Whoever gets my Dads e39 when its sold will be laughing mate, I assure you. - Posted pics of it finally btw, in sig. :)
 
Last edited:
R124/LA420 said:
Yes, I've been lucky, but, I did buy mine from a reputable dealer, with, a warranty
Click to expand...

Well ours was a main dealer car so even thats no guarantee, ok the problems encountered were no big deal in the grand scheme of things but even so, problems do occur. They are expensive cars to own, if you are prepared for this then they are worth the expensive as they are brilliant, but people who find one for £4k and think 'Blimey now THATS a better buy than that Fiesta I was going to get' are going to be shocked.
 
[TW]Fox said:
people who find one for £4k and think 'Blimey now THATS a better buy than that Fiesta I was going to get' are going to be shocked.
Click to expand...

Obviously, being in the market for a Fiesta and then buying a BMW 5 is a tad silly....

aquous is in the market by his own admission for an e39, so I doubt we have to sell him the idea of BMW ownership (most people think "cost" )

Londons full of sub £3k e39's (none of which I'd touch with a bargepole) but £4k opens up a lot of choice of far better examples.

aquous, spend a few hours reading through these links, also, join some BMW related forums and check out the e39 sections, you'll find more information than the average brain can take in!

http://www.unofficialbmw.com/e39.html

http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/e39.html

Locate an independent BMW specialist in your area and buy an e39 through him, get it serviced at the independent and you'll be surprised at your £4k motor.

Tread very carefully, the more examples you look at, the easier it'll become to discover the dogs.
 
I'm still sceptical you have a high chance of happy ownership if you buy a cheap E39. If I could be sure you would, I'd have one by now.
 
[TW]Fox said:
I'm still sceptical you have a high chance of happy ownership if you buy a cheap E39. If I could be sure you would, I'd have one by now.
Click to expand...

I have the advantage of experience of my high mileage e36, my (now) 107K e38 and my Dads 190k+ e39, not forgetting his previous 100k+ e34's.


I'd hate to have experience of a used & abused example of any of them though!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom