Opinions requested 540i vs clean 525i

[Dom]

I'm looking for opinions.
I bought my 91 525i from a buddy of mine @ 82,000 miles. He went ahead and upgraded to a 98 540i. My friend lets the dealer take care of everything, gets it detailed regularly and generally takes excellent care of his car.
I wanted a car to work on, I bought the Bentley manual and the 525 has been great. I do the tune up/oil change/ water pump/ alternator/ brakes, etc. no problem. The car now has 155000 mile and it runs great. I did the 7 series bushings/ bilstien shocks, I try to repair everything with the best parts I can buy. The oil has been changed ~every 3000 miles and is still amber. I have a couple of very minor dings in the body, and the back seats have seen too much sun to be perfect.
I also just made a trip up to San Luis Obispo from San Diego and got 26.8 MPG, I was pretty happy about that.

Anyway, my buddy is planning on selling his 98 540i with about 70000 miles, and it's a beautiful car. He's going to buy a new 5 series and he'll probably want what the dealer will give him ~$20,000 -$24,000 for his 98.
Like I said, his 98 is a 540i, 6sp with all the extras, black on black, as is mine.

The money is no problem, but I really like the 525i and know it pretty well.
Any opinions on whether I should pick the 540 up or keep my 91 525i.
Any pros and cons would be welcome.
Dom

[winfred]

i've not worked on a e39 540 yet but have done several 528s and 740 e38s, and am less impressed almost everytime i work on one, they are nice driving cars, i just did a ton of work on a 97 740, around $3k worth, and one of the things he wanted was the two cup holders fixed, he about puked when he found out that with parts and labor it would take $485, he decided that he really didn't need the almost useless cupholders. lots of shitty plastic, and a few annoying electrical problems, and one of my new favorites needing to be reprogramed because the obd2 softwear was set too sensitive, nothings wrong but it dont run worth a damn and or check engine light, and that rotten pcv plate on the v8, we are getting to the point that every v8 that comes in with running problems gets new intake gaskets and pcv plate, and checked for plugged cats, so far we've seen about 5 different ways that the pcv plate can **** with the running of the motor, well enough ranting

[Dom]

i've not worked on a e39 540 yet but have done several 528s and 740 e38s, and am less impressed almost everytime i work on one, they are nice driving cars, i just did a ton of work on a 97 740, around $3k worth, and one of the things he wanted was the two cup holders fixed, he about puked when he found out that with parts and labor it would take $485, he decided that he really didn't need the almost useless cupholders. lots of shitty plastic, and a few annoying electrical problems, and one of my new favorites needing to be reprogramed because the obd2 softwear was set too sensitive, nothings wrong but it dont run worth a damn and or check engine light, and that rotten pcv plate on the v8, we are getting to the point that every v8 that comes in with running problems gets new intake gaskets and pcv plate, and checked for plugged cats, so far we've seen about 5 different ways that the pcv plate can **** with the running of the motor, well enough ranting

[Dom]

Thanks Winfred, I was hoping you would reply. My friends 540 is definitly a hot rod, very fast. But I'm pretty happy with the E50 engine, it's easy to work on. It's a little slow coming out of the gate but it will cruise all day at 90. And I know how to work on it.
Dom

[Super90]

I've talked at length with my indy on this very subject. What to get after dealing with an M60 powered E34? Their opinion is similar to what Winfred is telling you. E39s are nice cars but not built as nicely as the E34, car for car. Now on the V8s versus I6's, this is the real fun. It's a huge trade off. The E39 540 w/ M62 has lots of power, but still has lots of the same issues as the M60. PVC plate and intake seals as Winfred mentions, but also valve cover gaskets, supposedly the p/s hoses also, and just the overall pain of the engine bay being jammed full. I know my M60 takes up all the darned space in there and makes some maintenance a bear versus it's six cylinder counterpart.

Their recommendation for the e39 is to get a 528 or 530 with the manual gear box. I think both of these motors have VANOS and consequently a really flat torque curve, far easier to work on, and are generally much more trouble free.

So, 540 for the fun, which will cost ya', or the 528/530 for a good solid troublefree e39.

Or, just for kicks, toss in a e34 M5 into the discussion!!! You did say money wasn't an object, right?!

Tough decision. It's definitely a personal one.

Me, I am thinking about driving mine for a few more years and then looking at the E39 530's and how they are holding up at that point.

[sbcncsu]

I'm looking for opinions.
Dom
Well Dom,

The price on that 540 sounds like it is a great deal.

I too came to the crossroads that you are looking at. Our 95 525ia was aging, and not in a good way. The head gasket blew right at 100K, the radiator puked at 120K, the tranny slip became unbearable at 145K and the last straw, the A/C was on its way out.

We began looking for a new vehicle. As this is my wife's daily driver, it was totally up to her what we looked for. Initially, she thought that she would like a wagon. We looked at the Passat Wagon, the Jetta Wagon and the later model E46 325iT. We made an offer on a 325iTa at the local BMW dealer. Well, they tried to screw us on our trade and at first were not going to honor the price on the BMW Certified Pre-owned web search engine. Needless to say we walked away from that one.

We went to an independent dealership owned by a friend and saw a 2001 525ia. It was really nice, not a wagon but the price was great. We test drove it and my wife said that "this feels right". The 525i E39 is slightly decontented but is nice none the less. I like the way it drives, handles, performs. Its performance is similar to the performance of our old 95 525i. It is a little slow out of the gate but is really a screamer on the highway.

The six in the new 5ers is all aluminum. The steering is rack and pinion and they can be found with 17" wheels from the factory. (Ours has the Style 5's):

http://www.bimmer.info/bmw/sbcncsu/BMW0005_1.jpg

I have had this car in for its Inspection I (Free maintenance comes with these cars for 3 years or 36,000 miles) and to repair a blown sword resistor in the heater fan. (Some things never change with BMW!)

The 540 is a good deal. The sixes are nice and will command a lower price.

[Tiger]

Keep your car... Dealer would probably give him $18.5K for his car... If you sell your car, you probably might get $3500 for it. This is based on edmunds.com prices. I find edmunds.com trade-in price in line with wholesale black book prices... which is what dealer used to determine how much to pay for the car at dealer's auction or trade in.

E39 540i is a bigger car... more comfortable riding car then E34... quieter than the I6 engine... the question is do you like it? If you do, go for it. If not, then you know... you still got your 525i. It will be pretty hard for you not to like that 540i though... so good luck!

[Rick L]

Are those Continental ContiSportContact tires on your NICE E39 BIMMER? They are the worst tires I have ever owned!!! I put less than 3k miles on those tires and got rid of them ASAP! The noise became unbearable and the tires became "out-of-round". It's not just me... I heard similar stories about these tires. Doesn’t BMW test the tires before they use them as OEM? I think they were asleep!!! I don't know how you are dealing with those awful tires... Anyway, I like to say, "nice car"!



Well Dom,

The price on that 540 sounds like it is a great deal.

I too came to the crossroads that you are looking at. Our 95 525ia was aging, and not in a good way. The head gasket blew right at 100K, the radiator puked at 120K, the tranny slip became unbearable at 145K and the last straw, the A/C was on its way out.

We began looking for a new vehicle. As this is my wife's daily driver, it was totally up to her what we looked for. Initially, she thought that she would like a wagon. We looked at the Passat Wagon, the Jetta Wagon and the later model E46 325iT. We made an offer on a 325iTa at the local BMW dealer. Well, they tried to screw us on our trade and at first were not going to honor the price on the BMW Certified Pre-owned web search engine. Needless to say we walked away from that one.

We went to an independent dealership owned by a friend and saw a 2001 525ia. It was really nice, not a wagon but the price was great. We test drove it and my wife said that "this feels right". The 525i E39 is slightly decontented but is nice none the less. I like the way it drives, handles, performs. Its performance is similar to the performance of our old 95 525i. It is a little slow out of the gate but is really a screamer on the highway.

The six in the new 5ers is all aluminum. The steering is rack and pinion and they can be found with 17" wheels from the factory. (Ours has the Style 5's):

http://www.bimmer.info/bmw/sbcncsu/BMW0005_1.jpg

I have had this car in for its Inspection I (Free maintenance comes with these cars for 3 years or 36,000 miles) and to repair a blown sword resistor in the heater fan. (Some things never change with BMW!)

The 540 is a good deal. The sixes are nice and will command a lower price.

[DueyT]

Rick, it's true...I've heard nothing but grief from SportContact owners, but I'll tell you, my SportContact2's are the quietest and best performing tire I've ever driven. These are two totally different tires!

p.s. Don, E39's are sharp looking too. The M62-powered 6-speeds are killer cars! Short of an S62-powered E39 M5, they're a smoking ride...well, so long as you don't get the "wiggly amp gremlins" that it seems early E39's were prone to...

Cheers,
Duey

p.p.s. When my E34 540i/6 dies I'll be looking for a 2003 540i/6 (well, maybe a 97/98 M5. Something about 400 hp that has to make you smile. :D )