Goodbye E34, hello E39

[splower]

Well,

after having lots of fun driving a '95 530i I was wondering what could possibly go wrong. It had an inspection 2 last week, flew through it needing only a new washer fluid cap (along with the normal bits). I was very happen. Then it happened, my accountant rang and said she needed to see me.

This is normally for one of two reasons, either I owe her money (or alcohol), or I have run out of money (or am going to). Unfortunately it was the latter. As a cost saving exercise, I decided to gulp and sell the 530 :( I loved it, and can say i've owned one, but the fuel bills are crippling for someone who commutes to work.

Thursday I went looking at cars, drove a peugeot 306 diesel, couple of Audi A4's, toyota, VW golf (I think its called a rabbit in US?). Reached lunchtime and hadnt really liked any of them. Went to loook at a '94 525 tds in the afternoon, but he wanted too much. I was just about to leave and he mentioned a mate of his who has a 523i. He didnt tell me what year or anything, but I was interested so I went to have a look.

Decent photos will follow, but it was love at first sight. Turns out it was an 1999 E39, black on black (cloth interior). Wood kit, auto-climate control, steptronic, etc.... Has 160,000 miles on it, but all motorway milleage with a full service history from a BMW dealer, so doesnt bother me too much.

Sorry for the long post, will have to write what I think of it tomorrow when I make sense

-Simon :)
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l67/simonpaullower/DSC00162.jpg

[MTechnik540i]

Another one bites the dust...


Well,

after having lots of fun driving a '95 530i I was wondering what could possibly go wrong. It had an inspection 2 last week, flew through it needing only a new washer fluid cap (along with the normal bits). I was very happen. Then it happened, my accountant rang and said she needed to see me.

This is normally for one of two reasons, either I owe her money (or alcohol), or I have run out of money (or am going to). Unfortunately it was the latter. As a cost saving exercise, I decided to gulp and sell the 530 :( I loved it, and can say i've owned one, but the fuel bills are crippling for someone who commutes to work.

Thursday I went looking at cars, drove a peugeot 306 diesel, couple of Audi A4's, toyota, VW golf (I think its called a rabbit in US?). Reached lunchtime and hadnt really liked any of them. Went to loook at a '94 525 tds in the afternoon, but he wanted too much. I was just about to leave and he mentioned a mate of his who has a 523i. He didnt tell me what year or anything, but I was interested so I went to have a look.

Decent photos will follow, but it was love at first sight. Turns out it was an 1999 E39, black on black (cloth interior). Wood kit, auto-climate control, steptronic, etc.... Has 160,000 miles on it, but all motorway milleage with a full service history from a BMW dealer, so doesnt bother me too much.

Sorry for the long post, will have to write what I think of it tomorrow when I make sense

-Simon :)
http://i93.photobucket.com/albums/l67/simonpaullower/DSC00162.jpg

[Macv]

When more money comes around you'll buy another ;)

[Denton]

Interesting that an E39 is cheaper than an E34.

How many miles were on the E34?

[BillionPa]

probably cheaper because of the 700ccs of displacement, and 2 cylinders less.

[inkstom]

Not necessarily, I just bought a 94 530I for 4500. Absolutely nothing wrong with it.

[splower]

It cost me £3200 to by the E39, sold the E34 for £1400. Worth the difference though because a 6/7 year old car is going to need less maintainance than a 11 year old one.
Not only that but servicing costs are lower, uses a noticable amount less petrol, and is probably more environmentally friendly.

I sorely miss the 530, but with the british government wanting everyone off the roads, or driving mini metros/ other crappy cars, it seemed like a good compromise. Also, like the saying goes, quit while you're ahead, sooner or later it would have needed major work, and I wouldnt have got £200 for her.

The E39 is a cracking car so far, handles better, more comfortable, and definately alot more refined. Still quintessentially BMW.... Might be unfair to compair it to an E34 though, because they're separated by 8 years of development...

-Simon

[billy]

It cost me £3200 to by the E39, sold the E34 for £1400. Worth the difference though because a 6/7 year old car is going to need less maintainance than a 11 year old one.


I wouldn't count on it - depends on how each of the 2 cars were maintained

[Alexlind123]

I still dont understand how a £3200 E39 is cheaper than a £1400 E34. 4 years difference in age wont make that much difference, and e39s are probably harder to work on yourself. It seems to me that if youre running out of money, a BMW might not be the proper car to drive. If youre looking for fuel economy or smaller engine size, why not go with a 3 series? None of this seems to make sense.

[632 Regal]

agreed, if you ran out of money and sold the E34, where did the extra money come from anyway? money trees?

I still dont understand how a £3200 E39 is cheaper than a £1400 E34. 4 years difference in age wont make that much difference, and e39s are probably harder to work on yourself. It seems to me that if youre running out of money, a BMW might not be the proper car to drive. If youre looking for fuel economy or smaller engine size, why not go with a 3 series? None of this seems to make sense.

[splower]

I dont think I wrote what I meant.

-I'm not skint, but would rather spend my money on something other than petrol. 29mpg out of a 523i compared with 17mpg from a 530i is large difference.

-Inspections are £100 more for a V8, at least at the indy I go to, Potentially more at other places.

-The extra money I spent on the new car was saved up for exactly this, a replacement car.


Cheers
-Simon

[Omega]

Simon.

Nice purchase and welcome to the e39 club. I swapped from an e34 saloon to e39 touring last month and am loving it. :p

For our American cousins I will hopefully clarify some points:
1> Fuel (gas) prices in the UK are a joke and running big engined cars is akin to burning all the money in your wallet on a weekly basis. By dropping from the 3.0 V8 to a 2.5 st6 Simon has (I expect) reduced his fuel bill quite dramatically.

2> If Simon is self employed, his accountant can write the cost of the car off as a business asset - at least they should be able to. There will be a tax incentive.

3> A 6 year old car with FBMWSH beats an 11 year old BMW with service history every time.

4> As Simon mentioned, and I can prove e34's in the UK, especially old, big engined e34's are WORTHLESS.

Sorry guys. I know in the US they are still revered but in the UK you can't give e34's away. Even banger racers don't want them.....If the car has any mechanical issues you have to PAY to get them dragged away. It broke my heart when I had to move my e34 on. Most people wouldn't even give me the value of the road tax in the window. Ironically it was worth much, much more in parts than as a whole.

5> Agreed. It doesn't make sense. But we're Brits. Why does it have to make sense?... :D




agreed, if you ran out of money and sold the E34, where did the extra money come from anyway? money trees?


Damn, the yankee guessed. Why else would we continue to live on this wet, damp, cold island being Taxed to hell and back if it wasn't for the money trees?

:)

[attack eagle]

The Dole

[scoop2004]

amazing looking 39.but the subject of ur topic makes no sense,if ur so low on funds ur accountant is casing u then u shud switch to a smaller and cheaper car.

Where did the money come from for the 39?
Do u think spending 3200 on a car,selling the 1400 pound car to help pay for it will pay u back over the years. The 39 owes u 1800 quid,how long u think it'll take to save urself 1800 quid in fuel,insurance and maintenance costs.years and years im guessing.

why not get a E36 325TDS?? that'd help ur finances yet keeping it BM

[splower]

Not being funny or anything, but where I got my money from to buy a replacement car isnt anyone's business.

I sold a car, with a large engine and is sh*t on fuel, before it broke down and was worthless. I bought another car, which is better on fuel, newer, less likely to go wrong and is, in my opinion, a better car.

I merely pointed out, that I've been told that I've been spending too much on petrol. Problem solved. The cost of the car is neither here nor there.

To the person who suggested that I'm on the dole, that's not even funny.

The whole point of this thread was to say "hey, look, I've got a new car" which I thought was one of the points of this forum.

[rob101]

The whole point of this thread was to say "hey, look, I've got a new car" which I thought was one of the points of this forum.
yes any car so long as its an e34, traitor.
lol just kidding, I see your reasoning though.

[attack eagle]

Not being funny or anything, but where I got my money from to buy a replacement car isnt anyone's business.

I sold a car, with a large engine and is sh*t on fuel, before it broke down and was worthless. I bought another car, which is better on fuel, newer, less likely to go wrong and is, in my opinion, a better car.

I merely pointed out, that I've been told that I've been spending too much on petrol. Problem solved. The cost of the car is neither here nor there.

To the person who suggested that I'm on the dole, that's not even funny.

The whole point of this thread was to say "hey, look, I've got a new car" which I thought was one of the points of this forum.

Actually it was funny (that was me), you just don't get humor, instead of humour. Probably because you thought it was directed at you personally, instead of the average American's misconception of the English populace/ aka welfare state. Sorry for hurting your feelings. I'll watch an hour of "Monty Python" or "Are you being Served" as Penance.


Next time say "look i've got a new car", or "sold e34, bought e39" instead of "my accountant made me sell my e34 and buy a more expensive e39 to save on petrol".

By bringing money and finances into it, you just made it ok for people to question and discuss where you got the money for the car, and WTF you were thinking to buy a more expensive car to save a few dollars at the pump... If you don't want to hear discussion about it, just don't post that type of stuff. To do so invites discussion.

I was reading about our retarded American environmentalists that buy hybrids but don't realize they have to put well over 100,000 miles on them over 5 years just to break even with initial investment and initial environmental impact before it does any good... and by then it is time for expensive servicing of battery packs and starting over with trying to break even on that new expense again. Your reasoning so far reminds me of that...


Based up fuel cost and consumption rates, how many miles (km) will you have to put on the car to turn the tables in your favor would you guess? How many KM to break even on fuel savings as compared to your initial investment in aquiring the more expensive vehicle? And how much more to finally equal the additional depreciation the e39 will have as compared to the e34 which is already almost fully depreciated?

After all you are still going to wind up with a car that costs the same as the
e34 when it is time to sell, Not asking prices on either one, just trying to figure out WTF you are thinking.

OR more truthfully was this the final logical excuse for justifyiing an emotional reason (frustration etc) for change?

[Antrieb]

Eagle has it right, wtf were you thinking?

[Alexlind123]

[QUOTE=attack eagle].[QUOTE]

Your logic is like your car.

[Omega]

yes any car so long as its an e34, traitor.

I think that this is closer to the mark.....even though Rob was being humerous.

<WARNING>The next news may shock.
BMW didn't stop making cars after 1996. They actually make other versions of the 5 series.....

Now you know that go and lie down in a darkened room.



long u think it'll take to save urself 1800 quid

You are from Scotland... Why are you speaking like a Gangsta? Is it 'cos you thinks you is from the Hood? Innit..........

Not only is is a PITA to read txt drivel but any point you may make is lost as I can't be bothered to read it to the end.

############

There. Cages rattled. Hornets nest stirred. Time to sit back........

Enjoy

:D

[Boone.Msi]

Where the f*ck did 17mpg come from? i at least shift into sport 2 times a trip and drive spiritidly and i average 20 mpg. the lowest ive gotten was 18mpg and that was the second week i had it.

also did you consider that pushing that poor 2.2 to keep up with traffic is gonna cost you the same to cruize easily with the e34?

yea the v8 is more expensive but honestly if you keep up with your car how much do you have to worry about repairs? good luck with your purchase but maybe you should have bragged about your baseline e39 on the e39 board instead of embarrasing yourself in front of us...

[splower]

Try driving in and out of London during rush hour every day, and you'll find out where 17mpg comes from. As it is, I'm saving a fiver (£5) everyday I go to work.

I think you'll find that a 523 actually has a 2.5 litre engine, and no it doesnt need to be worked hard to keep up with traffic.

I'm well aware that E34s are worth alot more in the US, but over here they are looked upon as worthless old cars, and I consider myself lucky to have got what I did for mine.
£400 on a service/inspection for a car that could potentially be worth no more than £700 is insanity.

Baseline? that would be a 520. Either way, I dont think I'm going to loose any sleep over it if the guy next door has leather seats and a bigger engine in his car.

Cheers Omega for actually understanding what I've been saying, and yeah, it has been written off as business expense...

I'm off home now, and I'm going to the pub with the money I've saved in petrol bills. I'm looking forward to only worrying about the rear cup holders breaking, and if anything else does break the warranty will cough up.

[Omega]

I'm looking forward to only worrying about the rear cup holders breaking.....

Ha ha. Mine broke after about 5 minutes. POS plastic anyway so replaced them with the oddments bin for holding junk. Much better, besides I don't drink in the back on account of being the driver......... I have to be in the front. The passengers tend to scream otherwise... I WON'T be doing that again, apparently. :D

Saving a fiver daily is impressive. Writing off the "business expense" is also wise ;) I once managed to get the e34 down to 9mpg in the "freeflowing" traffic gridlock that we all know and love in England :D

BTW: The 523 has the single (or Double depending on year) VANOS M52 24v 2.5 litre engine. The "523" badge was because the 525 was used only on the Diesel.

[Lennyz525i]

I can see the logic, well except for getting one with 160K miles (not KM?) on it. Operating an older car is tough in europe.

[Robin-535im]

Is it 'cos you thinks you is from the Hood? Innit..........


I believe it's "da" hood.

[shuriken]

Splower, know what your saying. My last E34 was a 525ia and I bought it for £850, mint with 82k on the clock. Wrote it off 4 months later into a wall, yeah silly of me i know! Now have my 528i E39. Love it. got cloth interior and manual box. At least i don't live in londaon any more, traffic and petrol consumption is a mare. Good to have an auto box in town though. Enjoy ya 523, cracking cars.

[Zeuk in Oz]

BTW: The 523 has the single (or Double depending on year) VANOS M52 24v 2.5 litre engine. The "523" badge was because the 525 was used only on the Diesel.
I think you will find that the 523i engine is slightly less powerful than the E34 525i M50 engine, hence its being called 523 when, as you say, it actually is a 2.5 litre engine. Still more than adequate performance though.

BMW have done the same thing with the new E90 323i compared to the 325i. The 323i is a de-tuned version of the 2.5 litre motor.

[rob101]

I think you will find that the 523i engine is slightly less powerful than the E34 525i M50 engine, hence its being called 523 when, as you say, it actually is a 2.5 litre engine. Still more than adequate performance though.

BMW have done the same thing with the new E90 323i compared to the 325i. The 323i is a de-tuned version of the 2.5 litre motor.
i am not expert but I think usually the major difference between the 25i and 23i is the fact that the 25i has dual exhaust pipes and the 23i a single pipe. hence it would be detuned. (read you getting ripped off)

Also, why are you guys being such bastards to this bloke?

[danzee]

I bought an E39 three years ago after putting 170,000 miles on my E34 since I bought it new in 1995. I couldn't part with the E34 and still have it. It's got a "of one piece" feel that the E39 just doesn't match. The E39's a very nice car, but I prefer its predecessor. In fact I drove it to work all week.
I know you'll be happy with the new car, but I bet you'll miss the old beast.
Cheers

[Omega]

I believe it's "da" hood.

:( I stand corrected. The Gangsta-101 class is this evening and it's obvious I haven't done my homework...... Damn, homie..:D



I think you will find that the 523i engine is slightly less powerful than the E34 525i M50 engine, hence its being called 523 when, as you say, it actually is a 2.5 litre engine. Still more than adequate performance though.

Correct in the summation of the power, the "23" is 170ish bhp and the M50 2.5 is 192bhp. Also with the VANOS I find the power delivery feels "different" but hell, it's still entertaining! The reason it was badged 523 was due to the diesel being the "525".



i am not expert but I think usually the major difference between the 25i and 23i is the fact that the 25i has dual exhaust pipes and the 23i a single pipe. hence it would be detuned. (read you getting ripped off)

Now that is an interesting assumption, I haven't looked under the e39 for a while so can't remember if it's single or dual piped. Question for the guru's: Would the exhaust cause a 20hp drop? I thought it was to do with the cam profiles being different due to VANOS?


but I bet you'll miss the old beast.

I can't see why he would. I don't miss my e34 as the e39 is such a vast improvement. Going from an e34 to a Ford would make me pine for the BMW. Hell it would make me pine for a good pair of shoes. I'd rather walk.

[BillionPa]

now an E39 diesel with digital propane injection added would get you way up there in the mpg rating.

[Omega]

now an E39 diesel with digital propane injection added would get you way up there in the mpg rating.

Interesting....

I was looking for an e39 diesel (& steptronic) wagon but they are currently way, way, way out of my price range. It's the petrols that are cheap over here. Give it a year or so and I will look for picking up a diesel. Then some propane.....

[shuriken]

I think you will find that the 523i engine is slightly less powerful than the E34 525i M50 engine, hence its being called 523 when, as you say, it actually is a 2.5 litre engine. Still more than adequate performance though.

BMW have done the same thing with the new E90 323i compared to the 325i. The 323i is a de-tuned version of the 2.5 litre motor.


All the E39's are down on power up till 2000. The 523 and 323 monica is because BMW didn't want to take sales away from there 28's (528 and 328) purley marketing reasons. Engines are down on power, my E39 528 is the same as my E34 525i at 192 bhp, because of German insurance legislation. This went out the window when the 520 went to 2.2 and the 523 became 525 and 528 went to 530i. The E39 530 has 234 bhp compared to the 528 of 192bhp. The 528 engine is very unstressed because of the restrictions and even a chipped one only manages 213 bhp or there abouts. Still as quick as my E34 535 though :D but thats just next generation technologie for you.

[ryan roopnarine]

All the E39's are down on power up till 2000. The 523 and 323 monica is because BMW didn't want to take sales away from there 28's (528 and 328) purley marketing reasons. Engines are down on power, my E39 528 is the same as my E34 525i at 192 bhp, because of German insurance legislation. This went out the window when the 520 went to 2.2 and the 523 became 525 and 528 went to 530i. The E39 530 has 234 bhp compared to the 528 of 192bhp. The 528 engine is very unstressed because of the restrictions and even a chipped one only manages 213 bhp or there abouts. Still as quick as my E34 535 though :D but thats just next generation technologie for you.

i was going to say the same thing, but i was unsure if the HP and Displacement issues between the 523 and 528 were limited to the US market.

[Alexlind123]

Try driving in and out of London during rush hour every day, and you'll find out where 17mpg comes from. As it is, I'm saving a fiver (£5) everyday I go to work.

I think you'll find that a 523 actually has a 2.5 litre engine, and no it doesnt need to be worked hard to keep up with traffic.

I'm well aware that E34s are worth alot more in the US, but over here they are looked upon as worthless old cars, and I consider myself lucky to have got what I did for mine.
£400 on a service/inspection for a car that could potentially be worth no more than £700 is insanity.

Baseline? that would be a 520. Either way, I dont think I'm going to loose any sleep over it if the guy next door has leather seats and a bigger engine in his car.

Cheers Omega for actually understanding what I've been saying, and yeah, it has been written off as business expense...

I'm off home now, and I'm going to the pub with the money I've saved in petrol bills. I'm looking forward to only worrying about the rear cup holders breaking, and if anything else does break the warranty will cough up.

It sounds to me like you might be a little too worried about what your cars (or you) are "looked upon as."

[shuriken]

I think splowers remarks were taken the wrong way to be honest. The respect that an E34 has in the USA is way more than over here in the UK. It's not about how one looks but how much to spend in relation to the cost of the car. As E39's have only (reletively) been replaced by E60's their value is still high and so it's worth spending money on to get repaired, infact some folk look for E39's coz they don't like the new cars. I'd say it's a money issue. Your (USA) market place is quite a bit different to ours(UK). I assume Boon.Msi is on about this thread with his,well maybe not just this one. On his note i do take his point, I'm on a Kawasaki ZX9 forum and the same type of comments get thrown up there too. It does grip ya ****.

[Omega]

Just to throw my hat into the ring once again....

In the US it appears that the e34 still holds it's monetary value and that's great but in the UK you can't give them away.

We are taxed to death on all our money. Pay road-tax to drive on the roads and are then anally-raped when we fill up with gas. If we want to drive in London we have to pay a "conjestion charge" for the priviledge of sitting in a 20 mile traffic jam.

We have 60million people living in a country that covers less square mileage then MICHIGAN.. We also have +20 million cars. Do you see the problem?

To answer Alexlind123. To put it bluntly I couldn't give a flying **** for someone elses opinion about my car. I loved my e34 and it served me well for 6 years, however it was simply a case of economics. The car failed it's MOT (road worthness) and I needed in-excess of £500 of parts. Add labour to that (mine or the garages) and that was far, far more than the car was worth. I therefore had a choice to make. Start to plough money into an old car that to this point had cost me nothing, or upgrade to a newer car without the associated problems. I also knew of at least three other issues that were getting borderline fail.

Most of my friends also run old cars and nearly all fall into the trap of throwing good money after bad. My friend has a £75 "banger" that he has spent over £1000 maintaining. He can't sell it as it's worthless and he can't stop fixing it because he has money invested in it.

Me? I knew the e34 was worth about £350 to £400. If I started getting bills more that that then it was time to cut and run. If someone else wants to throw a couple of grand at a £500 car then fair play to them.

You have to remember we in the UK are continually amazed at the prices that e34 cost in the states. I have seen up to $10k price tags on 525/535's. To put this in perspective I can buy a 540 or M5 for around that over here.

And finally (who said "thank ****"?... ;) ) I will say this:
I would swap my e39 wagon for Attack Eagles e34 wagon in a heart-beat. I looked for an e34 wagon I just couldn't find one in the UK any where near as nice as that.

Bothered what people think? I'm not a snob, just want value for money.

I thank you and goodnight. :)