E39 540i/6 - worth the money?

[HiTempguy1]

Your "proper" timing chain maintenance entails replacement at a cost of $4k+ by a shop.

And its not if you need to, its when. No amount of "maintenance" changes that.

Can you do it yourself? Yes, it's only like a 4-5 day job if you own your own hoist. Hard pass, and I love the V8 S4, one of my favourite daily drivers.

[Misterman]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Your "proper" timing chain maintenance entails replacement at a cost of $4k+ by a shop.

And its not if you need to, its when. No amount of "maintenance" changes that.

Can you do it yourself? Yes, it's only like a 4-5 day job if you own your own hoist. Hard pass, and I love the V8 S4, one of my favourite daily drivers.

Correct, like I said. ???

[bjstare]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

And its not if you need to, its when. No amount of "maintenance" changes that.

Well, kind of. Depends on how long you plan to own for. The interval for that timing chain maintenance I belive is 160k. If it's been recently done, I'd feel okay buying one (from that respect anyways, the cylinder scoring is a whole other kettle of fish), considering I've never put 160k on a car before selling, and probably won't ever in the future.

[BavarianBeast]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

What sort of stories? Do your proper timing chain maintenance, expect to drop in a reman steering rack at some point, other than that you've got a solid car. The S4's seem to nickle and dime you to death a lot better than BMW's do. I love BMW's as well, but I know when I own one I am going to be doing a pile of maintenance crap if it's over 150,000km

I spent over $10k to re-machine my heads after severe cracking and warping on my B7 S4. Just to add a story. 42,000km at the time.

B5's with the 2.7 twin turbo are/were better cars, despite all their horror stories..

[Misterman]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

Well, kind of. Depends on how long you plan to own for. The interval for that timing chain maintenance I belive is 160k. If it's been recently done, I'd feel okay buying one (from that respect anyways, the cylinder scoring is a whole other kettle of fish), considering I've never put 160k on a car before selling, and probably won't ever in the future.

My thoughts exactly. You can either negotiate a hell of a deal if the timing needs attention, and then take care of it yourself for a reasonable buck and some elbow grease. Or find one that has the timing done, and negotiate a good deal on it because of the cars poor reputation.

- - - Updated - - -

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

I spent over $10k to re-machine my heads after severe cracking and warping on my B7 S4. Just to add a story. 42,000km at the time.

B5's with the 2.7 twin turbo are/were better cars, despite all their horror stories..

Jesus! You almost could've done a 3.0T swap for that. Did they figure out what caused your crazy issues?

I've got a B5 myself. In regards to OP, talking about a B6 based on the price range he is talking about for this 540i.

[BavarianBeast]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

My thoughts exactly. You can either negotiate a hell of a deal if the timing needs attention, and then take care of it yourself for a reasonable buck and some elbow grease. Or find one that has the timing done, and negotiate a good deal on it because of the cars poor reputation.

- - - Updated - - -



Jesus! You almost could've done a 3.0T swap for that. Did they figure out what caused your crazy issues?

I've got a B5 myself. In regards to OP, talking about a B6 based on the price range he is talking about for this 540i.

They never really figured it out, but said it was likely due to the previous owner neglecting to put oil in it for a long time. I dunno how viable that would be or not. But ultimately it boiled down to me being young and very stupid. Found the car on eBay about 11 years ago and it had a buy-it-now price that was close to 70% less than what the B7 S4's were selling for used in Canada so I decided to just blindly throw a bid in and won the vehicle. This was 2008 and I picked up a 2006 S4 for $18k.. When I flew down to WA to pick it up, it was located at an impound lot and discovered that the vehicle had recently been in a police chase and suffered significant damage to the frame and some engine components and had a cheap fix. Still had a clean working title.. Drove it for 5 months before it started pissing oil from the heads, fixed it and then drove it for another 2 years..

Expensive lesson to learn!

Is your B5 an S4? Silver with green accents & a ton of carbon by chance?

[Misterman]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

They never really figured it out, but said it was likely due to the previous owner neglecting to put oil in it for a long time. I dunno how viable that would be or not. But ultimately it boiled down to me being young and very stupid. Found the car on eBay about 11 years ago and it had a buy-it-now price that was close to 70% less than what the B7 S4's were selling for used in Canada so I decided to just blindly throw a bid in and won the vehicle. This was 2008 and I picked up a 2006 S4 for $18k.. When I flew down to WA to pick it up, it was located at an impound lot and discovered that the vehicle had recently been in a police chase and suffered significant damage to the frame and some engine components and had a cheap fix. Still had a clean working title.. Drove it for 5 months before it started pissing oil from the heads, fixed it and then drove it for another 2 years..

Expensive lesson to learn!

Is your B5 an S4? Silver with green accents & a ton of carbon by chance?

Brutal luck. There is a 2004 with 4.2 for $3600 on Kijiji right now. I'm very tempted to grab it, but I just don't have room with 4 other cars in the garage right now. It needs the typical steering rack replaced, and a few odds and ends stuff. I figure even if the engine craters itself I can just 2.7T swap it for next to nothing.

Mine is a black S4. Doesn't run right now. Just need to grab a bit more camera gear, and wait for some heat in the garage, then I'll be starting work on it and making it a YouTube vlog.

[BavarianBeast]

B6 S4 with 2.7TT swap would be awesome.

Look forward to seeing your YouTube vlog. If you need some 2.0T coil packs to swap in, I think I still got a few new ones kicking around in storage somewhere....


I'm always in the market for a clean B5 S4 nogaro and typically check AT and Kijiji once a week.. So if you know one, I'll buy!

[Misterman]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

B6 S4 with 2.7TT swap would be awesome.

Look forward to seeing your YouTube vlog. If you need some 2.0T coil packs to swap in, I think I still got a few new ones kicking around in storage somewhere....


I'm always in the market for a clean B5 S4 nogaro and typically check AT and Kijiji once a week.. So if you know one, I'll buy!

I might very well take you up on the coils.

The Nogaro is beautiful. Just gotta keep your eyes peeled on kijiji. I think you just missed one a couple months ago that looked almost mint. I'll try and remember to send you the link if I come across another one.

[Sentry]

When did the Audi peasants invade this thread? Gtfo with your volkswagens.

[infamous]

back on topic, a S62 swapped E39 Touring just sold for $72k USD on BaT! looks quite properly done!

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/20...ng-conversion/

[Misterman]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

When did the Audi peasants invade this thread? Gtfo with your volkswagens.

I've actually owned more BMW's than Audi's. Probably going to pick up an X5 soon as well. If I get that I'll have one of each big 3 Germans in the garage.

[bjstare]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

back on topic, a S62 swapped E39 Touring just sold for $72k USD on BaT! looks quite properly done!

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/20...ng-conversion/

That thing was fantastic.

It popped up on a bunch of the accounts I follow on instagram, I wonder how it's social media exposure influenced the price... I wouldn't be surprised if it added $20k to the sale price.

[ercchry]

This quote is hidden because you are ignoring this member. Show Quote

My wagon had 250k when I got it and 280k when I sold it. Never an issue.

It’s up for sale @Sentry ... guy says starter is done, and “has about 240k kms” ...$4k ask

[Sentry]

Well it had like 175k miles when I sold it, so guy needs to brush up on his conversions.