E39 540i/6 - worth the money?

[Skrilla]

So I kind of got offered to buy a 540i e39, its a 6 speed car with about 160k kms. Completely stock 2 owner car, shows awesome, has some maint. history records, and its $8k. I've always loved the 5series cars of that era, but are they a headache to own, maybe drive 4-5k a year? Was the expansion tank an issue on these cars as well? Wasn't really looking for one, but damn its a clean car! Is it worth the 8k?

[C4S]

E39 is the best 5 series .. perhaps the best BMW sedan ever .... fun fun fun with the Manual !!

Somewhat, E39 is quite reliable too.. (as a BMW, not compare to Lexus reliability ..)

[dirtsniffer]

M package? What color?

[bjstare]

I'd say go for it.

Nothings a headache if you only drive it 4k a year.

[dirtsniffer]

Probably won't be ever worth less than 8 grand anyways

[Sentry]

Just as good as an M5 in every way but power, and they still have plenty of power. Great cars. And yeah the expansion tank might blow, but they are less than 100 bucks to replace or you can just do it preventatively.

What year? If it's an 01-03 M-sport absolutely worth 8k. 97-00 non msport would be worth 4-5k

Also they get surprisingly good mileage. I got 11l/10km city and 8l/100km highway driving like a dick in my 540i wagon.

[Sentry]

Should view this thread:

https://forums.beyond.ca/threads/403018-Skidwagon

Had lots of fun with nitrous and boost with my 540i.

[Skrilla]

Thanks for the replies! It is not a M sport, it is a 1998. Looked at some exhaust clips on YouTube and they sound pretty nuts with some easy exhaust work

Edit: its maroon in color

[Sentry]

Ah, a Maroon 5.

[KRyn]

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Ah, a Maroon 5.

[VWEvo]

Such an awesome car, easily one of the best 5 series ever, you wont regret it.

[Misterman]

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Ah, a Maroon 5.

And cars value just dropped to 2$ Lucky break for OP!!

[Skrilla]

Went and had a closer look at it this morning, does show quite nice, starts up and seems to run solid. interior wasn't as clean as described. I had a look online and see there is a very similar one at a dealer in Calgary, has 175k, but the interior is much cleaner. Its green instead of maroon, same tan interior. I guess the one in Calgary was traded in to a BMW dealer, and then AAG bought it. Kind of want to see that one first, both are around 8k, but the Calgary one is bone stock. May give me some ammo for a little negotiating on the maroon car.

[Mitsu3000gt]

My dad had an absolutely mint 2001 540i/6 and I thought it might be his old car when I first read the thread. He sold it to a guy who hardly believe what he was getting, based on his excitement anyway. It's not the greatest 6MT but I still think it's an awesome car.

That sounds overpriced though. My dad sold his loaded 2004 545i and could only get about $9K for it after several months, despite it showing almost as-new with very low KM, and despite the used market appearing to be in the $12K+ range based on comparables. $8K for a 1998 with high km seems like way too much, and people do not want the MT in a big sedan like that. Old big German sedans are really hard to sell, especially manual ones, so maybe that gives you some extra bargaining power.

If he couldn't even be bothered to clean it before a showing, that right there is a good indication about how it's likely been taken care of during his ownership. I wouldn't buy a car like that personally - if he's already lied about it's condition/cleanliness, there are probably other things.

[BavarianBeast]

What do you expect to get out of the car?

I wouldn’t drop more than $5k on a 540i.

[Skrilla]

I've just always liked them. Is a guy better off buying a highermileage one for 3 or 4k and just drive it as is? There was one in lethbridge on kijiji with way more miles but less than half the cost. I love how you can make them sound, and the body style was always a favourite. Not much else for V8 stick shift sedans of that era, and I want no part of a S4 4.2 from what I've heard.

[Sentry]

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

[Misterman]

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I've just always liked them. Is a guy better off buying a highermileage one for 3 or 4k and just drive it as is? There was one in lethbridge on kijiji with way more miles but less than half the cost. I love how you can make them sound, and the body style was always a favourite. Not much else for V8 stick shift sedans of that era, and I want no part of a S4 4.2 from what I've heard.

You can get an S4 for a song now. Which engine is in the 540i? I'm assuming it's the 4.4L V8? In which case you'll have to do all the timing chains and guides which is not cheap and it's like 2 full days of work. But you'll have to do the same with a higher mileage S4(assuming these cars don't have maintenance history indicating it's been done). But the BMW is easier in a sense, you just drain oil and coolant, pull the rad and lower oil pan, and you can access everything to do the job. S4 needs the entire engine pulled out of the car because the timing chains are on the back of the engine.

[Skrilla]

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You can get an S4 for a song now. Which engine is in the 540i? I'm assuming it's the 4.4L V8? In which case you'll have to do all the timing chains and guides which is not cheap and it's like 2 full days of work. But you'll have to do the same with a higher mileage S4(assuming these cars don't have maintenance history indicating it's been done). But the BMW is easier in a sense, you just drain oil and coolant, pull the rad and lower oil pan, and you can access everything to do the job. S4 needs the entire engine pulled out of the car because the timing chains are on the back of the engine.

They certainly are super cheap compared to the 540i, ive just heard so many horror stories

[Misterman]

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They certainly are super cheap compared to the 540i, ive just heard so many horror stories

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