5 Series Buyers Guide

[prestige interiors]

What's good: Sep 2000 facelift has clear headlight lenses. Top model is M5 with 400bhp, 5·0-litre, V8. 170bhp, 2,171cc six-cyl engine replaced 1,991cc six in 520i; 523i became 525i with 192bhp; 528i replaced by M52 EU3 530 six with 231bhp; 163bhp direct-injected 525d introduced alongside 184bhp 3·0d. Four stars in NCAP crash test. Unlimited mileage/two-year full manufacturer warranty, followed by one-year full dealer warranty from Nov 2001; below-average repair costs in 2003 Warranty Direct Reliability Index.

What's bad: quibbles about build quality, paint and door seals. Electrical niggles, including faults with ventilation and air-con system, airbags and parking sensor. Engine gasket leaks. Wipers set for LHD. Avoid old, 2·5-litre diesel, almost as thirsty as petrol. Petrol V8s not worth the extra. Franchised dealers expensive. Sat-nav/phone system problems. Excess rear tyre wear can cause Steptronic autoboxes to stick in low gear. Risk of turbo trouble on 530d.

What to watch out for: build date from 2001 is on label on top of front n/s wheelarch. Check tool kit. Service indicator easily re-set; a paid invoice is only guarantee of recent service.

Recalls: 9/11/2001: cars built 28/9 to 24/10/2001 with Continental tyres might have cuts in the tyres, hence blowout risk. 16/11/2001: diesels and V8s built 11/11/2000 to 30/9/2001 recalled due to fault with radiator fan motor that could lead to overload and small electrical fire. 23/2/2002: recall in Germany for all models with Conti Eco Contact and Sport Contact 205/55 R16 and 225/55 R16 tyres. 22/2/02: Bearing in front strut top mountings can be displaced by jacking.

[Guest Mister Dabsy]

Good post... But General as it applies to ALL models :P (M5 exception)

Never noticed the tyre issue though :unsure:

[IanIOM]

BMW 5 Series (E39 1995-2003)

If you are looking to buy an E39, please use all the comments below as a guide. The BMW E39 was introduced in late 1995 to replace the E34 which had been in production since 1987. All 520/523/528 Petrols Up until mid 1998 were fitted with a 6 cylinder M52 engine, with the 535 and 540 being a V8 .The 4 cylinder 518 was dropped from the range.

Early Diesel engines were the “TDS”, fitted to the P 38 Range Rover and the E36 325, A simple turbo diesel engine which produced around 150 BHP. Not very exciting to drive,however the only weak spots are the pick up pumps,other than that they go on and on and on.Also small bonus is with the TDS engine it will run onf BIO Diesel(AKA cooking oil). Enignes are known to do the 500,000 miles mark so i would be happy with one!.

The M52 520/523/528 models are a single vanos straight 6 engine. Smooth makes a fantastic sounds will do mid-late 30`s mpg on a run and early 20s around town. Arm the 523(2500cc)/ 528 with an earlier m50 manifold and a re-map and 200+BHP quite possible without strainging the rest of the car.

Sadly for some reason the M52 can pop its head gasket, if the car doesnt over heat then you should get away with the head being pressure tested/skimmed and new gasket(have £800 in hand and you should be ok!), If its over heated,throw the engine away, from experiance the heads can crack, However so can the block!. The alloy block sadly warps with the head which means stripping the whole block down skim it. Fear not your problems have not ended yet! If your block hasnt warped you will find that when you come to tighten down the Cylinder head the Threads in the block have a habbit of stripping which then need a few helicoils to fix this, or you could just buy an engine from a BMW breakers which will be ganutueed for 6-12 months for £500 or so.

The 535i and 540I V8,are fantastic engines! Fuel consumptions could be worst,but isnt great. The only problems i have found over the years is the Oil Seperation Value provides problems, which causes the engine to burn oil and smoke like a steam train!, Although this sounds worse than it is as the part is £60 and can be replaced without to much differcult if the inlet manifold is removed.

With all of the above please remeber to check excessive smoke, rattles bangs etc!

Bodywise

Again with BMW`s they seem to have the rust under control, However the boot lid/estate tail gate are prone to rust if incorrectly adjusted, in addition to this the fuel filler flap, just where the solinold exits on the rear quarter tends to suffer from the rust bug a tad, However the chances are the car you will be looking at will be 10 years old with over 100k on the clock, compare it to other makes and they stand the test of time very well indeed.

Interiors

Leather of Fabric the seats are very supportive and will stand the test of time well,The fabic seats tend to wear the seat base over the years,this is quite normal and occurs around 130k miles mark.

Again the above is all only a guide to add to coments already here, one of which i will build on and add photos and correct my spelling errors over time!However I have just typed this up on the Euro Star on my mobile, this will be expanded upon over time.

[gazzdid]

When you say avoid old 2.5 diesel which engine do you mean? The E60 2.5 or previous one?

Thanks

[AMC442]

Very interesting points of view.

It's difficult to tell which is the best model to buy or collect.

We are different users and drivers.

To have the thrill of driving I would probably not go to 5 series but a supercharged small hatch.

V8 are great if you can aford the cost of maintenance. Once your kids are at the uni you think it twice...

For cruising on the motorway at 70mph every second weekend to meet my family I decided to go to the "old" 2.5 tds.

Bullet proof engine, simple and very reliable it gives a lot of miles per galon, considering the size and weight of the car, it is not bad at all.

The DS5 I had was not giving much more for 15 times the price of an old tourer.

They will be baned soon from most of the city centers. Not a problem, I use the park and ride.