2003 e39 525i - Page 2

85eurocarrera · 85eurocarrera's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by speeder

Is it a Minnesota car? Any 10 year old car from the rust belt is worth considerably less than one from a "clean car" place. Could still be a good car, though.

Yep, since new at Sears. Pretty clean though.

Speeder, have you ever heard of Huber's Import Motors in Golden Valley near Anderson Cadillac? They are a independent shop working on Mercedes, BMW and others. That's where this car is now getting a water pump fixed. They only have a facebook page, but think they have been around a while with a good reputation. Need to find a place for my ML350.

Thanks.

speeder · speeder's Garage

Quote:

Quote de speeder

Is it a Minnesota car? Any 10 year old car from the rust belt is worth considerably less than one from a "clean car" place. Could still be a good car, though.

Yep, since new at Sears. Pretty clean though.

Speeder, have you ever heard of Huber's Import Motors in Golden Valley near Anderson Cadillac? They are a independent shop working on Mercedes, BMW and others. That's where this car is now getting a water pump fixed. They only have a facebook page, but think they have been around a while with a good reputation. Need to find a place for my ML350.

Thanks.

Yes, I know them well and recommend them highly. You can tell them I said so.

edgemar · 08-05-2013, 02:35 PM

i'd love to get my hands on an e39 530i sport wagon...

85eurocarrera · 85eurocarrera's Garage

thanks for the info, speeder. Not sure it's the one, but here is a pic.

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

Here's one that a bay area dealer has been flogging on CL for a while

MotoSook · 08-06-2013, 06:44 AM

I may have a 2002 530i Sport 5-speed, 122K mles for sale if someone really wanted it. Not in any hurry to sell, but the wifey wants to replace it with a convertible.

85eurocarrera · 85eurocarrera's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by MotoSook

I may have a 2002 530i Sport 5-speed, 122K mles for sale if someone really wanted it. Not in any hurry to sell, but the wifey wants to replace it with a convertible.

More details please; condition, color, maintenance etc.

5String43 · 08-06-2013, 07:40 AM

We just traded ours off with 140,000 miles on it. As others have noted, it is expensive to maintain. Watch especially for the idler pulleys for the accessory drive belt. Also, the rubber centers in the front control arms go bad at about 60,000 to 70,000 miles and will need to be replaced. We had no problems with the radiator, but I was holding my breath over the transmission - these supposedly are good for 100,000 miles before they fail completely. Also the Xenon headlights - these are spendy to replace. We had one fail the day before we swapped it for a new 328i (which my wife calls "the magic carpet"). Felt like we dodged a bullet. Also, ours was developing a fault where it would run on five cylinders after a cold start. Never got that sorted. Just shut it down and tried again and that usually cleared it. Faulty coil? Fuel injector? No idea. One more thing, with all those miles, the bodywork etc. was still as tight and rattle-free as the day the car was new. These things are built like tanks.

Having said all this, the E39s are really terrific cars. Ours had the sport suspension and we think that is really worth having. Great to drive, some of the most comfortable seats in the business, decent fuel economy - 19 around town, 26 or better on a trip.

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

Also, ours was developing a fault where it would run on five cylinders after a cold start. Never got that sorted. Just shut it down and tried again and that usually cleared it. [b]Faulty coil?

Probably. Had the same symptoms with my M3

RANDY P · RANDY P's Garage

...Funny on other BMW forums and on Range Rover forums guys are DIY rebuilds on the 5HP24 (540i) transmissions- started with some crazy kid in Iowa rebuilt his own in his living room one weekend.

I guess there are very few weak points in 'em- and it comes down to a few o rings and several items. I'm actually thinking of buying a dead one to DIY myself when and if that day comes on mine.

rjp

RANDY P · RANDY P's Garage

PS- the headlight adjusters break. end result is the headlights seem really weak but it's aiming too low. Normally you need to replace the whole headlight if you have Angel Eyes....(early version you can get adjuster parts)

On Ebay there are replacement parts available and to repair it there are several methods- you can do it by

1 baking the headlights (only works on 2000-2001) and pulling lens out, or

2 if you have the patience of Buddha you can remove and replace the parts with surgical pliers- expect to spend HOURS doing it-Or

3 you can do the method I did- cut window in top of headlight. Makes it a 30 minute job. You can't tell it was cut once resealed since the core support covers the surgery.

One discarded tupperware bowl cut to dimension, some hot glue and an absurd amount of permatex black silicone, then NEATLY covered with black duct tape squares, and done. Simple and brutally effective. You won't notice on my car.