2003 e39 525i

[aap1966]

One has popped up near by. 119,000 km (74,000mile). Dealer servicing untill 100,00km (62,000mile), the specialist thereafter.

Any owners of 525s, 530s out there? (Straight 6 motor) Comments?
Full PPI a given, but any work to do regardless? (Prophylactic timing chain replacement, etc)

Thanks guys

[KNS]

Very popular car. Cooling system is the biggest weakness, you'll want to replace the water pump, idler pulleys, belts, hoses , thermostat and expansion tank. Radiator as well as you get up towards 120,000miles. I have an '04 325i (same silky smooth engine), 144,000 miles, great car. The 525i is a little underpowered for the size, 530 is much better.

[gprsh924]

Valve cover gaskets, ccv valve, and as mentioned, cooling system.

Great car, but pricey to maintain if you're putting a lot of miles on it. I sold my 530i sport in April. Miss it everyday.

[RANDY P]

Former 2002 530I Sport owner and I JUST bought a 540I M Sport yesterday.

E39 6zyl weak points-

Window regulators constantly break ($30 Item on Ebay, minutes to fix)

check for no oil sludge in the crankcase- if you follow BMW recommended change intervals, it may be sludged up.

Noisy VANOS (Unlikely with that miles) but will hiccup and hunt immediately on cold startup and eventually go away, and it will tick- only an issue if abused with lack of oil changes.

Radiators all break off at the upper house around 80K and expansion tanks go south- deal with it, they are expendable with BMW.

Lower thrust arm bushings- manifests itself as a shimmy around 50-60 MPH, and at low speeds if you stab the brakes the steering wheel kicks at you slightly- typical German car.

Transmission-if it shifts good in all gears and doesn't flare - change the fluid and be nice to it, typical failure range is 80-130K Miles- supposed to be "lifetime fluid"

Check that the Aircon fan blows- if it doesn't blow, or doesn't seem to react right to whatever fan speed you want, no big deal- $100 Final Stage Resistor- easy fix, and all E39's eat them. Get used to it.

No timing chain to worry about, never fails, not a leaky engine either. It's actually quite nice- if yours has been looked after reasonably well, buy it and just drive. Hope it's a Sport package-

[RANDY P]

HAS TO BE SPORT PKG! Big, fast agile, solid quiet car- I missed mine so much I bought another E39.

2003 540I with REAL M Sport option - forged 18" M Parallels and special aerodynamics-

Pics from yesterday- stole the car from the PO who I suspect has serious, serious IRS problems. It was just listed on CL literally 30 minutes when I called it, and within the hour I bought it- he was so cash poor he just dumped the car- it was LOWBALL, didn't even bother to haggle it was unreal. |

I went to look at two others, they were garbage and this one just popped up. I literally bought it within the hour of listing.

Clean title, books, records, only issue is wonky sunroof ($100 fix) and had the Final Stage Resistor problem- no AC fan- Considering it was 100 degrees outside I suspect the PO thought it would be hard to sell this car, and he didn't mention it to me - at the price he was offering I didn't argue and it's an ez fix.

15 minutes after I bought it, I had it fixed drove home in AC comfort at 100MPH....No ISSUES!

147K on the Odo, drives like NEW. NO accident, just one minor ding at bottom of door.

[speeder]

Nice score! Where was it?

[RANDY P]

Originally Posted by speeder

Nice score! Where was it?

Heck, I found it off Ventura BLVD- PO owns a kiosk in the big mall off west 3rd st-

I got a hold of that cat who was listing that one I was talking about yesterday for $4699-- guy owned a shop of La Brea- started telling me it was "clean" "perfect" etc etc, "runs with no CEL" yayayaya-

At that price I literally jumped in the truck and drove over- got there by 3PM, and that one was so roached -dents in hood from someone shutting tools on engine, CEL was DISCONNECTED, ticked like Big Ben, every button worn, BURNED / MELTED fan shroud? (WTF?)|

IT WAS A PIECE OF **** THAT ONE FOR $4600. I got greedy.


_ I didn't even bother to drive it. Russian seller. It WAS the one listed in Hollywood for $2800 a few weeks ago. Same car, same problem, same everything.

I went to this taco shop to get a bite to eat, surfed CL and found THIS one and I called the ad- seller was so fried up with stress, he just lowballed himself-wanted like $8.7 K but then when I called he just flopped- under $6K

I said "Hey if it's as clean as you say? and u have a title that's clean? I'll take it right here, right now..No dickering..."

Seller wouldn't accept a cashier's check from wells fargo with him standing there, and he kept saying "he's broke"- I think someone has seized accounts.

Whatever, bought it, drove to AutoZone got the blower resistor and drove the sucker home.

Got back within 12 hours now, just gotta fix the sunroof.

rjp

[Heel n Toe]

Heater pipes. The three that are on the right side of this drawing. They're made of plastic and go bad from underhood heat at 100K+. Intake manifold needs to come off to replace them. O-rings, too.

RealOEM.com * BMW E39 525i Cooling System Water Hoses

[aap1966]

Thanks guys..going to look at it this afternoon.

[aap1966]

Well..................looks like we're getting a 525i, just not the one we first saw..
Went with a 2003 model with 60,000 km (37, 000 miles) and a service history "better than book". (Oil changes at 10-15,000 km -rather than the book 25,000 km, that sort of thing)

[RANDY P]

Originally Posted by aap1966

Well..................looks like we're getting a 525i, just not the one we first saw..
Went with a 2003 model with 60,000 km (37, 000 miles) and a service history "better than book". (Oil changes at 10-15,000 km -rather than the book 25,000 km, that sort of thing)

Pics please or it didn't happen

Welcome to the club!

[tevake]

I think you will be happy with your bimmer. They are especially good on long haul trips. Fine around town too.
I like mine too, had to go through the cooling system as mentioned. Don't believe the lifetime tranny deal, it does need fluid change just like any other.
Mine is dark blue with tan interior, looks great. Sorry no pics with me.
Can we see what you found, sounds nice, low miles.

Cheers Richard

[aap1966]

Picking it up Friday....pics pending. Looking forward to it.

[85eurocarrera]

What is it worth?

2002 525i sport wagon
Auto
130,xxx miles
7 outa 10 exterior same interior
maintenance up to date; cooling system, VANOS etc.
Nice Breyton 18" staggered summer wheels (needs new rubber)/ new Blizzacs on stock wheels.
NOT SPORT VERSION

$5500-$6000?

Thanks.

[RANDY P]

Originally Posted by 85eurocarrera

What is it worth?

2002 525i sport wagon
Auto
130,xxx miles
7 outa 10 exterior same interior
maintenance up to date; cooling system, VANOS etc.
Nice Breyton 18" staggered summer wheels (needs new rubber)/ new Blizzacs on stock wheels.
NOT SPORT VERSION

$5500-$6000?

Thanks.

seems about right- without the wheels it'll be closer to $5K. They have a tendency not to move beyond that price point since it's a non-sport....

rjp

[widebody911]

Originally Posted by 85eurocarrera

What is it worth?

2002 525i sport wagon

Is it really a sport wagon? I've seen lots of "sport" wagons on CL that aren't.

[RANDY P]

Originally Posted by tevake

I think you will be happy with your bimmer. They are especially good on long haul trips. Fine around town too.
I like mine too, had to go through the cooling system as mentioned. Don't believe the lifetime tranny deal, it does need fluid change just like any other.
Mine is dark blue with tan interior, looks great. Sorry no pics with me.
Can we see what you found, sounds nice, low miles.

Cheers Richard

Since I've had mine, within 30 days I've had show up and fixed:

1)- seat twist- happened on my watch.

2)-Broken sunroof (PO)-

3) cracked reservoir- kept drinking water. Replaced radiator, reservoir, fan and clutch-

4)- burned the Brake transfer lines along the strut tower. (weak spot of 540I).

5)- loose window regulator in the driver's door.

Car is now PERFECT. Just did the cooling system 2 days ago and did 1200 mile trip including 1.5 hours idling in 110F and it's great.

Didn't cost BOO to fix any of this, they are easy to work on.

540I problem- watch this on higher miles V8 cars inc. M5- RUBBER brake lines between body (ABS controller) and rest of chassis lay right next to exhaust manifold. Starts to leak from failure...



rjp

[RANDY P]

Originally Posted by widebody911

Is it really a sport wagon? I've seen lots of "sport" wagons on CL that aren't.

Everyone says "M" sport- only the 2003 540 sport pkg was the M Sport.

rjp

[85eurocarrera]

Originally Posted by widebody911

Is it really a sport wagon? I've seen lots of "sport" wagons on CL that aren't.

My bad. 525it.

Looking to replace my '00 V70R

[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.