[5String43]

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.