Arma

Yeah that $150 'buyer fee' seemed a little iffy to me. I've sent an enquiry to the guy regarding what that's about. Along with the car above, I've also had my eyes on this one: http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/...n-571552447.htm Although that M badge just looks out of place and I'd rather debadge that. Had an interest in that since apparently it was owned by a BMW mechanic and looked after well. Seems to be in pretty decent condition, although no M sport. How different would driving it feel without the Msport as opposed to with the msport?

I thought 540i's always came with water-cooled alternators. How much do those go for anyway. Are suspension repairs on the msport suspension extensive / expensive ?

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=589320727 Not sure if any of you have looked at this particular 540i e39 / test driven it? Is 176k too high of a mileage to get a 2000 e39? I've talked to the seller, says no apparent leaks with car, engine and trans working fine etc. etc. (would probably want to do a pre-purchase inspection anyway). But that seemed like a decent price to me for a 540i msport. What do you guys think?

That's interesting, didn't think 6.5s could be put into an e39 without some altering of the door cards - does anything need to be modified at all or can they simply be put in place of the stock speakers? I've not DIY on car audio before so would probably rather have some one like Rapid Radio install it for me if I happen to buy the speakers for a more decent price on ebay/amazon.

Looking to buy a Remus rear box / muffler for my e39 520i. Anyone know a reasonably priced place to get a hold of these? Only doing it for a little improvement in sound, and perhaps do a full exhaust system upgrade to improve air flow / mpg / performance (if any). I think Woolf provide and install Remus mufflers, but before I purchase from them was wondering if anyone had any second-hand or cheaper sources to buy from. Found some on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/REMUS-Sportschalld...=item5d32ce24b1 Woolf quoted $1000 for full exhaust system + $500 for remus rear box. Why am I doing this on a 520i? Because I'm weird. And I like the color of my car too much to sell it.

haha, I haven't actually dealt with Mark in person. Pretty much all of our communication has been done through email, and when I took it into Rapid Radio someone else talked with me. He seems alright via email . Thanks Neal, that looks like a decent amount of savings I can make there. I'll have a look into those speakers.

So couple weeks ago I got a new head unit in my e39 as well as a sub + amp (because I was really missing the feeling of actual bass which the stock speakers were not really putting out). The installation was done by Rapid Radio. I was thinking of upgrading the stock speakers as well but wanted to ask whether any of you have upgraded the stock speakers to any aftermarket ones before, and if yes then which speakers did you upgrade to? I'm a bit of an audiophile so I really like balance/quality in what I listen to. Mark from Rapid Radio has recommended the Alpine SPX-13REF as an excellent choice for the e39. If anyone has tried out these speakers before, would be great to hear some feedback about them. Some pics of the sub and head unit I had installed: Sub Head Unit

Ah nice, some more low end torque would be nice. Yeah I'll have a look into getting the seals replaced - is it a long task?

Got the car when was 110k (just hit 126k now), didn't really have a service/repair history with it so not sure if seals have been replaced. I do plan to keep it for a while, for now. Other than oil leaks from the hose, are there any tell signs as to when the seals would need changing? Mine might be due, so will ask to get it checked out when the car is at Glenn's. Other than better mpg, are there many other noticeable changes after seals are replaced?

Turns out there was oil leaking from vanos hose and possibly another place (there was some oil on the pan and oil sensor but not sure if that came from the vanos leak), need a better look to see where else the oil might be coming from - not a major leak but still wanna get it patched up. The coolant leak is definitely there. Booked the car in @ Botany Motorworx to pressure test / fix the coolant leak later on in the week and possibly the oil leaks too.

Welcome to the boards. Sounds like you've already got a few plans for the car. Got any photos of the car?

Thanks all for your input. Was looking at a couple of auto ones. Yup, will be keeping extra cash just for any necessary repairs/maintenance. Are e34 parts fairly cheap nowadays?

I need to get mine fixed too, the adjuster on my e39 520i 2001 is messed up a little - it works but one headlight is always tilted far lower than the other.

I'm don't know a LOT about e34's but what are common things that are likely to go wrong with them around ~100-150k km range? If I were to be buying one, what kind of things should I look out for? e.g. I've owned one e34 for a short period of time before, and noticed it had trouble shifting to 2nd gear when the rpm was too high in 1st gear - think transmission was on its way out. But yeah, was just wondering what to look out for and how they are maintenance wise - costly? do things get faulty often? Had been thinking of getting a 535i or 540i e34 - anyone with any e34 experience want to advise against this please say so .

Thanks for all the feedback. The car is currently at 125k's. Transmission was done around 116k's. These are the following parts that were replaced/repaired during the trans work by BM Workshop Grey Lynn, copied from my invoice: Drive Shaft Donut e32, 34, 36, 38, 39 O-Ring - AT Cooler Line Oil Trans ATF LT71141 (ZF 5HP) Coolant Pipe E38, 39, 46, M52, 54 Lower Coolant Pipe e38,e39, 46, M52, 54 Upper Hose Breather M52, 54 Return Hoseclamp 12-20mm Coolant 1.5lt - Anticorrosion / Antifreeze O-Ring Temp Sensor in Lower Hose (Most Models) Bleed Screw Fine Transmission outwork Not sure any of them would be related to the oil leak. @Allanw - not sure whether I have low/high OBC What kind of price range / time to repair do these smaller/cheaper kind of oil leaks seem to be around? I'd be going on a few road trips the coming month so just want to patch most things up before I do long distance drives. Might take my car in sometime next week, will have to check if Glenn is available.

Thanks for the input guys. Was digging up old emails and found one from Ray in Hell BM, who quoted $3000-$3500 for the total cost of install, including all replacement parts, which was pretty tempting. But in the end just all the other fuss I might have to deal with (e.g. insurance) might not be worth it.

This is on my e39 520i 2001 (tiptronic). I've got a small oil leak coming from somewhere near the front of the car, probably the engine. The color is dark brown, it's oily obviously, didn't really smell like anything when I smelled it. I've had transmission fluid leak in the car last year, was ignorant about it, and in the end hand to have a transmission overhaul in February this year (at BM Workshop grey lynn). Not going to make the same mistake again so just going to investigate as early as I can. In February, BM Workshop said I have a very minor engine oil leak, when they were repairing my transmission. Said it's not major to fix at the time and to just keep checking oil level and fix it later - said it would cost around $500 + gst to fix. Oil has never been leaking to the floor under the car since my transmission repair until recently. It's not a huge amount, a few drops, but just wanted to identify what kind of oil it might be - hoping that it isn't transmission oil. Google research shows it is likely engine oil but the description seems to match some other kinds of oil too. The leak is close to the engine bay area, maybe closer to where the front two seats are, but around there. My main question is, does this sound like engine oil? Hoping it's not transmission fluid again. Thinking of just going in and getting it fixed, would rather patch all small problems up before they become bigger. On top of that, got some coolant leaking somewhere that Glenn (Botany Motorworx) identified - probably should look at getting that fixed too.

I can't remember if I've made a post regarding this before.. can't seem to find one, so I'll make it here. I've been wanting to swap out the m54b22 from my e39 520i with a m54b30 (found in 530i and 330i i think). Wanted to ask what the overall cost of such a swap would come around to, including labour and all the other parts that would need changed to suit the engine? What other parts would require changing (From what I recall there are a fair few things on the list). Since i'm a newbie at major upgrades like this i'd obviously be taking to a workshop for it (any recommendations?) Lastly, would it be worth making such an engine swap? I'd like to have a bit more grunt in my e39, and as comfortable as the 520i is it is lacking the moderate power that I'd like - hence why I'm leaning towards the 530i type of power. Any advice / info would be great. Cheers

Saw this on trademe the other day. That's a great looking m3. If I had the money I'd be interested

Welcome, that's a angry + neat looking vehicle!

Thanks for the help guys. Turns out my replacement stacker was faulty as well (previous owner must have replaced it with current one). In the end I've decided to install an after-market head unit as I've been wanting AUX/USB connection for a while. Car is currently at rapid radio having the head unit, as well as a sub, being fitted. Was going to go for the module for retain steering wheel controls, but that was a bit costly so left it out, I'm sure i'll survive. Hope the results are good.

I have an e39 520i 2001 with the stock audio system. This morning I switched my audio unit to radio to listen to some morning radio - but ever since then I can't switch back to CD mode. It keeps displaying 'NO DISCS'. I have checked my boot and the CD's are definitely in there, the unit is still working electrically (ejects the CD rack, checks the CD's when the rack is re-entered etc.), so I have no idea why the audio unit is displaying 'NO DISCS'. I do have a spare stock CD player (for the boot) at home but have not tried connecting this before. Other info: The last couple of days I did notice the CD player to be very slow i.e. takes a long time to load a CD, sometimes the unit just stops playing music when I brake too hard / drive over a bump (but not always, happened a few times). When playing music from CD's 4-6 everything ran fine, but 1-3 were the CD's causing problems - either being too slow or just not loading or turning off when driving over bumps. Any idea what could be wrong with audio unit / CD player for it to not recognize that there are discs in there? Cheers

Welcome! That sounds like a bit of work needs to be done, but $300 still sounds ok. Got any photos?

Lowered price to $2000!

@Darren - not sure if the compound is a race type mix, will have to check it out. Will read that link you gave as well. Thanks for the info. @Julian - Been going on for a couple months+ now. It used to just be one of the brakes, but now I can hear almost all of them. When the brakes are cold (when I drive in the morning) initially they are pretty quiet when I brake. But after a little bit of driving, the noise arises. The screech only happens when I press the brakes at a certain level though (unfortunately at a level that one can comfortable brake in). If I press the brake pedal a bit harder / softer than that level, then it is quiet again.