trr18

Interesting, thanks for the info. PDC would be handy, but I don't think it's a deal breaker; early days yet anyway - the right one is out there somewhere. It pretty much has to be black, yeah. I'm currently driving a black legacy, so I know they can be a pain to keep shiny, but damn they look good when they are. Cheers

Nice, the paint and chrome look in pretty good nick from what I can see - the white roof was always the hardest to keep in shape on my HR. Gotta love how much room there is under those bonnets for a hand and a wrench. Get some white walls on that thing and it will look sweet

Thanks... Do you mean the '98 is a bit steep? Both the cars I linked are black. I have this on my radar now too: 2001 530i Off topic for a mo - how's the '61 EK treating you? I had a '66 HR Premiere (186 with the 3-speed manual) while I was in Uni, loved the car, the gas bill not so much. Cheers

Cheers for the reply... I'm guessing the 530 still pulls pretty good? I haven't driven one of those yet. I just got back from test driving the '98 540 I linked to in the OP, it was pretty awesome. I took it up the port hills, wow, I'm not sure I'm responsible enough to own a car that drives like that... It was pretty smooth, I did feel a little more road noise/vibration coming through the wheel than I expected, but I probably only noticed because I'd read about the E39 shimmy. Some of the pixels in the console displays seemed dull rather than gone, as if the back light had faded. It also smelt a little weird, but poppin the sunroof and cranking ZZ Tops Lowrider fixed that . All in all it was sweet, but I'm going to be patient and check out a facelift/newer model and see how the 530's go. For anyone interested, I was quoted $150.00 for a "90 minute check including diagnostic,Mechanical and paint work etc" at Jerry Clayton BMW in Takapuna (for the '01 I was looking at). Thanks for all the advice so far, this board is great!

kiwi - Yeah, the newer one is tempting, so shiny! The wheels on the 98 are super hot in person though... allan - I did have my heart set on the big V8 540, but after reading the article I figure I should at least consider the 530. I found a couple at dealers not far from work, I will go and have a drive so I can see for myself what the difference is. I have read about the potential problems with these cars, but it sounds like if you treat them right they're pretty reliable. A pre-purchase inspection will be a must, Jeff Gray BMW or Kevin Burt in Christchurch perhaps, can anyone recommend someone in Auckland? Trying hard not to get too excited and blow my wad (of cash) prematurely, as it were... Thanks for the replies

Thank you

Hi all, I've been bitten by the E39 bug after coming across one when I was looking at commodores... I never thought I'd be looking at BMW's for my budget (~$15-17.5k), anyway... I've spent the last few weeks looking through listings and reading through forums, but would really appreciate some direct advice. I have organised a test drive of this for Monday: 1998 540i NZ New That particular car was mentioned in another thread about a month ago, is there anything I should be on the lookout for in the service history or during the test drive? Also, how do the 98's compare with a slightly newer 2001 such as: 2001 540i Imported I have been in touch with the dealer of the '01, he sent me a bunch of high res pics, the car looks in pretty good nick, but the k's are highish.. Hmm, hopefully not a TLDNR situation... Cheers