What's it worth: e39 540 motorsport

[arros 0]

I know there are many E39er's out there but... what do people think this is worth

Link

2000 540 SE Motorsport

170K kms - obviously on the high side for the year.

Guy says the NZ servicing is done in a car fleet garage- ie. no beamer mechanic and of course the jap servicing will all be non intelligible so of limited use (?). Yet to see the car.

SE stands for special equip- no idea what special equip this might have- all look pretty standard motorsport to me

Cheers guys

[Greg111 13]

I would have thought that was a good price? Those wheels are nice.

[greenday-rulz21 4]

Great price.

[3 SERIES 92]

Very Nice!

Looks a bit rough around the edges thou. Fews marks, paint scrapes etc to bumpers, kerbed rims.

[1rotty 40]

If it checks out with no major issues & is as tidy as it looks then $14k is definitely a good price.

Mate of mine just paid $20k for one-less miles but no Haamans(they are GOLD)

[greenday-rulz21 4]

But no Haamans(they are GOLD)

It depends if they are genuine, I know he says they are, but you can't rely on ad's.

New they're about 10k for the set.

[Apex 693]

It has a non Japanese boot lid, check for evidence of repair. Very sharp price.

[1rotty 40]

It depends if they are genuine, I know he says they are, but you can't rely on ad's.

New they're about 10k for the set.

Easy to spot-will have Haaman on 1 spoke

2nd hand worth maybe 4-5k depending on condition-makes $14k look pretty good.

[1rotty 40]

It has a non Japanese boot lid, check for evidence of repair. Very sharp price.

How can you tell that?

[greenday-rulz21 4]

Easy to spot-will have Haaman on 1 spoke

2nd hand worth maybe 4-5k depending on condition-makes $14k look pretty good.

That doesn't necessarily mean they're genuine. Replica's can have Hamann on a spoke.

How can you tell that?

Fits a european plate. Jap bootlids are only wide enough to fit a jap plate. Edited January 15, 2009 by Nick021

[kiwi535 538]

hmm how come the range is shown in miles....can you toggle between miles and km in the range?Nice keys,wow.Inspection light is on.That could be 700 or so if it needs a full inspection 2,Interior pics worthless.wonder if he has any actual records or has it just had its oil changed every 5000 k.

[greenday-rulz21 4]

hmm how come the range is shown in miles....can you toggle between miles and km in the range?

Yea you can. Easy as pressing one button.

[hotwire 352]

Jap?? Bootlid aint. Rego shows car as 2000 & also 1/00 as first rego in NZ

Can't see whether it reads JPN below K/PH in cluster for Japan - possibly ECE for Euro? -don't know if that is normal for Euro - NZ new owners will know that one

[arros 0]

hmm how come the range is shown in miles....can you toggle between miles and km in the range?Nice keys,wow.Inspection light is on.That could be 700 or so if it needs a full inspection 2,Interior pics worthless.wonder if he has any actual records or has it just had its oil changed every 5000 k.

I'm guessing it's only oil change every 5000 as the owner has a fleet vehicle business with a service garage attached and servicing was one there- so I could take it to a BMW specialist and find lots of things that need doing. I have never seen Japanese service documents but am really thinking I wond be adle to gleen much from it- being written in Japanese: how do you know what it says to know that has (and importantly has not) been done on the (any) import.

Good spotting re the Inspection light- cheers. Yes $700 for a full inpection II i'd probably want to do anyway to get everything sorted- I'd definitely get a pre purchase inspection done- Hd one done on another e39- guy said car had not been serviced for a while and had an oil leak but as the bottom of the engine was dirty he could not tell where it was coming from. I would have needed to be cleaned to know it was a cheap or expensive fix. I did not buy the car. I am dubious about the servicing of this car- still wait and seeWill have a look at the car in the weekend

3 Series: "Looks a bit rough around the edges thou. Fews marks, paint scrapes etc to bumpers, kerbed rims"

Ad says new bumper fitted , I think kerbing is not to costly to get removed- but yes this is possible point of (limited)negotiation

Hotwire: "Rego shows car as 2000 & also 1/00 as first rego in NZ" That theoretically makes it an NZ New car so there's something odd there- particularly if it has service history in Japan. I should check the plate on carjam.co.nz

Yip the wheels are nice- but if I can't redily see from the badge if it genuine or not as discussed then it becomes a moot point almost- bonus if they are the real deal- I'll assume for now that they are replicas- still nice wheel thou

[arros 0]

Jap?? Bootlid aint. Rego shows car as 2000 & also 1/00 as first rego in NZ

Can't see whether it reads JPN below K/PH in cluster for Japan - possibly ECE for Euro? -don't know if that is normal for Euro - NZ new owners will know that one

Must be JPN- unlikely to be Euro spec if it was destined for the Japanese market- though I guess an individual may well import a euro spec car privately. Wonder what the 1/00 first NZ rego is all about- destined for Japanese market- landed in Japan then exported straight to NZ? Hmmm Typo?

[hotwire 352]

Must be JPN- unlikely to be Euro spec if it was destined for the Japanese market- though I guess an individual may well import a euro spec car privately. Wonder what the 1/00 first NZ rego is all about- destined for Japanese market- landed in Japan then exported straight to NZ? Hmmm Typo?

2000 & 1/00 -My point about being NZ new:-

Can't imagine a Jap destined market car coming to NZ as new. OR - as you say - maybe a typo?

Also as already stated - hasn't got a Jap bootlid - either it's been changed or car is not Jap origin.

Interested as to the 3 letters under K/PH in the speedo head - Jap cars have JPN, Euro/NZ don't - thats where I was assuming maybe ECE for Euro/NZ?

[beemn 50]

2000 & 1/00 -My point about being NZ new:-

Can't imagine a Jap destined market car coming to NZ as new. OR - as you say - maybe a typo?

Also as already stated - hasn't got a Jap bootlid - either it's been changed or car is not Jap origin.

Interested as to the 3 letters under K/PH in the speedo head - Jap cars have JPN, Euro/NZ don't - thats where I was assuming maybe ECE for Euro/NZ?

you will find that it will be nz new, full size number plate holders on bootlid but appers as hotwire said may have had a smack as it is missing pdc on the front and missing the corners sensors on the rear, pdc is not common for jap, also std nz new model phone antenna on rear window for bmw phone, also nz model key, which is key memory...jap and singapore cars usually have the big inferred remote keys like the e46/e38, but a pretty great price, btw ours nz new has ece under the speedo

Edited January 17, 2009 by beemn

[Cheyne 17]

you will find that it will be nz new, full size number plate holders on bootlid but appers as hotwire said may have had a smack as it is missing pdc on the front and missing the corners sensors on the rear, pdc is not common for jap, also std nz new model phone antenna on rear window for bmw phone, also nz model key, which is key memory...jap and singapore cars usually have the big inferred remote keys like the e46/e38, but a pretty great price, btw ours nz new has ece under the speedo

I think you are right about it being an NZ spec because it is clearly not Japanese spec. The only other option is that it is a Singapore import (as they are Euro spec) and he was confused on the country of origin. However, that wouldn't explain the 1/00 first reg in NZ and the NZ spec key.

BUt, I'm not convinced that it has had a smack though.

It does still have the PDC on the front. You can see them in the black rub strips in this photo:

Also the 5ers I have seen only have two PDC sensors each front and rear rather than the eight (four front and rear) on the 7s.

[bmw.maniac 1]

Also the 5ers I have seen only have two PDC sensors each front and rear rather than the eight (four front and rear) on the 7s.

Our '01 530i has eight.

[greenday-rulz21 4]

Some people amaze me. I sent him an email 3-4 days ago asking for the Plate and the chassis number as I was interested (To do a VIR etc.). Still no reply, you wonder whether people are really interested in selling some things.

[beemn 50]

I think you are right about it being an NZ spec because it is clearly not Japanese spec. The only other option is that it is a Singapore import (as they are Euro spec) and he was confused on the country of origin. However, that wouldn't explain the 1/00 first reg in NZ and the NZ spec key.

BUt, I'm not convinced that it has had a smack though.

It does still have the PDC on the front. You can see them in the black rub strips in this photo:

Also the 5ers I have seen only have two PDC sensors each front and rear rather than the eight (four front and rear) on the 7s.

It should have four front and four rear, mine do. if you look on the rear it only looks like it has the sensors on the painted part, shold have it on the black corner strips....hard to tell tho. Also the pic that you have there, the senor that you can see on the left is not in the right place, it should be on the very right of the strip, closest to the number plate and one more on the very lft corner of the strip/car, so that tells me it has had a bump and the cust whipped on a plain bumber and put the sensor where they thought it must go rather than getting the correct parts

Edited January 18, 2009 by beemn

[allan 295]

This vehicle has raised a few interesting points. The front bumper is set up like a M5 I believe, the M sports and 540's I have seen have the "T" bar across the air intake part of the bumper, correct me if wrong. The headlights are they Halogen or Xenon as most of the M sport from 2000 on I believe had Xenons plus with it having the bigger clear corners are they not the older style headlights that came out with the glass lenses, and no halo rings either. This could be production date dependant can never true BMW so many variable with them. As for the front PDC sensors they are in the wrong positions, as stated. Mine has eight in total two per corner of the vehicle the fronts inners are level with the edge of the headlight and the outers on the curve of the bumper between the indicator and corner lense. imgres.htmThe inner rears are level with the edge of number plate position on the boot lid and the outers are on the curve of the bumper.

It is very easy for all us arm chair buyers to pull this to bits for you but I feel that this my require some careful research for your own peace of mind and your pocket. As always a pre-purchase inspection by your local expert is a good starting place plus a dealer maybe able to help out with some of its history if their is any doubt about it. Happy hunting over this one and if you don't mind keep us informed of the out come.

Cheers Allan

Edited January 18, 2009 by allan

[arros 0]

Saw the car in the weekend- seems pretty good. I can't confirm the situation with the PDC's- I did not take note of them when I looked at the bumper. Yes the car is NZ new. the owner must have been mistaken- not sure why though- I say this because I have not spoken with owner- the telephone number listed is an employee of his to seems to be dealing with the car and advertising. This employee met me at the owner's house-

Nick021- the owner travels a bit and owns a business or two and I think he is overseas at the moment hence no response- it's all a bit vague- I ask the employee a question- he then talks to his boss and gets back to me. Owner I think is Korean judging by the name. Possibly the employee is translating too. Last communication today when I ask him to get back to me regarding my getting the car inspected he says that he can't be bothered and does not trust the AA (I never mentioned the AA) The car won't be going anywhere near the AA I reply. Waiting for an answer. It's not much fun talking to a third party.

Service history booklet has only 3-4 entries but calling Jerry Clayton there are (slightly sporadic but reasonable) service records for the last 3-4 years. As stated owner has a garage attached to his fleet car business so the has serviced it in-house since he owned it. No BMW servicing since October 2007 so could need an Inspection II soon- $700 as Kiwi535 pointed out

Allan- Yes I think they are standard lights- perhaps NZ New did not get Halo and/or Xenon (presume you mean HID for this production year- late ,99)as his advert states he has put on a new front bumper- his garage (non bmw) painted and installed it so if the PCD's are amiss it could be to do with that. As you say an inspection by your local expert is a good starting place-waiting to see if he will go with doing that

Edited January 19, 2009 by arros

[arros 0]

This thread previously talked about Jap having higher spec than NZ New- this car has no TV screen- just the radio and tape player where the TV would be in a higher spec example- example of the NZ lower spec of features (?)

[arros 0]

BTW I ring Jerry Clayton wanting to check what service history they have on file about this car- I asked that if I purchase the car (applies to any car) i expect can get a copy (all on computer so it's just a button press)of the service history. The answer was no unless I get written permission from the perious owner- I guess the person that owned it for the period of documenation you are after. I could however get a verbal rundown. Slighty surprising- if it comes to it I would ask again making the point that all they need to do is blank out the person's name so I can't ID them- should surely be sweet (get the feeling they would not go for it though)