E39 540i

[deeveus 81]

Have found one for quite a reasonable price. It's done circa 240kms and everything is as tight as a drum (doubt a new BMW would be like this) bar a couple things. 1.) the boot won't shut, it just refuses to! 2.) there's a strong smell of burning oil as if oil is coming into contact with the exhaust somehow? Visually, I only found the below picture (rocker cover ??) seal? Anyone had experience with those two issues?

[aja540i 1903]

Mine had the same hot oil smell before i did the rocker cover gaskets, oil gets down onto the back of the manifolds (and EVERYWHERE else) the boot may have the soft close thingy which might be busted, or unplugged?? If its not retracting properly the lid will not shut ( on my touring anyway, the sedan is probably similar??)

good luck.

[deeveus 81]

Cheers for that, I think the pre F/L E39 and E53 didn't have the soft-close, & the one I'm looking at is a 2000 model.

[yng_750 247]

the oil leak there is often the powersteering reservoir hose leaking, gets on the block and subframes. but rocker covers are also a common point.

my 540i had the same thing with the boot, there is a rubber touch pad above the number plate that you press to open it, this pushes a small switch, my one had broken a small piece of plastic (cant remember what exactly but i believe it was a border piece that held the rubber pad in) and the rubber piece was staying pushed in and it was holding the switch down, try grabbing the rubber with your fingernails in the center or at either edge and pulling gently to see if it releases the switch.

if not the actuators can get stuck.

i managed to fix mine without to much issue, think it was caused by people pushing way to hard.

[deeveus 81]

Cheers Jason, pick it up tomorrow, will post pics

[BreakMyWindow 1870]

Had same issue with my old 540i. Remove the trunk catch mechanism and check the spring. Probably snapped due to age/fatigue. If you're lucky you may be able to uncoil a bit of the spring and re attach it to the latch. The lower trunk lid panel has to come off to acces the lock mechanism. That panel can be stubbourn, just remember to remove the plastic grip part first.

[BreakMyWindow 1870]

Oh and u may get away with just replacing the runber washers under the rocker cover bolts. Looks like your culpret in that pic.

[Phil-540i 166]

Cheers Jason, pick it up tomorrow, will post pics

Awesome............!!!

[BM WORLD 1261]

rocker cover gaskets leak , comon .

boot latch /catch broken , easy to replace. also the locking actuators fail , then people try to force them open etc

[deeveus 81]

rocker cover gaskets leak , comon .

boot latch /catch broken , easy to replace. also the locking actuators fail , then people try to force them open etc

mate do you have the locking mechanism's ? Price do Dunedin?

[BM WORLD 1261]

mate do you have the locking mechanism's ? Price do Dunedin?

yes 3 types , will need vin number

email me direct brent@bmworld.co.nz

[deeveus 81]

Done, cheers.

[deeveus 81]

Here it is with a bit of a tidy up, spent over an hour cleaning the wheels, wheels which are hideous IMO. Needs a nice set of Schnitzers!

[yng_750 247]

the orange might just be the camera angle but if you look in the tv screen menu you can change the back drop colour, the blue is sooooo much nicer to look at.

[deeveus 81]

the orange might just be the camera angle but if you look in the tv screen menu you can change the back drop colour, the blue is sooooo much nicer to look at.

Way ahead of ya, made it go blue.

Is there any software available to upgrade the graphics on these? I remember I could do this on my MK3 16:9 system I had on the E53 ...

Edited December 6, 2013 by The Diesel Guy

[deeveus 81]

Ok, so with the boot issue it was a broken spring. I was sitting out on the deck lastnight with a cold Heineken & thought, I'll have a go at this, spring was broken so I unravelled two pieces of wire from the spring, simply wound it back round the mounting point on the latch and boom. Sorted! Just the rocker cover gasket to go now.

[kiwi535 538]

there are those who would argue that a e39 IS a new BMW!

[deeveus 81]

there are those who would argue that a e39 IS a new BMW!

Definetley put together better and better materials used on the E39 vs E90 I had.

[jeffbebe 1559]

Absolutely fantastic cars. If you decide to get new wheels I'm in the market for a spare set and I like the ones on your car!!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Phil-540i 166]

Nice car - bet it probably didn't cost ya much either for what it is. Agree with ya re the wheels - change them & it'll totally change the look of it. This, is probably not getting you closer to that blue Commodore though , or is there something ya haven't told us.........

[deeveus 81]

Nice car - bet it probably didn't cost ya much either for what it is. Agree with ya re the wheels - change them & it'll totally change the look of it. This, is probably not getting you closer to that blue Commodore though , or is there something ya haven't told us.........

$2700 but immaculate inside, immaculate outside bar a scratch on the rear & two dints in rear bumper. That's it!

[kiwi535 538]

$2700 but immaculate inside, immaculate outside bar a scratch on the rear & two dints in rear bumper. That's it!

bargain,thats a hell of a nice car for that money

[Phil-540i 166]

Stole it................. Great buying!!!! You'd wreck it out for more than that..........

[_Matt_ 42]

It's crazy what the unreliable BMW stigma and petrol prices are doing to these cars value. That's probably more of a steal than my 2k e34.

[Phil-540i 166]

I think its good in some ways for us as enthusiasts, as it makes things a lot more affordable, achievable & realistic. Somewhere though, some-one is taking some serious hidings in terms of devalue, maintance etc, & I think what Matt is saying is right, although I'm not convinced how much fuel prices comes into it - realistically theres very little difference on running costs on something that might use 2L/100 less fuel. Its nuts really, as you'll see people hock a Camry, for a Corolla, (for arguments sake), H/P 10k to do so, to save $$?? in fuel - the logic is wrong IMO.

Its like this 540 - just a bargin - you'd pay more for a Commodore / Falcon / Corolla of the same year............& this'll be twice the vehicle to drive, with heaps of usable life ahead of it.

I think

The 'BMW stigma' has lots to do with it - you tell some people what you own, & they look at ya like you've grown an extra head or have got 6 fingers or whatever - yet they're quite happily driving around in some sack of $hit...............