Imola red! 2000 E39 540 Motorsport Individual

[TermiPeteNZ 1316]

http://www.trademe.co.nz/a.aspx?id=1369090051

• price unclear (starting bid $7k)
• 195kms
• 'Sonderpolsterung' individual black and red contrast leather interior
• Active heated comfort seats
• Hi-Fi pro audio
• Bit of clear-coat fade
• Has had a bunch of important maintenance/replacement done

Pictures are a bit rubbish but I like this

[Gabe79 410]

I grant the colour (and the car itself) is pretty, but having seen a very-well-maintained model languish and not sell at $4500 recently here, I struggle to see $7k being a reasonable price.

[Eagle 1659]

Chances are no chain guides or vanos haven't been done either. Ever wonder why don't see many M62TU's with over 250,00km on the clock.

[TermiPeteNZ 1316]

19 minutes ago, Gabe79 said:

I grant the colour (and the car itself) is pretty, but having seen a very-well-maintained model languish and not sell at $4500 recently here, I struggle to see $7k being a reasonable price.

Agreed - it is a bit steep!!!

[aja540i 1906]

What is wrong with people, they have an e39 540 and a chrysler prowler and they are selling the BMW!!

[MrDevine 14]

These are stupidly good cars for the money. I paid $12k for a low mileage 2003 MSport. Certainly well above a good deal but I'm really happy with it. Awesome for long drives and deep into losing your license country.

M5 would be better but I don't want to change gears in Auckland.

That interior is challenging.

[MD13 492]

Couldn't live with those seats...

[SmithyInWelly 212]

I love the exterior colour - the interior however...

[treone 644]

Imola is such a cool colour! But not on those seats, door cards...

[TermiPeteNZ 1316]

2 hours ago, treone said:

Imola is such a cool colour! But not on those seats, door cards...

I have mixed feelings on the interior - I like contrast interiors and I like ones that are different but I'm just not sure about this.

[BreakMyWindow 1874]

The active seats are a nice touch. In chainguides territory though.

[Gabe79 410]

24 minutes ago, BreakMyWindow said:

The active seats are a nice touch. In chainguides territory though.

Chain guides are precisely what makes these engines interesting buys (and why you can struggle to sell one for even $4500)  It's the do-you-have-$5k-sitting-around-just-in-case lottery.

[TermiPeteNZ 1316]

53 minutes ago, Gabe79 said:

Chain guides are precisely what makes these engines interesting buys (and why you can struggle to sell one for even $4500)  It's the do-you-have-$5k-sitting-around-just-in-case lottery.

Owning a M62TU E53 with 222KMs on it - what's the general advice around prevention/preemptive vs hoping?

[Gabe79 410]

36 minutes ago, TermiPeteNZ said:

Owning a M62TU E53 with 222KMs on it - what's the general advice around prevention/preemptive vs hoping?

I started this thread on the topic awhile back, it might help.

 

 

[dirtydoogle 383]

They're not as scary as people make out, most of the higher km ones have already had the chains and guides done, this and it is not a guaranteed that your chain guides will drop at any point during the cars life, The internet makes these problems seem significantly worse than they potentially are. 
The m62 is a stunning engine, and even doing the chains if you're scared is worth owning a technological masterpiece 

[BreakMyWindow 1874]

Great engines, not many car engines in 1998 that made 400nm @ 1300rpm thanks to it's vanos system.

It's not a case of lottery, it's a case of having the funds available when the chain guides start breaking off and falling down in to the sump. I found a piece of guide in the cylinder head, next to one of the cams of my old 540i when they let go. If you plan on keeping the car for a long time, do the guides and cooling system, then imo you're good for another 200+ k kms engine wise.

[LemonHunter 583]

That red on the seats makes me want to throw up and then punch Bangle in the face, I don't know if he had any say in the interior options... but someone needs to be held accountable.

[Eagle 1659]

Worn vanos seals robbing power is a issue on most. Most non vanos 4.4l pull much better than the TU I've driven and still have good top end. Also proven to make more power. Then you extra emission's setup, water cooled alternator etc

 

[BreakMyWindow 1874]

30 minutes ago, Eagle said:

Worn vanos seals robbing power is a issue on most. Most non vanos 4.4l pull much better than the TU I've driven and still have good top end. Also proven to make more power. Then you extra emission's setup, water cooled alternator etc

 

The TU variant is designed to give better fuel economy and makes more torque in the low to mid range.

[Olaf 3308]

There's a bog-stock e39 540i on FB this morning at $6k or $7k "don't bother offering me a dollar less"... he'll be waiting a good while I reckon.

[Gabe79 410]

See, how can we say "oh, it's a great engine, you just have to sink $4-5k into it and you're good for 200k kms more? 

Specially buying blind, without any indication of when the work was done, or whether the work was done? In the unlikely scenario you have full history and know exactly what was done and when (note, you still wouldn't know if an engine had overheated and been driven, for example...) it's totally a crapshoot. Spend $7 (or even $4.5k) and have the expectation that you might well have to sink an additional $3-4-5k on it 'soon' ? That doesn't make sense to me. In my view, when I see a M62, I mentally add $3-4-5 to the price and think "is it still worth it?" and I don't come out with a 'yes' very often.

 

25 minutes ago, Olaf said:

There's a bog-stock e39 540i on FB this morning at $6k or $7k "don't bother offering me a dollar less"... he'll be waiting a good while I reckon.

I picture him waiting so long, he'll end up at that $4500 tradein value in 6 months time.

Edited July 14, 2017 by Gabe79

[Eagle 1659]

2 hours ago, BreakMyWindow said:

The TU variant is designed to give better fuel economy and makes more torque in the low to mid range.

Indeed but I still rate the m62 and m60 the superior overall engines.

[BreakMyWindow 1874]

1 hour ago, Gabe79 said:

See, how can we say "oh, it's a great engine, you just have to sink $4-5k into it and you're good for 200k kms more? 

Specially buying blind, without any indication of when the work was done, or whether the work was done? In the unlikely scenario you have full history and know exactly what was done and when (note, you still wouldn't know if an engine had overheated and been driven, for example...) it's totally a crapshoot. Spend $7 (or even $4.5k) and have the expectation that you might well have to sink an additional $3-4-5k on it 'soon' ? That doesn't make sense to me. In my view, when I see a M62, I mentally add $3-4-5 to the price and think "is it still worth it?" and I don't come out with a 'yes' very often.

 

I picture him waiting so long, he'll end up at that $4500 tradein value in 6 months time.

Your mind seems to be in Toyota Corolla mode.

You have to consider that these cars in their day were considered sophisticated and high performance. Expensive repair bills and high performance cars are synonymous and often the purchase price on one of these cars is the cheapest part about them.

[TermiPeteNZ 1316]

39 minutes ago, BreakMyWindow said:

Your mind seems to be in Toyota Corolla mode.

You have to consider that these cars in their day were considered sophisticated and high performance. Expensive repair bills and high performance cars are synonymous and often the purchase price on one of these cars is the cheapest part about them.

Agreed - if we first and foremost liked sensible cars we'd probably be driving something else...

Avensis mode?

But yes @Gabe79 that is the right question to ask 'if I have to sink extra $$ in will I still be happy?' When I was first looking at picking up a euro again 2 years ago I was close to buying a black AMG spec E500 for $7500 - it had some oil leaks and 170kms on it and my garage said 'if you have to drop $5k will it still be a deal?'. I chickened out event though in hindsight it was a reasonable deal. Just as well perhaps - otherwise I wouldn't be involved in the great BMW community

[TermiPeteNZ 1316]

4 hours ago, BreakMyWindow said:

Great engines, not many car engines in 1998 that made 400nm @ 1300rpm thanks to it's vanos system.

It's not a case of lottery, it's a case of having the funds available when the chain guides start breaking off and falling down in to the sump. I found a piece of guide in the cylinder head, next to one of the cams of my old 540i when they let go. If you plan on keeping the car for a long time, do the guides and cooling system, then imo you're good for another 200+ k kms engine wise.

Cheers for the advice guys. I do intend to keep my X5 for another few years (got a 4 yr MBI on it) and have dealt with some cooling system stuff already - so will expect to deal with guides in the next year or 2.