Or does anyone want to talk me out of going to look at one? I have seen a few 6 speed ones for $5k, I'm not sure how terrible an idea having one for my only car would be though. Worse than the Shelby charger, Alfa Milano and 300sd with 400k miles that I have already had as DDs?
Just a list of the potential bad stuff: the V8s leak pretty much every fluid they use to operate from every possible location; they also have been known to eat timing chain rails, with all of the disastrous consequences that suggests; some parts (water-cooled alternator comes to mind) are hideously expensive; at five grand, it will probably need a full suspension and cooling system refresh. Make sure it hasn't been overheated. Not even once for a few seconds. Ever.
Hmm ok, that answers my question on that then. It seems like BMW has gotten just about as good as Audi at building cars that fall apart at 100k lol.
A friend of mine bought a used one about 10 years ago. It's been pretty good for him, although he lives about 10 min from work so he doesn't put a ton of miles on it.
If you are super religious with oil changes you might escape the leaks and timing chain woes, but most have been pretty poorly maintained after the first owner. They are a bitch to work on, too. Also, they have recirculating ball steering instead of the rack & pinion the six cylinder cars have. The 525/528/530 is a better choice in pretty much every way.
I agree.. the early V8s also had the nikasil liner issues too. Most of those engines are probably long dead and replaced by warranty by now. Stick with the I6s and you will be happy.
That said.. hearing an uncorked BMW V8 is music
Don't they also have extremely expensive cat converters with no aftermarket available that work well enough to turn off the CEL? I recall someone spending like $3k or more to replace cats.
02Pilot wrote: Just a list of the potential bad stuff: the V8s leak pretty much every fluid they use to operate from every possible location; they also have been known to eat timing chain rails, with all of the disastrous consequences that suggests; some parts (water-cooled alternator comes to mind) are hideously expensive; at five grand, it will probably need a full suspension and cooling system refresh. Make sure it hasn't been overheated. Not even once for a few seconds. Ever.
And people take the piss out of old British cars???
On the upside, I drove one quite a lot around 99/00. BEautiful cars to drive.
My BIL has a 2002 540 M Sport wagon with the 4.4l V8. It looks great, sounds awesome and, when it's running, it drives wonderfully. On the down side it makes my Lotus Europa look like the paramount of reliability.
It's currently parked and up for sale. It has stranded him more times than I can count. Random electrical issues that aren't just annoying but cause shutdowns and no starts. Parts are very expensive and every service seems to be difficult.
Wow, I guess I'd better stop driving the E39 
This is based on the M5, which shares some DNA with the 540i but is not just a twin.
In my experience, they are better DIY vehicles than non-DIY. They are complex cars, and a small electrical fault can have odd results. You don't want to pay someone else to do that. For example, my car had some odd driveability behavior. I forget the exact symptoms, but I spent a lot of time logging and trying to figure out the cause. The forum experts were saying MAFs, but after spending some time with them I was having no luck. I eventually traced it down to one bad O2 sensor. Similarly, a recent service of the VANOS (variable valve timing) system cleared up a number of cold running problems. Paying someone to track these down and solve them would be expensive.
I did replace a number of suspension bushings - but it's a heavy car with over 100k on it. I'd expect that on any car.
Ours has never stranded us other than one dead battery. It does have some electrical faults in the audio system that prevents the CD changer from working, but an iPod adapter solved that problem anyhow. I love the car, I forgive it some idiosyncrasies.
I have a poor opinion of the car only based on my experience with it and the little bit of online research I've done to try and help out my inlaws. They live 2.5hrs away and don't do much if any of the work on their cars. I think if you're a decent home mechanic with some skill and patience your experience may be better. I still don't think buying a 12+ year old complex BMW as your only means of transportation is a great idea.
Agreed. It's a car that rewards a decent home mechanic. It's not a car I'd want to maintain from 2.5 hours away. There aren't many 12-year-old cars with 100k+ I'd put in that list, honestly.
Same BMW stuff needs to be applied here. Cooling system, bushings, suspension stuffs . . .
The V8 add an intolerance for vacuum leaks and PCV plate on the back of the intake. That along with all good sensors (O2, CPS (cam and crank), etc) will make it perform almost like new. Bad valve cover gaskets, split COP boots and vacuum leaks will make the BMW give a host of reliability and driveability.
Timing chain rails is the other on M62B44 and VANOS + TCR on the M62B44tu are the baddies. VANOS is just PITA with associated noise (marbles in the coffee can) and poor performance. The TCR on the other hand will lunch a motor if not caught and repaired. It not hard (if you have the right tools - readily available), but it does require removing EVERYTHING on the front of motor. Expect down time of 2-3 days if it is your first time doing it.
I owned a 540 until about 5 years ago, had the issue with cats failing, we had aftermarket cats installed and the resulting CEL. Used sparkplug non-foulers and corrected the CEL. As mentioned, same cooling system problems as other BMW's of the time. We didn't keep it past 90K, so no other real problems.
Aside from that, it was a great car to drive, definitely get one with the sport package. Handles amazingly for a big car, a very solid vehicle, everything about it is high quality. They are FAST, seriously, the torque of the V8 is always there, a different beast than the I6 cars. An exhaust makes a world of difference too.
When replacing it, we test drove the E60(?) Feels bigger than the E39 and the materials are not nearly as nice, not as quiet. The active steering and sway bars are something else though, holy crap those can handle.
We ended up with a new 2010 E-Class for the replacement, mostly because they looked great. Missed the E39 immediately, still miss it, great cars.
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