My e39 525i 2002 model

[323i e46]

Hallo Lads and lasses, after a lot of soul searching and eating my heart out, I finally got a 525i e39 2002 model. It was love at first sight and chose it over the e60 and two X5s. Thanks to the e39 Mafia and the fanatics in general for answering all the silly Qs I had asked about these cars.

The pics were taking when taking delivery of the vehicle and hence the GP plates. It took its place beside the Ol'faithful (e46 323i) and hopefully the two of them will bring me smiles besides the bills.

 

[RAArmstrong]

She looks stunning mate! Lovely lovely car!

Welcome to the E39 Mafia :cartel:

 

[ET was here]

very nice, E39's just look so classy

 

[323i e46]

thank you Armstrong, it has been a long wait. I remember welcoming yours when you bought it. I have been reading your threads (and ChefDj's) amongst others and loving it. now I can use this smilie officialy......... :cartel:

Thanks E.T, it drives better than it looks. :tiptoe:

 

[RAArmstrong]

Your car is so stunningly clean in the pics that I'm motivated to go give mine alot of TLC this weekend... She works hard as a daily driver :fencelook:

So tell us more about her, mileage etc?

 

[///Moose]

Oooh now that looks nice, tell us more what's the mileage?

 

[323i e46]

yeah. the mileage is a tad on the upper side. that doesn't bother me much as everything in that car works 100%. I will get you more specifics in the morrow. Everything is standard on her. will do a mod or two.... maybe radio and glass sunroof if I can lay my hands on one.

Funniest thing... I bought two BMWs from the same person in a space of four years!! Both in amazing condition.

 

[Ralf*]

ahhhh

3 silver facelift E39's on the forum now

A question, are those headlights or rather indicators after market, as mine and RAA's have the orange indicators ?

and I also agree, the E39 is such a classy looking machine,... personally.... after these models, BMW's went down the road of the aggressive look, which is not my favourite any more, pre 2004/5 they still looked like "happy" cars, now they loook like "thugs" when they bear down on you in the rearview mirror

 

[anton-sa]

welcome to the e39 mafia!!

my e39 530d is now on 298 000km... and i think its only run in now.
mileage is not an issue for these cars at all... all their configurations are known to get crazy mileage.

the m52 based 528i... known to achieve over 500 000km
the m54 based 530i and 525i... also known to achieve over 500 000km
the m57 diesels in both 530d and 525d... also crazy mileage
the 520i and 523i (also crazy mileage) 520i and 525d never came to sa..

afaik the m5 and 540 v8's are also capable of crazy high mileage but for some reason... probably due to fuel consumption, these cars seem to get sold on before reaching high mileages...

at 150 000km - 200 000km, these cars enter their "2nd" life where they go into territory where they will want a full cooling overall aswell as some suspension work.. shocks, some arms etc...

my previous e39 was a 525i also a 2001. feel free to pm me if you have any questions...

 

[323i e46]

The indicators are oem. Its a facelift with the 'wave' taillights but not the clear lens rear and side indicators. The front do blink yellow though. As you already know The facelifts of that year got a newer steering wheel but of the same shape (four spokes). let me get a link for whats facelift and whats not.....

http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread.php?tid=57575

---

Thanks for the explanation anton sa. I sure will remember to ask you a few Qs as the days progress.

 

[RAArmstrong]

Ralf looks like at some point perhaps the owner put the clear lights on... From what I've seen the "clear" lights were standard on the Sport models while the normal models like ours got the Orange lights...

 

[323i e46]

I guess I will have to check the date stamps on those lights during the day tomorrow. I guess it will be of benefit to all of us if we get to know if some indeed did get those lights. I will post morning hours.

 

[RAArmstrong]

I guess I will have to check the date stamps on those lights during the day tomorrow. I guess it will be of benefit to all of us if we get to know if some indeed did get those lights. I will post morning hours.

Some did get them from the factory. However then it would have the matching Tail lights... Not a mix match like that. Either the headlights or the tail lights have been changed out and my guess is the headlights :rollsmile:

 

[323i e46]

so that means ....... ta!da!... new rear lights should be fitted.:coolShake:

 

[RAArmstrong]

Yep

 

[ChefDJ]

Now this is a beaut! Love the interior colour.

Ralf looks like at some point perhaps the owner put the clear lights on... From what I've seen the "clear" lights were standard on the Sport models while the normal models like ours got the Orange lights...

Correct. Those headlights are standard sport lights and I'm guessing the previous owner fitted them as new in order to fix the adjuster issue...

 

[rodga]

Congrats. Nice interior colour.
I've seen a few non sport models with clear lenses, esp the later models. So it's Def not exclusive to the sport models. But like someone pointed out if it was factory it would have the full set of clears, and most likely was added to fix the adjuster problem.

Sent from my SM-N900 using Tapatalk

 

[cad]

Looks awesome, congrats!

 

[Maljan]

Nice ride! If it was mine I would change the gearbox oil for peace of mind.

The rear lights should be changed to match the front ones. When you do that, I would be most happy to take the old ones off your hands for a ridiculously low price. :rollsmile:

 

[prado]

What a beauty! raise:

My E39 is fast approaching 300 000km! But, the motor is a joy to listen to! The response is just beautiful when it's floored and the fuel consumption on my manual is just so efficient!

My brother traded his immaculate 525i for an E60 but still admires the E39 each time he sees one.

I can't think of another car in this class range that's more desirable than an E39.

Beautiful machine! :=):