RAArmstrong
///Member
Well, at long last the wait is finally over! I've just returned home after a 620km trip with my new pride and joy!
I've wanted to own an E39 for a good number of years now, pretty much ever since my dad took delivery of a 1997 E39 540i which he had for a good many years, I pretty much grew up in the car and really started to love the E39...
Flash forward a good number of years to about 2011... I'm now 17... Getting to that age where you start thinking about getting your license and driving and so forth...
I know that I NEED to own an E39 soon, but I know that I'll never be able to get one as my first car, that's ludicrous! I set my self a goal to save my ass off and to work my ass off to achieve this goal and make a dream come true. Now in essence this could never have been possible without THE most amazing parents I could ever ask for as they gave me the most amazing 18th birthday present in my now Ex Golf TDI. Thanks to this I was able to raise the last remaining capital I needed to finally get my E39 and to get it debt free! :joy:
I set my mind on the E39 530d as it provides the best balance of power and economy... Let the search begin!
I started the search earlier this year and looked at alot of E39's while also trying to sell my Golf which was a long winded process. During this time I saw a whole range of E39 530d's from really crappy ones that clearly havent been looked after to some really nice ones however the hold back was getting the Golf sold... THIS took some time, plenty of those Scamtree timewasters who never get back to you, etc. I'm sure you all know how it goes!
Eventually on the 31st of December 2013 I dropped Golfie off with her new owner in Joburg, and a Forum member at that! To me it was infact worth the wait getting her sold as I know she went to somebody who is going to really look after her!
raise:
During this time I actually had a deal lined up on a really great 03 530d in Paarl, it ticked all the right boxes. Just after I dropped it off I phoned the guy and he told me that he sold the car to somebody else. This after he told me that "No problem he'll keep the car for me as he'll be away for Christmas in anycase"
I was pissed off and disheartened... The search starts again... I started browsing all the sites... Gumtree, Autotrader, CarFind, etc. I had infact passed over my car a number of times passing it off as not legit. However I eventually decided what the hell let me phone up and find out about the car as I saw nothing else that tickled my fancy...
Now you may be asking yourself, why exactly did the car not seem legit Rob? Well... It was advertised with a mere 55 000km!! :dropjaw:
So I phoned the dealer up (Bloemfontein) and had a good chat with the salesman who was able to answer all of my questions and agreed to send me detailed pics and all of the service history. The car had a full and comprehensive service history which checked out 100% with Leo Haese in Hatfield, the car also checked out on Enatis (Thanks Cois, I appreciate it) after getting all of this information together I KNEW I cant let this one slip, so I arranged to first go and view the car as there is no way I'm going to buy a car without first seeing it and driving it to make sure it is what it is! Well let me tell you, it was all that it was cracked up to be and more!
So time to do the deal and I arranged to pick the car up in 7 days, allowing time for the car to be roadworthied/Dekra checked and also for the transfer to take place... Longest day of my life!
Yesterday (14 Jan 2013) was D Day and also my Birthday so quite the double whammy!
I collected the car and drove her back today, what an absolute pleasure! :inlove: I did a total of around 620km and averaged 6.3L/100km which I'm really pleased with as this included a little fun through the Golden Gate National Park and rather heavy footed overtaking... Torque really is addictive!
Okay enough reading, onto the important stuff, Details and PICS!
She's a 2001 530d
5 Speed Manual (Boy am I pleased with this)
55 555km when I got it home this afternoon
Not too many options, a fairly base spec bar a Sunroof :thumbs:
As you can see it doesnt have an original brake pedal cover, I have already purchased an OEM replacement and will probably fix that this evening
Mileage just after I got it
In Clarens for lunch on the way back, I parked specifically outside the restaurant window and took the corner table so I could sit and look at it :inlove:
I'm planning on keeping the car 100% stock and OEM, no plans for a remap, she has plenty power as she is...
Thats all folks! :ty:
I'll do a proper photoshoot in the coming week or so :rollsmile:
I've wanted to own an E39 for a good number of years now, pretty much ever since my dad took delivery of a 1997 E39 540i which he had for a good many years, I pretty much grew up in the car and really started to love the E39...
Flash forward a good number of years to about 2011... I'm now 17... Getting to that age where you start thinking about getting your license and driving and so forth...
I know that I NEED to own an E39 soon, but I know that I'll never be able to get one as my first car, that's ludicrous! I set my self a goal to save my ass off and to work my ass off to achieve this goal and make a dream come true. Now in essence this could never have been possible without THE most amazing parents I could ever ask for as they gave me the most amazing 18th birthday present in my now Ex Golf TDI. Thanks to this I was able to raise the last remaining capital I needed to finally get my E39 and to get it debt free! :joy:
I set my mind on the E39 530d as it provides the best balance of power and economy... Let the search begin!
I started the search earlier this year and looked at alot of E39's while also trying to sell my Golf which was a long winded process. During this time I saw a whole range of E39 530d's from really crappy ones that clearly havent been looked after to some really nice ones however the hold back was getting the Golf sold... THIS took some time, plenty of those Scamtree timewasters who never get back to you, etc. I'm sure you all know how it goes!
Eventually on the 31st of December 2013 I dropped Golfie off with her new owner in Joburg, and a Forum member at that! To me it was infact worth the wait getting her sold as I know she went to somebody who is going to really look after her!
raise:During this time I actually had a deal lined up on a really great 03 530d in Paarl, it ticked all the right boxes. Just after I dropped it off I phoned the guy and he told me that he sold the car to somebody else. This after he told me that "No problem he'll keep the car for me as he'll be away for Christmas in anycase"
I was pissed off and disheartened... The search starts again... I started browsing all the sites... Gumtree, Autotrader, CarFind, etc. I had infact passed over my car a number of times passing it off as not legit. However I eventually decided what the hell let me phone up and find out about the car as I saw nothing else that tickled my fancy...
Now you may be asking yourself, why exactly did the car not seem legit Rob? Well... It was advertised with a mere 55 000km!! :dropjaw:
So I phoned the dealer up (Bloemfontein) and had a good chat with the salesman who was able to answer all of my questions and agreed to send me detailed pics and all of the service history. The car had a full and comprehensive service history which checked out 100% with Leo Haese in Hatfield, the car also checked out on Enatis (Thanks Cois, I appreciate it) after getting all of this information together I KNEW I cant let this one slip, so I arranged to first go and view the car as there is no way I'm going to buy a car without first seeing it and driving it to make sure it is what it is! Well let me tell you, it was all that it was cracked up to be and more!
So time to do the deal and I arranged to pick the car up in 7 days, allowing time for the car to be roadworthied/Dekra checked and also for the transfer to take place... Longest day of my life!
Yesterday (14 Jan 2013) was D Day and also my Birthday so quite the double whammy!
I collected the car and drove her back today, what an absolute pleasure! :inlove: I did a total of around 620km and averaged 6.3L/100km which I'm really pleased with as this included a little fun through the Golden Gate National Park and rather heavy footed overtaking... Torque really is addictive!
Okay enough reading, onto the important stuff, Details and PICS!
She's a 2001 530d
5 Speed Manual (Boy am I pleased with this)
55 555km when I got it home this afternoon
Not too many options, a fairly base spec bar a Sunroof :thumbs:
As you can see it doesnt have an original brake pedal cover, I have already purchased an OEM replacement and will probably fix that this evening
Mileage just after I got it
In Clarens for lunch on the way back, I parked specifically outside the restaurant window and took the corner table so I could sit and look at it :inlove:
I'm planning on keeping the car 100% stock and OEM, no plans for a remap, she has plenty power as she is...
Thats all folks! :ty:
I'll do a proper photoshoot in the coming week or so :rollsmile:
