So I can get my hands on a '98 540i

[knoffelstokkie]

Hi,

I'm new to BMW but I've only heard good things about this (98 540i) car and now someone at work is selling one for R45000 (neg) which seems like a good idea except for the mileage which is 315000


now do you guys think this is a bad idea or should I go look at the car.

Thanks
Me

 

[zaleonardz]

Welcome,

THe question here is, how mech savy are you.

THis car may/will need a lot of maintance, and if your going to pay dealer prices for it, you cant afford it, nobody can.

If you are prepared to do a lot of stuff yourself, depending on the car, grab it.

315,000 is nothing for a well maintained BMW engine, and the M62 engine in your car is so well desgined, that it can do double that without breaking a sweat. However if it has not seen coolant in 100,000 km, its a differant story, you see where I am going with this.

The only really big money spender here could possibly be the gearbox, which I am sure has been rebuilt at around 150 to 250 somewhere,

If its a manual however 540/6... and you have not baught this car, I may beat you

 

[knoffelstokkie]

Welcome,

THe question here is, how mech savy are you.

THis car may/will need a lot of maintance, and if your going to pay dealer prices for it, you cant afford it, nobody can.

If you are prepared to do a lot of stuff yourself, depending on the car, grab it.

315,000 is nothing for a well maintained BMW engine, and the M62 engine in your car is so well desgined, that it can do double that without breaking a sweat. However if it has not seen coolant in 100,000 km, its a differant story, you see where I am going with this.

The only really big money spender here could possibly be the gearbox, which I am sure has been rebuilt at around 150 to 250 somewhere,

If its a manual however 540/6... and you have not baught this car, I may beat you

yeah, I will do most of it myself, I've done quite a few gearbox replacement services and carburettor clean outs on older cars and I'm guessing not much is different on a BMW

and now that I've found this forum I'm sure i won't have to pay dealer prices for anything :mmm:

ok, I'll go have a look at it tomorrow, anything in particular that I should be looking out for on these models?

 

[zaleonardz]

1. Gearbox
2. Control arms & general suspension (wabbles and stuff)
3. Oil leaks on the motor
4. General maintance stuff... (Discs bla bla bla)
5. Out of principle, you overhaul the cooling system (waterpump, pressure test radiator ect)


Well, the BMW's are not quite as easy as a toyota tazz, but its not that difficualt either, invest in a decent code reader, and if you can swing a wrench, your good to go.

I would suggest a compression test, do you have some sort of service history, and do you have history on the car.

WHile 45k is not a bad price at all, you can get a car with half of the KM's for about 80k, just keep that in mind.

Does the car have VANOS or not ?

If the car is close to Randburg, I'll be happy to take a look at it with you.

 

[knoffelstokkie]

WHile 45k is not a bad price at all, you can get a car with half of the KM's for about 80k, just keep that in mind.

ok, that made me think a bit more, I'll go have a look at it tomorrow and let you know. If it looks good we can try and arrange someway of getting you to have a look at the car (it's in Midrand)

thanks for the quick replies

 

[rick540]

The M62 engine does not seem to ever wear out, they are incredibly strong, however the gaskets and rubber bits certainly do.

I would say on any 10yo 540, be prepared to invest in R5K worth of gaskets, pipes and rubber seals, and add a radiator and expansion tank to that list. Radiators are cheap (R1400 from Silverton)

Transmissions are weak despite being one of the nicest well sorted steptronic transmissions out there, they dont seem to last beyond 250K.

After four years of owing a E39 540i, I have a small checklist.

This is all the nastiest stuff that can occur with a pre 2000 E39 that I can think of. The list seems long, but for such a complex car, nothing else goes wrong... ever, quite impressive.

1) Any coolant leak usually means trouble and the aluminium engine does not take kindy to fresh water instead of antifreeze.

2) The serpentine belts dry out and become brittle after 10 years and become really noisy. (R1500 in parts)

3) CPS always fails every 100K Km (R1000)

4) Rear suspension has balljoint thingies that always seem to wear out (R1500 in parts)

5) Front control arms wear (R5 - 10K)

6) I am now seeing more and more faulty fuel guage senders, but it's only some cars, I think related to fuel quality in the past.

7) Headlamp level adjusters break inside the headlamps allowing the lenses to flop around. The individual plastic parts are available from BMW and even better you can buy solid aluminium ones on ebay.

8) All the rubber bits in the engine bay (And there's lots) don't cope with many years of SA heat too well and need replacing as a preventative measure or the car will drive you crazy.

9) The cooling system needs a complete overhaul every 100 to 150K, the first time you get stranded in your E39 9 times / 10 it will be because of the cooling system.

--------------------

Post 2000 E39's are even worse reliability wise but looked cosmetically nicer.

1) new style cooling system with clip on pipes not good

2) Water cooled alternator on some models will cost you R30K per year in rebuilds

3) Carefull of some post 2000 cars as BMW began dropping features to cut costs. These cars came in two specifications low/high with the low being really low and the high being full house. Look for the MID (Multi Information Display) and DSP sound system if you are after a high spec

I could go on forever with info about the E39, and despite any problems they may have now that some of them are getting older, owing and living with one for even a week will get you addicted to the stunning cars they are.

The E39 was so ahead of it's time, when they released the next five (E60) many years later they had no need to make the chassis any stiffer or stronger that the E39.

 

[knoffelstokkie]

ok, so I got to drive the car today :excited:

it's mostly in very good condition except for the interior. It has some cracks on the wood finish, the leather seats don't look to hot anymore and some of the led's in the display don't work.

The good part is that it has a full service history from BMW up until about 8 services ago when they started taking it to Club motors.

One thing I did notice though was what seemed to be an oil leak in the engine, please have a look at the attached pic and tell me if it's something to worry about.

oh and it's automatic

.

 

[Fr34k11]

I was there with him today, the one thing you can not see on the picture is that the leak seems to be coming from the power steering/transmission reservoir. It doesn't look like it is leaking from the head.

 

[P1000]

There is no transmission reservoir. The ATF reservoir in the engine compartment is for the power steering only. Almost all BMWs have a powersteering leak. If this car is an auto, I would keep on looking for one that you like from the moment you sit in it, not one with a couple of niggles...

 

[moranor@axis]

"Well, the BMW's are not quite as easy as a toyota tazz, but its not that difficualt either, invest in a decent code reader, and if you can swing a wrench, your good to go."

the biggest problem im finding working on my car is every time i do, half the job consists of me trying to find some or other small object that i dropped onto the engine guard thingy... i then have to pull a contortionist act to get it out :banghead:

 

[knoffelstokkie]

5) Front control arms wear (R5 - 10K)

How often does that happen?

 

[Hellas]

Every 150000km or so. Maybe sooner depending on how hard you drive.

 

[P1000]

5) Front control arms wear (R5 - 10K)

How often does that happen?

For a V8 with oem bushes, the bushes will last anything between 20k and 50k, maybe 80k if you are extremely lucky and careful. The problem is, they are fluid filled, so as soon as it starts to crack, the fluid will leak out, and the bush will become very soft and fail. EACtuning sells oem control arms with meyle HD bushings (solid rubber) pressed in for this reason. They do not sell meyle control arms though, because they say the quality is not high enough...

 

[knoffelstokkie]

has anyone had a look at that pic? is that something to worry about?

Also, is there anyone in the midrand area that has a code reader and is willing to maybe help me check the car out?

I'll reimburse you your fuel and we can maybe have some lunch

 

[Gregmeister]

Looks to me like a combo of Power Steering Fluid Reservoir leaking from the monumentally useless hose clamps used by BM (replace/ upgrade clamps or just keep an eye on levels) and leaking valve cover gaskets. (Common issue on the V8's. Check around the vicinity of the gasket around the perimeter of the cover to feel/ see if there are signs of weeping/ leaking elsewhere, or have a look from underneath the car up towards top of engine for signs of oil streaming. A definite sign is oil damming up in the spark-plug wells. Do when you have time/ money)

 

[knoffelstokkie]

Looks to me like a combo of Power Steering Fluid Reservoir leaking from the monumentally useless hose clamps used by BM (replace/ upgrade clamps or just keep an eye on levels) and leaking valve cover gaskets. (Common issue on the V8's. Check around the vicinity of the gasket around the perimeter of the cover to feel/ see if there are signs of weeping/ leaking elsewhere, or have a look from underneath the car up towards top of engine for signs of oil streaming. A definite sign is oil damming up in the spark-plug wells. Do when you have time/ money)

Well I haven't bought the car yet so I think it'll be a bit difficult to check the spark-plugs, would this be a reason not to buy the car?

 

[Gregmeister]

Nope, but maybe a point of negotiation on the price?