After three E39's

Originally Posted by demas

After three E39's and 12 years - with the last 4 being the most painful - I finally put in my order for the F10.

While I am looking forward to it, I don't feel as excited as I thought I would be. Have been back and forth with the dealer since last December, moved into a new place and gave up (thankfully) on the E60 M5 idea.

I've certainly had my share of issues especially with the M62 variant (hint to some of you noobs) and pure joy all mixed in one. Nevertheless, there always is a last chapter - it's just a matter of how long the book is.

I feel proud and privileged to mark my name up there on that long list of fortunate drivers who can say they experienced living with one of BMW's best ever conceived. I equally would feel the same way in continuing to post here.

how many miles did your e39 steeds have on them before you put them out to pasture?

Originally Posted by nsx

I think it is hit-or-miss. I have had mine for 12 months / 25k miles. First year maintenance was $1100, spent on oil, cooling system, FSU, MAF, front pads and light bulbs. That is a reasonable list for a 12 year old car with 175k miles IMO. Maybe I got lucky? I was expecting to spend 3x that amount.

you said it, these were (still are) highly desirable cars to own and thus many owners drove the hell out of them. but more often than not many skimped on maintenance which leads to headaches later on. if you're unlucky enough to get one of those cars you're in for some serious $$$$ to fix things.

but there are still a few nice ones out there. i lucked out on my '99 540iAT... bought it from a guy who had 5-6 sweet cars (mercedes and bimmers) and all of them were low miles (mine has 85K) and he took good care of them all. the maintenance was kept up (all records from the dealer) plus the weak links (cooling system and radiator), valve cover gaskets, and other e39 annoyances (failing pixels in OBC, AC climate control module, etc.) were all replaced shortly before i got it so i should be good to go for a while.

i love driving it... it's a total sleeper. only when i get on it do people hear that awesome V-8 open up and they have that "that was a station wagon?" look on their faces as i pass them.

Originally Posted by IndiansFan

I like it, reminds me of something I've seen before..........

no mate, that looks more like this




god, that is an ugly car - even when modded