528i manual with a 530's engine = bad idea?

This is my very first post so: Hi there!
So, I was offered a Frankenbimmer.
The seller says he needs money to get an M5 and therefore needs to sell his present car: a 1996 528i sport with a 530's engine.
He says he is the second owner and the first one was his father-in-law, who had the "great" idea of swapping the original 528's engine for the engine of a totaled 530 (2001 model). The first owner also changed the suspension for a Megan Racing coil over euro street series, a K&N filter (inbox), and a short shifter from b&m.

At first I wanted nothing to do with it but the guy convinced me to do a test-drive and it feels pretty solid.

He is friends with an authorized BMW dealer and does all his maintenance there, so the dealer "vouches" for the car and would offer a 3-month warranty on engine and transmission (even though they are not the ones selling the car).

But I have little experience with BMWs and don't know if I should get it or not.

What do you guys thing about? Great potential for future headaches?

Other than that, the car is a standard 528 with m5 wheels and body parts (bumpers, sides, spoiler, etc), plus adapted 2003 angel eyes headlights.

run away! the prospect of 225 Hp vs 190 is not worth the expected future issues. If you want a 530 buy one, a real one

Since you're in Brazil and 530 manual cars may very well be rare, I don't see a problem. The M54B30 was the pinnacle of performance for the inline E39 cars and the 528 is pretty much the same car as a 530 save for smaller brakes and some cosmetics. If it drives well and does not show sign of thrashification and the price is right I'd seriously consider it.

They made a 528i in 1996? I thought the first year of the e39 was 97.

Nvr mind :S

Originally Posted by jygesq

run away! the prospect of 225 Hp vs 190 is not worth the expected future issues. If you want a 530 buy one, a real one

My first instinct was that.
I am mostly afraid of some kind of problem between the 530's engine with the older 528's transmission (which is manual since the car is a sport version).
Could the different torque and power cause some yet-to-come issues with the transmission?
Although he has been driving it like that for over 5 years...

Originally Posted by AnotherGeezer

Since you're in Brazil and 530 manual cars may very well be rare, I don't see a problem. The M54B30 was the pinnacle of performance for the inline E39 cars and the 528 is pretty much the same car as a 530 save for smaller brakes and some cosmetics. If it drives well and does not show sign of thrasification and the price is right I'd seriously consider it.

Yeah, that's were I'm leaning now
He is asking about 5% over the price of a standard 1996 528 with average mileage (it has about 102.000 Km).

Other than what I already said, the owner says (haven't confirmed it yet) that the brakes are the ones from a 540 . He says he upgrade them to cope with the extra power.
So, its a 1996 528i sport with 2001 530's engine and "God-knows-from-when" 540's brakes...

Originally Posted by G-Moussa

They made a 528i in 1996? I thought the first year of the e39 was 97.

Yeah, it is some kind of naming/production year/model thing.
I guess they started producing the 1997 E39s already from late 1996?
Anyways...


Guess it's kind of a gamble, right?

My old 540 was a 1997 with a production date from 96. I believe the E39 was released in 96, but not all countries had it for sale until 97.

IIRC - 1996 is legit first year...they didn't start importing them in the US of A until 1997 because they didn't have all the kinks worked out of the OBDII system. If it's Brazil, it's probably legit.

The manual transmission is actually the same in the 528 and 530 - a ZF 320, so that should pose no problems.

The 530 has the same size brakes as the 540, so it's a legit upgrade.

If the seller has been driving the car for several years, I would see no problem buying it.

You'll be crazy not to grab it specially in Brazil.