Officially reached 300,000 miles, and I'm happy about it!!

tmvE39/E53/Z32 commented:
July 15, 2012, 5:43 pm

Stop faking it with blurry pic.















































J/K congrats on the milestone.

edjack commented:
July 15, 2012, 5:46 pm

Have you done any engine internals? Rings, bearings, chain guides, etc?

Have you owned the car since new?

Are the miles a mix, or mostly highway?

You must follow a rigorous maintenance schedule.

Congrats!

DinanBimmer commented:
July 15, 2012, 6:09 pm

Thanks guys! @edjack I'm ashamed to say I haven't done much engine maintenance which is why I plan to put any money I can spare into that. The car was previously my dad's and he got it when it had less than 100,000 miles I believe. The miles are both highway and country roads (lots of potholes) so I will be addressing the suspension too.

Fudman commented:
July 15, 2012, 7:47 pm

Very impressive!

///Mariani commented:
July 15, 2012, 8:08 pm

Very nice. I have a ways to go before 300K. Nice to see one up there and still running strong. Im actually @ 90K and im a little girl about hittin 100.

eparayno commented:
July 15, 2012, 8:44 pm

Congrats. Nothing like owning a car in Cali to aid in it's longevity

spydrz commented:
July 15, 2012, 8:53 pm

Wow.

JimLev commented:
July 15, 2012, 9:25 pm

Congrats, hope mine lasts that long, I'm at 137K so I have a long way to go.

seemyad commented:
July 15, 2012, 9:33 pm

Nice! That is getting your money's worth!

What year and model is she? Any packages?

the540wgn commented:
July 15, 2012, 9:36 pm

congrats bro! keep her goin!

King540i commented:
July 15, 2012, 9:44 pm

Pre vanos FTW baby! J/K, don't want to start a firestorm, I'm sure dedicated maintenance will get any E39 that far.
Congrats!

poolman commented:
July 15, 2012, 10:04 pm

Congrats to ya--I'm at 230500 now and hope that mine will get there as well--haven't seen a thing on the market that I want to drive as much as I like driving this car--bought her new and she's still rolling well

DinanBimmer commented:
July 16, 2012, 12:34 am

So true

DinanBimmer commented:
July 16, 2012, 12:37 am

She's a '98 540i with a sport package, and I can still get going quickly enough.

DinanBimmer commented:
July 16, 2012, 12:39 am

I still need to confirm the build date to figure out if mine's pre-vanos, it most likely is though.

DinanBimmer commented:
July 16, 2012, 12:41 am

Now that deserves props! I wish I could say I bought mine new, but I'm essentially the 2nd owner.

NoWayJose commented:
July 16, 2012, 2:24 am

I'm at 137k
300k is just crazy!!!

sainda210 commented:
July 16, 2012, 2:35 am

Congrats on the fantastic milestone. Just curious - I have an i6 just about 140k miles on it..and starting to get to some resistance going into 1st and a ever so slight grind going into 2nd..have you or your father replaced the clutch and if so at what miles? I'm going to replace the shifter bushing to see if that helps otherwise it might be time for clutch/bearing replacement..

davethewheel commented:
July 16, 2012, 4:10 am

Congrats!! So refreshing to see a very positive post about our Bimmers!!in my youth i used to run the heck outta my rides and i always ended up paying for it

Sent from my MB855 using Bimmer App

DinanBimmer commented:
July 16, 2012, 4:17 am

I drive mine hard once in a while, but steady cruising is my predominant driving style. I will say though that I am an offensive driver, I get the hell outta the way quick

DinanBimmer commented:
July 16, 2012, 4:17 am

crazy awesome

DinanBimmer commented:
July 16, 2012, 4:20 am

The clutch has been replaced about 30,000 miles ago. I believe the original clutch lasted a very long time, but the 1st owner may have replaced it.

Al's540i commented:
July 16, 2012, 10:26 am

Nice!! Time to send your display to germanaudiotech on ebay or any other vendor of pixel repair to fix those pixels.

WagonTheDog commented:
July 16, 2012, 12:26 pm

I used to post here all the time when I first bought my car, but unfortunately I've been super busy as of late and just haven't been able to keep up. This piece of awesomeness is my daily driver, and I took this pic on my way to Vegas last weekend. I took the pic for the temperature, but note the mileage as well..



Yeah, I had to bang some knuckles under the hood, and a few other places when I first bought it, but since completing most of the required maintenance as outlined on this site, I've spent very little time on doing anything other than DRIVING How much driving, you may ask? Well, I live in San Diego, and this pic was shot about six months ago at The Loch Raven Reservoir... Google it...

CoreyMNK commented:
July 16, 2012, 12:42 pm

I thought that looked familiar

My E39 is at 226K. I just dropped the tranny two days ago to change the flywheel and a destroyed flexplate. I have no idea how it broke, but two of the three corners where it bolts to the flywheel were cracked off. I also replaced the steering rack about a month ago, I have a bad airbag sensor, a bad brake pad sensor, and a bad tranny mount that is causing the quibo to hit the car and and shudder under a lot of torque.

1BADBM commented:
July 16, 2012, 12:42 pm

Nice! I'm at 167K, I hope I can get to 300 also!

Al's540i commented:
July 16, 2012, 1:23 pm

I too am racking up the miles and at first my goal was to reach 250k miles but now after seeing this post and another some time back my new goal is 300k miles! I'm currently at 174k miles.

bkgreene39 commented:
July 16, 2012, 1:38 pm

Not surprised at this at all, take care of your vehicle and it should last.

DinanBimmer commented:
July 16, 2012, 2:30 pm

@WagonTheDog how'd yours perform on that trip to reservoir? That's a long ways, and to think I was afraid of taking mine to Vegas.

DinanBimmer commented:
July 16, 2012, 2:35 pm

@Al's540i As bkgreene39 said take care of her and she'll pay you back generously

WagonTheDog commented:
July 16, 2012, 3:12 pm

Wow, thanks so much for elaborating! I too have just begun experiencing the exact same shudder you described, and it sounds as if you've saved me the trouble of researching the diagnosis...

I'd like to go through my suspension next, but having to make time to deal with the tranny mount is just going to push that off that much further...

WagonTheDog commented:
July 16, 2012, 3:43 pm

I just can't say enough about this car... I drove myself, a small dog, a fair amount of luggage, and a plastic tote containing all critical bodily fluids, extra belts, an extra coil, road flares, mechanics stethoscope (the glory of which I've written about in previous posts), tools for practically every fastening device on the car, and anything else I might need in case something broke, or otherwise failed. I got the oil changed before I returned to CA, but other than that, nothing in my little (massive?) emergency kit ever saw the light of day.

One of the most impressive parts of the trip was when I was climbing through extremely high winds on the 8 fwy, en route to what I believe is the Kumeyaay Summit... Those are fairly steep twisties to begin with, and in high winds it can feel like you're suddenly driving on three cylinders, but I'll tell you what man... I just notched it back into 4th, and flew up the side of that mountain at a steady, and what seemed like effortless, 70mph... It was almost as if 4th gear was tailor-made for the application, and passing anything and everything going up that hill gave me indescribable pleasure. Lol, oh the dirty looks...

Quite honestly, I was MORE worried about Vegas because of the heat... The combination of heat, with a rise in elevation (Sea Level to I think 4000+ on the way to Vegas), is what really puts a cooling system to the test. I completely overhauled my cooling system at about 160k miles, but that doesn't mean I wasn't nervous under such extreme conditions. Fortunately, I was able to remain as cool as a cucumber throughout.

mick da yid commented:
July 16, 2012, 4:53 pm

Catching you up fella,
Mine passed 270k today in England, where we experience slightly more rain than you lucky gits in Southern California.
The only thing I pay top dollar for is my oil. The rest gets cheapest parts I can find.
I do most of the repairs and all of the servicing myself.
Original engine, gearbox (fluid never been changed btw), exhaust, drive belts, turbo...I could go on.
Going to run mine until it dies. My thinking is, if I were to replace my car, I would hunt for another E39d anyway. Mine has very little resale value. To replace mine with a lower mileage same model would be about £2,000 ($3,000 ish) I'd be lucky to get £1,000 for mine.
Congrats on your 300,000th birthday, helluvan achievement. Hope you go on for lots longer.

golferjohnm commented:
July 16, 2012, 6:09 pm

congrats man...looking forward to meeting that milestone

just hit the 123456, too bad I wasn't proactive enough to calibrate the trip ODO too

aspensilver540 commented:
July 16, 2012, 7:57 pm

Have you ever had the timing chain/guide rails serviced? Pretty curious about the longevity of those on the M62 (Pre-Vanos)

pony_trekker commented:
July 19, 2012, 8:51 pm

E39 May be the best car ever built. I know two other people with approx 300k on them and the things run and look like new.

DinanBimmer commented:
July 19, 2012, 10:10 pm

I'll ask my dad about that, not entirely sure.

DinanBimmer commented:
July 19, 2012, 10:11 pm

If you saw mine you'd never guess it has this many miles, that's for sure.

keison2000 commented:
July 23, 2012, 11:43 am

Awesome man. My e36 has 160k on it and is still running strong. I hope to get close their, or maybe my son will have it by then...LOL

DinanBimmer commented:
July 23, 2012, 3:33 pm

He can only hope

CanadianDriver commented:
July 26, 2012, 10:05 am

300,000 miles. THAT'S HALF A MILLION KILOMETERS! (almost)

WOW! Congratulations on this milestone. Here's to half a million more

matt540 commented:
July 26, 2012, 10:41 am

300,000 is impressive, good to know that if she is well maintained she will make it another 205,000 miles

dunne44 commented:
July 26, 2012, 12:46 pm

I was at 250k with mostly highway but I crashed my 525i and with insurance money bought a 540i 6 speed with 100k. Who thought crashing my car was the best thing that ever happened to me

tmvE39/E53/Z32 commented:
July 26, 2012, 4:24 pm

Use my pic

Albo commented:
July 27, 2012, 6:25 pm

Congrats on 300k, man...i am just approaching 109k and loving it.

If i still had my first E39 (1998 528i that i bought CPO in 2001)... Id probably be over 300k by now. I REALLY should have kept that car!

dunne44 commented:
July 27, 2012, 8:33 pm

I had the same questions that it's not nessisary to preventively do them because it's only a problem for certain cars

DinanBimmer commented:
July 30, 2012, 1:15 am

Thanks bud, gotta love those older e39s