E39 BMW 530i M Sport

Bryan

RMS Regular
Messages
10,022
Location
Tandragee
I found this car for sale over a month ago and fell in love with it straight away however after coming home and trying to get insurance for it proved to be another matter. So I left it and pretty much forgot about it. Kept trying random companies for a quote but nothing remotely cheap appeared with most companies refusing to quote altogether. Autoline said they wouldn't cover it because it wasn't 20 years old...

I love the shape of the E39 - best looking 5 series they ever made. So last weekend I took the plunge and bought it. Really enjoyed the drive home in it. I wanted a large engine and auto box for lazy Sunday cruising and this car does not dissappoint. It's a fantastic driving car - better than my 2017 Tiguan.

It still has it's original alcantara interior but the previous owner changed all the trim for wood effect. Luckily he kept the original silver pieces so I will be swapping these back again to make the car look younger. There's only 93k miles on the clock too with tonnes of service history. Need to also get an NI plate onto it to get rid of that horrible English one.

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Can't wait to get out for a proper drive in it at the weekend.
 

Gemma

RMS Regular
Messages
10,056
You know i am slightly biased towards e39 lol I bought mine 2015 and im still in love.
Only today i was driving, thinking and only thing id replace her with is an e39 m5 🤷‍♀️ pref keeping big red cause shes my baba 😂

Ni bmw are having a breakfast meet on 30th August, 10am to 11.30.....most people stood on after 11.30 last week but the heavens opened and everyone ran for their cars.
Get her down to it

Health to enjoy ❤
 
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JH86

RMS Regular
Messages
2,328
Location
Carrickfergus
Looks a good one
M54 e39s are king ding, I dailied one for a few months

On the look out for a grey it red 530d atm but no such luck
 

SlowRider

RMS Regular
Messages
243
This is my old car. I bought it in England with around 60k miles and took it to 91,500 then sold it in November last year. When I owned the car it still had the silver trim, although I always wanted to change it to a darker silver but not wood or carbon. Sometimes when the car gets hot it smells of burnt oil because I think some was spilled on the manifold during a service. It always ran faultlessly in my 30k miles (apart from needing a viscous fan and a gearbox oil flush). I could never get over how tight it is for a 17 year old car and the noise of the straight 6 is bliss, although I wouldn't fancy a traffic light GP against most modern diesels. I mostly used the car for a 25 mile commute (each way) and it was so comfy and satisfying and the start and end of a crap day.

Health to Enjoy. Unfortunately I can't find any pictures from when I had it but there was a good one at the top of the Windy Gap in the snow. Getting there and back down was an experience and could easily have been the end of that car.
 

Lyons

RMS Moderator
Messages
76,926
Location
Texarkana
Drives
X5 / 435D
I still love an E39, nice!
Health to Enjoy. Unfortunately I can't find any pictures from when I had it but there was a good one at the top of the Windy Gap in the snow. Getting there and back down was an experience and could easily have been the end of that car.

I wouldn’t even attempt that road in a 4wd with winter tyres!
 

407_hdi

RMS Regular
Messages
1,444
Location
Bangor
Drives
E-Class / Z4
Lovely, definitely agree that these are the best looking of the 5 series. I like the wood in it, if it was me I'd be keeping it but each to their own. It's a nice big motor and as Gemma has already said, get yourself down to one of the NI-BMW coffee meets
 

JCM

RMS Regular
Messages
316
Location
North Belfast
Drives
E39
Twins! Looks like its in good shape. Ive kept the wood trim in mine. Let me know what your doing with yours as a couple of bits have cracks/scratches and it could do with replacing.
 

micko

RMS Regular
Messages
1,280
Location
Sperrins
Drives
B6 A4 / E30 320i
Look great, as said above, these are a future classic.

I see a very similar one on eBay
 

Bryan

RMS Regular
OP
Bryan
Messages
10,022
Location
Tandragee
This is my old car. I bought it in England with around 60k miles and took it to 91,500 then sold it in November last year. When I owned the car it still had the silver trim, although I always wanted to change it to a darker silver but not wood or carbon. Sometimes when the car gets hot it smells of burnt oil because I think some was spilled on the manifold during a service. It always ran faultlessly in my 30k miles (apart from needing a viscous fan and a gearbox oil flush). I could never get over how tight it is for a 17 year old car and the noise of the straight 6 is bliss, although I wouldn't fancy a traffic light GP against most modern diesels. I mostly used the car for a 25 mile commute (each way) and it was so comfy and satisfying and the start and end of a crap day.

Health to Enjoy. Unfortunately I can't find any pictures from when I had it but there was a good one at the top of the Windy Gap in the snow. Getting there and back down was an experience and could easily have been the end of that car.

The previous owner (also called Steve) I bought it from took it to Bavarian and had a full health check done on it. They recommended new brake disks and pads and also diagnosed an oil leak which is probably the cause of the burning oil smell because it doesn't smell like that any more. They replaced the rocker cover gasket and some other gaskets. It really has been well looked after. It's absolutely silent driving along no rattles, squeeks or bangs like a new car.
 

greyfloppyhat

RMS Regular
Messages
1,548
Location
Tassagh
The little o rings around the rocker cover bolts like to weep oil, everyone forgets them and just changes the rocker cover gasket. It will cause oil to drip down onto the manifolds
 

Bryan

RMS Regular
OP
Bryan
Messages
10,022
Location
Tandragee
Yea, we have finally got an offer on our house so it probably wasn't a good idea to purchase right now :worried:

If I don't get a decent offer for it I will be keeping it though - I really do love it.
 

Bryan

RMS Regular
OP
Bryan
Messages
10,022
Location
Tandragee
Very nice, did you get sorted with classic insurance in the end?

Autoline originally said no when I emailed them. I emailed back and asked if there was anything at all they could do but didn't get a response. But then once I'd agreed to buy the car I phoned them and finally got through to someone. I just said I wanted to add the car to my existing policy and she took all the details and put me on hold. I expected the answer to be no again but she came back and said, "because it's not 20 years old yet it is a little more expensive - it will be an additional £100" to which I immediately agreed before they changed their mind again...
 
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