E 39 520 petrols

Zane97

What are they like

Very nice.

dahamsta

Define "like".

Zane97

Ok, are the engines soft?

dahamsta

Mine is quite hard, reckon I could give it a good thump with a hammer and it'd come out the other side quite well. Most engines are like that though, I find.

Ferris

later ones are a 2.2l. The brothers car uses a good bit of oil and its only done 100k. Nice car however. Does 30-35mpg also which is ok.

Zane97

dahamsta wrote: »

Mine is quite hard, reckon I could give it a good thump with a hammer and it'd come out the other side quite well. Most engines are like that though, I find.

Oh very helpful

dahamsta

You're welcome!

homer90

Id opt for a 525i for the extra power. MPG much the same and a marginal increase in tax. Possibly slightly cheaper to buy over the 520i because of the tax.

Cooling systems can be weak.

unkel

Lovely engine, better than anything else in the class. Reliable too. That said would you not stretch to a 530i?

rebel.ranter

Ferris wrote: »

later ones are a 2.2l. The brothers car uses a good bit of oil and its only done 100k. Nice car however. Does 30-35mpg also which is ok.

He probably needs to replace his CCV valve or the piping associated with the CCV. CCV valve is the crank case ventilation valve, asleep known as the oil separator. The engine relies on a vacuum to run properly, If the vacuum system fails it can lead to a burning oil issue. check or a vacuum when you remove the oil cap.
Another contributor to burning/losing oil in an I6 BMW engine is a brittle rocker cover gasket, oil can leak out at the rear of the rocker cover once the gasket gets hard & brittle as it gets older.

As for e39 engines in general, well it is a neglected cooling system that is their Achilles heel. The thermostats can stick (usually open, sometimes stick closed which is worse), water pumps have plastic impellors & the necks on the radiators can get brittle with age. It's definitely worth changing the waterpump & thermostat & getting the radiator pressure tested once the car approaches the 100k milestone.
There have also been issues with ignition coils failing but I haven't seen this personally, only on e90 3 Series in my experience (not saying it cannot happen others just saying what I've seen).
MAFs fail too, this leads to a rough idle.

Voodoomelon

The key to these engines is maintenance. I see these engines loosing coolant, burning oil etc a lot on all the US/Irish forums. BUT they are incredibly reliable engines if properly looked after. The weakest point of these engines is without a doubt the cooling system, radiators, water pumps, thermostats/housings, expansion tanks, hoses etc need replacing after extended time/mileage. This is common right across the E-series BMWs.

As long as the engine has never been abused/overheated over its life, its one of the most reliable engines out there.

EDIT: ^^ as mentioned above, too slow!

Ferris

rebel.ranter wrote: »

He probably needs to replace his CCV valve or the piping associated with the CCV. CCV valve is the crank case ventilation valve, asleep known as the oil separator. The engine relies on a vacuum to run properly, If the vacuum system fails it can lead to a burning oil issue. check or a vacuum when you remove the oil cap.
Another contributor to burning/losing oil in an I6 BMW engine is a brittle rocker cover gasket, oil can leak out at the rear of the rocker cover once the gasket gets hard & brittle as it gets older.

Thanks for that lad, i'll check for both.

As for the people who said that they're too slow, I'd agree that the 2.2 is a bit sluggish but thats my own opinion. Real world it'll do ~9s to 60 and will keep up with any traffic you'll see in ireland so its quick enough for most. Also its a really good motorway cruiser with good poke at around 70.

The only thing I really don't like about the bro's car is that its a manual, auto would be much better imo even if its a bit slower/less economical. As has been said a 525 auto would be ideal. Don't bother with a 523 as its a 2.5 and not really quicker than the 2.2.

rebel.ranter

I have an e39 525i auto that I drove or 5.5 years, I replaced it with an e63 630i SMG, the e39 is still a nicer drive & I rob it from the wife every now & again as I really like it, great car e39. The auto in them is great, very smooth shifting.

Ninap

I ran a 1999 520 (touring) manual from 2007 till august this year. Serviced by main dealer every year. Only problem over the four years was a fuel pump failure. Burnt hardly a drop of oil. Cruise at 80+mph no problem. Started first time every time (incl after being left outside for 3 weeks in sub zero temperatures). In short, a lovely motor