E39 520i

xabi

Im looking at a BMW 520 auto tomorrow, apart from the usuall is there anything I should be looking out for or asking the owner about on these? The car has 80k on the clock.

ongarite

Check is the ABS working and does this ABS light come up on the instrument cluster when you start the car.
The wheel sensor & ABS module were a known issue on the e39.

Paddypowered

Check the camshaft/valve cover gasket....after certain mileage leak on nearly all beamers...telltale sign is oil stain on from of engine, looking in....behind aux belt.

alias no.9

The metal brake lines running along the cills (2 each side) tend to corrode, very common NCT failure. As with any heavy car with complex suspension, bushings wear out, listen for creaks and or knocking at low speed over bumps. The cooling system on the 2.0 was pretty pants, think it's improved on the newer 2.2 version.

colm_mcm

mileage seems low enough, don't take too literally.

Paddypowered

colm_mcm wrote: »

mileage seems low enough, don't take too literally.

50e last time I checked to get a car clocked....:)

heathersonline

Ask if there's been any issues with coolant etc. I had one for a couple of years and the only thing that went wrong was having the plastics replaced. Great car though

Sonar

I'm looking for an E39 520 series '01-'03 - just want an elegant carriage! Appreciate some advice from an expert:
how do I know number of previous owners - especially UK used import?
How low is too low in mileage or could any number be clocked?
what particular issues should I look out for, oil leaks, suspension, etc?
what to avoid - what to go for?
appreciate any replies

Sonar

Paddypowered wrote: »

50e last time I checked to get a car clocked....:)

does that mean everything is clocked then??:(

Idbatterim

what year and what price? 80k with the 2.2 engine is nothing if it has been properly serviced. If you like car and agree on asking get it checked before pruchasing, I can highly recommend a bmw specialist if you like...

rebel.ranter

xabi wrote: »

Im looking at a BMW 520 auto tomorrow, apart from the usuall is there anything I should be looking out for or asking the owner about on these? The car has 80k on the clock.

- The valve cover gasket as mentioned above is a €70 part from th e main dealer, cheaper if a spurious part.I t is relatively straight forward to change yourself.

- The other big cause for oil consumption is a broken CCV valve or associted piping. Failed components prevent a vacuum building up in the crankcase leading to oil getting burned. A tell tale is to let the engine warm up & once warm (after the test drive) remove the oil cap & check for a vacuum. Use your hand to check for a sucking action, also the engine should run a little rough. No vacuum means CCV needs sorting. €400 to get sorted in a good indy mechanic.

- Check cupholders work, another €50 to replace. Small I know but worka check.

- Check that the ABS, airbag & engine management light comes on when you turn the ignition on & that they go out wen youstart the car. You want to be sure that there are no hidden bills due to a bulb removed. For example the airbag mat on the passenger seat could be torn (due to somebody kneling on the seat) & cause the airbag light to come on. It could also come on as a result of a loose connection.

- Check that the heater/air con functions well, that it blows ice cold with the air con on & set to lowest temp & also that it blows hot when set to max temp. There is a unit called the FSU (final stage unit) that fails, they're about €70 & can cause havoc with the heating controls & cause battery drain.

- Check that the headlight aim control is working, the adjusters are prone to breaking, for cars with xenon lights you should start the car with headlights on, facing a wall, then check to seif the headlights do a self-level sequence.

- Check that all the lights in the bootlid work as well as the boot lid switch. The wires are prone to cracking in the hinge area & can cause bulb failures.

-There are two displays that can fail with missing pixels, the MID (radio display) or the dash clocks. Repairs are €125 each or if you're brave you could do the repair yourself with a €30 kit.

- Front control arm bushes can fail & show the same symptoms as a warped brake disc, at 50-55mph brake & check for a shimmy through the wheel. Could be warped discs or a worm control arm bush.

- If it is a Sport model check under the corners of the front bumper for broken underside trim, these are €80 a corner & look craap when broken, one side houses the outside temperature sensor. The sensor could also be broken, it will red -37deg C on the dash if it is. It costs €30 for the sensor.

- The 3rd brake light in the rear windscreen can throw errors on the dash, the bulb holder can melt, it's less than €5 but cn be frustrating to fault find, just throwing it in here as a minor issue.

- If it's a manual be sure to check 2nd gear, check it by going into 2nd gear & accelerate hard & watch to see if it pops out. Seen that happen before, this means that you'll be fitting a replacement gbox.

- The windscreen washer pipes are prone to going brittle & cracking, the pipe can cost €110 if it has the intensive wash system. Loads failed in the last two winters with the long icy stretches. Check that the jets work with good pressure.

- The e39 will hide miles very well, so it is vital to see a trail of evidence of the service history either a main dealer history, independent mechanic or lots of receipts that back up the mileage.
I would be particularly looking for receipts/evidence of a waterpump & thermostat swap, a well maintained cooling system in a BMW is critical.
The amp or radio can fail due to dried solder joins, check that the radio has sound coming fom both sides of the car.

Bear in mind that the 520i from 2002 on is a 2.2L, in my opinion you would be as well looking at the 525i, tax is only a little more but there's more power & fuel economy is about the same.

There's probably loads more I'm leaving out but others can fill in the rest.

Idbatterim

http://www.bmw-driver.net/forum/showthread.php?t=30968

the above may be of interest to you OP. agree with above post by the way, difference in tax and fuel between 520 and 525 is negligilble, but 525 has 25 more bhp. A 520 auto isnt exactly a speed demon...

lynchie

rebel.ranter wrote: »

Bear in mind that the 520i from 2002 on is a 2.2L, in my opinion you would be as well looking at the 525i, tax is only a little more but there's more power & fuel economy is about the same.

Actually from 2001 the 520i was a 2.2L (2172cc)

alias no.9

rebel.ranter wrote: »

- Check cupholders work, another €50 to replace. Small I know but worka check.

Talk about giving someone false hope, the cup holders will be broken, don't bother replacing them because they break whenever they're used.

Gumbo

alias no.9 wrote: »

Talk about giving someone false hope, the cup holders will be broken, don't bother replacing them because they break whenever they're used.

i heard that so many times!
My E39 has them now as i took out the Traffic Master system and repleced it with the OEM cupholders from a breaking M5.

Still working strong today, the trick is to know they are fragile, and take that bit of extra care with them



no doubt they will break on the way home today

furtzy

As above especially the suspension bushes. Complex suspension set up with difficult to diagnose problems. Also check for wet rear carpets. The vapour barrier on the rear doors fail causing water to get in. Easy fix though. got mine repaired for €80 while the BMW dealership wanted €500 :eek:

Headlight adjusters also fail causing the light to point at the road. Can't be easily fixed so a new headlight is usually required

My 2.2 520 only gets 19mpg around town so not cheap to run

rebel.ranter

furtzy wrote: »

As above especially the suspension bushes. Complex suspension set up with difficult to diagnose problems. Also check for wet rear carpets. The vapour barrier on the rear doors fail causing water to get in. Easy fix though. got mine repaired for €80 while the BMW dealership wanted €500 :eek:

Dang! I forgot the vapour barrier issue. You can buy the butyl chord (the black tarry sticky stuff that seals the vapaour barrier to the door from a company called Wurth.

http://www.wuerth.ie/

They have a number of Dublin premises, a Cork depot & one in Letterkenny.

furtzy

rebel.ranter wrote: »

Dang! I forgot the vapour barrier issue. You can buy the butyl chord (the black tarry sticky stuff that seals the vapaour barrier to the door from a company called Wurth.

http://www.wuerth.ie/

They have a number of Dublin premises, a Cork depot & one in Letterkenny.

My mechanic used 3M windscreen bond. Worked a treat

Mena

rebel.ranter wrote: »

- Check cupholders work, another €50 to replace. Small I know but worka check.

-There are two displays that can fail with missing pixels, the MID (radio display) or the dash clocks. Repairs are €125 each or if you're brave you could do the repair yourself with a €30 kit.

- Front control arm bushes can fail & show the same symptoms as a warped brake disc, at 50-55mph brake & check for a shimmy through the wheel. Could be warped discs or a worm control arm bush.

A wealth of information, thanks! Anyone know where I can get new cup holders?

Also, Where to get the displays corrected (both dash and radio are displaying this damn issue)

Control arm is gone to, anyone know average cost to get this repaired? BMW wanted €550.00.

Apologies for the hijack :pac:

Leonard Hofstadter

Make sure the engine has never overheated, if it has then walk away.

The engines themselves are bulletproof as long as it has never overheated.

Buy a car based on spec and most importantly service history, you want to see lots and lots of history, they're not expensive now but they were very expensive when new and the need to be maintained properly. A car owned by an enthusisast will be more expensive but what you save by buying a cheap one you'll lose out on with the cost of maintaining it, an abused one will break your heart. An enthusisat will probably have taken care of most of the weak points in those cars anyway.

The 525i is only a small bit more to tax than the 2.2 520i, so it's the one to go for, if you're going to be paying for six cylinder fuel consumption then you might as well get something with a bit more power, it's not like the 520i will be any more economical anyway.

If you can find a good one, then go for it, I think it's the best car BMW ever made, apart from the high running costs they're still a great car even by today's standards.

DonJose

I bought a 2002 530i 18 months ago with 55k miles, I love it and have added 10k miles more to it, tons of power, the most solid car I've ever driven. Last years cold winter cracked the transmission radiator and I ended up having to replace the tranmission €4k, but I still love the car.

"Consumer Reports declared the 2002 BMW E39 the best car they had ever reviewed."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_5_Series_(E39)

Gumbo

furtzy wrote: »

My mechanic used 3M windscreen bond. Worked a treat

I actually need to do this on my rear passenger door.

Gumbo

Mena wrote: »

Also, Where to get the displays corrected (both dash and radio are displaying this damn issue)



Apologies for the hijack :pac:

Basically the pixels die in the E39 and also the E53 X5.
I got mine replaced by buying a new pixel ribbon on eBay and getting a guy from BMW driver to fit it.

If your handy with tools you can maybe have a goo yourself, but i didnt want to take the risk.

Heres my E39 thread and the info and pictures are in there.

http://www.bmw-driver.net/forum/showthread.php?t=28324

Heres the specific post with pictures of the pixel fix, before and aftere :

http://www.bmw-driver.net/forum/showpost.php?p=350815&postcount=109

furtzy

kceire wrote: »

I actually need to do this on my rear passenger door.

Can PM you the mechanics number. He has an E39 himself and is familiar with the procedure since hes done mine!

Gumbo

furtzy wrote: »

Can PM you the mechanics number. He has an E39 himself and is familiar with the procedure since hes done mine!

Thanks, i'd do that kind of thing myself to be honest

furtzy

kceire wrote: »

Thanks, i'd do that kind of thing myself to be honest

No probs

rebel.ranter

Mena wrote: »

A wealth of information, thanks! Anyone know where I can get new cup holders?

I picked up a replacement set up though EBay from a UK dealer. To be honest I would have gotten them for the same price (€50) from the local dealer. I was just online at the time & was impatient. Forget about getting a 2nd hand set, they're rarely unbroken in a car that is on it's way to the big scrap yard in the sky...

air

Took a 520i from 110k to 140k last year.
Issues I had were:
Replaced some suspension bushes at a cost of about 400 euro (think parts came to 280 from BMW)
Replaced ignition switch (10 euro from breaker).
Ignition barrel slightly worn and sticks once every few months
Windscreen sprayers stopped working in the frost but the hoses had just popped off the jets, upped the concentrate levels subsequently.

Other than that flawless ownership, changed the oil and filter on the indicator and it doesn't use a drop of oil between changes.
Averaged 31-37 mpg depending on the right foot but the majority of my mileage would be extra urban.
Oh and my front cupholders are perfect Must be lucky, rear ones are in bits though!