E39 530D

bmwguy

Hi all, I'm going to purchase an E39 530D within the next month, I'm starting my test drives/viewing today, but I've only ever owned petrol cars, and only driven vans that were diesel so not much of a comparison. How wiil the diesel of this car compare to my previous cars, which were, by the way, 2x BMW 318i, BMW 530i petrol, Alfa 156 2.0 and Peugeot 406 2.0. I suspect it will outperform all except the 530i, I will be only considering automatics. Does turbo lag have any real effect in everyday mixed driving, or is it only if you need huge power immediately you might find it lacking?

Cee-Jay-Cee

I'd say it will out perform the 530i too.

YbFocus

Having an e60 version, the lag isn't really noticeable and comes into its power band at 1700. As you can realise that's good and early and the torque is immense!
It will be right there with the 530i I imagine, with miles more torque!
The 530d's have a nicer feel of power when the turbo comes in, kind of tricks you into thinking she's quicker
So I'd say equal with the 30i, but can do 40 mpg, and will decimate all else on that list.

_Kaiser_

This won't be popular with all the BMW heads here but I had a 03 E39 530d auto for about a week and I found it very poor.

Very slow to take off and noisy (reminded me of the 80s GM-engined green Dublin Buses), cramped and dated interior with poor control layout. Not particularly big either.

I currently have a 05 E60 525d MSport auto for the last fortnight (roll on Wednesday when I get my own 05 3.0 TDI Quattro A6 back ) and while it's a lot better than its predecessor in all respects, it's still pretty noisy and laggy.

As I said, there'll no doubt be a load of posts now to tell you/me how wrong I am , but I'm just comparing these cars to others I've driven over the years - 02 Passat, 06 Passat, 02 E200, 06 E320 diesel, 08 C180 etc - and unless you're completely dedicated to this idea I'd suggest driving some other cars as well.

YbFocus

Your wrong

Ah no but on a genuine note get a belt in other machinery, you may not like the as much as something else. No harm in trying, if you find you like the e39's after that then go for it

bmwguy

Heart set on an E39 sport, I had the 530I in sport and loved it, it will be business fuel account now though so can claim VAT back on diesel. I just see them on the road and are still my favourite car out there, every time I see one I miss my old one. Now just have to find a good one

YbFocus

bmwguy wrote: »

Heart set on an E39 sport, I had the 530I in sport and loved it, it will be business fuel account now though so can claim VAT back on diesel. I just see them on the road and are still my favourite car out there, every time I see one I miss my old one. Now just have to find a good one

Don't blame you, when I got the e60 I drove plenty of other yolks but silk came back to it

She'll be a great car man, Have you thought about an e60? Much more modern car inside and more powerful.
If you Can stretch that bit more like as they ain't making much anymore

bmwguy

YbFocus wrote: »

Don't blame you, when I got the e60 I drove plenty of other yolks but silk came back to it

She'll be a great car man, Have you thought about an e60? Much more modern car inside and more powerful.
If you Can stretch that bit more like as they ain't making much anymore

Not really I'll be purchasing for cash and paying a years tax upfront so want to keep it low, I will move to the E60 eventually but at the moment I actually prefer the E39

_Kaiser_

YbFocus wrote: »

She'll be a great car man, Have you thought about an e60? Much more modern car inside and more powerful.
If you Can stretch that bit more like as they ain't making much anymore

This 525d MSport I have will be going back this week OP I'd agree with the above it's a significant improvement on its predecessor. Decent enough spec too, once I tweaked the settings a bit.

The question for me is how many times will it take before I get used to the cruise control in my A6 again. This BMW setup is the complete opposite of how it's implemented in the Audi

YbFocus

Cool man, well best of luck and hoping that you find a beaut!
Throw up a few pics in the pictures thread so we can get a look at her

bmstuff

(roll on Wednesday when I get my own 05 3.0 TDI Quattro A6 back ) .

The one you have loaned to your garage since the last 6 months?


:-)

YbFocus

Run away quickly! Run!

burke027

Hey I work for bmw and I own a red e39 530 msport. A lot of people will say this was the greatest bmw ever built and I agree totally.they don't have all the gizmos of the newer models so a lot less to go wrong.the auto model is what I have and it's far greater then the manual.but be aware parts are expensive for them
They really are a great car but be sure to buy one that the turbo has being done on.the only other things to look out for are thst the front conntrol arms are ok u will feel the brakes hopping if there worn and on the rear that the pivot bearings are not worn.both these problems will show up as heavy wear on the inside of the tyres.
If u have any other questions just ask n il gladly help you out.

tossy

CJC999 wrote: »

I'd say it will out perform the 530i too.

Come on now..... The 530i has nearly 40 more bhp gets to 60 quicker,weighs less,has a higher top speed........... sounds nicer

Moomat

Had a 01 E39 530d Sport. It's the only car I ever regret selling. They are a fantastic machine and I also prefer them over the E60. I put up about 40,000miles in 6 months and the only problem was a turbo and link arm. I read somewhere that the turbos are prone to going around 130,000 miles and mine was bang on schedule. I don't think you'll find it lacking anywhere on power and fuel economy is great if drove reasonably, I averaged 8.5l/100km mixed driving.
If I could afford the tax I wouldn't hesitate in buying another one.
As you probably know the spec varies wildly on them so do a bit of reasearch and have a idea what you're after.

Best of luck with your search, ye lucky fecker!

Cleveland Hot Pocket

tossy wrote: »

Come on now..... The 530i has nearly 40 more bhp gets to 60 quicker,weighs less,has a higher top speed........... sounds nicer

Yeah I am the most biased guy towards diesels that I know but even I couldnt claim that an e39 530d is faster than an e39 530i

_Kaiser_

bmstuff wrote: »

The one you have loaned to your garage since the last 6 months?


:-)

Aww that's just mean It's only been a fortnight (yes ok.. this time!)

Turns out she needed a new chain and tensioner so that's being taken care of and then I'll be discussing warranty extensions with them.

These things happen with modern cars I guess and it could have been worse. Could have bought privately or from a cowboy and been significantly out of pocket myself.. Engine work like that isn't cheap - especially when they sent it to Audi to get it done

Leonard Hofstadter

bmwguy wrote: »

Hi all, I'm going to purchase an E39 530D within the next month, I'm starting my test drives/viewing today, but I've only ever owned petrol cars, and only driven vans that were diesel so not much of a comparison. How wiil the diesel of this car compare to my previous cars, which were, by the way, 2x BMW 318i, BMW 530i petrol, Alfa 156 2.0 and Peugeot 406 2.0. I suspect it will outperform all except the 530i, I will be only considering automatics. Does turbo lag have any real effect in everyday mixed driving, or is it only if you need huge power immediately you might find it lacking?

For something with 193 bhp, you'd be surprised how slow they are with an automatic gearbox. A friend of mine has one, and while it's a LOT faster than most of the poverty spec low powered rubbish out there, it's not as fast as people would have you believe, and by some margin. Don't get me wrong, it's by no means a slow car, it's just not as fast as one might expect a 3.0 diesel to be. The 530i has about 40 bhp extra, is more reliable and will sound so much nicer, and will be smoother being a six cylinder petrol. Then again, it will use plenty more fuel and will be very hard to sell on.

Apparently the manuals are a lot quicker, though.

In terms of what it's like to drive, I'm sure it will be like every other diesel; a narrow power band, plenty of lag and less smooth than a petrol:D. Apparently these things will do 50 mpg if you're really careful, which is amazing for something that size.

Other than that, the E39 is probably the best car BMW ever made. I much prefer them to the E60.

cabb8ge

bmwguy wrote: »

Heart set on an E39 sport, I had the 530I in sport and loved it, it will be business fuel account now though so can claim VAT back on diesel. I just see them on the road and are still my favourite car out there, every time I see one I miss my old one. Now just have to find a good one

can you claim VAT back on diesel if the car is private owned but used for work? I did not think that was so.

bmwguy

Thanks for the advice and discussion last week,I viewed and drove plenty of cars since but in my research I came across this and bought it

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/04-bmw-525i-msport-nct-mint-2850/5787935

Very happy, took the trip to Galway to see it and it gave the best combination of condition and value, it is as spotless as it looks in the pictures. Not the diesel I was looking for again, it seems every time I go to buy a car I say I am going diesel but a petrol comes out on top with a belter of a car for small money. Will not get a chance to collect until Thursday or Friday though, but can't wait

YbFocus

Beauty of a car man, Well wear

Hope to see a few pics in the pictures thread

ytareh

Pretty much the same money as a Yaris/Micra of same year .Man!Only in Ireland!Best of luck with it!

bmwguy

Well it was cheaper than asking, we settled on €2450. Happy with it. People I know in work still telling me I'm mad to pay that annual motor tax, and I had a hard time getting them to believe that when purchase, tax, fuel, depreciation is taken into account I would motor much more cheaply as the girl that bought a new supermini last month. I like to look at total cost of ownership

YbFocus

Oh yeah but nobody but a few of us are clever enough to look at it that way.
It's she taking her €6,000 depreciation into account this year

bmwguy

YbFocus wrote: »

Oh yeah but nobody but a few of us are clever enough to look at it that way.
It's she taking her €6,000 depreciation into account this year

I'm not saying its cheap motoring (because it can be done much cheaper) but there will be some people that see it as massively expensive, but it will work out something like this:



Purchase price: 2450, assuming I can get 1000 for this in 2 years(10 euro per week depreciation)
Petrol: 30 euro per week excluding business miles which I can claim back. This would cost 20 in any car (40mpg v 28mpg in this car)
Tax: 20 euro per week
Insurance: 15 euro per week
Repairs: Budget at 500 per year (cousin works in main dealer and will work for very little on my car)
Totalling about 85 a week, allow for the odd long spin, contingencies etc.. still working out less than 100 a week to drive one of the best cars ever built. Less than the payments on finance for a supermini. Only thing it doesnt have is an up to date reg plate, which I guess can be important to some people, doesnt do much for me though

blingrhino

having owned an e39 and a e60 and now a f10 520d i can honestly say they were/are all excellent cars.
the e39 still looks great today in msport trim.
the turbo went at 80000 miles in the e60.
funny how things / technology have moved on and the f10 is just as fast as the 530d`s !

commited

bmwguy wrote: »

Repairs: Budget at 500 per year (cousin works in main dealer and will work for very little on my car)

You might want to budget more than that for repairs, they're not young cars now and were expensive cars new at the time, so even using aftermarket, decent quality parts and free labour, you can easily consume a €500 budget with a couple of reasonable failures.

I had a 03 530d sport with manual box in 2007 and it was fantastic, I averaged about 45mpg through my ownership and only had a few problems. I now have a 01 530i Sport auto, which overall, is a much better car. I get between 20-35mpg across depending on driving type.

The e39 is an absolutely fantastic car, but it's definitely getting harder to find good ones!

bmwguy

commited wrote: »

You might want to budget more than that for repairs, they're not young cars now and were expensive cars new at the time, so even using aftermarket, decent quality parts and free labour, you can easily consume a €500 budget with a couple of reasonable failures.

I had a 03 530d sport with manual box in 2007 and it was fantastic, I averaged about 45mpg through my ownership and only had a few problems. I now have a 01 530i Sport auto, which overall, is a much better car. I get between 20-35mpg across depending on driving type.

The e39 is an absolutely fantastic car, but it's definitely getting harder to find good ones!

I had the 530i auto sport too, got same mileage as you. 20 in towns and pushing 35 on motorways. This 525i is almost identical to that car specwise and I expect fuel consumption will be the same. Looking forward to collecting next week now

commited

Yeah 525i and 530i have pretty much identical running costs save insurance/tax. Unless you do big miles, it will work out around the same as the 530d to run and you get the glorious BMW straight 6 noise as a bonus! Good luck and enjoy!

Old diesel

E39s are lovely.

However id agree with the advice given to budget for repairs.

In particular pay attention to cooling system maintenance - I know of one on which the water pump and fan both failed - and it seems to be agreed that the cooling system on these cars are a bit of a weakspot.

Shouldn't be an issue if the cars maintained well - in particular considering the replacement of water pumps etc as a precaution rather then waiting until the car breaks down at the side of the road with water pump failure...

Cleveland Hot Pocket

commited wrote: »

Yeah 525i and 530i have pretty much identical running costs save insurance/tax. Unless you do big miles, it will work out around the same as the 530d to run and you get the glorious BMW straight 6 noise as a bonus! Good luck and enjoy!

No, no it won't
Sure theres about 10mpg in the difference
That is a 25% increased cost to run the 530i per mile versus a 530d

Seriously, I've heard of paper wouldn't refuse ink but this is getting ridiculous.

bmwguy

Old diesel wrote: »

E39s are lovely.

However id agree with the advice given to budget for repairs.

In particular pay attention to cooling system maintenance - I know of one on which the water pump and fan both failed - and it seems to be agreed that the cooling system on these cars are a bit of a weakspot.

Shouldn't be an issue if the cars maintained well - in particular considering the replacement of water pumps etc as a precaution rather then waiting until the car breaks down at the side of the road with water pump failure...

My cousin works in Frank Keanes and will keep on top of me re: maintenance making sure I have everything done - he will insist on it and not charge me, I will drop him a few quid though. Parts do obviously cost though

YbFocus

bmwguy wrote: »

My cousin works in Frank Keanes and will keep on top of me re: maintenance making sure I have everything done - he will insist on it and not charge me, I will drop him a few quid though. Parts do obviously cost though

Would he like another friend

Idbatterim

congrats OP! looks gorgeous, you have any interior pics? at that stage depreciation will be virtually nothing, probably a cash purchase so no interest. It will be cheap motoring. 2.5L tax is disgusting, but I think its at the point where it can just about be stomached. Your correct also about the new supermini comparisons to an extent, whats the tax on them, probably still 200-300?

commited

Cleveland Hot Pocket wrote: »

No, no it won't
Sure theres about 10mpg in the difference
That is a 25% increased cost to run the 530i per mile versus a 530d

Seriously, I've heard of paper wouldn't refuse ink but this is getting ridiculous.

Ireland's obsession with MPG is getting ridiculous - fuel isn't the only cost running a car. Generally speaking, a 530d will cost more to maintain than a 525i due to the fact that it has a more complicated fuel system with much tighter tolerances as well as a turbo with associated swirl flap issues. Diesels are more desirable so generally cost more.

I've had both 6pot petrol & diesel e39 and I will state again, UNLESS YOU DO BIG MILES, a 525i will cost basically the same to run as a 530d.

bmwguy wrote: »

My cousin works in Frank Keanes and will keep on top of me re: maintenance making sure I have everything done - he will insist on it and not charge me, I will drop him a few quid though. Parts do obviously cost though

That's great, a real bonus! Be wary of the Irish BMW dealer parts pricing though, they can be scandalous.

Cleveland Hot Pocket

commited wrote: »

Ireland's obsession with MPG is getting ridiculous - fuel isn't the only cost running a car. Generally speaking, a 530d will cost more to maintain than a 525i due to the fact that it has a more complicated fuel system with much tighter tolerances as well as a turbo with associated swirl flap issues. Diesels are more desirable so generally cost more.

I've had both 6pot petrol & diesel e39 and I will state again, UNLESS YOU DO BIG MILES, a 525i will cost basically the same to run as a 530d.
.

Remove the swirl flaps
The e39 turbos are not nearly as problematic as the more modern diesels.
As for your "obsessed with mpg" comment, sure both of my (diesel) cars are running sub 25mpg and I'm looking at buying a petrol alfa that does less than that.

You changed your original statement which was

525i and 530i have pretty much identical running costs save insurance/tax. Unless you do big miles, it will work out around the same as the 530d to run

to

525i will cost basically the same to run as a 530d

Now I don't think a 525i would be anywhere as cheap to run as a 530d,even on short miles, but there ain't a hope in hell of a 530i being even in the same ballpark.

bmwguy

YbFocus wrote: »

Would he like another friend

If you want a good mechanic, let me know, I'll send you on a number. He's just qualified this year and does some nixers to top up the wages, never usually more than 50 quid for his labour when he does anything for me

bmwguy

Idbatterim wrote: »

congrats OP! looks gorgeous, you have any interior pics? at that stage depreciation will be virtually nothing, probably a cash purchase so no interest. It will be cheap motoring. 2.5L tax is disgusting, but I think its at the point where it can just about be stomached. Your correct also about the new supermini comparisons to an extent, whats the tax on them, probably still 200-300?

It looks as nice up close as it does in the pics, one tiny mark on underside of front bumper that the seller pointed out, but otherwise flawless. Cheap motoring for what you get, still not exactly cheap though! No interior pics, its alacanthra/suede interior, wood effect dash, sports seats, multi function steering wheel. Looks as fresh and well minded on the inside as it does on the outside. I can probably stick a few up when I collect it later this week, I'm in Dublin and the car is in Galway, so just trying to get a free evening to finish work a bit early and pop down on the train to get it is a bit tough.

YbFocus

bmwguy wrote: »

If you want a good mechanic, let me know, I'll send you on a number. He's just qualified this year and does some nixers to top up the wages, never usually more than 50 quid for his labour when he does anything for me

Brilliant man, where roughly are you based out of. I have a turbo about to pop and to be honest it's a daunting task, if he was willing to go at it I'd nearly let him at it
All depends that your not a million miles away though

bmwguy

YbFocus wrote: »

Brilliant man, where roughly are you based out of. I have a turbo about to pop and to be honest it's a daunting task, if he was willing to go at it I'd nearly let him at it
All depends that your not a million miles away though

He is in Kilcock/Maynooth area if thats any good to you

YbFocus

That will do I'm in the Monasterevin area so that works.

PM me on his number man in case I ever need it if he doesn't mind

Gumbo

Cleveland Hot Pocket wrote: »

No, no it won't
Sure theres about 10mpg in the difference
That is a 25% increased cost to run the 530i per mile versus a 530d

Seriously, I've heard of paper wouldn't refuse ink but this is getting ridiculous.

My E39 530d was doing less MPG to a firends E39 525i in similar driving conditions.
Add to that that my current LCI 535d is doing better MPG than the 323, 525d, 530d i have owned prior to that!

Cleveland Hot Pocket

kceire wrote: »

My E39 530d was doing less MPG to a firends E39 525i in similar driving conditions.
Add to that that my current LCI 535d is doing better MPG than the 323, 525d, 530d i have owned prior to that!

Must have been something wrong with your e39 so.
Yes I have heard of vast differences in the mpg between pre and post LCI 535d

Idbatterim

cheap motoring for what you get, still not exactly cheap though!

True that its not cheap cheap, but the only "cheap" motoring is a small engined bangernomic, that wont cost much to tax (i.e smallish engine)...

Suasdaguna1

Nothing but trouble I had with 2 530ds I had....changed egrs, maf's etc. both stuttered mid range. They don't do high mile ages well imho with the inlet manifolds caking up with crud.
Just my 2c

Cleveland Hot Pocket

Suasdaguna1 wrote: »

Nothing but trouble I had with 2 530ds I had....changed egrs, maf's etc. both stuttered mid range. They don't do high mile ages well imho with the inlet manifolds caking up with crud.
Just my 2c

What is high mileage?
Theres nearly 200k km on my e60

Suasdaguna1

Cleveland Hot Pocket wrote: »

What is high mileage?
Theres nearly 200k km on my e60

120k ish......broke my heart and I knew they were fine cars. No one could cure the mid range hesitancy I had in both and thus moved them on.

Think I might have had bad luck but I'm reluctant to return, as per the old say ing"twice bitten etc...."

YbFocus

I can see where your coming from when you say that if you get hit with problems your not going to go back, mines at 150k miles now and she's fine except the turbo. Thats a given with these though!

Supergurrier

That 525 went insane cheap. Was considering looking at it myself.

Would have been a respectable downgrade and in many ways a cheap upgrade.

Have an awful hard on lately for a big 6 cylinder BMW and the e39 looks great even in 2013

mooseknunkle

I have an e39 530i and its the best car i have ever owned so far...anyone who thinks the 530d is faster needs their head checked even a remapped one doesnt come close.

Supergurrier

Nice. What displacement and power output from the e39 530i ?