Bmw e39 rust... repair or replace?

positivenote

HI all,
my 2001 e39 530 has started getting rust all over the place... boot lid, little bits on doors, wheel arches etc... its got 185k miles on it but I absolutely love driving it. I look after the engine getting it serviced approx every 9-10k miles, have installed a dynamin (?) sat nav in the dash, added and changed numerous different bits and bobs aesthetically. Its getting a bit niggly with the central locking gone and the heated seats only sproadically working.
But my question is should I look at getting all this repaired and forking out a couple of hundred euro or should I look at getting rid and replacing with a model with less miles and in better nick...
I have been glancing at this
http://www.parkgateautosolutions.co.uk/used-cars/bmw-5-series-2-2-520i-sport-touring-5dr-doagh-201503121667779

...and i know its a touring, which I really like, and not a diesel, but the tax will be less every year and Id gladly keep either car for another few years.
Any advice would be welcomed on what to do and on the possible cost at getting the rust sorted if its not a case of 'once it sets in your car is f**ked"
thanks

Ferris

That car would be the guts of eur 5k vrt'd here which would be pricey. My brother had the 2.2l petrol in a saloon and its not too bad an engine in that car, certaily not a slouch but it will feel a lot slower than the 530. One issue that those engine suffer from is excessive oil consumption, I know my brothers head was wrecked with it. Sometimes its due to a blocked engine breather setup and sometimes its due to engine wear, very hard to tell on a test drive.

As your car is still running and presumably nct'd would it not be better to wait for the ideal car to pop up on a forum in ireland and buy that for less money?

Foxhole Norman

All E39's will be beginning to rust at this stage but yours with all of it's other problems, might just be worth letting go. While that Touring would be about €5k all in, it'd be worth it as they're super rare over here in M-Sport Petrol form and it will hold its value.

Trojan

Just on the oil, the M54 engine seems to burn a lot of oil even when all's working as it should and there's not a lot you can do about it. I was going through 2-4L per month for a bit. If you go for any M54 I'd suggest you don't mess about with 1L bottles, buy oil in minimum 5L size or the larger drums (or get one of the 3x5 Litre deals going at the moment).

Stallingrad

Trojan wrote: »

I was going through 2-4L per month for a bit.

Christ, that is bad, and expensive! Surly only a matter of time before you run too low and start wrecking the engine?

Stallingrad

People might also say that E39 is on the high end of values, but I would ignore that. It is a steal for a car of such quality and ability. I hate these E39 threads, they always get me looking around again. :-)

Trojan

Stallingrad wrote: »

Christ, that is bad, and expensive! Surly only a matter of time before you run too low and start wrecking the engine?

I just kept 2L in the boot and kept it topped up based on dip or yellow oil light (which means it'll take about 1/2 a litre or so).

It was expensive until I copped on and stopped buying 1L bottles

Foxhole Norman

Trojan wrote: »

Just on the oil, the M54 engine seems to burn a lot of oil even when all's working as it should and there's not a lot you can do about it. I was going through 2-4L per month for a bit. If you go for any M54 I'd suggest you don't mess about with 1L bottles, buy oil in minimum 5L size or the larger drums (or get one of the 3x5 Litre deals going at the moment).

That is a lot! My 2.5 burns about 1l per 2,500 miles which I think is about right, you don't have a leak anywhere?

Trojan

Yeah, I was using about 1L every 800 miles or so. There's no large leak but I think there is "sweating" i.e. not enough to drip on the ground when parked but if I clean the engine block I'll see a sheen on it after a round trip to Dublin.