cossie04

iTrader: (1)

Hi folks, i`m looking at buying a BMW 530i Sport in the next month or so. I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on what to look for on these cars and where to look, rust, noises etc.

Cheers, Ed.

Ollie.

Buy a diesel...

cutch

iTrader: (1)

if you can afford it mate get the diesel but i have had two, one at 210k and another at 155k both were great! Look out for rust round the rear panel where it joins on to the wings and round the boot lid, i had a thermostat prob with mine and it was easy to fix once we knew what it was, great cars, love em, would buy another in an instant!

cossie04

iTrader: (1)

Tbh, i`d love a diesel version but don`t think i could afford it. I`m only going to have about £3500 - £4000 to spend but i have seen some half decent 530i`s for that price. I don`t mind a higher mileage car as long as the service history and the condition is good.

xr2i-carl

Hi Ed,

the 3.0 engine in that car is pretty bomb proof provided it has a thorough service history. Some early E39 do rust around the arches and bottom of the boot lid. Leather wears well. My old man had one (E39 530i from new in 2001 to 240k miles). The car lasted well.

Just look for the usual, oil leaks and crash damage. You should find one for that price with a decent service history. Suspension bushes go a little sloppy at 120k.

Are you wanting a manual or auto?

mk3stevie

Avoid miley diesels, turbos and injectors are favourites and cost ££££. As above, pertol engine car v reliable, susp bushes will wear and look out for leccy bits like PDC and heater fan.

cossie04

iTrader: (1)

That don`t sound too bad. I think for the money i`m going to spend it will be a petrol, i`d settle for an auto but will still buy a manual if one popped up. See this example on ebay the other day go for £3500, seems a fair deal to me...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

xr2i-carl

Looks tidy enough for sure. Air-con thing could be a little suspect. Why does he not fill it if it needs re-gassing, potential issue there?! I know your handy with motors so Im sure its a easy enough fix for someone with experiance with motors like yourself.

D16PJM

also pixels on the dash can become faint and unreadable.

Pete

cfoster

I had one for about 8 months a while ago, lovely looking motors with all the extras. Mine used to average around 20mpg on day to day runs or up to about 30mpg on long journeys. Main probs to look for are the digital dahs/mileage display pixels going, and a lot of them suffer from gearbox changing probs. Mine was only on 70k I think and already it didnt like going from 3rd to 4th unless you put it in tip mode then back into auto. Common occurance on these. Missus' dad has one on 155k, same problem, changed the gearbox ecu, various other bits and the sealed for life fluid and still the same grief!!!

Overall though lovely cars, although a bit boring to want to go in if you want a thrash.

Heres my old one!!







Chris

xr2i-carl

Foster, thats interesting that they both had auto issues.

cfoster

I know mate, seems really odd, was a real pain in the ass as well, when really towing it hard it used to go but when accelerating normally it used to just hang a fairly high revs (as if you've levelled the throttle out).

I imagine a replacement gearbox wouldnt be cheap either! Mnaged to sell mine for 8.5k a couple of years back!