Talk me out of it... BMW 540i /6 content

Chris_V wrote:

Harvey wrote: I had a 1997 540i/6. Personally I can't recommend it because some of the parts that fail are very expensive, such as the cats. As far as I know there are no aftermarket ones that hold up very well (meaning they burn out within a year) and the wholesale price for one side from the dealer is $1300.

I used magnaflow high flow cats ($65 each) on my E38 and they held up just fine for the 5 years I had the car. Parts are actually pretty cheap for the 4.4 liter V8, and the manual trans has a better reputation for longetivity than the automatic (though my E38 was just fine at 185k miles on it's original trans). Personally, if you're going to go to the 5 series, it's not as light and nimble as a small car, nor as comfortbale as a big car. I'd turn to the E38 7 series, especially the Sport, though with a few minor upgrades, the regular E38 can be quite nice. I love how they feel smaller around you the faster you go, unlike many large cars that really complain when pushed in the twisty backroads. No, they aren't good autocrossers, but so what? This was my daily driver for 5 years and I'd love to go back to an E38, this time an '01 Sport.

I suppose if we're still assuming the OP does his own work it's about the same cost to maintain in terms of part prices since the drivetrain from one car to the other is mostly the same. What year was your E38?

My father had a 95 and it was a nice driving big car, but not as fun as my 540i/6.

Mine was a '98 with the 4.4 vs the 4.0 of the '95. It also had H&R Stage 2 springs and the 19" Sumitomo HTR Z III tires that worked real well for it. I've driven the '99-01 Sports and the later 750s, and found the Sports to be as fun to drive as the 540, but with more room when you wanted to be comfy. They just eat up the miles so well (did a lot of driving my '98 back and forth from Baltimore to Hartford).

I spent about $1500 in repairs and maintenance on mine in the 5 years I had it, doing the cooling system when I got the car at 143k miles (since I got it from a wholesaler and there were no maintenance records). Did the cats and did a muffler delete (leaving the stock resonators in place up by the cats). I had to do the water pump twice because I used a cheap chinese water pump originally, before I found OEM parts sources online that matched the price of the cheap crap. The radiator was OEM and cost $140, the expansion tank was $45, and the valley pan and OSV were $100 each. The water pump was $140 for the OEM part. I did the 750iL bushings in the thrust arms up front, as well as new tie rods.

Keith Tanner wrote: My wife's opinion of the 540 Sport: nice car, but an old man's car. I can't imagine taking it to an autocross unless I was trying to prove some sort of point.

I'd say in this country your wife has it nailed. Any 5 series is probably a Buick on our speed limited freeways.

However while working for BMW in the late '90s I loved my leased 540i Sport on the Autobahn. I don't really see the need or even enjoyment for any big German car in the US. We must drive way too slow to use them as they were designed.

Chris, got any suggestions for those cheap OEM parts?

Rupert, the theory is good. But when you're crossing the emptiness of Utah, they get driven more like the Germans intended. And the car was just...there. Effective, but nothing spectacular. We failed to bond with it. The M5 has a very different feel, certainly doesn't come across as a Buick even at legal speeds. That motor!

In reply to Keith Tanner: We're not even talking in the same league here. Women taking their children to kinder school drive 200+kph in their Volvos on the unlimited Autobahn. I've been passed by them when only doing 200K!

If you're you're going to move ahead of traffic there, 225K+ is sorta the minimum. Even then you need to hang to the right lanes when the big stuff comes by, headlights flashing, at 300KPH or more.

At 200KPH as a cruising speed is when you want that 4,000 lb. plus car that's nailed down to the road. At 150K or so in North America, it's kinda wasted weight.

you guys are not helping the fact that I would love me an E39

I've lived in Europe and driven on the Autobahn, I'm familiar with it.

If it's cheap and needs a diff, install M diff. My '97 had the M diff and made it that much more. Then you'll want springs, struts, sway bars, wheels, short shifter, M seats. Plan on cooling system overhaul and a billion oil seals needing replaced.

I will say you're better off getting onto the BMW forums and finding a car that's got what you want from the get go. Someone is unloading one to fund their next M5. So glad I bought mine this way. Took me 3 months to find mine, 2 miserable PPI's, a failed deal and finally found the right one. I would only buy an M5 at this point and my wife agrees.

Hey all!

How cheap you ask?

Cheap as in ~3k cheap!

I'm leaning towards running from this one and looking for a better example.. I have a found a few in LA and SF for 5-6k range in running/driving/no explody differential condition. Worse comes to worse, i'd rather just buy replica M-Sport bumpers and have em painted than deal with a car with some serious mechanical gremlins.

Got to look at it in the daylight today,body is straight and all original paint, small crack in the front bumper. Engine is surprisingly smooth, but lots of deferred maintenance. I brought my dummy OBD2 scanner and pulled P2179/2189 codes, look to be a lean condition banks 1 and 2. From what little google-fu I've done it means either a vacuum or intake leak, or a dirty/bad MAF. It got totally shredded tire for in the trunk and the spare is currently rocking some epic wear on the inside of the wheel the front pass side. So at the bare mininum new tires all around, cooling refresh, and a diff..and hope it was just someone just running the tires to cords on it and not a sign of a bad set of control arms on that side. As to cats, unfortunately if it's not CARB approved it's verboten, and CA approved cats seem to be like...double the price.

As to fun car, I still got my 94 Miata for a toy, and it will free it up for me to refresh it a bit and thrash that when needed. Been avoiding doing much of anything other than driving it since it's my sole form of transportation.

The reason why I was looking at these is the prices are fairly low, and I got a ride in a friend's earlier one with an m5 LSD and final drive, and it scooted pretty well. I think it'd be much nicer on my body for drives down to LA from Monterey and up to SF than my Miata. They get surprisingly decent mileage (my friend seemed to average MUCH better on the highway than my miata) on the highway and decent acceleration. And of course, with the m-sport trim package looks damn good. A lowered miata with a loud exhaust and Elise seat is starting to beat the crap out of me on the 5 hour drive to LA.

I'd love an M5, but unfortunately out of my academia salary range. Kinda trying to get into something in the 5-6k range. Wanted to build up a swapped subaru coupe out here (had to sell my sorted 2.5RS coupe for a shockingly low price before I left Boston to pay for rent and seriously regret it every day), but even a car that's pretty much a roller is commanding what I consider a ridiculous amounts of cash.

But man....it looks so damn good with that M-Sport trim option and the topaz blue. Looks something like this.

VWGuyBruce...any forums you'd recommend to troll for one? :)

I wouldn't pay more than $1k for that one, but quite honestly you should probably pass. You're looking at $3000 or so for OEM parts to do both cats and the four O2 sensors you need. Then an upgraded diff and the the miscellaneous stuff.

Fact is though, any 540i is going to eat the cats at some point and probably sooner rather than later.

At your price range and limited budget if you want an actual reliable vehicle to drive up and down the coast I'd kinda pass on one of these.

A good condition M5 will run over $10k.

My friends and I have decided early to mid 2000s BMWs are all pretty much $6000-8000 cars. If you pay less than that for the purchase price, expect to make up the difference in maintenance parts. We've proven it true on a few different cars now.

unevolved wrote: My friends and I have decided early to mid 2000s BMWs are all pretty much $6000-8000 cars. If you pay less than that for the purchase price, expect to make up the difference in maintenance parts. We've proven it true on a few different cars now.

I think that applies to anything German from the mid 2000s.

In reply to RoadWarrior:

I think I eventually found mine on the Bimmerforums. Put up a WTB thread and see what's out there.

BTW, if the 540 is like the M5, everything from poor idle to non-shiny paint will be blamed on the MAFs by the internet experts.

The lean codes could also be the O2 sensors crapping out. When the cats go bad the O2 sensors will go and the car will not be able to adjust fuel properly. At first you'll just get occasional hesitation, but it will slowly get worse.

Get a galant VR4 4 Door AWD turbo 4g63 5spd. Total sleeper status.

I had an O2 sensor go on my car. It was throwing just about every error code under the sun and datalogs did not show what you'd expect to see for a bad O2. Took me forever to figure it out.

Yupididit, I'd love a VR4, but decent ones are few and far between, and after helping a friend work on one for years, I know that the gas mileage and reliabilty is laughably bad once you start modding/drive above above 55mph.

I remember my friend's with a 16g, 720cc injectors and 3in turboback,ACT 2600, and DSMlink could barely eek out 16-18 mpg. I drove it so much in city traffic that my calf muscle on my clutch leg noticeably bigger than the other. Oh, and it's the only cars that have left me by the side of the road/almost killed multiple times....They unfortunately got to the point of being completely unreliable cars. But a Japanese Market Galant VR-4 RS is on the short list of cars I'd like to import once they hit 25 and I move the hell out of CA.

Yep, it's official, I'm gonna walk away from it. This car has waay too many issues and I can see this thing eventually costing me a boatload of money when all said and done to fix the issues. Thanks guys for talking some sense into me.

The Japanese market ones are getting imported already. My buddy has imported and sold 4 so far.

My Galant VR4 has never given me issues and it had a lot more work than the 16g. 2.4 destroked to 2.2, R&R rods, Wiseco HD piston, FP Green turbo, ECMlink v3, Kelford cam, and a built trans. I was getting about 22ish mpg mixed.

After having said all of that, I loved mine. Only DD I've owned that my wife would drive without complaining. Autox'd it, bounced it off redline regularly. Mine never broke but it had been gone thru extensivly before I bought. I wish it never would've been totaled as I'd still be driving it.

Hah the plot thickens. Texted the person last night before checking this thread asking how flexible they were on price, just got a reply . 2700... Why are cheap cars so enticing!

Yepidid it. I thought i saw an 89 rs for sale awhile back. But unfortunately i'm living in CA until i can find work back on the east coast. Was talking to a friend and it is an expensive pain to get JDM like that registered here 100% legally. I could get a "smog" done, but i kinda don't want to deal with the hassle

Yeah I understand. I also live in SoCal for the time being and I cant wait to leave.

Good news is you can find lots of 540i cars in this area for decent prices without too much needed work.

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sgv/cto/4836658405.html