BMW E39 - Invest for the long haul or cut and run?

I've owned my E39 525i for nine years and just shy of 100k miles (total mileage now 194k). It's my daily driver, well-maintained (including big stuff like the entire suspension), drives great, and I know it inside and out (from doing all that maintenance).

That said, however, I know there are several costs looming on the horizon. The cooling system replacement will be due next spring, and that along with the other Service II items will mean around $1000 in parts. I've never done a clutch on it, and I suspect it's going to need one soon. That's another $500 or so in parts, but I'm probably going to have to farm it out, so that's a pretty good-sized labor hit as well. Finally, it was hit at some point prior to my ownership, and the right quarter is showing rust at the wheel arch. If I'm going to keep it that will need to be addressed, and at the same time it's probably worth respraying the rest of the car, as the paint is pretty tired at this point. That's going to cost more money, and probably not a small amount of it.

I still like it - selling would not be because I've lost interest. I don't know what it's worth, but it probably isn't much, in spite of the thousands I've poured into maintenance. I'm only entertaining the thought because I realize I will likely have to dump several more thousands into it in the relatively near future if I intend to keep it. If I do the work, I'm in for the long-term, because I won't see any real increase in resale value for having done it.

WWGRMD? Keep it and pay up? Sell it and buy a Miata? Something else? Anybody want to buy a well-maintained but slightly needy E39 525i?

Personally, I'd cut bait and run. If it was just the mechanical maintenance, it wouldn't as big of a deal. Adding in the body work is the deal breaker for me. That just takes it into the not worth the money category.

so it's going to need a grand in 4-6 months. I'd start putting $250 per month into a separate account, then just wait it out. on one hand, it is the devil you know. On the other hand, it's arguably the least desirable E39 other than being a stick. By the time you need a tow, you could have enough banked for a nice E46. I would not spend body and paint money on a 525 with 200k.

The rust thing is a killer. I'd be tempted to replace it - even another e39 - post facelift 530 5 spd or a wagon from somewhere south

Yeah, the body and paint work adds a really annoying wrinkle to the calculations. It's hardly mission critical, but I hate the idea of driving a rustbucket as much as I hate doing body work. Still, I can probably live with it for a couple years at least before it becomes truly intolerable (just starting to bubble right now).

Going to have to see how finances shape up in the coming months. Probably end up doing the cooling system and other maintenance at 200k no matter what. The big unknown is when I'll need to attend to the clutch. That, and what I would end up replacing it with - hard to find a good unmolested I6 E39 manual these days (and mine is a black/black sport premium car). I know the 525i is considered the bottom of the range, but it's perfect for my DD needs. The only thing better would be an E39 or E46 wagon. Of course, I've never owned a Miata, and prices on NCs are coming down...anybody DD one of those?

The word "invest" is key. Put $1000 in the next big service. $500 clutch. Ignore the body work. Drive it for a year and it's maybe worth $500 more than it was before the work to the right person. Probably not.
It's a terrible investment.
Unless you get $1500 in enjoyment/use out of the car. People eat $1500 in depreciation all the time and nobody bats and eye.

Treat it like a 14 year old dog "There's $1500 in the cookie jar to keep ya around for another year Fido, else it's been a good life."

Repeat every year. When it strands you, scrap it.

Ok, a black over black E39 sport package stick car is pretty sweet. I wasn't saying "don't fix it", just suggesting that if you wait for it to break instead of just doing it in the spring because it has reached some milestone, you could have enough $ in reserve to drive your decision-making in a different direction. Once the cooling system is done, you could still have a good bit of time left on the clutch. keep banking $250/month, and when the time comes again you weigh repair cost vs enjoyment and likelihood of another big repair in the short term.

since it's perfect for your DD needs, keep it alive and keep DD'ing it.

With the aluminum block M54 in these cars, a cooling system failure is virtually guaranteed to be catastrophic (head warps, rips head bolt threads out of block), so the cooling system replacement is like a timing belt in an interference engine: ignore at your peril.

I agree on the clutch - I'll worry about it when it goes. Who knows, by the time that happens I may have had a bodywork epiphany and suddenly be willing to try to properly repair and paint the quarter panel myself (which can only end well, I'm sure).

I'd do the cooling system, wait until the clutch starts acting up, and not worry about repainting an older BMW with 200k miles on the clock.

Consensus seems to be skip the bodywork and paint, and tackle the cooling system - I agree with that. What's the rest of the Service II?

I'm going through the same question with my '01 Mustang with a cracked intake manifold. It has 293k, but has been maintained well and hasn't cost me must in the past 3 years I've owned it. So I bit the bullet and ordered a new intake manifold and some associated cooling system parts (most are original). After I'm done with that, I'll tackle the tire dilemma in the Spring. I had it easier in terms of bodywork - the paint chippped on the original front fender and rather than having it resprayed (along with the hood and other fender), I just bought a used fender on CL. The paint doesn't match perfectly, but it's certainly good enough for a 3-season daily driver.