My DD finally has a name

bluecoupe30!

bluecoupe30!

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Delta, British Columbia, Canada
I have enjoyed my 1999 528iT for 8 years now. Have almost doubled the km on it since I bought it. It was the only 5 series wagon available when I needed a vehicle, so I took a bus to view and test and I knew I would be driving it home. These E39s are very user friendly. I am sure many E9/E3 owners have experienced this model. Lately, with mileage piling up, I was having trouble keeping up with the dashboard warning lights. But I was winning. Earlier this week I did an oil change, jacked the front up, did the job, put car back down on its wheels.....but the rear end sank.:(. I got it back up in the air, examined all components to the self-levelling suspension, sensors, airbags, compressor, and could not get a reaction. Car back down on the ground. There is sat for the rest of the day. And the entire next day. Finally, the following morning, I had an idea and expressed it out loud as I was looking at the sad sight of this wagon sitting almost on the floor. I indicated that if it would only get its act together, I would finally haul away the Euro E23 that was occupying the last covered parking on our farm and it could park there while I contemplated its future.. I mean it looked so depressing like that. Went out to my shop for about 15 minutes, came back to the garage and my car had sat right back up and looked as if nothing had ever happened!. Drove it for the next 2 days and all was well. :)
Told my wife this story and we have now agreed to call this E39iT, the car that can repair itself : "Christine"
 
Mot27cars said:
I have a spot for the e23....just trying to be helpful. Lol
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Thanks Tom, I have removed the motor, the 3 webers, the Stahl headers, the Getrag 265/6, the 3.64 diff, the rear trunk spoiler, the front BBS air dam, and sundry other parts. It was time to shed the rusty remains. I sure wish I had this car 30 years ago! Space available, now Christine has a place :)
 
bluecoupe30! said:
Thanks Tom, I have removed the motor, the 3 webers, the Stahl headers, the Getrag 265/6, the 3.64 diff, the rear trunk spoiler, the front BBS air dam, and sundry other parts. It was time to shed the rusty remains. I sure wish I had this car 30 years ago! Space available, now Christine has a place :)
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Well I’ll have to agree.... it’ll be much easier for me to store those parts versus the whole car!!! Lol
 
How has your E39 held up rust wise? From what I can see cars don't rust much in BC.
 
I had an e39 wagon with a V8 engine that I dearly loved. Alas, the rear door seals went, water got into the rear floor well, and mold grew in the insulation. I'm alergic, so I had to sell the car. Watch the door seals for signs of trouble; you will see water in the footwell if the seals go.

Your problem may arise from the ride height sensor. I think it is on the rear subframe, and is somewhat exposed to the elements. You may want to consider a preventative replacement of that sensor.
 
Nicad said:
How has your E39 held up rust wise? From what I can see cars don't rust much in BC.
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Hi Bob. Well it was doing great, but I have noticed the jack points rusting. Seems this is a common weak point. The usual auto body shops do not want this type of work, but I have a friend in my own community that runs a very good restoration shop. Just completed my Bugeye Sprite in fact. He is willing to take this on and do a proper rocker panel repair, but is so backed up with projects it may be a bit of a wait. :(
 
Ohmess said:
I had an e39 wagon with a V8 engine that I dearly loved. Alas, the rear door seals went, water got into the rear floor well, and mold grew in the insulation. I'm alergic, so I had to sell the car. Watch the door seals for signs of trouble; you will see water in the footwell if the seals go.

Your problem may arise from the ride height sensor. I think it is on the rear subframe, and is somewhat exposed to the elements. You may want to consider a preventative replacement of that sensor.
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Yes, I think you have nailed it. Probably start there. Thankfully haven't noticed door seal leakage ...yet.
 
bluecoupe30! said:
Yes, I think you have nailed it. Probably start there. Thankfully haven't noticed door seal leakage ...yet.
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Cool. And while I'm giving e39 advice, if you see any of your door locks hesitating when you lock or unlock, get after it right away. The repair is a real b!tch if you wait until after the lock mechanism fails.
 
Ohmess said:
I had an e39 wagon with a V8 engine that I dearly loved. Alas, the rear door seals went, water got into the rear floor well, and mold grew in the insulation. I'm alergic, so I had to sell the car. Watch the door seals for signs of trouble; you will see water in the footwell if the seals go.

Your problem may arise from the ride height sensor. I think it is on the rear subframe, and is somewhat exposed to the elements. You may want to consider a preventative replacement of that sensor.
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I had this issue but the most common cause is the vapor barrier. I loved my e39 but I had every issue I read about on the forums: Final Stage Resistor, vapor barriers, failing Alt which took out the battery too and put me in limp home mode, failing pixels, weeping PS hoses, oil housing to block seal leaking, plastic cooling system, crappy antenna in the rear window, PCV clogging causing oil consumption, valve cover leaks and on and on. When I sold Murray’s 530 after he passed the ABS module went out, I had it repaired, then the tranny wouldn’t go into reverse and failed.
 
Woah. Chris is right; the issue is the vapor barrier between the interior door card and the door itself, not the door seals.

I've done a handful of final stage resistors, two power steering hoses, and I am pretending the failing pixels are not a big deal. As to the cooling system, I was part of the group that petitioned Zionsville Motorsports to do an aluminum radiator with an aluminum expansion tank in the early 2000s. No trouble with their stuff.

Then there are the plastic parts in the window mechanisms (I've done two of these), the headlight adjustors that would get brittle and break (I've replaced mine with brass parts), the cupholders that were worse than useless in that they would not stay closed and out of the way (deleted entirely) and the plastic fitting for the gas cap door that would break and prevent you from adding fuel (replaced twice).

BMW relied way too heavily on recyclable plastics in these cars.
 
I have owned a 1997 E39 (528i). I bought it used at 80,000 miles and sold it at 140,000. I did not experienced any of the above problems. (Well, the cooling system does need to be replaced every 70,000 miles or you are asking for trouble). Maybe the early E39s were the best? Mine even had the old fashion GM 4 speed auto (converted from an earlier 3 speed).
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Thanks for the support gentlemen. I am not denying I don't have a thick "service" file, but I was fortunate in that for most of this journey, I used this car for business, and many expenses were, well, expenses. And I did a lot myself, other work, like suspension stuff that required expensive, specific tools, I took to the BMW indy. Later, in retirement, the issues became a drag. Took away from Coupe and other car frivolities. But I generally just move house until I have more space to store/park/house my cars and projects. But we are not moving again. This small farm is ideal, but I have filled the available spaces. If I can rescue this Touring (I think it is the best wagon ever made) well great, but we shall see. Wife thinks its time for a Toyota! And, in fact, the Venza has arrived.
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That looks Mint...and gorgeous. Seems to me you could just put in normal struts springs and shocks and it would work well...or am I missing something?
 
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