Hi Stephen - I've owned two e39s and still have an e39 540i6 speed sedan that I have owned for 23 years. Some thoughts:
On wheels and tires, I like the Style 37s. Style 5s are nice and more elegant. That said, I have a set of Style 66s on my car right now. These are on my car because (1) I’m refinishing my HREs, and because (2) they have a set of lightly used Michelin Pilot Sport all season tires. If you might be interested in a set of Style 66s, I could accelerate my HRE project.
The first thing I would do on your car is replace the brake lines with stainless steel lines. Old spongy lines ruin the driving experience. And while you are at it, the 540 brakes are a nice upgrade for the 528. If you do this, you need the 540 carriers.
As to the M5 front fascia, I never did this. In looking at this, it appeared that the aftermarket parts did not fit very well, and OEM parts were very expensive. I still have the fascia on my car that you have on yours. That said, the M5 kidney grills are a nice upgrade. And you can install the M5 brake ducts for better front brake cooling (you need to cut one area of the fascia to do this). I’ve done both of these mods.
I highly recommend the Zionsville radiator and expansion tank replacement. I was involved in petitioning Zionsville to make these setups for the e39s twenty years ago. The plastic oem necks that the hoses attach to, and the plastic expansion tanks, were designed to meet BMW’s easily recyclable goals. Thus, they don’t last. And when they go, there is no limp home mode. You need a tow truck.
The cup holders suck. Get an Ultimate Cup Holder and install it on the passenger side. Then get the e38 black blanking plate and remove the cup holders altogether.
I like the 2001 headlights with angel eyes and yellow corners. If you go to the 2002 headlights, the corners are clear and you then need to change the rears. If you upgrade to the angel eyes, the Weisslicht angel eye lighting is a nice upgrade. Note the headlights come in both Xenon and non-Xenon versions. If you make this change, be sure to match what you already have in the car.
It appears you have the sport suspension based on the blackout trim. The sport suspension is quite good, but I’ve gone to H&R Springs with Bilstein Sport Shocks, Eibach Sway Bars, Poly Bushing and TC Kline Rear Brackets. With your car, you can upgrade to the e39 rear sway bar, which would be cheap and easy. The front won’t fit because its shaped differently due to the size of the M62 engine. You would need to go aftermarket.
I upgraded my dash to the Euro dash and the armrest to the Euro armrest. Not sure if these parts are still available. The US dash is 3” fatter than the Euro dash due to US crash testing for people not wearing seat belts. The Euro dash is much more elegant, but expensive. With the armrest, I didn’t like my elbow hitting the hard plastic center designed to hold the phone, so I changed to the Euro version without the phone tray.
Hope this helps.
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