Moss Man
06-02-2012, 07:22 PM
For years I liked the look of the 5 series BMW’s and just recently decided to go ahead and try one. My buddy recently bought a 325i and I drove it home for him, my first time even sitting in a BMW. I enjoyed it and the fact that he got it for a pretty reasonable price got my wheels turning and next thing I know I’m scanning ads every day looking for the right deal on an E39 5 Series. A few things were a necessity as far as wants, like an auto transmission, certain exterior colors and any interior color except the tan as I just find the tan to bright to be cozy in the cabin. A 97 540i popped up in the next state over for a decent price and it looked to be in great condition for the year. $4,500. Later that day I was driving it home. I had just sold my Harley and wanted a “gentleman’s luxury sport” sedan with some guts. I would have settled for less than the 4.4 Liter, but now that I have it I’m glad.
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f91/PEATMOSS123/Nascar/IMG_1004-11.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f91/PEATMOSS123/Nascar/IMG_1002-12.jpg
The driving experience has been eye opening. It’s been a long time since I’ve driven a rear wheel drive car and that took a bit of adjustment, but it has a good light feel and it’s very nimble for a larger car. The 4.4 Liter V-8 is very impressive in the upper rpm range, I’ve had a couple occasions where I had to back off it from fright. The car has a very solid planted feel to it and it appears to be well built inside and out. I am very impressed with the transmission, it shifts when it should at WOT and even better yet, it downshifts with ease when it’s put under the lightest of load. The transmission has a truck feel and sound, but not in a bad way, just a good rugged sounding deal.
The owner claimed that he was right on top of things with the car as he was a mechanic, but things weren’t all what he claimed. A couple weeks into driving it the airbag light came on; fortunately I had just got an inspection sticker on it so it’s not a concern for 12 months now. It does bother me though, if it’s a cheap fix I’ll have it done. The rotors were just ground on the front and new ceramic pads were installed all the way around, but there’s a very noticeable squeak coming from the front passenger side and it immediately goes away when you apply the lightest pressure on the brake pedal. The mechanic that did the inspection sticker found one of the lower ball joints to be very worn on the driver’s side, the previous owner should have noticed that. The tires (Toyo Proxes 4) have about 30% of the tread left and they have a pronounced growl to them, partly the result of lots of miles and the need for a four wheel alignment. The wheels have been swapped from the originals to 18” factory BMW’s and they have a fair amount of curb rash on the outer lip, but the centers are very presentable. It has a couple dents and dings, but overall it is very presentable.
Having gotten a car that had an original sticker price of 50 grand for under 5 grand, I feel pretty good about the deal, but I can’t leave anything alone and now I’m having grand visions of all the things I’d like to do to it. I’d like to put new rubber on, tint the windows, fix the airbag light, figure out the squeaky brakes, replace the cup holder and some other small details.
That’s my BMW story for the time being. At 51 years old, I’m now the newbie.
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f91/PEATMOSS123/Nascar/IMG_1004-11.jpg
http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f91/PEATMOSS123/Nascar/IMG_1002-12.jpg
The driving experience has been eye opening. It’s been a long time since I’ve driven a rear wheel drive car and that took a bit of adjustment, but it has a good light feel and it’s very nimble for a larger car. The 4.4 Liter V-8 is very impressive in the upper rpm range, I’ve had a couple occasions where I had to back off it from fright. The car has a very solid planted feel to it and it appears to be well built inside and out. I am very impressed with the transmission, it shifts when it should at WOT and even better yet, it downshifts with ease when it’s put under the lightest of load. The transmission has a truck feel and sound, but not in a bad way, just a good rugged sounding deal.
The owner claimed that he was right on top of things with the car as he was a mechanic, but things weren’t all what he claimed. A couple weeks into driving it the airbag light came on; fortunately I had just got an inspection sticker on it so it’s not a concern for 12 months now. It does bother me though, if it’s a cheap fix I’ll have it done. The rotors were just ground on the front and new ceramic pads were installed all the way around, but there’s a very noticeable squeak coming from the front passenger side and it immediately goes away when you apply the lightest pressure on the brake pedal. The mechanic that did the inspection sticker found one of the lower ball joints to be very worn on the driver’s side, the previous owner should have noticed that. The tires (Toyo Proxes 4) have about 30% of the tread left and they have a pronounced growl to them, partly the result of lots of miles and the need for a four wheel alignment. The wheels have been swapped from the originals to 18” factory BMW’s and they have a fair amount of curb rash on the outer lip, but the centers are very presentable. It has a couple dents and dings, but overall it is very presentable.
Having gotten a car that had an original sticker price of 50 grand for under 5 grand, I feel pretty good about the deal, but I can’t leave anything alone and now I’m having grand visions of all the things I’d like to do to it. I’d like to put new rubber on, tint the windows, fix the airbag light, figure out the squeaky brakes, replace the cup holder and some other small details.
That’s my BMW story for the time being. At 51 years old, I’m now the newbie.