Poor man's MTech bumper?

[Mless5]

Spotted on my trip to CA:

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[RRH]

It's Definitely a double take type of modification haha

[edjack]

The guy must have been ashamed of his 525 - he debadged the car.

[dannyzabolotny]

The guy must have been ashamed of his 525 - he debadged the car.

That was exactly my thought! Whenever I see a debadged BMW I always assume it's the base model.

[chiefwej]

That was exactly my thought! Whenever I see a debadged BMW I always assume it's the base model.

You know what they say about "assume".

554680554681

[Sheil4n]

My 520i is also debadged because I like the cleaner look. Imo would do it even on an m5.

[gmak]

Hey. 'Trompe oeuil' is a time-honoured decorating technique.

[Trasportador]

You know what they say about "assume".

<img src="http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=554680"/><img src="http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=554681"/>

Lol. I've debadged my 540 and 740 sport

[Narvin]

Lol that girl goes to my school

[b2ke]

Would I do this? No. Does it look bad? Not too bad from far away. I'm sure we've all seen worse. I'd tell the owner to at least make paint the trim more to the middle of the bumper like the real deal.

[taylorjs]

I show my 525i colours with pride .... didn't I read here that it has better steering that your V8's ;-)

Having said that, this 'modification' is appealing. I wonder if a black spoiler lip would accomplish the same thing up front!

Speaking of 540-envy, I hit the traction control button just before one of my favourite left handers this morning. Sharp left, bit of an off-camber incline, wet road with a few fallen leaves for good measure, and she was sideways beautifully...

Car in front immediately pulled over to let me pass, but pulled back in behind surprisingly quickly. Oh Oh.

Brown, unusually boring looking Ford Taurus in my rearview. Needless to say I drove at exactly the speed limit for the next kilometre. I must have passed his licence plate check, because nothing more came of it.

JT in Victoria BC

[NordmanMg]

That was exactly my thought! Whenever I see a debadged BMW I always assume it's the base model.

You can recognize the 540 from behind without any badges on it, so that's not the point

[dannyzabolotny]

You can recognize the 540 from behind without any badges on it, so that's not the point

How? Only the 2003 540i M-Sport got the M-Tech bumper, all of the other 540i's got the same exact rear bumper as the other E39s. And anybody can put on an M-tech bumper. As far as I know, the 525i, 530i, and 540i all look identical from behind, aside from the badge.

[Cora540]

540's are staggered wheels stock? Are any of the other e39 models staggered?

[dannyzabolotny]

540's are staggered wheels stock? Are any of the other e39 models staggered?

I don't think they're staggered stock, only when you have the sport package. Quite a few 540i's came with the sport package, but certainly not all of them.

[ImTheDevil]

How? Only the 2003 540i M-Sport got the M-Tech bumper, all of the other 540i's got the same exact rear bumper as the other E39s. And anybody can put on an M-tech bumper. As far as I know, the 525i, 530i, and 540i all look identical from behind, aside from the badge.

I'm pretty sure only the 540 got the single 3" exhaust tip though.

[NordmanMg]

Doesn't matter what kind of bumper it have or what kind of wheels it have,
only 540 have double-bank rear muffler, all 6-cylinder cars have single-bank muffler under rear bumper.
only difference between regular 540 to m-sport 540 is:
-> on sport the exhaust tip is visual from bumper cover cut out
and on the regular its hidden under bumper cover
...
off course if the previous owner cut the OEM muffler and replaced it with aftermarket one, that way it's unknown without badge
but OEM muffler for 540 is different from other e39's

[gmak]

Doesn't matter what kind of bumper it have or what kind of wheels it have,
only 540 have double-bank rear muffler, all 6-cylinder cars have single-bank muffler under rear bumper.
only difference between regular 540 to m-sport 540 is:
-> on sport the exhaust tip is visual from bumper cover cut out
and on the regular its hidden under bumper cover
...
off course if the previous owner cut the OEM muffler and replaced it with aftermarket one, that way it's unknown without badge
but OEM muffler for 540 is different from other e39's


What? Earlier E39 5-series have the scuba tank mufflers. I don't know where you get that the 6-cylinder cars have single-bank mufflers (I guess that means a single 'scuba tank').

See here (http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=DD63-USA-09-1997-E39-BMW-528i&diagId=18_0243). This is for a 528i.

[NordmanMg]

What? Earlier E39 5-series have the scuba tank mufflers. I don't know where you get that the 6-cylinder cars have single-bank mufflers (I guess that means a single 'scuba tank').

See here (http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=DD63-USA-09-1997-E39-BMW-528i&diagId=18_0243). This is for a 528i.

here is,
first pic is the exhaust from 6 cylinder cars
second pic is from 540 with regular bumper, exhaust end facing downwards
third pic is from 540 with m-tech bumper, exhaust end facing rearwards

(by the way forgive my grammars, I'm not American, I start speaking English just like year ago)

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I can't say that there was NOT a option to have double-pit muffler as an option on 6 cylinder cars, but by default there was the difference between R6 and V8 cars

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We have 2003 530i for body works in a shop right now, and it is stock car with single-pit exhaust

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This is pic from my 2003 540i, it is stock m-tech car

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=554765&d=1447455141

[gmak]

I have a 528i in my driveway and it has the scuba tanks. I would suggest that perhaps the 525 and 530 (later models) have the single muffler - but 528's (earlier models of the 5-series) have the scuba tank.

[NordmanMg]

I have a 528i in my driveway and it has the scuba tanks. I would suggest that perhaps the 525 and 530 (later models) have the single muffler - but 528's (earlier models of the 5-series) have the scuba tank.

May be its was for facelift cars, hm

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By the way, I can't understand the reason for inner tank on the 540, what is it for?

[Dking078]

May be its was for facelift cars, hm

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By the way, I can't understand the reason for inner tank on the 540, what is it for?

It's just a sound resonator. Removing just the one rear scuba increases sound a tiny bit, but nothing drastic. Most of it was for the whole Helmholtz resonance thing.

[Jason5driver]

The guy must have been ashamed of his 525 - he debadged the car.
:(