How many miles is too many??

[danmurphymn]

Hello all, I've seen a wide spectrum of miles on the e39's I've been looking at. But I came across a 540it with 218,000.
This would be my daily. I'm not afraid to maintain it and I'm very mechanically inclined.

Here's the listing details. What are your thoughts??? $4,000 obo.
Side note, I'm in Minnesota so rust free, well maintained cars are hard to find. Thanks for your feedback!!


Very well maintained, loved black sapphire (metallic black) sport wagon. Drove the car from California to Illinois when I moved here. Very rare V8 wagon with sport package.

Most (if not all) service records. Car has been serviced at BMW Santa Barbara, Bob Smith BMW in Calabasas, CA and my BMW independant specialist in Santa Barbara, CA.

Clean California Title (car is with me, in Illinois)
Sport package
Heated leather seats
Premium Package
Xenon headlights
Rain sensitive windshield wipers
Newer tires (maybe 6k miles on them, michelin as3)
New brakes, calipers, rotors (front brand new, rears done 8k ago) OEM
Timing chain guides replaced at 193k miles OEM parts
Rare Euro OEM tail lights. Coding has been performed as well (Original NAS tail lights are included in sale)
Rare Euro sliding center console with storage

Cons
Drivers seat has seat twist (have driver and passenger sport contour seats from a 740i Sport, included in sale of vehicle)
Slight vanos rattle when car sits for a few days

[dannyzabolotny]

The price sounds right and it looks like all the usual stuff has been handled (tires, brakes, chain guides) so I can't imagine it having any major issues in the near future. The transmission can be a little iffy at that mileage, but if it's been serviced it's probably fine. And if not, 5HP24 transmissions are a dime a dozen so it's an easy fix.

The seat twist is an easy fix, but if you have E38 contours that's even better! All M62tu's have a bit of a startup rattle after sitting for a while, even after the guides and Vanos are rebuilt. I've rebuilt 10 of these engines, you can never completely escape the rattle.

The only other things I can think of that might need replacement are the suspension components and rear subframe bushings if they're original. Those aren't terribly difficult to swap out with the right tools so it's not really a dealbreaker by any means, just something to be aware of.

For reference, I daily drive a 2000 540it with 199,000 miles, and I've owned it since 174,000 miles. The guides were already done when I bought the car, so I've just been working on the suspension and brakes, along with a cooling system replacement shortly after buying the car.

[SCRSUVS]

The car is screaming WTF Minnesota? Ill pay you back later...

[StephenVA]

+1 on the early death by rust worms to all!

[msvphoto]

Years ago I was told buy condition and forget about miles when looking at older German cars. If condition is good then $4k is probably reasonable.

[CPHES]

Many of us have high mileage 200k + e39’s - both i6, and v8. Get us some pics, and tell us if you get it