Happy to see this. Rob Siegel (BMW CCA Roundel's Hack Mechanic) nearly swore off the E39 after a rough ownership experience with a '99 528iT. He saw the light and tried again with an '03 530i and loves it.
https://www.hagerty.com/articles-vid...t-daily-driver
Usually Rob buys elcheapo s-boxes. I've met him 3-4 times, usually at the Museum of Transportation in Brookline, or at the dealer. Nice guy.
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I thought this was his "best" car.
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Good read!
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2015 650ix GC (Moonstone/Cohiba Brown) <<~>> 2014 X5 50i (Space Gray/Mocha)
Thanks for posting.
As always he is in it for low cost ownership in a frozen waste land to drive year round. At 180K it was cheap enough to do just that. Glad he has join all of us in our love of all things E39 instead of those rust bucket 2002 that is a constant conversation within BMWCCA.
Current Garage Highlights
2003 525iT TiSilver
2002 M5 TiSilver
1998 528i KASCHMIRBEIGE METALLIC (301) (Goldie)
Former Garage Highlights
2005 X5 4.8is
2004 325iTs (2x)
1973 Pantera L
1971 Dodge Dart Swinger "Lite Package"
1970 Dodge Challenger T/A 340 Six Pack Alpine White
1970 Dodge Challenger T/A 340 Six Pack GoManGo Green
1969 Road Runner 383
1968 Barracuda Formula S 340 Sea Foam Green
Too bad Hagerty wouldn't insure my 03 530i, even though it's now a 03 M5.
-Paul
2003 "M5" - Full M5 conversion, AMG C63S 6 piston front calipers, Porsche Panamera 4 piston rear calipers, GC Coilovers, Eibach ARBs, UUC Evo3/DSSR, Borla Exhaust w/Muffler Delete, BMW NBT with Carplay/Android Auto, Bi-Xenons, e38 Style 37 M-Pars, e60 Hubs 530i 6-speed swap build thread2005 Range Rover 4.6is (M62TU Powered) - 4.6is Engine Swap from X5, BMW NBT with Carplay/Android Auto
2006 Porsche Cayman S - Soul Performance Competition Headers and Exhaust, H&R Coilovers, 718 Boxster Spyder wheels, Rennline 35mm rear spacers
That article perfectly describes the car. It's the most awesome daily driver I've ever had for the last 15 years. My cooling system is original also.
The author made a wise choice going with the 5-speed manual, as the 5HP19 automatics can be quite troublesome in the 6-cylinder E39's, especially as the miles get higher.
1995 525i 5-speed - Thread
I had a great talk with Rob at The Vintage this year. His experiences with Louie inspired my own E39 cross country journey and we commiserated about E39 cooling system woes. Great to have him in the BMW CCA and posting about our now vintage E39s.
Wade
lol... vintage E39s. I must be getting older... I will say this however: its a different group of people who say "nice car!" at the car wash now vs. when it was new...
Last edited by sleuth255; 12-14-2018 at 06:59 PM.
Need a DME or EGS update?
https://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=1081716
Coding 530i after AT->MT Swap
https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...ter-AT-MT-Swap
Odd that his '99 M52TU car was such a terrible POS. Although. Not sure how much of a POS it was really... He complains about the air bags going flat... that's a couple hours job, max, and you barely have to get under the car for it. Funny to see a guy who will roll with a long list of massive problems in a 2002 or an E9 as no big deal complain about a relatively short list of problems on a newer car... Oh, what, the CCV went bad in cold weather on an M5x motor? You don't say. Who woulda guessed.
He also has an error in calling the 530i "Polaris"... typical vintage-dude using the wrong color codes... Obv that car is gonna show up as TiAg on the build sheet.
Glad he likes it, but of course I'm sure he'll sell it and be on to something else soon enough. That's his style, and its a miracle (and maybe a testament) that he's still got this thing after 3 years...
2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
2002 540iT Sport Vortech S/C 6MT LSD TiAg
2008 Audi A3 2.0T DSG (the daily beater)
2014 BMW X1 xDrive28i (wifemobile)
Former:
1985 MB Euro graymarket 300SL
1995.5 Audi S6 Avant (utility/winter billetturbobattlewagen)
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