What do people think about your E39? what do women think?

[98OrientBlue]

I get a lot of "nice car" comments from guys mostly: at gas stations, parking lots, garages, etc. Also, lots of inquiries about whether I'd be interested in selling it, including from mechanics who work on it. Agree with the comments here that it's just a great car to drive and works reliably, so at 21 yrs and 165k miles, I see no reason to get rid of it any time soon.

[sleuth255]

Car wash guy quipped "You got a good one" when he saw my 530i had a stick...

[de Witt]

hey guys , 97 540i auto. I have been noticing in just the past 2 or 3 years peoples reaction to my car. Guys still love it mostly , especially when they hear the exhaust note with the muffler delete. I get compliments on the sound wherever I go. Often asked if i have an Ls1 swap lol. Anyhow, I notice women dont seem to like my car very much? I often see peoples faces when im at a light and they pull up behind me. Women are usually chuckling for some reason. The angel eyes on the front often make people look like they are unconfortable too. BTW these lights are right at home on an e39. E39 was one of the first cars in the world way back in the day to come with halos or LED lights. Everyone else copied. Anyway, why would someone laugh at an e39?

lmaooooooo 7k7w.gif


Absolutely irrational and neurotic.

[jicaino]

Who cares what other morons think about when they see your car....

+1

Women usually wet their panties when they see my interior in person.

you have a vapor seal leak, sunroof drain clogged, or you're hauling grannies!

Wait! What? People look at my car? And here I am all this time driving it cause I like it. Who-da thunk it?!

My wife hated it when I got it 10+ years ago, then she fell in absolute and irrational love with it to the point of every time I'm checking for cars she comments "you ain't selling the 540i, right? that's MY car" (and she even doesn't drive!)
But recently she has grown even more fond of the newly acquired 523i manual. She even asked if I could swap the manual tranny into the 540i. I guess she's not a fan of autos. Also she says that the 523i rolls better, it has "less of a floaty feeling" to it. I agree with her, I prefer how the 6cyl frame behaves, car feels more planted and responsive.

[zak78]

hey guys , 97 540i auto. I have been noticing in just the past 2 or 3 years peoples reaction to my car. Guys still love it mostly , especially when they hear the exhaust note with the muffler delete. I get compliments on the sound wherever I go. Often asked if i have an Ls1 swap lol. Anyhow, I notice women dont seem to like my car very much? I often see peoples faces when im at a light and they pull up behind me. Women are usually chuckling for some reason. The angel eyes on the front often make people look like they are unconfortable too. BTW these lights are right at home on an e39. E39 was one of the first cars in the world way back in the day to come with halos or LED lights. Everyone else copied. Anyway, why would someone laugh at an e39?

So I work in psych and can't help but notice peoples' reactions to stuff. I'm totally with you on *most* of this.

Reactions to the 540i/6 with a muffler delete vary greatly by locale. In the city it's just another old car, whereas in small-town cow-country it sticks out to everyone. One of the state troopers I know said it looks like "the perfect car for a coke mule."

Thirty-something hipster women are offended that it's not a hybrid. "And those obnoxious headlights!" Younger gals with daddy issues love it for those same reasons. My finacee thinks the halos are pretty, and enjoys the way the car looks "younger." I say hey whatever.

[Barrman]

My wife thought my 2003 Touring was ugly when I showed her the add. She confirmed it was ugly when we drove to look at it. Now that she has a few thousand miles riding in it. She says it is a super nice, solid and good car to have.

[trulsrohk]

Younger gals with daddy issues love it for those same reasons.

oh no, that's terrible

Where does one usually run across these gals? Just so, you know, I can make sure and avoid them obviously

[jicaino]

oh no, that's terrible

Where does one usually run across these gals? Just so, you know, I can make sure and avoid them obviously

[ninetyseven1]

The main thing i have noticed is people think they can keep up with me, they think my 540i is old or something? I have quite a time especially when my car is not warmed up and im just pulling out of my neighborhood or leaving work to get on the highway. People often ride my ass and smile or laugh. They dont realize im driving a mid 13 second BMW. Yet they would not want to race the Charger R/T Hemi beside me at the red light. What are people thinking? I had a guy in a Pontiac actec mini van looking thing trying to keep up with me when my car wasnt warmed up yet the other day. He was so confident looking that he could keep up with me. I also have the muffler delete so my car is LOUD, sounds like im hitting it hard when im trying to drive softly. It pisses me off.

[PrincessMarie]

I notice when riding with my wife in the passenger seat. Pedestrians at bus stops, or walking stare at us when we drive by. We always get the occasional mustang try to race us. If our e46 was not garage ridden at the moment. we would definitely race them. But the e39 is for us to cruise in. We open it up on the freeway. But baby it around town. The e39 front wasn't my favorite look compared to the aggressive stance of our e46. But It has definitely grown on me. My wife likes the front end of the e46 and the rear of e39. But we both love the amenities of the e39. And the power of the 2.8 compared to the 2.3 is great. However our e46 with a manual is still a track contender

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

I just don’t get you guys and your stupid muffler deletes.... Don’t you guys realize that it sounds like..... you need a muffler??? Not to mention, you’ve lost torque and horsepower. Dumbest mod in the planet.

[dannyzabolotny]

I just don’t get you guys and your stupid muffler deletes.... Don’t you guys realize that it sounds like..... you need a muffler??? Not to mention, you’ve lost torque and horsepower. Dumbest mod in the planet.

It's still fairly quiet even with the muffler delete. Also, you don't lose any power with it... power loss and drone comes from deleting the middle resonator, the muffler at the end is just for noise reduction.

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

It’s a kiddy mod maneuver Danny.

[dannyzabolotny]

It’s a kiddy mod maneuver Danny.

I'm just glad that 540i's sound decent with muffler deletes... I tried doing a muffler delete in my E34 525it and it sounded pretty bad so I put the muffler back on. On a 540i it's a good cheap way to make it sound like you have a V8 since it's so overly muffled from the factory. When you own an E39, all the fun money goes into maintenance generally (unless you're loaded) so it's nice to do a cheap mod here and there.

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

Don’t mind me, I just come from a different school of thought. If it doesn’t make it better, stronger faster, I don’t bother. My cars are fairly stock, except for the suspensions and brakes. I guess I’m just getting older, I actually like keeping the cars fairly stock. If I want to go fast, that’s what all my bikes are for. Even on that front, I haven’t been too active in, lately. Life....

[Jason5driver]

Don’t mind me, I just come from a different school of thought. If it doesn’t make it better, stronger faster, I don’t bother. My cars are fairly stock, except for the suspensions and brakes. I guess I’m just getting older, I actually like keeping the cars fairly stock. If I want to go fast, that’s what all my bikes are for. Even on that front, I haven’t been too active in, lately. Life....

Word.

[Twistytee]

I get a kick out of how long these types of threads go on. The e39 has become an old car by most anyone’s standards. It’s understated and handsomely designed for its day, but it’s not a “looker”. I generally drive old cars and my wife knows I prefer them, but it’s just another old car to her. She likes newer cars that are reliable and have a well designed interior. That’s about her sole criteria. I’d wager that’s true for many people and not just women.

[jp5Touring]

I drove mine for the first time this year, since I store it winters. I get great responses all the time. The front always catches people eye, then by time they get to the back their so confused its
a wagon. I would say every other fill up I get quizzed about it. Most people think its a couple years old, not eighteen.

Still a joy to drive and plan on at least three 2 thousand mile road trips this Summer in it.

[DennisG01]

I still say it's not the car that's getting the laughs... it's the driver behind the wheel...

[mateo8]

I have owned my euro-spec 540it since January and before it started getting nice out I didn't feel like people were giving the car the time of day, occasionally I would hear someone mention that it was a RHD wagon, but that would be like once a month at the local cars and coffee. However since the weather has been nicer and I have driven the car a lot more. With the windows down I have been getting a lot of waves, thumbs up, etc... I even had a maniac in a VW Passat speed up and proceed to try and start a conversation by yelling at me while we are doing 70mph on 495. But today when I arrived at Katies Cars and Coffee, in Great Falls, and while searching for a spot I was stopped no less than 10 times with people asking questions about the car (overheard some idiot and his friends arguing about wether or not they never sold the e39 touring in the US). In my particular case I think these cars are still in their sweet spot for their styling. I mean what other 19 year old car can distract people from a 722 edition SLR McLaren (I know my case is different than most because you never see a RHD v8 wagon in the US, especially one that is not 25 years old because of the stupid import rules).

[Santaclaus4]

I dig the license plate.

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

I have owned my euro-spec 540it since January and before it started getting nice out I didn't feel like people were giving the car the time of day, occasionally I would hear someone mention that it was a RHD wagon, but that would be like once a month at the local cars and coffee. However since the weather has been nicer and I have driven the car a lot more. With the windows down I have been getting a lot of waves, thumbs up, etc... I even had a maniac in a VW Passat speed up and proceed to try and start a conversation by yelling at me while we are doing 70mph on 495. But today when I arrived at Katies Cars and Coffee, in Great Falls, and while searching for a spot I was stopped no less than 10 times with people asking questions about the car (overheard some idiot and his friends arguing about wether or not they never sold the e39 touring in the US). In my particular case I think these cars are still in their sweet spot for their styling. I mean what other 19 year old car can distract people from a 722 edition SLR McLaren (I know my case is different than most because you never see a RHD v8 wagon in the US, especially one that is not 25 years old because of the stupid import rules).

Dang dude! Where were you parked? We were up by that SLR this morning. Great turn out! I had to park across the street at the Safeway.

[mateo8]

Dang dude! Where were you parked? We were up by that SLR this morning. Great turn out! I had to park across the street at the Safeway.

I had to park across the street in the Safeway parking lot too (I was right in front of the SubWay with all of the corvettes). I thought getting there at 715 would have been early enough but apparently not. I won't be there for the next month because my semester is finishing up, but starting May I should be there every single weekend for the summer. From the people who stopped me to talk while I was looking for a spot today, like 75% of them said they also owned e39 tourings. I think if we could all get there early enough we could get like 10 in a row during the summer

[paul p]

I drove mine for the first time this year, since I store it winters. I get great responses all the time. The front always catches people eye, then by time they get to the back their so confused its
a wagon. I would say every other fill up I get quizzed about it. Most people think its a couple years old, not eighteen.

Well jp, yours is a special case I would say. Distinctive colour, pristine condition, tastefully modded.
At this point an e39 has to have at least 2 out of the 3 to get noticed positively by a petrol head, and all 3 by the public at large.
///M exterior bits always help with keeping the look a little fresher.

Prior to some accident damage last year our 03 MSport did get complimented pretty frequently, 'specially when sporting the 66s in the wheel wells. Happened more to my wife than me at times. S'pose once someone noticed it was stick they had to hit on her. *smirk*
Handing the keys to a valet could be fun. Sometimes they'd jump in and hop right back out to find someone who knows how to work a clutch. Even then it was often parked close in front.
The Touring is a more acquired taste, but when someone showed an interest, they tended to be more enthusiastic.

Still a joy to drive and plan on at least three 2 thousand mile road trips this Summer in it.

That's where these cars shine like no other. Not the best track car, but still amazing on 2 lane back roads and totally in their element on the interstate. You can turn a 3er into a track rat but even on 'medium' it doesn't have the same thousand mile legs.

[Soeperman]

My wife loves our e39. I even got her to pose with it.
Attachment 647131

Wow she looks so good... Even more than your wife

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