Buying a $900 E39 Touring Wagon?

**rbelton** · 07-12-2021, 08:49 PM

Hey Touring club, just posted a little update about this $900 Touring that I bought back in February. It was really rough. Saved it from the scrap yard I think! Hope you can follow along.

link: https://youtu.be/gmrZ9DtaF8c

**BimmrMeUpSnotty** · 07-12-2021, 10:35 PM

Haha! So that explains why you were asking if an E39 hood would fit in the cargo bay of the wagon. Congrats! I got you beat, got an ‘03 wagon, no rust, no dings, no dents, everything works…. Ok, that’s a lie, the turn signals didn’t work, it had some water in the rear floor, easy typical E39 stuff, not complaining, paid $500 for it, same silver 525 wagon you basically got. OK, I did have a complaint, I drove 4 hours to pick it up, Chiperoo could have thrown some air in the tires for me before I got there….. but! No big deal, I got some air, the car got me home, best $500 Bimmer wagon yet. Good luck with yours.

**BimmrMeUpSnotty** · 07-12-2021, 10:52 PM

It had 373,000 miles on it when I got it. I changed the oil, filled it up with gas, changed out the speakers with some Kicker components in the front, Kicker coax in the ceiling, stock amp, stock subwoofer, put 400 miles on it, then put it in storage for almost three years., had a couple other E39 wagons, and the 540 sedan. I picked this car up because the PO was gonna send it to the salvage yard, thinking it would not be loved, since it had all these miles on it. I recently put it back on the road, pulled the grandpa style ugly ass wheels, what are they, style 50? Horrible wheels, came with some fairly new Yokohaha all seasons, horrible tires, crap for grip, when I started driving the car, those wheels came off, threw on a square set of 9” style 66 with 255/40/17 Conti DWS, car actually cleaned up well, suspension was well sorted, sport oem springs on Bilstein sport struts, Meyle HD arms, way too stiff on bumpy city roads, awesome on high speed smooth highway and great on curves, M5 rear swaybar, Eibach front swaybar, new Meyle HD subframe bushings, $500! All I added were the speakers, wheels, gas oil, and me! It’s got 380,000 on it now.

**CPHES** · 07-13-2021, 01:42 AM

Have fun!

**rbelton** · 07-13-2021, 10:03 AM

380,000 miles? Barely broken in! Good score, these are very cool cars. Enjoying it!

**BimmrMeUpSnotty** · 07-13-2021, 01:07 PM

Originally Posted by rbelton

380,000 miles? Barely broken in! Good score, these are very cool cars. Enjoying it!

That’s exactly what I’ve been telling everybody! It’s now my official parts hauler. Getting my green 2000 wagon repainted out in New Jersey, friends shop, been hauling stuff back and forth between Jersey and Northern Virginia, car run like a champ, it’s not perfect, looking for the typical tailgate trim bits, odds and ends, I forgot to mention, I did throw in an aluminum radiator last week, not that the old radiator was bad, but because I sourced one out of China for the company I work at, so I am testing it, perfect time for testing, it’s hot as crap out here!

**mateo8** · 07-13-2021, 10:37 PM

Originally Posted by rbelton

380,000 miles? Barely broken in! Good score, these are very cool cars. Enjoying it!

How'd you get one with such low miles, we consider 400k low miles in my family, but that is without rust. Cars can easily go 900k without rust now a days

**rbelton** · 07-15-2021, 07:45 PM

Hey guys, quick question on the rear shocks for self leveling suspension. I have the self leveling air springs with sport suspension, low slung ride heigh control. It appears this bilstein hd shock is compatible with and without sls...does that sound correct?

link: https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...-540i-be5-6061

model Bilstein HD 24-060615

**wagons ho** · 07-15-2021, 08:38 PM

Even though fcp says they fit, coil spring, non sport shocks are different length and valving than sls sport.
I would say not correct, but what do I know.

**JN Garage** · 07-15-2021, 10:09 PM

Well this makes me feel way better about my 190,000 mile purchase

Good that you are restoring it and giving it some love

**rbelton** · 07-16-2021, 08:54 AM

Originally Posted by wagons ho

Even though fcp says they fit, coil spring, non sport shocks are different length and valving than sls sport.
I would say not correct, but what do I know.

Thanks, thats what I thought. The people at FCP are great, I go there all the time. But their catalog frequently has errors... this appears to be one of them. Maybe it's not? I don't know.

Originally Posted by JN Garage

Well this makes me feel way better about my 190,000 mile purchase

Good that you are restoring it and giving it some love

Yeah it was definitely destined for the scrap yard. Many thousands sunk into this since purchase. More videos soon!

**BimmrMeUpSnotty** · 07-16-2021, 10:42 AM

We gotta save as many of these wagons! Send FCP an email about the wrong info, the shocks for airbag and sprung cars are totally differently valved.

**rbelton** · 08-03-2021, 06:19 PM

Here goes episode two!

link: https://youtu.be/OQo94QbJ5K4

**chuckesteeze** · 08-04-2021, 03:14 PM

Great find on the interior bits. Those seats look pretty good.

**rbelton** · 08-05-2021, 09:15 AM

Originally Posted by chuckesteeze

Great find on the interior bits. Those seats look pretty good.

Thanks! Paid $900 for the front/rear seats from a parted 540iT. Also lucked out the same car had a perfect rust free tailgate in Titanium silver, for around $450. Not cheap, but was happy to find two big items in the right condition and color.