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BMW E39 528i daily

ducker85

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I know it's an old thread but how come?

Poor maintenance, low power (IMO) It had a bad respray, sun roof/water leak issues.

It was just more then I was willing to take on. The guy who bought it was a mechanic and BMW fan. He pointed out several other issues I hadn’t notice like a trans issue when shifting 2 to 3 etc. He However was very happy to take on and fix the issues. I have seen him daily driving the car for about 4 years after the sale. I’m not sure if he still has it now.
 

Commo64

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Poor maintenance, low power (IMO) It had a bad respray, sun roof/water leak issues.

It was just more then I was willing to take on. The guy who bought it was a mechanic and BMW fan. He pointed out several other issues I hadn’t notice like a trans issue when shifting 2 to 3 etc. He However was very happy to take on and fix the issues. I have seen him daily driving the car for about 4 years after the sale. I’m not sure if he still has it now.
The inline 6's are usually the most reliable BMW engines but your example was definitely neglected... The problem is with BMW's (and most euro cars) is that they don't take abuse as well as a normal car and the 2nd, 3rd...etc owners may skip on vital maintenance items...
 

Pollushon

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E46 with an M54 and full service history ftw! It's definitely all about proactive maintenance with bimmers. Picked up this gem for 5k, had all the right bits replaced for its time and everything works. Dream to drive with 2016 tech in a 2005 vehicle

20220312_142618_1_1.jpg
 

Commo64

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E46 with an M54 and full service history ftw! It's definitely all about proactive maintenance with bimmers. Picked up this gem for 5k, had all the right bits replaced for its time and everything works. Dream to drive with 2016 tech in a 2005 vehicle

View attachment 237650
Looks great! Where did you find this and how long ago did you buy it? (Looks like you got it a few years ago)
 

Pollushon

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Looks great! Where did you find this and how long ago did you buy it? (Looks like you got it a few years ago)

Actually it was around Xmas, just via Facebook marketplace. Mechanic from a local Euro shop bought it for his mother in law as a run around and she didn't like it. It's now my boys first car and he loves it. Admittedly I'm living vicariously through him, I love the E46 6 banger, shame it's not a 3.0 or I would have kept it
 

Commo64

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Actually it was around Xmas, just via Facebook marketplace. Mechanic from a local Euro shop bought it for his mother in law as a run around and she didn't like it. It's now my boys first car and he loves it. Admittedly I'm living vicariously through him, I love the E46 6 banger, shame it's not a 3.0 or I would have kept it
That's a great first car and it should take care of you if you service it every 10,000km (Don't go by BMW service intervals)... How many kays and have you had problems in the 5 or so months?

Getting a 6 cylinder E46 was a smart move since the 4 cylinders are pretty crappy and are usually bought by try hards who care more about image than the driveline...

1652695849008.png

It's not the worst example (cosmetically) but the fake M grill could point to something
 
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losh1971

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Euro cars can be beautiful to drive and handle way better than a lot of other cars out there. The issue is cost of parts and finding a place that knows how to diagnose problems correctly. Unfortunately I have not heard of anyone getting a good run from their BMW down here and the cars have ended up spending as much time off the road as they are on it, because the faults are not easily identified and you can try seven different things to fix the one problem and still not fix it.
 

Pollushon

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It's why I love the E46. Common parts are cheaper than the Commodore, just as easy as to work on, drives nicer, more safety and mod cons, massive worldwide community support and all the inbuilt problems are very well understood

This thing is basically one owner and after reading the history it was a no brainer. 170k, so just worn in. The M54 is probably the best 6 banger BMW ever made with a ZF 5 speed to back it up. The only thing I've done was upgrade the power steering pump to an LF30. Won't need to touch it til the next oil change. 7500km is a better number

I've never admitted it on this forum but bimmers are my other vehicular passion. Most folk are scared of them but they're nothing to be afraid of if you're a DIY person. Nothing drives quite like them
 
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