IanIOM

From what I gather this E39, a scooby and a t5 Estate are driven to Africa

There is a long plastic shift valve in the control valve assembly that sticks when it is (a) worn and ( b ) the gearbox is hot. It needs replacing and to do that, you have to drop the front bottom part of the valve body off.

110% agreed

well yes if the timing chain goes it would do a lot of damage, It is however very very rare.

A Nice fun topic here guys, Which one do you prefer the old E30 3 series or the New?? Which one does your heart say not your head?

I Spy with my Little Eye!

open them

That is a real pain! (agree about the Diesel) I must say I deal with BMW Northampton now I cannot fault them!

Are you sitting down?

The E39 is without question on of the best cars BMW has ever made, with everyone being short sighted about the cost of big petrol cars you will get a total bargin. My E39 has clocked just over 400k and has only just started to need TLC, personally I am a fan of manuals not Autos but this is each to their own.

Apart from the typical used car problems, head gasket, wobbles in the steering or bangs going over speed bumps(all cheap and easy to fix) etc the only thing that seems to be hitting the old girls at the minute is a bit of rust. Check around the boot lid,both on the lid itself and where it closes along with this they also have a habbit of rotting around the fuel cap. I Must stress here that mine had done HUGE mileage and is a early car which has lived near the sea! however we are finding they are rusting around the rear jacking points(photo below) so be sure to have a good poke around.

However I cannot fault mine at all, it is a fantastic car that just works no questions asked! if you see any one for sale on the internet feel free to post them up here

squirt some brake cleaner up the inlet manifold, see if it fires

Markie where abouts do you live? I have a E39 on my drive we could swap bits around on to find your fault

Cant beat a shark nose, cracking cars!

Yes is the answer, after 2 years of non stop moaning by the wife that she will NOT drive the 5 series, The fact it has rotten its rear passager sill out, the steering rack is going plus it needed taxing I went on the hunt for a 530I E60, and ended up with a 320d! I hate buying higher value 2nd hand cars due to the amount of crooks out there, When my sons god mother offered me this it was just quick and easy. The spec on it is HUGE, leather,xeons,sat nav, cruise, heather seats, power fold mirrors, blue tooth etc etc. It is a very nice car, just a bit small and i am not a fan of Diesel, impressed with the lack of fuel being used just lacks

a special something for me

Yep I have two versions of the lap top software and leads, both are great and to be honest all we want it to do is tell us the fault and turn the stupid light out!

seeing as recently got hold a 320d and how me and Gav love to disagree I am going to put my thoughts into this. It is indeed a cracking little car and my one has more toys on than most 5 series however I really do miss the smooth running of a 6 so I think i would go for a 330d.

Although only go for the Diesel if you do the Mileage, we had a 525d here at work as a pool car for a while and i have to be honest the fuel bill was only slighter better(if at all) than my mega miles petrol 6 pot, and with petrol being 10p a litre cheaper than Diesel around here you need to look past the MPG and look more at the cost of fuel, the price difference in 2nd hand petrol cars vs Diesel( you will get much more with a petrol).

Maybe it is the old fashion side of me showing

Hi John,make me a list and i will go in the loft!

Welcome along,its odd not having a dip stick!

Hi Matt

The is is a cracking car! Give the old gal a service first,then report back on the miss fire!

Did the fuel gauge work then stop? Or never work?

Mentioned on FB I get home friday so will need to do the family thing as I wont of seen Rach or Nathan all week,but I am only 8 miles away from this

Mentioned on FB I get home friday so will need to do the family thing,but I am only 8 miles away from this

Welcome

Welcome

Sounds like HG to me

By heck chief! I repairing this e36 may quickly exceed the price of another car! A 93 320 coupe can be brought for under a grand easily.can you get photos up of the areas needing welding?

Yep tell ya insurance company, because in event of of a claim, our enginners plug in to the car to check mileages, key numbers, chassis numbers and of course look for re maps.