Older 5 and 7 series...what engine size to go for?

[bluesea]

Off to live the USA I have a limited budget of £5K, I’ve been looking at older 5 series Beamers, it seems you can get a lot for your money. Used to have a S2000 so after something with a bit of poke but also something that’s reliable and comfey.

Petrol consumption is not going to be a problem as prices are 1/4 of what they are here. Ideally I don’t want to spend a fortune on garage bills i.e. reliability would be nice (don’t mind spending money on servicing)

Does anyone have any experience of…

528i or the 540

The 540 looks good on paper, any idea what its reliability is like?

Also seen some 740’s and 750s in the price range anyone have any experience of these?

Cheers
Dave

[E38]

I drive a 740i (1998 E38 4.4 V8), not had a single problem with it. Brakes were a bit poor for the amount of power and mass involved, but an uprated set of pads and discs helped. If you go for any V8, make sure its 98+ as the pre-98s are prone to nikasil (basically hole in cylinder lining, and new engine needed), especially over in USA where petrol can be poo.

750s are even better when it comes to performance, but the extra 32hp is not really worth it due to the trade off in economy, and sheer cost of the car over the V8.

Both 5 two-eight and forty, great cars. 528 a bit slow, but still a nice drive. 540i is amazing, and even better than the 740i due to being ~500kg lighter.


So, I would say go for the 540i. Lighter and faster than the seven, but a bit less exclusive I suppose.

[bmwdrivernigel]

The 540i is the one to go for, as long as the US emissions hasnt strangled it, near on 300 bhp, can be chipped easily, and try and get a manual, again not sure if they went into the US. Put a nice set of wheels on it, keep it serviced and it will last for ever. Have heard of 250k milers still running well.

[M3Jake]

Definately go for the 540. I'm in love with mine. They handle very good for such a big car and really sound good. I only have a filter and exhaust on mine and the sound track is superb. I took it to the Ring this past Easter and did 30 laps with no complaints. Here is one lap on video. The camera is in the brake duct and the mic is in the RH side electronics compartment.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?doc

BTW, I need to say thanks to my friend Brian for loading up the video. I think he is here on PistonHeads.

Cheers,
Jake

[deutscher]

The 528i is not slow and the steering is vastly superior to the V8s - as pointed out by nearly ever magazine tester. The general concensus is that, overall, the 528i is the best car.

[bluesea]

Cheers guys the 540i it looks like it is, not sure if they have the manual version over there so it may have to be the automatic, will have a good search.

Anything specific to 540's to look out for when buying?

[r988]

bluesea said:

Cheers guys the 540i it looks like it is, not sure if they have the manual version over there so it may have to be the automatic, will have a good search.

Anything specific to 540's to look out for when buying?

They do have manual 540i's in the US, both E34 and E39 variants, I dare say they are more common than they are here. They even have their own website.
www.540i6.com/

[Ravix]

I had a '98 528i Auto for 5 years taking it from 32,000 miles upto 90,000. Never had a single engine problem. Reliability was excellent. Biggest costs I encountered were replacing Brake Discs - Normal wear and tear rather than failure.

Did replace an alloy once which was costly, but it is sitting on 18inch rims (previous owner specc'ed them at first purchase).

Also had to replace a wheelspeed sensor once that affected the ABS.

Probably worth noting that I did have it main dealer serviced every time the service light came on, without fail.

On the 540's I recall some had double glazing! Quirky but nice touch

Ravix

[eliot]

No doubt DCB will be along soon telling you to get a 518i (and remove two spark plugs, to limit it's power to 40bhp)

Edited by eliot on Wednesday 23 August 07:13

[CommanderJameson]

I have a 528i and I think that the engine is just about right for the size of the car. It's quick enough that one can perform lovely crisp overtakes but not so quick that one feels tempted to boot it at every opportunity thus arriving at the limits of one's driving talent quicker than anticipated.

Oh, and it's a really nice car to drive; far more direct than any car of its size has any right to be.

[jamesk]

540i - utter no brainer. V8, capacity, huge cruising power and staggeringly fast in gear. Anyone who says a 528 is a better car hasn't driven a 540 or is a member of greenpeace

[eliot]

jamesk said:

540i - utter no brainer. V8, capacity, huge cruising power and staggeringly fast in gear. Anyone who says a 528 is a better car hasn't driven a 540 or is a member of greenpeace

[Paddy27]

Well said James. Although the 3.5 in the e34 was a good engine as well to have.

Paddy

[bmwdrivernigel]

jamesk said:

540i - utter no brainer. V8, capacity, huge cruising power and staggeringly fast in gear. Anyone who says a 528 is a better car hasn't driven a 540 or is a member of greenpeace

exactly, well said that man!

[colinrob]

Bought a 540 touring in June, but its an auto FSH etc had to buy new gearbox oil cooler cam sensor (apparently common problem) and electronic thermostat fantastic car very smooth and all the toys mine is a 97 R reg with 115,000 miles paid £4000 first owner paid £46,000 ouch!!!

[bluesea]

Good advice guys, going to hold out for a 540 the extra poke sounds well worth it, it may mean travelling a couple of hundred miles out there to pick it up (there’s loads of 528’s near Boston...typical) but it sounds well worth it, at least it should be a good drive back home :-)