Impressions so far.

Well i have had the car over a month now and the reasults aren't good. Never owned a bmw before this and im hugely dissapointed tbh. I know its not an m3 or m5 but i was expecting so much more. Only thing it has going really is comfort and the build quality. gearbox is shockingly awful 1st gear is hopeless in it, engine isn't the greatest but not bad in 3rd and 4th gear. The volume on the stereo has a mind of its own,not good when it decides full volume is needed when it see's fit so my radio stays off most of the time. Never thought id say i regret getting rid of my renault for this. Its an 02 520i sports btw, think i wasnt ready for this type of car yet.

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Originally Posted by Derek.e39

Well i have had the car over a month now and the reasults aren't good. Never owned a bmw before this and im hugely dissapointed tbh. I know its not an m3 or m5 but i was expecting so much more. Only thing it has going really is comfort and the build quality. gearbox is shockingly awful 1st gear is hopeless in it, engine isn't the greatest but not bad in 3rd and 4th gear. The volume on the stereo has a mind of its own,not good when it decides full volume is needed when it see's fit so my radio stays off most of the time. Never thought id say i regret getting rid of my renault for this. Its an 02 520i sports btw, think i wasnt ready for this type of car yet.

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What were you expecting if I may ask?

Sounds like you have drive train issues as you mentioned oil consumption in a previous post?

When you say first gear is bad? in what way?

Also did you come from a clio to a much heavier car which proportionately could be considered under powered as they are available with much larger engines?

Sorry to hear you're not enjoying your first beemer.

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Originally Posted by Derek.e39

Well i have had the car over a month now and the reasults aren't good. Never owned a bmw before this and im hugely dissapointed tbh. I know its not an m3 or m5 but i was expecting so much more. Only thing it has going really is comfort and the build quality. gearbox is shockingly awful 1st gear is hopeless in it, engine isn't the greatest but not bad in 3rd and 4th gear. The volume on the stereo has a mind of its own,not good when it decides full volume is needed when it see's fit so my radio stays off most of the time. Never thought id say i regret getting rid of my renault for this. Its an 02 520i sports btw, think i wasnt ready for this type of car yet.

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did you test drive the car before buying,thats the time to moan and not buy it,the 520 isn't quick and wasn't meant to be,ive a 520 and have none of the problems you describe,why did you buy it if you don't like it?

Yeah the engine is too small for the car, hence why 1st an 2nd are useless. The minimum these should of been sold in should have been the 2.5.

So is it just the engine and gearbox you don't like? I reckon a bigger engine would be what you want, maybe sell it and go for a 530d with a remap :)

Surpised to hear that!

Take it the car is a manual - known issue with the 1st to 2nd gear change - removing the Clutch Delay Valve might help.
The 2.2l in manual is just about enough for a car the size of a 5er. Ive a 2.5 Auto in mine, and its not amazing, but grand for what I need.
The radio is noise sensitive, so a higher speeds it raises in volume to overcome road noise....neat feature if you ask me. Having said that, sometimes if someone lowers the radio using the knob it shoots up in volume initally, but then goes down, but not a major issue, as its normally controlled on the steering wheel.

One thing I find in the 5er is that the perception of speed is a lot different...you dont feel like you are going fast. I travel to work early in the morings, and tipping along thinking in my mind that Im doing approx 70mph, Im in fact doing a lot more as Ive no other moving traffic to reference the speed.
A car that size, unless its an M is never going to blow you away...they are built to be motorway munchers.

Have you driven anything for a reasonable trip since buying the car....as any time I had to driver her Almera, I'd be damn glad getting back in the 5! :)

I think a bigger engine would be the ticket, who said i was moaning? just giving my impressions on the car. yes i test drove it first impressions were good just thought it would take time to get used to it. 1st gear is hopeless on the car, it just feels lazy and i have a friend with the same car that agree's so i doubt its my gearbox. the oil consumption was down to a goosed ccv.

Not sure what i expected tbh but everyone ive known with a bmw says once you buy one you will never buy a different car brand, great to drive etc.. which i don't think is the case, maybe i set the bar too high.

Look past the lack of power (the main thing by what it sounds like...) and see what you have got is a great car

Did you try a range of E39s before you bought? is this a case of premature BMWlacation ?


My first BMW was a 318 and although people say its underpowered i thought it was great. I had owned 1.6 323F and 1.5 dohc 323 prior to that and have driven
many other cars.

Which renualt was it you had?

I drove a few before i decided to buy, but you only to get to know a car properly when you own it. i had a clio 172. i know its a completely different car etc.. but was 100 times better for excitement ,driving experience. i know the 5 is not meant to excite just eat up miles maybe i went sensible to early.

Its an entry level engine plus the suspension is probably shot at +120k on top of that the engine is probably only making 160bhp now coming from the clio you had you would really want the 530i for the same smile factor you really need to wring the 6 cylinder once its above 4k rpm it can be quite nippy , 1st gear is rubbish but how often are you in first its only used for a very short period of time 2nd and 3rd on the limiter is were its at :D

They are world's apart though ones a small nippy french hatchback the other a solid german cruiser that can handle the twistys too it just comes down to what you want/like not everyone will like bmws

Your clio had the same bhp + torque as your 520i but with half a ton extra weight

Imagine how good the clio would feel with 0.5 ton on its roof :D

The e39 is a fantastic car with a huge following from its early years right through to now

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Originally Posted by Derek.e39

I drove a few before i decided to buy, but you only to get to know a car properly when you own it. i had a clio 172. i know its a completely different car etc.. but was 100 times better for excitement ,driving experience. i know the 5 is not meant to excite just eat up miles maybe i went sensible to early.

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Chalk and cheese man, Is not that the E39 is bad as such, its an entry level engine in a large comfortable cruiser.

Im not sure what you expected to be brutally honest. You could sell it and buy something more appropriate to your expectations. If matching the clio was more what you want i suppose.

either way best of luck.

I have the 520 bog std, yea its slow, (mines an auto so even slower than a manual) but once you get a bit of speed up the l6 engine revs smooth to the line and speed keeps climbing. What they do brilliant is provide an engaging driving experience from.a great chassis whether on the mway or country roads at speed with exceptional comfort(you need the m5 for the acceleration.bit :wink:) . For something nippy a 1.5 ton Car will not compete with a little hatchback. You pays your money and takes your choice.
Did you scan the car for faults cam sensor and vanos both will cause the car to bog down at low speed and don't usually throw a fault .
As for the stereo change it ,don't let a radio spoil your driving :happy:

Sell it and get a 6 cylinder e36

i wouldnt change even 520i to any french shopping trolley. e39 petrols are very fussy on service and most on spark plugs ,very often guys came in my place and say that their cars are very lazy,no power and so on .they change their minds after good service and some other small bits ,most of them never even thought about so simple things as spark plugs ,fuel filters .

This looks like just a case of choosing the wrong engine, 530d would of definitely given you a better experience. To really enjoy a BMW you must pick the right power to weight ratio or at least as close as possible. To be honest there are lots of things I hate about BMW interior looks, standard sound systems, seat material quality etc. and would love to go back to VAG cars, but the driving experience is definitely what holds back most BMW owners form switching.

i think the interiors are one of the best features of bmw the cabin quality is very good

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Originally Posted by Gar

i think the interiors are one of the best features of bmw the cabin quality is very good

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Ha that Clio interior shot. Agree with the quality, but to me personally Audi, VW cabins are better all round.

I've a 520I M Sport I'm breaking but with the little driving I did I found it lively for what it is and all it had was the middle box deleted. Gears wise I figured first and second are probably taking off and getting there gears but again that's probably the difference between it and the Clio,its first and second are probably "look how big me balls are compaired to my size" gears where the E39 has nothing to prove, hence the gearing.

I'm sorry you're not enjoying it but it does sound like you may have a neglected car. If you can get past the tax, I reckon go for a 525I M Sport, you should get one for the same money.

Also, in my eyes the E39 is the best 5 Series ever built and should be a positive experience for every driver.

Sent from my Vodafone 858 using Tapatalk 2

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Originally Posted by Alex

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Originally Posted by Gar

i think the interiors are one of the best features of bmw the cabin quality is very good

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Ha that Clio interior shot. Agree with the quality, but to me personally Audi, VW cabins are better all round.

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Oh god no, everything in the Audis is orientated towards the passenger side. Lazy fkrs dont even bother changing to suit right hand drive vehicles. That says cheap to me.

And the clutch pedals are always to high, irritates me.

Starting to come around, the difference in the car since i changed the ccv is like night and day. Actually a bit of get up and go in it to be fair. As for the renault, i wasnt talking about build quality etc. was talking about smiles per miles and the clio is hands down a better car for that. Starting to enjoy it know, obviously the engine wasnt performing to its full potential.

Good to see your getting along with it ,they need to be in tip top shape to fully enjoy and appreciate them

That Radio issue could be a faulty radio unit. There is a speed sensitive feed in to the wipers on intermittent mode & on some radios in the e39.
The e39 is still a fantastic car even if the desgn is 20 years old & the freshest one available is 10 years old.
So most will need a bit of TLC at this stage no matter what the miles on the car.