For Sale BMW e39 528i Manual £150

[23rdian]

I am reluctantly putting up for sale my 1998 BMW e39 528i Manual for spares/repair

 

150k miles Glacier green

Good points.

Drives nice, decent power, smooth

Leather, cruise control

Electrics work, no lights on dash

Looks pretty tidy underneath

Manual box - good for skids I understand

 

Bad points

Bit of cosmetic rust arches etc

It overheats (after about 30 mins), have tried a few things but the problem persists.

Short MOT (13th August)

 

Would recommend a trailer unless you are live nearby or like to stop a lot.

 

Near Wolverhampton 

[beko1987]

Oooh luxo!

[320touring]

what have you done re the overheating?

[gadgetgricey]

Where abouts are you? Might appeal to people who are in a 30 min travel distance from you.

 

Does the temp gauge just keep rising, or shoot up?

[EssDeeWon]

I expect it goes to half way, stays there for a while then shoots up! Probably a heavily dampened temp gauge on these.

 

Could just be a thermostat.

 

Does it loose water?  Does wackin the heaters on full bring the temperature down at all??

[cort16]

These have got dodgy plastic implelor water pumps from the factory haven't they? They eventually chuck it although you think it would have been replaced by a metal one by 150k

[EssDeeWon]

I don't think this would still have the plastic impeller water pump. They were failing after about 3 years and replaced FOC by BMW at the time. I would be amazed if this still has the original waterpump after 18 years.

 

My old 1998 523i waterpump was done by BMW within less than 3 years.

[23rdian]

Right, lots of questions.

 

So far I have binned the thermostat so it's running without one. Ran a hose through the radiator which doesn't appear to be blocked.

 

It doesn't appear to be leaking from anywhere obvious. It's supposed to have had a new waterpump but I only have the garages word for that.

 

In terms of what it does. It gets up to temp, stays there for about half hour then starts to creep up. That's when I have turned it off. The heaters blow warm/hot-ish but perhaps not quite as hot as they should be? and cool off sometimes. Having the blower on full does seem to bring the temp down but not while driving on.

 

I have noticed that the radiator doesn't seem to be super efficient. i.e. no chance of burning yourself on it, so it might need a new one of those? The hose going into it is v hot but the rad seems luke warm? Could be a pressure problem? Head perhaps? 

 

If any one wants a look at it feel free but the tax and insurance is going off it tonight.

 

I do really like driving the car. If no one wants I will just park it up for a bit but I thought I would see of any one off here wants it even if just for parts/breaking.

 

Oh and I'm near Wolverhampton 

[surprisingskoda]

Rad not getting hot would be a sure sign the water pump is failing. Even as metal one can still fail.

Is the heater blowing hot air?

[23rdian]

I did wonder if it was the pump but I haven't pulled it yet. The heater blows hot most of the time.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

There are still plenty of these with the original pump - the plastic impeller pump was never as bad as was claimed. I changed the pump in my touring about 2 months sago due to a wobbly bearings. Original 1998 unit, plastic bits still okay.

[colino]

It's a middle aged e39 so it needs its waterworks attended to, just like the rest of us.  Absolutely guarantee (no guarantee included) that the radiator is knackered and a replacement plus a good flush and quality thermostat will have it on song again.  Don't forget to get a pocketful of those stupid plastic bleed screws.  It will need a good bleeding and no doubt those original bleeders will fail the day after you have patted yourself on the back for a job well done.  Being a manual it should have an electric fan.  Is it working?

The water temp thing on the dash is a keep you happy meter.  It has no linear correlation to water temp and the ecu keeps it bang in the middle unless your thermostat is jammed wide open and it will drop the needle to the left, or vesuvius is about to erupt and it will gently nudge the needle to the right.

Mark my words, the e39 will get the badge of one of the best beemers made, they are currently in the dip before people start realising how shit the replacements were.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Depends what age it is. If it's an R plate it'll have the proper E30 style system - viscous fan, combined rad and white header tank, proper jubilee clips, standard thermostat and a bleed screw on the stat housing as well as the rad. You can change a radiator in about 30 minutes.

 

From 9/98 (so S plate) the new, improved E46 style system was used - push fit clip on hosers that won't come off without a fight, exploding remote header tanks, mapped ECU controlled thermostat and shit like that. Like E46's, the rad can be a right bastard to change as well - a pre built up collection of plastic shit and brackets designed to be quick and easy to fit on the production line.

 

They all have a viscous fan as well as an electric aux fan for the aircon and they can seize. 

 

The M52 sadly does suffer from HGF. Rarely a major geyser explosion, but a slight leak that adds gas into the coolant a small bubble at a time until it accumulates into one big bubble that eventually finds the water pump - that's when the needle suddenly goes up. Bollocks to fixing it properly though - a bottle of steel seal is very effective on these. Ask me how I know.

[23rdian]

Thanks for all the info. It is a R plate a described. If it don't sell I was going to try the steel seal. That's the second recommendation for it I've had.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Remove and inspect the pump first tho.