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Evenin’,
Long-time lurker, but new to posting. I recently came into ownership of a ’98 540i, and plan on having a play with it, so thought I’d have a go at documenting the progress on here.
I wanted an early but relatively low-mileage, SE spec M62B44 (non-vanos) manual. Something that didn’t need much work, to make a reliable daily whilst my other E39 (’02 Sport) comes off the road for some fettling. So of course, instead I ended up with an auto, with in excess of 200k miles on the odometer, in need of work to pass the MOT which was about to run out… Why? It was offered to me at a silly price, and I couldn’t really say no. The 2hr drive home was excellent, and the rear silencer delete put a smile on my face.
As well as driving well, it’s had a few nice additions such as M5 front brakes and a slight lowering. It’ll be getting a more comprehensive suspension upgrade, but what exactly is still to be decided.
It’s a tired old thing in appearance, but wears its miles with pride, and has actually been looked after very well, with an impressively cohesive service history for its age, mileage and number of former keepers. Nonetheless, I started tearing into it as soon as I got it back to the unit, selling the wheels before anything else. It was sat on non-staggered Style 66 wheels – not great…
Progress has been painfully slow, mainly due to me deciding it would be a good idea to drop the engine and do some preventative maintenance, or in other words; rebuild it so I can give it some hell when I’m done. So whilst I’m ordering all manner of parts from BMW, here’s where the car’s currently at:
However, I’ve been making progress with the interior. I’ll update this with more pictures soon. In the meantime, here’s the other E39 - the one which was meant to be the main project right now, but will have to be kept in use for a few more months:
Though this afternoon, it looked a little less glamorous:
Long-time lurker, but new to posting. I recently came into ownership of a ’98 540i, and plan on having a play with it, so thought I’d have a go at documenting the progress on here.
I wanted an early but relatively low-mileage, SE spec M62B44 (non-vanos) manual. Something that didn’t need much work, to make a reliable daily whilst my other E39 (’02 Sport) comes off the road for some fettling. So of course, instead I ended up with an auto, with in excess of 200k miles on the odometer, in need of work to pass the MOT which was about to run out… Why? It was offered to me at a silly price, and I couldn’t really say no. The 2hr drive home was excellent, and the rear silencer delete put a smile on my face.
As well as driving well, it’s had a few nice additions such as M5 front brakes and a slight lowering. It’ll be getting a more comprehensive suspension upgrade, but what exactly is still to be decided.
It’s a tired old thing in appearance, but wears its miles with pride, and has actually been looked after very well, with an impressively cohesive service history for its age, mileage and number of former keepers. Nonetheless, I started tearing into it as soon as I got it back to the unit, selling the wheels before anything else. It was sat on non-staggered Style 66 wheels – not great…
Progress has been painfully slow, mainly due to me deciding it would be a good idea to drop the engine and do some preventative maintenance, or in other words; rebuild it so I can give it some hell when I’m done. So whilst I’m ordering all manner of parts from BMW, here’s where the car’s currently at:
However, I’ve been making progress with the interior. I’ll update this with more pictures soon. In the meantime, here’s the other E39 - the one which was meant to be the main project right now, but will have to be kept in use for a few more months:
Though this afternoon, it looked a little less glamorous:
"Effy" E60 BMW 530xi 6MT [N52] 
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