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BMW E39 530i Sport

221K views 640 replies 77 participants last post by  Andyblue 
#1 ·
Hi All,

Well...finally managed to sort myself out a car that I've been longing to own for some time. I owned a 1996 520i SE quite a few years ago which I actually really liked but it had no toys, no power and was pre-facelift. So always said I'd get a facelift with some power and better trim.

This is a treat to myself as I'll be turning 30 this year, it's a proper project and will be a labour of love. Not like my bangernomics thread!

This is a 2002 530i Sport Auto, 138k Full Service History.

Auto Lights and Wipers
Auto Dip Mirror
Xenons
Sat Nav (with Aftermarket GROM Bluetooth adapter that works through the nav unit)
Electric, Heated, Memory Sports Seats.
Electric Adjustable Steering Wheel
Sunroof
Front and Rear Parking Sensors
18" M Parallel Alloys

Being the sport it comes with dark headliner, sport front and rear bumpers, sport steering wheel and sport suspension.

This has a rear muffler delete which is very loud and... awful. First thing on the list is to get a genuine BMW rear silencer for it.

I checked the car over as best I could, got to have a decent test drive in it, no smoke, no rattles, no overheating! No rust bubbles or anything. No dings or dents. Paintwork needs a polish and obviously has some stone chips and scratches but we shall sort them :buffer:

As far as I can see...an honest car.

240 Miles home and it didn't miss a beat, didn't make any funny noises, didn't overheat and surprisingly got 30mpg out of it.

I did notice it needed new rear tyres. They are at the tread level indicator and probably a little past it tbh so I did negotiate money off the price and we came to a deal we were both happy with.

The Risk...MOT is out on 7th of March. Oh so very close, more on that below, let's have a looky...

Pictures















The BMW and my friends Kia we went up in.



Yes, I know. The Alloys.

I thought I was a fan of them, I saw the same colour combo on a black Z3 and thought it looked nice. I think they work well on a black car with the black middle and polished rims but I want this to be an OEM+ type project so they will be restored to OEM. They look a bit drug dealer on the 5.

Also maybe I'll get some spacers as they look a bit tucked in on that photo.

The biggest issue for me and is the first non MOT related item I'll sort, is that rear muffler delete. The back box has been cut out, a pipe welded in with tips welded on the end. A tidy job welding wise actually but...it drones, drones, drones. I want to hear the straight 6 not that racket and whilst cruising on the motorway I don't want to hear anything, not a constant drone!

Left yesterday morning at 9am, got back at 11pm, with stops and playing with the car at service stations etc.

So...as of today...

I have ordered 2 new tyres to be fitted tomorrow afternoon, 265/35 R18s are not cheap ha and MOT is booked for Saturday morning.

I have joined and spoke to the Local E39 club and sourced the MOT at near trade price via club discount and hopefully thanks to the club will have exhaust sorted quickly too.

Thanks for reading :thumb:
 
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#47 ·
Decided I'd organise all the history, the receipts and mots all into date order and have a good read of what's actually been done.



A nice wadge of invoices..





Every tax disc from new until they were phased out...



Nicely stamped book





Finally all the original handbooks



Was an interesting read.

The most surprising thing I saw was that the auto gearbox has had a service at 109k. I'd been wandering if I should get it done because if they haven't been done regularly since it was new, having one done much later on can cause issues. It's believed that as the friction materials breakdown into the oil, which happens at a faster rate the more the oil gets contaminated, the material in the oil actually helps the gearbox continue to work as the oil gets thicker compensating for the loss of material on the friction discs. So if you then drain that out and put in fresh oil....the gearbox may start slipping, because the new oil is too thin to work with the more worn down plates.

I spoke to a BMW Specialist before today thinking it hadn't been done, and they told me I'd need to make my own mind up as they are aware having a service on it...could go either way.

Now I know it's been done, I assume I can go ahead and get it serviced?

Finally just because of the weather, a nice shot in the snow...



Thanks for following :)
 
#50 ·
If you're going to service the gearbox, make sure you use the correct ZF oil. ZF actually make a gearbox service kit with the correct amount of oil and a few other bits.
Yes you're right. It's easy to use the wrong oil in these boxes and places that don't know just chuck any ATF in and just fill it like old gearboxes until the fluid drips out and ends up knackering the box.

I did a service on the autobox in my 1996 520i SE, I followed the ZF instructions, you had to use INPA (BMW Diagnostic Software) to see when the gearbox was up to a certain temperature, then drain, then fill a specific amount, then get to another temperature etc, run through gears etc. It was quite a technical process to do.

In fact here is the guide: ZFHP15 Service Manual
 
G
#57 · (Edited)
Euro car parts......own brand engine oil Triple QX is good enough for anything outside of racing.Tested and approved by Mercedes..not just to their specs.
5/40w...£15.92 for 5 litres
Id avoid the Crosland filters...Crosland havent manufactured filters for many years,ECP just bought the name.But...Mann..Bosch...Fram...cant go wrong with them.
 
#58 ·
I've started to use MANN filters now for my BMW.

Last oil change i thought i would do it right an buy the filter from BMW..... it turns up with BMW printed on it, and right next to BMW was MANN...... good enough for me!

the Quantum Platum oils of the right thickness (i can check for you) are rated for BMW LL-04 which is what my e91 325d needs, and its cheap, worth seeing if it fits your bill maybe? can be had about £22 ish for 5 litres. (not as good as the example above price wise though)
 
#61 ·
Update Time :wave:

Saturday

MOT Day! Eeeek!

As you all know, I picked the car up last Sunday and MOT was due 7th of March. By any stretch this was a risk...I did all I could when looking at the car but you can only check so much without a ramp.

So I thought I'd sling the car in for MOT asap and that happened to be Saturday. Nearly a full week after buying the car.



Something that was apparent very obviously, failed the car pretty much immediately :censored:

Cacking myself... the MOT progressed.



Thankfully the MOT tester and garage I went to, were very friendly and know how much hassle it is to come back another day etc.

The car failed on....Front Tyres. He let me go and get 2 new front tyres and I wanted to get alignment done too. Only place available at that time on a Saturday morning with the right size....Kwik Fit :( Unfortunately the alignment machine was playing up, so I'll have to go back another time.

I hadn't noticed the tyres as both fronts had worn a band of less than 1cm down to the cords on the inside shoulders. My own stupid fault, when looking at the car, I could see and feel the tread was brilliant on the 2 fronts and I didn't put the car on steering lock to have a good look...if I did...I'd have seen it. Lesson learned, I know better than that so, kicking myself, otherwise it would have flown through.

Went back to the garage and bingo :) PASS! WOOP WOOOOOOP :D

There was an advisory, Brake pipe down the drivers side and the one that goes across the rear need replacing as they're corroded. So I'll get them sorted ASAP. He did comment on rear number plate bulbs being out, I said I know they're dim but not out, I showed him, they're led and only have the diodes on one side and they've spun around so aren't doing the best job they could.

What a relief!

The MOT tester was really sound, although I know loosely what they test on an MOT, he took me under the car and showed me exactly what they tested, how they tested and what they look for. Also showing me the computer system and how they do the emissions tests and he made a comment mine was well at the 'clean' end and a clean running engine. I noticed the lambda sensors were new so this could have something to do with that.

Now I know the car is good, I've got my official go ahead to start tinkering and spending money on it.

The car has an exhaust rattle and it didn't concern me as I knew I'd be changing it due to the modification that had been done to it, under the car the MOT tester said I bet you have a rattle or a squeeking from the exhaust, I said yup. The bracket that holds the mid section right where it meets the cat has a clean line snap. So when it heats up, the 2 bits of metal rub causing the horrendous noise. New bracket needed when I swap the exhaust.

First up...as it seems these always get left, cabin filters. I'm sure there is engine bay odour coming into the car so did all the 'usual' things to stop this...

There are 2 cabin filters on these, top right and top left...



Opening the lid I could see they have been in a while but actually...not that bad. They are carbon filters so should be grey but they were darker than the replacements so had been doing their job.

When I took the other side out...I noticed this one was kinked so wasn't sealing properly in the housing and.....both were in the wrong way up.



Normally...you would put them in with the airflow going from top to bottom, but on these...the airflow goes from bottom upwards, so they basically should be put in upside down. No idea really how this affects the performance of them, I guess the carbon activated bit doesn't work as well as it should if they're not in the right way.



The trays were full of leaves and debris, due to their design, the crud sits below the filter rather than on top of it..probably a good design to keep the filter free of leaves etc... the drain plugs for these trays though...

Completely blocked both sides. If enough rain water got in there...it'd come flooding into the car.





All cleaned out and drain tubes unblocked.



New filter facing upside down, the correct way.



Fitted :)


To target the odour that may have residual smells and nasties in all the airways I bought an odour bomb..



Give it a little shake, stand it up in the box in the passenger front footwell...



Then set the car to recirculate, lowest temp, all vents, A/C Off.


10 Minutes later, turn off the car and open a couple of windows. The interior smells fresher and the air out the vents has improved...but after driving about a bit yesterday...I think there is still engine bay smell coming into the car. This requires further investigation. I guess it could only be 1 of 3 things.

Either, 1.) The boots that go from the filter housing and connect to the bulkhead aren't sealing properly. 2.) The rubber sealing strip that should seal against the bonnet when it's closed isn't doing its job somehow. 3.) It's just residual stuff in the air vents that will clear over time.

Sunday

This weekend was quite fun as I picked the car up last Sunday, drove it home and haven't had much time to play, tinker and really see the 'detail' of the car to pick out what I needed to do to it. I'd been waiting like a kid at Christmas all week!

First thing that bugged me was glue residue and a bit of plastic still stuck on the windscreen from where the Tax Disc Holder was.



2 minutes later with a tiny pot of low odour thinners...


Much better. Although the previous owner had his car 'valeted' on their weekly shop (Yes I know, shudder) there was mud all over the back of the front drivers seat...



Cleaned off with a bit of APC. I also cleaned all the seats with the last remaining bit of AB Leather Cleanse that I had.

You can see where it's not quite got right down in the textured plastic but..much better for now until I give it a full detail.



It doesn't look like that in real life, I think the camera and flash picked up areas you can't see with the naked eye.

I was itching to do something to the paint, so I dried the bonnet (as it had been chucking it down) and put on some AB Cherry Glaze just for the sake of it. The weather wasn't right for a full detail with machine polish, so I was just messing about really.



Whilst doing the glaze, I remembered I need to buy a new badge.



So that's on the list, along with restoring the headlights...


The postman is hopefully bringing me some new LED number plate full units today, they should have arrived last week in time for MOT but the snow put an end to that.

I need to find some pure white LED bulbs for the interior, the ones that have been used on this are cheap and nasty and all have a blue tinge to them which I absolutely hate and gives the car a very cheap modified look.

That's all for now, thanks for reading. :thumb:
 
#65 ·
:thumb: Great news on the pass and a very good read
Looking forward to seeing the progress you make with it. Great looking car even today.

IF it’s similar - I’m not sure - on my e46 I had a rear brake pipe fail. And again, i got told you need to drop the tank to replace it.
This was at a bmw specialist & they wanted about £400 iirc :doublesho

Went to another garage I often use and they re-routed it around the tank and re-mot’d the car for me for about £80.

I don’t want to get flamed or people saying you can’t do that or whatever.
It passed and it was at a price I was more than happy to stomach.
Just a thought mate as may save you some £££ or hours laying under a car ;)
 
#67 ·
:thumb: Great news on the pass and a very good read
Looking forward to seeing the progress you make with it. Great looking car even today.

IF it's similar - I'm not sure - on my e46 I had a rear brake pipe fail. And again, i got told you need to drop the tank to replace it.
This was at a bmw specialist & they wanted about £400 iirc :doublesho

Went to another garage I often use and they re-routed it around the tank and re-mot'd the car for me for about £80.

I don't want to get flamed or people saying you can't do that or whatever.
It passed and it was at a price I was more than happy to stomach.
Just a thought mate as may save you some £££ or hours laying under a car ;)
Yes it looks like It's going to be a bit of a pig. I've emailed the local Indy and will see what they come back with.

You're not the first person to get done what you did looking around on forums, so I'm no going to write it off if the indy comes back with a £400 quote for 1 brake pipe.
 
#73 · (Edited)
As I'm putting more miles on the car and getting to know it better you start noticing things....good and bad.

One thing that has only just started happening and it would be my luck, the car is starting to produce smoke from the exhaust. It's only doing it when sat idling, sometimes it smokes more than others. Immediately that rang alarm bells as that is typical of failing valve stem seals. Just what I need, considering it wasn't doing it when I went to see it, and all the way back...why has it started now :censored:

You can't do the Valve Seals in these like you can the V8s of the same Era, there is a special tool someone made for them as they are known for it...for the M54B30 engine mine has...cam shafts have to come out... :(

However....the car isn't using coolant or oil, not any amount I can tell so far, I had a sniff of the exhaust fumes...smelt like quite strong petrol fumes...So I fired up the Torque App with my Bluetooth OBD Dongle to see if I could spot anything.

The fuel trim is bouncing around -11 to -14 on idle. A normal range should be sat between -3 to +3. This is good as it's more than likely something pretty simple. Apparently it has to max out at -20 before it'll throw up the Engine Management Light.

So the smoking...should be due to over fuelling...more than likely...a vacuum issue. There does seem to be a quite a vacuum whilst idling, I had a job taking off the oil filler cap as it was being sucked down, there should be some suck but I don't know how much.

A list of potential 'Easy' things..

- Crank Case Ventilation Valve (CCV) - Absolutely Notorious on this era of BMWs. Mine has no documentation for being replaced only that the 'Pipes' were cleaned out 30k miles ago. The pipes split, degrade and also get blocked. The Valve itself wears out, gets stuck open...closed...half way and causes vacuum problems and oil consumption depending on how it's failed.

- Inlet manifold gasket...they just dry and crack and fail with age.

- Rocker Gasket - same as above but it's been changed 3 times in the history for leaking so unlikely.

- Sump Gasket.

- Various intake pipes.

- MAF.

- DISA Valve (you can get a rebuild kit for this).

- Cam Shaft Sensor or Crankshaft.

A nice list but all pale in comparison to having to deal with removing camshafts and timing chains etc.

I decided to see if there were any fault codes stored, i assumed there wouldn't be any because no engine management light...I was wrong. There is a fault code for 'intermittent' Cam Shaft Sensor. Aha!

Again quite common to fail on these at this age but also that any brand that is not OEM...just isn't good enough for the system on the car. This has 2 Camshaft Sensors..basically £100 each for genuine Siemens. So need to try and work out which one is giving me jip.

I'll be replacing the CCV anyway due to the age of it and go from there really.

As per my thread in the motoring section, I really don't like the LEDs a previous owner has put in. They are a horrid blue light that I don't personally think looks good in any car.

Best pics I could get in such low light...





I now know what size and type of bulbs I need to get. So watch this space :)

One thing that really wasn't working and was risky on the MOT, were the rear number plate bulbs, LED festoon bulbs had been fitted but as they were one sided with a heat sink on them, they just spin around with the heavy heat sink facing down so didn't illuminate the plate...at all!

You can just see a very very very very small spread of light...(notice how bright the sidelights are)



Looking directly at the light unit...again a nasty blue colour...



The offending bulbs... They only have 3 LEDs on them, even the loathsome interior ones have 6! These weren't suitable on any planet...



So...I am replacing them with these :D



The old bulb holders simply pop out and these are a direct error free swap.

One in... with the other side still wearing one of those :censored: bulbs.



Both in... (Please excuse the dirty paintwork and weeds in the Garden, it is Friday and...it is winter :p ). Also to note, with the naked eye...you can see the number plate really clearly, the camera just washes out so can't see the reg.



I see brand new cars illuminating the road behind them....now I can join in :lol:



And one with shutter speeded right up to catch the detail of the rear sidelight 'light pipes' love it :)



Bit by bit...I will get this car perfect.
 
#74 ·
What colour is the 'smoke'? It might simply be condensation from the exhaust system in the cold weather. My 528 used to do this and frightened the living daylights out of me when I first noticed it, but there was nothing wrong.

Camshaft sensor(s) failing - again a common problem and mine would intermittently run like a bag of spanners under acceleration until replaced.

Liking your improvements with the lights [those number plate ones are as good as any reversing light :lol:], keep up the good work. :thumb:
 
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