Thinking of Buying this BMW - BMW Forum

99BMW528iwhite · 02-20-2010, 07:35 PM

Hi everyone,

I have posted one on this site but that because we were thinking about buying a 1999 BMW 528i Touring that had 115K.

We didn't end up buying it because we took a mechanic to see the car and he told us that the plastic around the radiator was chipped and needed a repair and considering the guys wanted a ludicrous $7000 for the car, we rejected it

Well...... we wished we had sold our current car earlier, a 2004 Honda CR-V. That car has 74K on it right now and the transmission is not going into 4th gear properly- it jerks like crazy. Happens around 45 MPH

We want to get rid of that RIGHT NOW. I mean really soon- within a couple before the problem gets worse

Anyhow, we found a new BMW that we may buy- a 2003 BMW 525i Touring, we need a touring because of the extra space.

The car has 96K on it and had the chassis lubricated 1000 miles ago. The carfax shows NO sign of any accidents or rolled back odometers but ive been spending some times looking through your guys posts and im scared to say that the radiator, water pump, control arms, or any of that crap that is supposed to fail on these E39 BMW's has NOT been replaced- just regular service every 8000 miles has been maintained.

Now the driving conditions this car will be under: this will probably be driven about 50-70 miles day (on average) but won't be driven hard. It will be driven during the winter so IDK if thats a issue.... but I will make sure that the oil will be changed every 10000 miles and is maintained properly.

Here is the car:

Cars for Sale: 2003 BMW 525iT Wagon in Dublin, OH 43017: Wagon Details - 273613148 - AutoTrader.com

The carfax:

CARFAX Vehicle History Report on WBADS43473GE11036

Kai · 02-20-2010, 07:50 PM

If they car wasn't driven hard the common problems you mentioned probably wouldn't be a problem at that mileage. It looks good, and should do everything you need it to. I would say change the oil more often than 10,000 miles, maybe 5,000 to 7,000. A lot of people do 3,000. I can't recall where the picture is, but gotKraut's engine in his E30 is probably cleaner then the E39 you are looking at and he has...wow bad memory... over 250, if not over 300k on it. I say definitely get it looked at again to make sure there is nothing you are missing. Good luck.