[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

Interesting comments Terry, good to here your dad still has the 525i and it is driving well.

I rate the E39 as one of the worlds best 'real world' cars ever. Having owned a well specified E39 540i Touring for over 4-years, incidentally had Terry's dad look after it, (BTW, Terry's father is a great guy), I have fond memories of driving it. It is the abilities of the E39, to why I finally got back into a Five, instead of an F31. Terry's father ribbed me for going 330d after the V8, "BMW are petrol motors". Terry will understand.

Many of my drives in the F11 535i remind me of the 540i, similar performance and the benefit of a turbo giving a mid range something like the V8. I sense the E39 DNA in the F10/11 models, shame they have bloated in size, but then so has the 3-series.

My next door neighbour still runs an E39 535i, bought it about a year old, now over 300,000 miles and it owes him nothing. His wife uses it most days. The sound of the V8 as it burbles past my home, still stirs the memories. My neighbour's car has been amazingly reliable, it has had a few minor issues, mostly common to the E39, but nothing serious.

HighlandPete

Yes , it does indeed drive well! If it wasn't for the odd bubble of rust starting on the front wings you'd swear it was no more than a few years old. And when the engine starts and you pull away you'd actually think it was an engine of the future- it seems noticeably smoother than a modern 6 pot in a 3 series (due to direct injection presumably?). I haven't driven a petrol F10 5 series to compare.

I can assure you he still has a Nick the Greek view of the world when it comes to what should power a car. I think the old army days when diesel meant smelly trucks and tanks will never leave him. Having said that he did nearly buy my last E90 330d, but then realised it was a waste of money for his mileage, and that for his uses the 525i suited him to perfection.