1998 BMW 5 Series 540i Automatic from North America - Comments

Lower control arm bushings.

Thrust arm bushings.

Outer tie rods.

Intake manifold gaskets.

Oxygen sensors.

Sunroof.

Passenger front window regulator.

Central locking.

Various false error messages from the OBC "check lights" i.e. Fog lamps, tail lamps, brake linings etc.

Engine stall/surging issue that was never answered by the dealer.

NEW A/C line blew within 3 months.

Left stranded after the traction control system blew a 10amp fuse.

The 5 series was a wonderful idea, but was over engineered, and thus destroyed any chance of the car being reliable or durable. The days of BMW's being cars that can last for generations ended starting with the E39 5. The car is beautiful in shape, and the interior is equally nice, but that is as far as it goes. It's pretty to look at, but you don't want one. They are now plastic, throw-away cars not intended to serve you longer than your lease agreement

The seats are made of very nice leather, but are so hard and provide no lumbar support, thus causing backaches and numbness in drives over 30 minutes long. In fact, the rear seats are much more comfortable than the front.

BMW tried to tap into the American market craze of "100,000 mile" maintenance intervals with the E39. They did this in ways like having a "sealed" transmission. There is no way to check the transmission fluid level, or any way to conveniently refill the fluid.

The M62(V8) and the M52(I6) engine cooling systems are also sealed, and thereby pressurized once the engine warms up. The cooling system is extremely prone to fail on several counts with absolutely no warning. The water pump impeller is made of plastic, and will shred over time, or if the impeller shaft bearing begins to fail. The pump shaft is mounted on a single bearing, that if it should fail, will crumble, sending the edge of the clutch fan into your radiator, thereby destroying it. The radiator itself is made of aluminum which is good, but the end tanks are made of plastic which fail repeatedly with no way to repair them, simply replace the whole radiator at a cost over $250 ea. The "expansion" tank for the radiator is also made of plastic, and over time the heat and buildup of pressure in the cooling system causes the expansion tank to fail, again with absolutely no notice and no way to repair it, simply replace it at $80ea.

Next item would be the intake manifold gaskets. Again the design is sound, but the execution is poor. BMW chose to use a style of gaskets that will dry and crack over time, causing many "rough idle" frustrations, and cost over $1,000 to have a dealer replace them. This would have been avoided if only BMW had modified their design to mimic what the rest of the world uses, O-rings!

Then we have the multitude of sensors that fail well before that "100,000 mile" mark of scheduled maintenance intervals. Many, if not most owners, have sensors fail within 30,000 miles. Many of which will leave you stranded on the road with no "Closed Loop" operation of the cars sensors so you can "limp" to a repair shop.

Now we come to my most favorite item to dislike about modern BMW 5ers, the front suspension. Bushings are plentiful and blow out in as little as 10,000 miles, causing an array of driving woes. Most frequent are the highway speed "Float" most commonly attributed to wheel bearings going out, and the infamous 40-50mph "Shimmy" in the front end that is usually cause by one of those super cheap bushings BMW uses.

There are many owners (Mostly young kids that have nothing better to spend their money on) that like to say "You have to pay to play." I do not subscribe to that theory since all of the troubles I noted above are NOT part of the regular maintenance items scheduled for service in your owners manual. These same "Pay to play" owners will also say that these items and the like are part of "Preventative Maintenance" when owning one of these cars. Again, I do not subscribe to this. What other car can you think of that recommends changing the radiator on a regular basis? Or completely rebuilding your suspension every 30-50k miles?

While there are many positive accolades that the BMW can claim, the rewards of a spirited drive in a BMW E39 5er do not out-weigh the frequent and often expensive downtime of owning one.

Before owning this E39, I have owned two other BMW's. An E34 525i and an E36 325i. Both served me well and gave little or no troubles. I sold both of them still running great at over 250,000 miles each. I just sold the E39 yesterday, and didn't even watch it drive away, I was just so happy to be rid of the millstone around my neck.

It's as simple as this: your car has over 150000 miles on the clock. No car built at the present time will pass the 120000 miles limit without MAJOR repairs, including suspension components (such as bushings, ball joints, shocks, springs), electronics, steering components, and so on. Those components are wearing items designed in the best case to last 100000 miles or so, even on the higher quality Japanese cars such as Lexus.

Buying a 150000 miles car, no matter what brand it is, unless many repairs have already be done, it will require many time and money spent in repairs. Everyone should be aware of this, a reliable or quality car means it should not be expected to have many problems for the first 100000 miles or so in todays engineering conception design. I'm speaking as a mechanical engineering that repairs his own cars.

If that were true, then please explain to me why it is that so many other car suspensions last so much longer than the E39?

BOTH of my other BMW's had well over 250,000mi and did not require such suspension rebuilds.

Also the other 14 cars I've owned have all had as many or more miles than the E39 540i mentioned above and none of them had suspension failures like the E39. Even other E39 owners lament about how frequently the suspension causes grief.

Naturally things are expected to wear on a car, but the items I mentioned in my review were things that are common failure points on the E39 BEFORE even 45,000 miles or less. Which means that by the time the E39 I had most of the above items were already replaced once or twice.

I have a 92 Sentra SE-R that has 130K miles on it and nearly everything are still original, only replaced the starter when it broke. I know others that have gotten 200K or 300K+ on the same car. Its very fast too, beats some V8s and sure will beat the 525.

The wife wants a 540 BMW, but after reading these horrid stories I am going to convince her otherwise. I am a decent mechanic, but no mechanic can repair a BAD design...

One word = LEXUS.

I would like to comment about the E39 suspension, having owned an E34 in the past. The E39 suspension is made entirely from aluminum, thus meaning that it gets damaged much easier than on the previous models where these components were made from steel.

The suspension problems arise more often when the car is fitted with a sports suspension which is lowered, especially when combined with larger wheels with smaller tire wall height. This means less vibration absorption with the tire and less with the dampers, so the other suspension components have to take the stress and fail much sooner.

E39 is expensive to own and is no exception when it comes to new age car reliability.

I have never seen or heard of a cooling system that was not pressurized.

I'm trying to decide on a

97-2001 BMW 5 Series

or a

97-2001 Lexus ES300

I love the BMW driving experience, but the up keep costs sound terrifying at times. I hear quite often how reliable Lexuss are.

Seems pretty simple to me - you purchased a car with 162,000miles that hadnt been looked after, you did 10,000 expensive miles in it before getting rid of it.

I love my e39 540i, this is my 5th bimmer. They all have needed similar repairs from my 318 to my two 325's and my 535i. As you can see I keep coming back, if you're a serious driver you understand... it costs to be the boss.

I had a 1998 540i with the 6 speed transmission.

While the drive and acceleration were nice, the car costs too much in maintenance (think $2000-$3000 every 3-6 months to keep it running).

I junked it for $2000 after the timing chain broke. Chains aren't supposed to break. Was very happy to get rid of the money pit.

OP here, I now have my first Lexus LS400. I've never been more satisfied with a car purchase!

I found a '94 LS400 with 121k in very good condition for a great price, so I gave it a shot and I'm glad I did. I intend to stick with the Lexus LS series from now on.

I do like how the BMW's handle, but the ride comfort of the LS is just leaps and bounds better than the E39 I had.

Thanks for keeping the comments coming!

I currently own a 1998 540i/6 which I purchased in May of 2008 with 186K miles on the odometer. In my case, I purchased the car from a fellow enthusiast who is also mechanical and had done 90% of the replacement/maintenance needed for these cars after 150K miles.

Like many of you, I did extensive research before purchasing my Bimmer in order to weigh all the pros and cons of ownership. Since I do all of my own mechanical work, the cost of ownership isn't that big of a deal to me considering the amount of performance and pure ability of this car in its stock form.

I currently have over 213K miles on it and I have had only one thing to actually break. The power steering pump bracket broke a few weeks back and I was able to replace the pump for $130 with one purchased from O'Reilly Auto Parts. The pump has a lifetime warranty and even if it didn't it beats paying $700+ for one at a dealership that only provides a 2yr warranty. I did replace the idler pulleys and belts as well as the thrust arms. Next week I will be replacing the water pump and o-rings since I have recently noticed a slight coolant leak down the front of the engine block.

So all in all in the past year and a half of ownership, I have spent roughly about $600 on parts but these things I anticipate will last another 50K+ miles for me. For a car that performs the way this one does, I rather enjoy the stylishness, comfort and yes reliability it provides me with $0 per month for a car payment. I would rather spend $500 - $1000 every 2years or so on this car than to have a $500 - $1000 per month car note.

I have driven Lexus and Infiniti cars and they are very nice offering a calm quiet ride. Lexus cars are very reliable and may require less maintenance, but they are what I like to say designed for a lesser driver than those who own and truly drive their performance BMWs. Not meaning to offend anyone by saying that.