One advantage to having owned too many different vehicles over the years is driving the same fun roads in many different cars...and this is by far my favorite for every single one of those roads thus far.

2,777lbs curb weight. roughly 52%front/ 48% rear weight distribution. Built off i6 car with steering rack
Stock front and rear sway bars
Ls swap with rear mount radiator and remote electric water pump. Coolant capacity is just over 5 gallons.

Hey, Just wanted to share the current status of my car right now. I know 38's are not for everyone but this is my choice and man, it feels unreal to have the car looking the way I thought since I got it 🥰

It snapped while driving and I can’t find the part online could anyone help?

Hi all -
I’m wanting to fit an amp and sub to my 530d sedan. I currently have a CD changer in my left trunk hatch which I think would be a great place for am Amplifer and then sub to sit in the trunk.

Has anyone don’t something like that before and can show examples of where the amp went for inspo?

& is it fairly easy to do the latter myself for someone with little experience…

Need to find a fault in my DSC system. Has anyone got a full vehicle wiring diagram?

2003 530i touring

Replacing the clutch on my 540/6 while the engine is out, does this flywheel look like it needs to be replaced? The car was on its factory clutch at 214000 kilometres and the clutch was not slipping.

Also should I replace the rear main seal if it’s not leaking just in case or leave it alone if it’s dry?

Is there in E39 shops in the Hamilton or Toronto area that are recommended? Looking for a trusted place to service an M5.

Thanks

2003 530i.

Have traction triangle light on, returns as soon as I clear. Is there much point trying to troubleshoot this, or shall I just send it off the be rebuilt?

I'm in UK and see ECU testing do this.

Has anyone got other suggestions of who to use?

Hello,

When I press the A/C button, cold air starts blowing from the vents but the auxiliary fan doesn't turn on. I tested the auxiliary fan with INPA and it turned on. I don't have any errors in INPA or PA Soft. Does the aux fan need to turn on instantly when I press the A/C button or it turns on after certain time. What could the problem be?

Thank you :)

Pre-story

Me and my wife always wanted to do more road trips around Europe. It’s right on or doorstep, it’s beautiful, and flying limits what you can see and do. So last year we started looking for an interesting wagon/van that we could sleep in. The criteria were simple: it had to have at least 2m of space behind the front seats, be gasoline-powered (since older diesels aren’t allowed in my city), and cost no more than €7k.

The car

After months of searching—and even one unfortunate purchase—this beautiful, slightly older BMW caught my eye. The moment we saw it in person, my wife and I completely fell in love. The car just “spoke” to us.

It’s a 2002 BMW 520i Touring in great condition: 127k km, just 2 owners, and a full service history. It was one of those classic stories where an elderly gentleman loved the car, took great care of it, didn’t drive it much, and eventually had to give it up.

After some basic maintenance, we set off on our first journey: about 3k km through Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Germany’s northern coast. The car performed flawlessly, so we immediately started planning the next trip for the following year.

The road trip

The plan was to see as many cities and regions as possible while driving no more than 4–5 hours a day, with just an overnight stop and a short lunch break along the way. We also wanted to spend a little longer in the places that interested us the most:
- Bolzano (1 night)
- Modena (lunch stop)
- Gargano (1 night)
- Puglia (many cities) (3 nights)
- Matera (1 night)
- Amalfi Coast / Sorrento / Pompeii / Naples (5 nights)
- Montepulciano (1 night)
- Cinque Terre (2 nights)
- Lake Garda (1 night)

Sometimes we slept in the car at campsites, and sometimes we stayed in hotels—for our sanity, a proper bed, and a hot shower.

A lot of people (including [r/ItalyTravel](r/ItalyTravel)) were skeptical. They said it would be stressful, that it didn’t make sense because we wouldn’t really “experience” each place, that driving in Italy was too dangerous or chaotic, or that the summer heat would kill us.

But, as life often proves, don’t let other people make your decisions. Try things for yourself and learn from your own experiences.

The feedback

And wow… it was absolutely amazing!

Sure, the driving was challenging, to say the least. Some roads were in terrible condition, some places had incredibly aggressive drivers, and then there were roads like the Amalfi Coast or the villages around Cinque Terre, where two cars can barely squeeze past each other with a 100-meter drop into the sea right beside you.

But the scenery, the food, and all the people you meet along the way make every kilometer worth it.

All in all, if you’re still considering a trip like this: if you trust your car and your driving skills, just do it. I promise you won’t regret it.

P.S. I’m posting this mostly in car subreddits, so you’ll mainly see photos of my E39. If you want to see what these places really look like, Google them—or, even better, go there yourself.

So happy to see so much love for the wagons, here is my beauty, bought my first barely running 530i but had every service done on time. But got it running after a lot of new parts, cooling system, csb, vanos, suspension, it had been sitting for more than a year, still more I want to do, the rear needs to be raised slightly waiting on K DCAN cable. A manual swap is my dream but in Sweden the government wont let you do shit, but I will try and find a way. please show me your wagons for insparation!

Took her for a lovely scenic drive through the north Pennines and the Yorkshire dales. Twisty roads and amazing views. Maybe the most fun I’ve ever had driving a car.

Hello all! Recently came into a 2003 525i and was trying to do some poking around to figure out what my airbag light was on for.

I get no communication with any modules outside of DME and AGS, with the instrument cluster shooting me an IFH-0006 error in INPA.

I've tried 2 different dongles, one known working with my E46 when I was recoding the LCM, and another ordered brand new. Also tried multiple different INPA installs, one even inside of a Windows XP VM.

Anyone have any advice on next steps? I'm positively stumped and really thinking the instrument cluster itself is toasty.

2000 540i 6 speed with DSC, need to replace the master cylinder. FCP has a TRW option for $110 (part no 34311165543, link) but it says "w/o Dynamic Stability Control (S210A)", will it still work?

the is an original cylinder for $550 (part no 34311165544, link) which does not have that DCS note, but i am hoping its not the only option i have. any help would be appreciated

200 mile roundtrip in an old wagon with a toddler to get some MCM nightstands to complete my wife's ideal bedroom set. V8 fun the whole way with ice cold AC and analog luxury. Man I love this car.

Alternator failure on the way home from a long trip in February started a cascade of problems that took a lot of parts and a lot of time, but I learned a lot about the M62TU and I feel a lot more confident. After over a month of wrenching when I had time, it's so nice to drive and have only minimal worry (let's be real, there's always a LITTLE worry about what's going to go wrong next).

Car has been running great. Drove Friday no issues. This morning I go to turn on my car and the temp gauge starts cold for a second and immediately spikes to “HOT!”

I am thinking coolant temp sensor has gone bad… anyone experience something similar and can guide me in the right direction?

Tried unplugging the battery for about an hour based off some bimmerforums posts, tried unplugging the bottom coolant temp sensor (CST) that is near the intercooler engine exhaust manifold side which yielded no change. I read there is a second CTS underneath the intake manifold but I obviously can’t reach that right now today… I also confirmed the coolant levels are good, though when I opened the reservoir originally I was very low. AC still warms up a bit when put to hot and cools fine. Can’t see any wet spots under my car either, and after running for several iterations I don’t see smell or hear any fluid dripping anywhere…

so, again, anyone else experience something similar? Even though I can’t get an accurate temp reading on my coolant, is it safe to drive like this or would this potentially cause an issue with the car thinking its overheating? thanks for the help :)

Fully working USBC ports from G20 and some dodgy dremeling. I have USBC mounted in the E39 powered by the +- and illumination from the cigarette lighter.

Other than the rough-as-guts Dremel job, I’m happy with it as the cable is neatly tucked away.

Originally saw this on here but the post was removed.

I just bought this 2003 E39. The angel eye light on the passenger side doesn't work. Is it possible to replace just the bulb? There is some kind of sticker on the light assembly that says DEPO. Are the angel eye bulbs replaceable on these headlights? I watched one tutorial on youtube, but it was with different headlights, mine didn't have the twisting thing the bulb attaches to.

Hi everyone,

Yesterday I was going to move my e39 when I found out the battery was depleted.

I remove the battery from the trunk and put it in the garage, while I was doing that the wind shut the trunk. The problem is, the only key I have is stuck inside, and all door is now shut and locked.

I have the driver window open and I can opened the engine bay, that's all.

Any idea how I can open the trunk ?

Thanks !

Till now I only changed the wheels to Classic Alpina ones , would you change other things Like costum exhaust, angel eyes lights or the bodykit ? Or would prefer to keep it Classic ? Got 132tkm on my watch now