E39 vs SS

I'd get the E39. I had a 530 for years and spent approximately zero dollars on maintenance. It's gotta be way cheaper than a 2-year-old SS.

>>17067438
For the E39 pushing 100k miles is when a lot of things start needing to be replaced. If you do ALL the work yourself 1.5k/yr is tad generous. I love my BMWs, but you will need a 2nd car to drive, if something is wrong on the BMW, fix it asap. Things too look out depend on the previous owner, but look for timing belt, water pump. Also expect a lot of non-mechanical issues, sunroof not opening, dead pixels in the dash ECT.

What year is the bmw?

>>17067483
I'd be looking for an 01-02. I prefer the refreshed styling, but don't want the M front bumper.
How much might maintenance be if labor was paid for?
I'm not that concerned about downtime as there is a bus line that goes straight from my house to my work.

A friend of mine has 180k miles on his e39 540. They have been trouble free but he is a car guy and takes care of his cars.

Without having a verified spotless maintance record I would take the SS. But don't accept the BMW reliability meme for the older ones, the e39 was well made and didn't have too many dickery Doo electrical bullshit.

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>>17067438
I have both of these cars. The 540i is for sale now. The maintenance on the bimmer is horrible. The timing chain guides and vanos controllers will fail at about 120k. It's an expensive, time consuming job to fix these things, that requires a bunch of expensive tools. I've put 3 alternators in the 540 at $500 a piece, they're fucking water cooled, so you have to drain and remove most of the cooling system every time they go out. The bimmer does have its perks, it's smoother and quieter than the SS, and I like the clutch a little better. Besides that, the SS is hands down the better car. It's faster in every way and has a much bigger, more usable interior. There is no comparison between these cars when it comes to handling and braking. The Chevy is in a whole different world performance wise, and if somehow it's not fast enough, it's got way more aftermarket than the e39.
>These aren't my cars in the picture, but the colors are right

>>17067438
>E39 being approximately $1500

That's only if you're getting the dealership to do the work for you.

>>17067530
Sorry for the late reply, on mobil atm.

It really depends on where you take it for repairs, a lot of repair shops know that German cars are a gold mine and try to milk you for a LOT of money.

Labour per hour can generally be about 25 dollars plus (I live in California so prices may vary)

Also big repairs for the 01-02 include things like; the radiator (can cost a small fortune), thrush arm bushings (rubber part of the suspention that craps out at about 75k miles, expensive to fix), and generally just hoses failing (lots of leaks).My advice for purchasing a BMW, wait for a high quality one to come up, the most expensive BMW is a cheap one.

Now I'm not saying don't buy the E39, I am saying these are things to look for, if you seriously plan to buy one take it to a MECHANIC and have them do through and proper inspection. The E39 is the chariot of God himself, If you get one with little problems, you can have so much fun with it. Hell even commuting is fun in it.

Good luck OP

>>17067438
>E39 540i
An M5 would be way more comparable.

I'm biased since I have a G8 and like it, so keep that in mind.

I like the simple E39 interior, but it's dated. You won't have the whiz-bang bullshit that newer cars get. It's easy to say you don't care about any of that stuff, but air conditioned seats fuckin rule. The SS interior is way better than /o/ is willing to give it credit for because lolGM.

If you're looking for a manual, you'll have to do some hunting with either one. BMW manual is good, SS has the TR6060. If you're going automatic, the SS auto is gonna be way better.

They'll both be fun, I guess it's just a matter of willingness to deal with old-car maintenance. I hate it and it pisses me off whenever I have to throw money at some mundane shit.

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the 540i isn't problem free, but all its issues are well documented and easy (if time consuming) to fix DIY.

but if you want something mechanically bulletproof for another 100k miles, and are willing to drop a few grand, you can do a few things;
>do the full timing chain guide, valley pan gasket, VANOS unit job. it's a good 2 grand in parts and will take more than one weekend but it fixes a shitload of potential issues all in one go
>go get zionsville's upgraded cooling system, with all aluminum radiator, metal impeller water pump, metal coolant expansion tank, and metal fan shroud with electric cooling fan to replace the shitty mechanical one

it sounds like a lot of trouble but you do it all at once, essentially, and by GOD is the m62 a fucking wonderful engine when it's working well. that SOUND tho, dayum. It also supercharges well but the options are limited to centrifugal systems.

>>17067456
hehe

>>17068728
actually, yeah, why are you comparing a 540i to an ss?
the cheapest ss in the country on cars.com is 28 grand
even an immaculate 540i Msport from 2003 is like 14 grand at most

>>17068741
OP Here.
Budget is $40k, but I've always kind of wanted an E39.
If you want a RWD sedan with a V8, what else are you going to get?
E39 M5 maintenance just scares me though.

>>17068780
for 40k? get an immaculate m5 with all records and just pay an indie shop to keep it fixed up

>>17068780
E39 M5 is far better than a 540i in terms of reliability

t. Own a M5 and a 540i wagon

>>17068780
>40k

nigga get an M5 wtf, I dunno if you know but in its day the M5 was keeping pace with supercars