Illuminated footwells in 528i 1996,is this standard on 520 ?

[mikemike]

hi ,

I'm new to this site , and wondered if anyone could help me .

I want to treat msyelf to a 2001-2002 520i early next year (call it my midlife crisis present to myself) ..

A few years ago , a friend of the family had a land hand drive new shape 1996 528i , auto with full leather etc. it was a company directors car in Germany , he asked me to sell it for him which I did , but I did have the privilege of driving it for about 3 weeks ...

I noticed when the lights were on , there was a gorgous orange illumination in both the drivers and passenger footwells ..

It seems like a small thing , but I wonder is this a standard feature on all 5 series or on just some of them ? I don't think it was an aftermarket add-on .

Also , is the 520i , 2.2-2.5 petrol , as reliable as some say ?

Many thanks in advance for any answers .

[machinehead525]

my 99 528 has illumination in the foot wells but not when driving. there are 2 orange lights that shine down from the near ther rear view mirror that give a little bit of light round the centre console when night driving which is real nice effect.

[mikemike]

thanks for that .

maybe they're the same lights I'm thinking of .

as a side issue , how have you found your car reliability wise etc... what should I look out for when buying ?

thanks .

[manowar]

They are generally reliable cars but they will probably need some attention to things like suspension components and possibly a gearbox oil change (auto gearbox only) if the car's nearing or exceeded 100k. The straight 6 engines are as reliable as one another (520i-530i), the weak points being the cooling system and things like cam sensors, but the engine itself is pretty solid. For some unknown reason on the M54 generation of engines, some cars but not all have high oil usage. They don't burn it, they don't drip it, it just seems to disapear! Can be as much as 0.5-0.7 litres per 1000 miles but BMW themselves say that this is within tolerance and isn't a problem. Mine's a 530i and it seems to go through periods where it requires topping up regularly but then doesn't require it for a long time - perhaps down the the driving style. Make sure you go for a car which has a comprehensive service history and receipts for parts to show that it's been looked after. I'd personally budget £500 for maintenance in the first year depending what condition the car is in when you buy it, but look at it as an investment as these cars will happily go on to exceed 250,000 miles.

If you haven't found the car which you're after yet, don't discount other straight 6 engined e39's as there's very little difference in the fuel consumption between the 520, 525 and the 530. The 520i's a perfectly adequate engine, but you have to work it hard to get it to perform - and of course, it may have been worked harder by the previous owner than say a 525 would have been. Insurance might be a little higher on the 530i depending on your age but as it's an SE there shouldn't be much in it.

With regards to the interior lights, I haven't come across an e39 without them, and daftly enough, they were a feature which drew me to buying an e39 in the first place too! My friends dad had a 523i and after a ride in that, I knew that I wanted one.

I'm on my second e39, both bought with highish mileages and therefore have cost me a fair bit in both time and money to get them back to condition, but I am a perfectionist and most of the jobs which needed doing weren't essential. It's all been worth it though, I still wouldn't buy anything else.

[mikemike]

thanks,,

so a regular check on the coolant and oil levels once a week would be the way to go ?

[gmbm]

thanks,,

so a regular check on the coolant and oil levels once a week would be the way to go ?

Yes, but if it's high mileage, I would be thinking about changing the Water Pump ( Use only type with Metal Impellor - earlier types had plastic impellors and were known to break up.) Also consider changing the Viscous coupling and thermostat. These are not expensive items, but do this now and do it properly, and you shouldn't have any trouble with the cooling system for another 100K miles. I've had 3 E39s so far, a 520i, followed by another 520i, then moved up slightly to a 523i. As a matter of course, I've always done this work to the cooling system after purchasing and never had any problems. There are plenty of posts and help in this forum about how to.

As above suspension parts, bushes etc, but these are normal wear and tear on any car. Still all said and done, the E39s are fantastically engineered cars for this era.

Yes some M54s can use Oil, but my current M52TU engine doesn't use a drop, my last M52 520 did use some Oil - I did worry about it but just got used to it.

[mikemike]

many thanks , that's good advice ...

[machinehead525]

I have a touring version and have had to change the rear suspention bushes. I've had the ABS module repaired. Headlamp adjusted all needed changing, changed all the belts at the front of the engine, I've had gearbox oil/filter done (no difference noticed but probalbly a good thing to do).

That and ordinary servicing is all I've done in just over 20,000 miles.