1997 BMW 5-Series

4.4L 8 Cylinder Gasoline Fuel

Automatic

wbade6326vbw52018

Selling a BMW 540i that I have had for over a decade (11-yrs), I bought the car back in 2001 at a 56k mileage, now at about 171k it still runs great overall, to appreciate the quality of these cars you have to compare it to other makes from that era. No other car whatsoever I have kept for this long with so few major issues. This bimmer has, however, become a leftover in our family lately as I also have a 7-series, another 5-series (M5), and a minivan and a bunch of motorcycles in my garage. The most obvious weak link with these E39 cars is the cooling system parts but that's been taken care of, that's a very well known monitoring area for BMW CCA, which I'm a member of. Highlights of the last two major maintenance & upkeep milestones (on top of the normal fluids changes, etc.): @ 169k (2011):- camshaft position sensor (a known issue with time)- new battery- all new spark plugs- oil/fuel/air filters- valve cover gaskets replaced (a known issue with time)- front/rear brake pads/rotors/sensors- new tires 225/55R-16 Michelin Pilots. @ 159k (2009):- new radiator (well known issue with time)- radiator neck- thermostat- expansion tank. Many of the maintenance receipts organized going back to 2001, incl. details on when the O2 sensors were replaced, a new catalytic converter (which is good to know it's been replaced, fairly expensive), windows regulators (though these go out periodically, currently the passenger side rear and the driver window activator have gone out), various filters, etc, etc. The paint is good in the most common problem areas, the hood has been repainted once (2001) and the nose twice (2001 & 2010), these cars are known to show paint chips in the nose area. The interior as well is fairly clean as per the photos enclosed. Other than those two window actuators as well as the trunk remote control (I just use the key manually) the electrical works, incl. A/C that's ok. The next items to monitor are perhaps the waterpump, power steering hoses (keep monitoring), the A/C fan operation (a known issue but it keeps working), it's up to you whether or not replace the windshield, I wouldn't (slight cracks but nowhere in the middle of the view) and I have kept it the way it is for many years, the same goes for the instrument cluster LED pixels (the dots going out here and there never bothered me, aftermarket fixes are available). The tire wear appears to be normal (not uneven, no noticeable shimmy, etc.). All the essentials work great, it's a VERY effortless car to drive, 282 hp V8, the power delivery is very smooth, no jumpiness to it at all, the driveability is from another planet even compared to some of the new cars. No reserve and stuff like that, $200 paypal deposit w/ cash or cashier's check for the balance.