A BMW E39 makes for a glorious surprise

As it’s been with every BMW I’ve ever owned, I didn’t know I was buying it the morning I woke up. I was minding my own business working away when the text came in:

“Know anyone that is looking for a nice E39?”

Well, actually, I had been agonizing back and forth on Bring A Trailer, wondering if I should get another W124 Mercedes E300 or an E39. Sexy as the 540 is, all the Bimmerphiles know that the creamy six is the trouble-free car to own. Not everyone knows that the 528 has a rack & pinion steering setup, instead of the recirculating ball system in the 540, so it does carve a slightly more precise line down the road. Zoom zoom isn’t always everthing.

This car is very special because it’s a single-owner car, has the Shadowline trim (I always hated the chrome trim on BMWs), and is Alpine White with black leather. Again, I’m never a fan of white and beige. It always looks dirty. It seems like you can never get a beige interior uniformly clean—am I right?

It turns out said friend bought a lot of barn-find 911s as part of an estate, and the 528i you see here rounded out the package. It has only 123k on the odometer and it even has the window sticker!

It appears that this car came from BMW with a fairly minimal spec: Shadowline trim, DSP Business Stereo, heated leather seats, factory sport suspension, sunroof, and a black interior.

Fortunately, my good pal already changed the oil, and looking under the hood, it seems that the radiator and hoses were changed in the not too terribly distant past, either. There is zero oil weeping around the oil filter housing and none around the valve cover/valve cover gasket. Bonus.

As you can see from the pictures, the body is straight, and the bumper covers are scrape-free, though the center roof panel will need a respray.

Inside, the car is in excellent shape and appears to have been well cared for. It has been driven but cared for, and there are no signs of kid or pet abuse in the back seat area.

But those wheels. These are the ugliest wheels I’ve ever seen, but a fresh set of Continentals have been mounted. Fortunately, the car also has a set of 17″ Style 5 wheels (missing center caps) in reasonable shape with studded snow tires. I absolutely go out of my mind when I see people here in the Pacific Northwest driving around with studded tires because we’ve had about 8 snow days in the 23 years I’ve lived here.

So, back to the naff wheels for now. But they have to go. And some fresh badges all around.

As I write this, Pamela is on her way home to see what I’ve gotten myself into this time, but I’m pretty smitten. Those of you who are long-time BMW enthusiasts know that the E39 was probably a big part of the company’s finest hour, touted as the Ultimate Driving Machine.

So I don’t have to tell you what a great barn find this was.