This is a testament to proper maintenance and care to make any car last for decades! Absolutely gorgeous car! I have never seen this color either, it looks very nice.
This is the car that got me to fall in love with e39s. I also had a 2002 530i with a five speed in this color. I owned it from 2004-2008. Best car I ever owned. Even better rounded than my current e39 M5 in my humble opinion. I traded it in in NY in 2008 to an Infiniti dealer and got a G35. Missed it every day. Was thinking this could be my car. I’m always looking for it. I had a black interior. Although someone could have changed that I suppose.
I purchased my 02 in 2005. Outside of normal maintenance, it's been a VERY FUN & RELIABLE AUTOMOBILE. Never been wrecked or modified. Leather is still 9.5 out of 10, changed out the headliner and floor mats. Had a bad storm about 5 years back and had some hail damage which has been corrected to like new condition. Nowadays I drive on the weekends since I have a newer M5 which is my daily driver. If anyone is on the fence about purchasing one, this is a solid choice for a used car that you can drive and enjoy. BMW built a solid machine here.
Thanks, I have a parts car (my old 2003 530i; there's a video on the channel somewhere) with a black interior that I may swap in. If I do swap to black carpeting, I'd keep the silver trim and I'd make the door panels two-tone.
Hi Nate. Wow! There’s my car. Well at least the version of it I hope to attain one day. I too own a Toledo Blue 5-speed, and almost have it this clean but have a few big steps to go. With 171K miles, I want to get her there, because Ive enjoyed owning this car and want to make it the best I can. I live in Los Angeles; maybe we can meet up in Fullerton sometime and go for a drive. -TK
beautiful e39 such a good example, i have the same ET type 42s on my e36 with staggered profile very nice looking wheels. Great video thanks for sharing :)
And just so you know (and this isn’t being negative as a recent poster took it, just sharing), Guibo is pronounced “Jewbo”. Sweet car. Love everything you’ve done to it.
Only thing the car needs is the windshield trim and the front wheel well liners.. those liners bug me so much when missing lol they improve the looks so much when replaced
Integra DIY I just installed the windshield trim, and I’m working on a way to reinforce the fender liners before I reinstall them. I do have them in my garage. Thanks for watching!
Hey Nate! Great looking car! I have a ‘03 530i like yours minus the 5 speed. You mentioned Fullerton, I’m in Laguna Hills. Should do a meet up sometime
Thanks! Neat, I'm at the Petersen Museum's breakfast club cruise in occasionally, and once in a while I'm at Rancho Santa Fe's cars and coffee. Shoot me a tweet (@computiNATEor)!
Hey Nate. I have done it more than two years ago, and since then i have sold my car. Would not remember the details, sorry. I used several sources of the information for this project. www.bmw-planet.net This one has all the wiring diagrams. I have found my connector (from e39) and also the one from the car that ULF module came from (in my case it was 2004 X3). Various bmw forums have covered this subject. Original module in your car was called TCU (telematics control unit). Just search "swap bmw TCU to ULF", you would get many hits on it. Connector that you have to re-pin is the one I believe that was hanging just below your DVD module in your video (black cover with blue interior). Anyways I think there is only one there that would physically fit the ULF module, just don't turn on the ignition when you check it, otherwise you would blow the fuse again. Once you have studied the bmw forums and wiring diagrams, and know which pin goes where in the ULF setup, actual re-pinning is relatively easy. You just need to open the connector, inside the black cover there are two blue parts. Each pin has a number next to it on the blue case. To pull each pin, just press with something sharp on the side of it to depress the locking lug. Once depressed, pull the wire connected to that pin, and it will easily slide out. I had to use small paper tags with numbers on each wire not to forget where they came from originally. And finally you just need to insert the pins in new order according to the ULF setup. Once this is done, connect the antenna too. Your original antenna will work with ULF. Finally, last step would be to dismantle the armrest. Since you car is pre-wired for the phone, there will be a connector there, at least it should be there... My car had a BMW phone from factory, but in your case it should not be different, there should be a connector ready there. In order to pair your own phone via bluetooth, you would need to short circut (for example with a short wire) two pins in the armrest connector (numbers you would have to find in the sources above), then turn the ignition key to position 2 and then pull the wire to break the circut. At this point you would get a message "pairing the phone" on your navigation screen and dashboard. Instead of using the wire to short circut, some people just install an additonal button in the armrest. I did not do it, since pairing the phone is not that frequent exercise. When I was searching how to re-pin the connector, I have found that at some point BMW was selling an adapter harness to jump from TCU to ULF. That would have made the life much easier. I remember I even found the part number for it, however when I wanted to order it from the local dealer, it turned out that adapter was discontinued. Another source of information is store.bimmernav.com Maybe they sell home-made version of this adapter now, worth checking. Good luck!
Hey Nate. I have done it more than two years ago, and since then i have sold my car. Would not remember the details, sorry. I used several sources of the information for this project. www.bmw-planet.net This one has all the wiring diagrams. I have found my connector (from e39) and also the one from the car that ULF module came from (in my case it was 2004 X3). Various bmw forums have covered this subject. Original module in your car was called TCU (telematics control unit). Just search "swap bmw TCU to ULF", you would get many hits on it. Connector that you have to re-pin is the one I believe that was hanging just below your DVD module in your video (black cover with blue interior). Anyways I think there is only one there that would physically fit the ULF module, just don't turn on the ignition when you check it, otherwise you would blow the fuse again. Once you have studied the bmw forums and wiring diagrams, and know which pin goes where in the ULF setup, actual re-pinning is relatively easy. You just need to open the connector, inside the black cover there are two blue parts. Each pin has a number next to it on the blue case. To pull each pin, just press with something sharp on the side of it to depress the locking lug. Once depressed, pull the wire connected to that pin, and it will easily slide out. I had to use small paper tags with numbers on each wire not to forget where they came from originally. And finally you just need to insert the pins in new order according to the ULF setup. Once this is done, connect the antenna too. Your original antenna will work with ULF. Finally, last step would be to dismantle the armrest. Since you car is pre-wired for the phone, there will be a connector there, at least it should be there... My car had a BMW phone from factory, but in your case it should not be different, there should be a connector ready there. In order to pair your own phone via bluetooth, you would need to short circut (for example with a short wire) two pins in the armrest connector (numbers you would have to find in the sources above), then turn the ignition key to position 2 and then pull the wire to break the circut. At this point you would get a message "pairing the phone" on your navigation screen and dashboard. Instead of using the wire to short circut, some people just install an additonal button in the armrest. I did not do it, since pairing the phone is not that frequent exercise. When I was searching how to re-pin the connector, I have found that at some point BMW was selling an adapter harness to jump from TCU to ULF. That would have made the life much easier. I remember I even found the part number for it, however when I wanted to order it from the local dealer, it turned out that adapter was discontinued. Another source of information is store.bimmernav.com Maybe they sell home-made version of this adapter now, worth checking. Good luck!
I got the ULF working! Mostly... I can make and receive calls, but the phone book functionality doesn't work (likely because the unit is too old. Not a big deal since I can just yell at Siri now.
Thinking of buying the same car, very clean, 186K miles, owned by a pilot I’d be the 3rd owner. He did injectors and head gasket recently and can’t seem to get it in smog ready mode no matter how many times he runs through it. Not sure if I should buy it. It won’t get past the secondary air pump readiness mode, but clears everything else. This is one of my bucket list cars, so I’m so torn!!! Oh, and he wants $2400 for it.
Scan the DME for trouble codes regarding the SAP system. The pump could be bad, or a fuse, or worst case clogged passages in the cylinder heads. Any chance you're local to San Diego?
Very nice car, I just bought a 2002 E 39. I would like to try to find some aftermarket parts to do some upgrades. What group do you guys have and can anyone join?
Honestly, these engines are a few hundred dollars on eBay. A few hundred! So if it blows, it just means a weekend of work and a maybe $1,000. It wouldn't kill the car for somebody like us.
Thanks for the advice all! The E30 sure is more nimble but is way less practical, less luxurious and indeed has way less power. I think I'm gonna go E39 as a first car and buy an E30 later on for a fun project car.
JonathanGJM You do that. I’ve had two E39s and they’re the best. Currently on an E90. The E30s are becoming scarce so get your hands on one while you still can!
Ibrahim Alqawasmi It’s a custom assembly. Factory Hella headlight back housings with DJAuto clear corner lenses, Evo X-R 2.0 projectors, new bulbs, and custom COB LED 131mm angel eyes.
It's fairly simple, but not for the faint of heart. The factory angel eyes are removed and the fiber optic tubes behind them are removed. The new LED angel eyes (I got mine from eBay; search for COB LED 131mm angel eyes BMW) have a piece from the factory that goes across the top; that has to be cut off and removed. Then I glued the new LED angel eyes to the original shroud. Check out this forum thread for details: www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?2341574-Updating-Lighting-on-my-Pre-Facelift-Held-off-long-enough-LCM-4-G4-Bi-Xenon-etc
It has shadow line trim, style 42s, and a 3 spoke steering wheel. Also had the lower ride height of the sport package cars. It was simply optioned with comfort seats.
Lol. So why did you watch it? This is on an E39-specific channel; look at the name. Thanks for making my friend a touch of ad revenue. I'll make the same style of video for my two M5s 🥰
