This era was the pinnacle of BMW design. The E38 7series and the E39 5 series are still some of the most beautiful cars ever made. Even after all these years
Still is fast. Pit it against a lot of new cars on the market and the sheer amount of torque from the 6 cylinder engines will embarrass many cars out there today. Bhp was very conservative for these engines too. I’ve owned a 250bhp car and 300bhp cars and the sensible 523i 170bhp goes like rocking horse sh** just not the 155mph limited top end of other cars.
It was fast. Because cars are so much heavier now. These 300bhp Merc's etc. of today are not really much, if any, quicker than an equivalent 200bhp back in the mid 90's
@@ash7990 not really true, Mercedes least powerful 2021 E class (E200 diesel) makes 141kw and is 2 seconds quicker to 100. Their least powerful petrol E class is even quicker lol and it has 145kw. BMWs new 5 series are no different, they all much quicker too. They were good for their time but by todays standards they are, really, really slow. I know. I have one lol
I know for sure that u both laying, i will never believe that bmw can live without visiting garage for a years, last rubbish i had was f10 520... Absolute crap.. u must have barrel of oil to fill it up, electrical issues comes up in 3-4 years.. It is good to drive it but it is expensive to keep it.. that's why bmw is not the best car ever made.
It's really not. The AMG E60 and E60 6.3 beats it in every category, except for 0-60. Which btw don't suffer from the myriad of issues like the infamous Vanos problem.
I still have my 2000 528I, 193,000 miles on it. Great car to own if you know how to keep it up and running. A pleasure to drive it each and every time.
@@shaneyousef9868 the cooling system has to be overhauled about every 80k miles, sometimes sooner. Other than that, these cars are tanks, some of the most reliable BMWs ever. Enjoy it, they really don’t make them like they used to.
@@bandido2314 Yeah i just replaced the thermostat, all belts, reservoir, water pump, ect sensor, should be good for now, it does have a nice drive to it! Wish it was manual tho! lol
@@theodor12 Don't be, they're hard to take care of so you can buy one for cheap and fix it like the rest of us! 1. cooling system prone to leaks (many weak points but plastic radiator??) many of these cars meet their end to a failing water pump, leaky radiator or hose 2. lots of brittle plastic in the engine bay, say hello to vacuum leaks and a new valve cover currently $390 at the dealer 3. runs best on 93 octane, if you put in 89 or god forbid 87 it is lazy from starting, so you'll always feel obligated to fill up the tank the expensive route 4. the vapor barriers in the doors will leak on you and you will have a swimming pool inside the car 5. the sun roof will work 60% of the time, the rest of the time it gets stuck 6. odometer and readout displays all over the car get corroded from the swimming pools and you lose pixels - thats 5 hours of repairs right there 7. sensors will fall off this car as you drive and you will never know if they did anything important
But I'd be lying if fixing it didn't teach me so much about cars, and the 6 cylinder is reliable as hell.. I'm at 215k miles. Perfect quiet car for me. The great sound insulation, complicated climate system and upgraded radio (Android head unit) are the creature comforts that I need.
@@DevinFriske I bought my e39 525i last year after initially was looking for an e34 and most accesible were rusted badly got the e39, no rust and low mileage (100k miles), 2000 model facelift, I had replaced springs, shocks and control arms as they were all original parts of the car (20 years old), overhauled vanos sistem with the teflon ring gaskets (just to be sure, car was driving ok), the vacuum valve and that constantly leeking steering fluid tank. Previous owner had replaced radiator and clutch. After 20k miles I am happy with the car, drove it for about 1000 miles or 13 hours no stop I am amazed about the car and its performance. My tip is go for the BOSCH Oxygen sensors, they are worth the money as I had some amazon ones die after a 20k miles.Genuine parts are expensive, mostly rubber or plastic ones the rest you get decent quality and if you can do it yourself its way cheaper. Its an easy to work on car.
I love the input of The Smith's, "What difference does it make?" At the end! Very good! And what a smashing car! I own a 1998 528i 5 speed manual. It's a blast!
I remember when 0-60 in 7 seconds was thought fast. My first BMW was an E60 530i, 270hp, I never knew what "Ultimate Driving Machine" was until then, and my previous car was a Holden Monaro with a 6 liter, 400hp V8. Other than go fast in a straight line, my 530i was a better car in every way. I then upgraded to a F01 750i with the V8, which I still have today, and have no desire to stop driving.
People need to stop blasting about their Tesla's getting to 60 in 2 seconds and start actually appreciating cars for other things like handling, then they'll realise that tesla's aren't actually cool.
I had a 520i manual as a company car back in 1998. Not particularly fast, but super comfortable and with the same excellent chassis as the larger engines. And the design was timeless and still doesn’t look very dated.
The E39 ended up being the best 5 series of all time. 25 years later you'd want to say 'who knew?' but honestly, the writing was on the wall with this one.
I’ve been incredibly lucky enough to own and have many cars, from a £450 Honda Accord to a £70k Audi R8 V10 and I couldn’t think of having anything other than my e39 530i as my daily, it’s just an incredible car, I’ve tried and had newer 5 series models, including a 2020 530d and yet nothing compares with the e39 when it comes to build quality, comfort and noise levels.
A honda accord bro 😂😂😂 Somehow honda manages to be less reliable than 2010 bmw and slower than their own previous accord. The 2023 accord is such a dissapointment
@@blocksource4192It was both fantastic and terrible at the same time😂. It was a 1995 2.0l Accord in white(which really helped accentuate the rust spots!). She was not a good looking thing and the interior was filled with creaky plastic trims, but on the flip side, it was incredibly comfy and you could punish the engine on a daily basis with no issue. 😂
Had four of them and tempted to go back . Amazing cars. 530i optioned to the gills is all the car you will ever need and way better than modern stuff. Wish I still had that one ....
Damn this tv show was gold! And that 1990s background music 1:40 while Jeremy is describing the cars as usual is always just perfect. It just makes it perfect 🤩👍 I love Top gear very much.
Bmw E39 is the best car BMW ever made.I own 2 (530i) in the last 10 years .I also own a E38( 740i) and I will probably drive them till I die.They are cars that are near perfection in my opinion.Thank you BMW to produce such smooth fine machines.Shame on you to produce the ugly complicated garbage you keep making in the last 20 years or so...
Dude those are one of the best cars out there last year I was looking to buy my dream car which is e38 I’ve got a low budget unfortunately the first car I went to see was 1999 735i but was in terrible condition after that I went to see two e39 520i one was automatic the other manual also in terrible condition but hopefully next year I will be able to spend some good money and I’m thinking about 750iL e38
@@maitlember4323 In order to keep such engines running properly, you'll need to spend some money and time to maintain, and sometimes repair them. The 6 inline engines are relatively easy to maintain. The V12 is obviously much more complicated, and there is not much room in the enginebay. The V8 has timingchain guide issues, and mainseals that start to leak. This is all time consuming when you want to replace it.
I had several E39:s. First was yellow, yes yellow 😀 1997 523i. Than a red 1999 528i, which had all possible extras and the last one was a 2004 520i. Then I moved to E91 335i and after that M-cars. Qualitywise the E39:s were incredible, never a single problem, nothing.
@@sv_cheats1970 yes it was individual and it must have been Dakar yellow. It was a good color in that car. My last BMW a 2016 M3 Comp was in Speed Yellow, which I think is the best yellow you can get. At least for an M-car or Porsche type car....
I'm a big fan of Clarkson. Sadly we never got the original Top Gear in the US. So were stuck watching old reruns. I hate what BMW did to their front grille. Thanks.
Der beste BMW der jemals gebaut wurde. Ich wünschte mir der könnte weiterhin in Produktion gehen. Aufgrund der mangelnden Qualität und diverser Krankheiten der neueren BMW 5er Modelle seit 2010, bin ich jetzt stolzer Mercedes Fahrer. Mein damaliger e39 530d Touring war der robusteste, langlebige und wertstabilste 5er überhaupt
Tengo varios autos incluyendo marcas como Mercedes, Volkswagen y Jeep, y ninguno reporta la sensación de manejo seguro y deportividad de mi viejo pero aun perfecto e39 523i de 1998. Su relación corta de caja sincrónica hace que acelere muy bien y tenga unos consumos contenidos en ciudad y excelentes en carretera. Su confort y ajuste es admirable. Una obra maestra de BMW.
Der e39 ist einfach das beste Auto das BMW je gebaut hat und der 540i Touring mit 6 Gang Handschaltung den ich hatte trauere ich heute noch nach! Einfach ein super Auto!!!
Miss my facelift E39 530d to death. An absolute rock of a motor - nothing since has given that glued to the road feeling and you knew exactly where you were when you pushed her. I’ve had newer beamers after but nothing comes close.
I know exactly what you mean - I had an e39 540i for 16 years, thought about replacing it a few times, test drove and even bought other cars, including a newer 5 series, but ended up selling them and sticking with the 540. Still to this day nothing Ive ever driven gives that same solid feel. It all felt so dependable and solid. It was so relaxing on long trips but it was an absolute rocket when needed.
Bought a Germany import manual 528 i with m suspension a month or so ago with only 91k miles and one owner. Best deal, I think, ever. Almost believe I don’t deserve it, such a wonderful car.
It was always delightful to drive the 530i E39. This was a real good handling car for its age, weight and length. The M54 was good (although VANOS can be a problem), but I prefer the newer inline-6 engines. To be fair, the E39 will always be remembered as the first really sophisticated sport saloon with its V8 powered M5 model. That S62 engine was good enough to power the Z8. And it sounded like no other BMW V8 before... and after it.
E39, 523i,new i 1997, 330 000 km, still ok. Only small rust. Look under the car : By the fuel tanks. And where the big aluminium-arms are mounted for the rear suspension. First take away " loosen" rust etc. And then Fluid Film - ( spray-box, 400 ml ). 👍👍👍
It just works! Have one, 530d 193hp touring, mpac and mtech for last 5 years. 370k km. Done on it 70k km. Never let me down and everything works just like supoussed to do. Drives lovely
I absolutely adore my E39. Bought it as my first car in highschool and I will never ever sell it. There's no words to describe how it makes you feel without sounding philosophical
Clarkson's wit has made me enjoy watching him for years. It's a shame we don't have he, May and Hammond on Top Gear any longer, the BBC screwed that show up. The American version is well, noting compared to the English Trio we all watched for years. One day I will find myself an E39.
Had a 525 E39 growing up and dad still regards it as best car he ever owned. It was replaced by a Jaguar S Type R. Says it all given how great that was. For all the power the E39 handled better. He had E60 535d too. Still not as sweet in ride and handling as the E39 and that 6 cylinder sounded gorgeous.
I ran a 2001(X) 528i SE (Steptronic auto) for some years. Very nice piece of machinery, not under powered, but didn't have the urgency of the 530i which replaced it. Refinement was exceptional and fuel economy more than acceptable. it was right on the change over facelift year, and unusually the 2.8 litre unit had continuous double VANOS.
Yes, the later 528i had the M52B28TU engine with double Vanos, as opposed to the earlier 528i (like the one in this video) with the M52B28 engine that only had Vanos on the intake side. The facelifted E39 was launched in September 2000 and the 2.8 engine was replaced by the M54B30 in the 530i. Your car was probably a very late pre-facelift model, built shortly before September 2000 and registered between September 2000 and February 2001 on an X-plate.
The last proper BMW before they started cheapening them. I had an E39 and it was faultless and solid. I had an F10 (The 5 series from 2009) and you wouldn't think it was the same manufacturer. Cheap, shoddy, hard bumpy ride, generally very nasty - I've never gone back to BMW after that vile F10.
My first BMW was an E36 316i which I ended up using to tow a 6 birth caravan all over Europe for 5 months back in 2005,it pulled like a train and never skipped a beat after that I bought an E39 Msport had that for 6 years,loved it couldn't fault it in any way. Then an E60 Msport for the next 8 years and it was by far the best car I've ever owned or driven it was way ahead of its time.I have an F10 now it's a fully loaded Msport with adjustable suspension 8 speed box etc. it has everything in it it's a great car I love it but in my opinion out of the 4 the E60 was the best the suspension was hard all the time with not being able to adjust the Msport suspension in previous models but I still loved it,it was glued to the road at any speed and had a lot of creature comforts some new cars don't have now. The F10 is the first diesel I've ever owned and even though it's the highest spec you can get I just can't get used to the sound of a van engine in a car. I've never had any trouble with any BMW I've owned I think regular servicing and looking after them goes a long way.(like any car I suppose🤔)
@@nudisco300 🤞🏻🤞🏻so far anyway!! My brother owned the F10 from new and had it serviced every 5000 miles I've kept to that,clean oil and filters makes a huge difference to these engines,saying that it's only got 45k miles on it I will change the chain nearer 80k. BMW made a big mistake by claiming they only need to be serviced every 20k to entice fleet purchases.dirty oil ruined many an F10 no car in the world should do 20k without a service. Would have loved to have kept the E60 but an average 22mpg and over €1000 a year road tax was to much. The F10 is €270 to tax and without me trying and never and I do mean never using the eco efficient dynamics (or shit car button) setting I'm averaging 46.5 mpg.
I absolutely love my 525 tds from 99! 325k and still going strong. Great car, even greater feeling to drive it but diesel prices and new laws are forcing me to sell it soon. 😪
A wealthy gentleman in South Buckinghamshire bought his son a manual 523i in 1996. Very interesting spec, SLS, Double glazing, electric cloth seats/wheel, sunroof and Harman Kardon Kardon. I don't know if he mistreated it, but they fitted a new engine for free a couple of years later.
This will make sense to no one but every time I see footage of JC from the 90s I feel he looks like a missing member from Tears for Fears 🤷🏻♂️ More on-topic, I still think the E39 is the most attractive 5 Series of all time, & in the top 5 BMW designs of all time.
