Faults:

Three different failures of the cooling system, each one leaving me stuck at the side of the road.

Transmission required rebuilding when reverse failed.

Fuel pump failed, requiring replacement.

General Comments:

I have never owned a better car, yet I have never owned a worse car. To this day I remain conflicted about my 535.

On the plus side, the 225 bhp V8 petrol gave effortless performance. The handling was sublime, tricking you into thinking you were throwing a much smaller car into bends. Refinement was excellent, the 5-speed auto being so long geared that the engine was barely above tickover at motorway cruising speeds. When the 535 was behaving, it truly did feel like the ultimate driving machine.

Then the car would break down, and the illusion of precise German engineering would be shattered! The cooling systems of E39 5-series petrols seems to be designed to self-destruct - horrible cheap plastic everywhere that's just asking to fail. Of the five friends of mine who bought E39s, each one had some sort of cooling issue within the first six months of ownership.

I thought I was out of the woods after cooling system failure number three and a full transmission rebuild (€2,000, thank you very much!), but then the fuel pump died. I didn't dare go near a main dealer, but even a local mechanic didn't leave me with any change from €800. That was the straw that broke the donkey's back: I felt I had to get rid of the car after that.

Apart from all the breakdowns, running costs weren't what you'd call cheap. Nobody buys a 3.5-litre V8 for economy reasons, but driving in town, expect 18 mpg (UK) and plenty of visits to the petrol station. Motorway runs were better, returning 24 - 26 mpg, and one gentle run on back roads in the west of Ireland saw the on-board computer reading 32 mpg after the 90-minute trip.

If you're looking for a weekend car, or one that won't spend its life in traffic, and you can find one that's had its cooling system and transmission done already, then let your heart win out over your head and buy one. Just be prepared for the worst; that dreadful sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach when the on-board computer goes "bong" and flashes up its latest tale of failure and woe on the matrix display.

Faults:

MAF (Mass Air Flow) sensor faulty, requiring replacement.

General Comments:

I swore I'd never own another automatic, but these 5's are steptronic, so I thought I'd give another one a go.

BIG MISTAKE!

Automatics are not for everybody (me in particular).

Engine performance showed potential (I had previous experience of the 2.8 petrol automatic, and didn't realise how big a difference moving from an auto to a manual made).

Typically uneconomical (because I'm lead footed in auto's).

Nasty judder from the back end, but I figured the wheels needed balancing (never got around to it).

Generally boring to drive (because it's an auto).

Faults:

Tank problem causing fuel starvation when fuel was low... indy BMW specialist found a problem with tank sender unit. Advice; don't let back street garages mess with car as I did.. it cost me wasted money :(. They advised to get rid as auto boxes are prone to failure on these cars at 150k+

General Comments:

Car was very comfy, but it felt well used and 'tired' at 150K on clock...

Faults:

Nothing except wear and tear items, brakes, belts etc.

General Comments:

Fantastic drivers car with a cracker of an engine!

The 5 speed tip-tronic gearbox is a gem to use, although I tended to leave it in Auto mode as this was more than adequate for my driving style. The 5 series 2.8 6 cylinder engine is a really good, sporty unit that sounds lovely at high revs. Also a very quick car indeed!

Very comfortable seats and driving position too, the handling for such a big car is good too, although there was a tendency to "float" at times on very bumpy roads however this is not a criticism after all my Beemer was 10 years old. I often felt that the 5 series was more at home on motorways cruising at high speed, but would offer great handling/performance on the twisty A/B roads with ease. Overtaking was a breeze using the kickdown, and would very quickly take me to licence losing speeds.

Being rear wheel drive I found the handling in corners second to none, but don't press the throttle too hard if it's a bit slippery otherwise the ASC (auto skid control) might not activate fast enough to help you out! The 6 cylinder M62 2.8 pushes out 193 BHP that comes in hard after 3000 RPM, it WILL go sideways if you're not careful.

Useless in the snow and ice, but then what car isn't?

The fuel economy could be shocking though if driven hard, 19 MPG or less could be very easily achieved using the power of that glorious engine. I once had the MPG to around the 31 mark with very careful motorway driving (Not over 60MPH) but once off the motorways and onto the A roads the consumption would start to fall. Around town I could never get more than 85 miles to a quarter of a tank (70 Litre tank) And 230 miles would see me in ASDA refuelling again.

To be fair though, for the past year or so I have only been doing 6 miles a day, 5 days a week using the car for work. These cars aren't really designed for short journeys and will literally eat petrol at an alarming rate. If you get one DRIVE IT!

Overall a fantastic high performance, great handling car.

Sadly it had to go this week as I need a cheaper car to run for work. Plus I discovered that my BMW had a "chequered past" Turns out it was registered as scrapped!

Just goes to show you can't be too careful when buying used cars. I'm now in Vauxhall Vectra diesel land and enjoying driving past fuel stations for a change!