Looking at an E39 523i

[Falcon_LS]

friend of mine has a '96 BMW 523i, of which his mother is the original owner. It's got about 140,000 miles on the clock, and almost everything is factory original with a few exceptions:

1. A busted radiator caused the original engine to fail, and the car now has an engine out of a 530i with 79,000 miles on it at the time of replacement. The engine's been in the car for 3,920 miles so far.

2. My friend had an accident where he crashed into a Crown Vic during an emergency stop last year. Airbags didn't deploy, but he spent ~$4,000 replacing the hood, headlights, radiator and bumper. Headlights and hood were used, everything else was brand new.

The car's been sitting for months, because he drives his Skoda Superb V6 nowadays. I was just wondering if there would be any complications later on down the line because of the replacement 3.0L engine with the 2.5L PCM. I believe his previous engine was an M54B25 and the "new" engine is an M54B30.

Only other problem is a foul smell in the cabin when the air conditioning is turned on. Thanks!

 

[rjundi]

Engine swap and accident buying thru a friend.

Not a good combination.

 

[rshaw125]

How much?? I would be only interested if it was really cheap and I had a good test drive.

 

[Falcon_LS]

Slightly under $2,000. I have the car at the moment.

 

[rshaw125]

Originally Posted By: Falcon_LS
Slightly under $2,000. I have the car at the moment.


Make an offer you can live with. Without seeing the car hmmmm...
$1200.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: Falcon_LS
I believe his previous engine was an M54B25

If it's a '96 523i, then the original engine was M52B25.

Is it a stick or auto? I would guess a different engine transplant would be more problematic with an auto trans since the trans programming may have been different. Less problematic if stick.

I know you said the radiator was replaced, but was the rest of the cooling system replaced? Cooling system is a weak spot on these cars, especially in hot climates like yours - it's all plastic and becomes brittle and cracks. The entire cooling system should be overhauled about every 80K miles or so, to avoid another overheated engine.

Foul smell = old/dirty cabin air filters (there are 2, one on each side, accessible from under the hood, near the windshield) plus possibly mold growing in the system.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Also, the M54 has electronic throttle control (drive by wire) while the old M52 had traditional cable setup. Curious how they solved it when they did the engine swap, but maybe the new ECU that came with the new engine takes care of it somehow.

Are you sure they put in M54B30 in there and not M52B28? The latter would have made more sense as it has a lot more in common with the original engine that was in there.

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: Falcon_LS
Slightly under $2,000. I have the car at the moment.


Obviously you live in a very different market, but in the US under $2K for a running, driving 5-series is pretty good. I'd say it's probably a good buy since it's not your main car and you have the skills/knowledge to take care of it.