You know I love wagons. You know I love German wagons. Someday I hope my own German wagon is on the road, but I think we’re still quite a ways away from that happening. In the meantime, something like this 1999 BMW 540iT might be a nice daily driving alternative until my Wombat is ready to run.
The seller is listing it with a price tag of $4,000 and those three lovely letters OBO attached as well. It has a high count on the odometer with over 168,000 miles, and you’re always taking a chance on used German sheetmetal. Still, if you can handle some of your own basic work and the car is in solid shape, this could be a good buy for someone out there.
Add in the rarity factor, and you have one interesting ride to play with on a daily basis.
[Source: Craigslist]
For Sale: BMW 540iT Is Affordable Sport Wagon Goodness
About
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Run until your legs are nothing but bloody stumps.
“168,xxx freeway miles”
Ah… well, then it’s all good. Proceed. -
Run out and run down, every caution light blaring.Needs a little help. Ran when parked.
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If I weren’t taking a chance of the door locks changing on the house if I brought another stray home and if it weren’t many, many miles away, I would love to drive this. It’s got a presence.
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That presence is, “I know how to fix a BMW in my driveway.”
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If this were right-hand-drive and on the other side of the Pacific I’d be very tempted – I’ve been looking to buy a decent-sized RWD wagon as a DD for the last few weeks now. Last weekend I wanted to check out an E39 530i but the seller didn’t return my calls.
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If I’ve learned anything, late 90’s European sport wagons are a quick way to empty your bank account.
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Gorgeous. I’d rock it. Seems like an excellent straight-up trade for an ’02 Outback wagon with 146K miles, don’t it?
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It’s beautiful. Friend of mine had one in dark green with a tan interior. A gorgeous car. A troubled car. Really shortly after I had to give him a cable start boost with my decaying ’71 Volvo 145 he traded it in for a newer silver Toyota Avensis. He hasn’t looked back – that’s 6 trouble-free, boring A-to-B-years ago.
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Hemmings Sports & Exotics published an owner’s story last year about a west-coast guy (AZ or CA) who bought a 6 Cyl E39 wagon from NJ and spent north of $15k on repairs over following year or two. I may have some of the details wrong but it was expensive. I don’t think he did any of the work himself.
160k miles is about ready for the scheduled timing chain-related failure. I’ve also heard that the V8s eat control arms for breakfast lunch & dinner.
Yet, I still want one. -
The 540’s are kind of a crock. They’re not significantly faster than 530i’s, but they are much more maintenance intensive. Further, they handle a lot worse because they’re heavier and they have a steering box as opposed to the 6-cyl’s rack and pinion. I have a 2000 528iT 5-speed that I put a three liter in. It’s INCREDIBLY finicky, and has more gremlins than a Mogwai highschool reunion. That being said, it’s never left me stranded, and parts are pretty cheap if you’re okay with non-OEM. Example, though… it had a bad ignition switch. That should only effect starting, right? Nope! Because of this, the windows stopped working, the radio only worked when the sun-visor was down, cruise control was random, heated seats only worked sometimes, locks didn’t work, power-wheel would raise randomly, traction control didn’t work…. That being said, 20 minutes and $50 later, it’s fine. Same deal with the light module… it messes up everything when it dies, making lights flicker, high beams randomly flash, etc. But $40 and 10 minutes it works. Last week it killed a coil pack. That being said, it runs surprisingly well on five cylinders. OEM is $65; chinese knock-off is $18 and works great. They’re comfortable, fast, useful, and efficient (28MPG on 87Oct) cars. But don’t expect a Honda-style DD. It’s a rolling project for electronics geeks.
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