Who wants to be a millionaire? BMW Edition

"Klaus Schmoll" (klausschmoll)
08/27/2014 at 11:24 • Filed to: None

This BMW E39 530d auto has almost a million km on the clock, or 620K miles for the imperial folks.

It was driven by a businessman from the Netherlands, who "just needed it to run, and not look pretty". It's still on it's first auto box (they even claim it still has the original "fifetime" fluid), engine, and steering box. Of course, the suspension bushings and other wear items have been changed several times, but it is claimed that the car drives just fine.

The car proudly wears the signs of having lived a full life, amost like battle scars. Like all E39s it had to get new headlamps at some point, as the original ones had become blind from UV-rays and stone chips. The driver's seat had to be re-upholstered twice as well.

The car was bought by the German car magazin Auto Bild recently. (More here in German: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ) Their plan is to complete the million kms, and then take it apart completely to see what state all the greasy bits were really in. This is where it will become really interesting.

I'll keep an eye out and keep you posted as soon as I see a follow-up article.

DISCUSSION (18)

M54B30 > Klaus Schmoll
08/27/2014 at 11:41

dang 650k miles, that's a lot of cooling system repairs

Cé hé sin > M54B30
08/27/2014 at 12:06

or perhaps not.

M54B30 > Cé hé sin
08/27/2014 at 12:10

the whole system needs redone every 60k-100k miles, so I bet it is.

Cé hé sin > M54B30
08/27/2014 at 12:18

Wait and see. It did need a new cylinder head after only 650,000 km.

unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) > Klaus Schmoll
08/27/2014 at 12:36

cluster has a tamper dot on the odometer

Klaus Schmoll > unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins)
08/27/2014 at 12:41

Meaning?

Klaus Schmoll > M54B30
08/27/2014 at 12:43

Nope, it doesn't! We've had 4 530ds in the family. The cooling systems last way longer than that.

unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) > Klaus Schmoll
08/27/2014 at 12:56

E39, e38s etc can throw a tamper dot when someone swap computers (abs module, light module, climate control, cluster) and doesn't code the Vin and mileage to it.

duurtlang > unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins)
08/27/2014 at 12:56

It might, but given that the last owner owned it since 2000 and was more than willing to help out I'm sure they can check the authenticity of the mileage since 2000. The car was given to the German magazine for free, so there's no profit involved either. Moreover, in the Netherlands shops enter odometer stats in a central database whenever it comes in, resulting in buyers being able to check if the odometer reading of the car they're looking at is logical.

Klaus Schmoll > unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins)
08/27/2014 at 13:00

My guess is that the car was repaired with used parts from some donor car that caused the dot to appear.

unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) > duurtlang
08/27/2014 at 13:01

here in the states or on the forums, people freak out over a tamper dot. Most of the time the dot comes on because of a swapped computer. I guarantee this e39 has been through a few light computers which results in the tamper dot.

M54B30 > Klaus Schmoll
08/27/2014 at 13:26

I wonder if you guys have a different kind then we do in the states. Here, the first lasts about 70-100k miles, and most replace with aluminum components (instead of plastic). Otherwise, I want to learn your tricks - tell me when I'm back from my garage while I continue to search for another new coolant leak somewhere

Klaus Schmoll > M54B30
08/27/2014 at 14:10

How much anti-freeze do you have in the system?

M54B30 > Klaus Schmoll
08/27/2014 at 15:46

Full, likes it's supposed to be. But it's leaking somewhere and every 4 weeks or so I get a "low coolant level" warning. Where ever it leaks from, it does so slowly

Klaus Schmoll > M54B30
08/27/2014 at 15:49

It meant what mixture water/anti-freeze do you use.

M54B30 > Klaus Schmoll
08/27/2014 at 15:59

50/50 premixed

Evan, Pope Of Jalopnik by Self-Appointment > Klaus Schmoll
08/30/2014 at 12:58

Damn, I was hoping maybe they might restore it. It would be pretty cool to have a car with a million km on the original body, engine, transmission, and steering box...all the important stuff.

ManInABlueShirt > Klaus Schmoll
08/31/2014 at 06:35

I'm going to stick my neck out and suggest this isn't a 530d but the earlier 525tds as I believe the 530d only came around late 98 or early 99. Still a lot of miles but much simpler technology.