New Dad-Daily

"Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney" (braddelaparker) 04/24/2019 at 13:51 • Filed to: None

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‘02 530i M-Sport, sunroof delete (eat your hearts out, fanboys, I still don’t get it), 129k miles. Perfect for hauling a carseat around. Enjoying having a comfortable daily for the first time in a while!

functionoverfashion > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 04/24/2019 at 13:57

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I’ll take “Cars that make you look rich but probably cost less than a down payment on a leased Tahoe... for $2 00, Alex”

E90M3 > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 04/24/2019 at 14:03

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I don’t understand the infatuation with the sunroof delete either. I wouldn’t have gotten on my M3 if I had orde red it new because it as a $1000 option.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > functionoverfashion 04/24/2019 at 14:03

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You’ve hit the nail on the head. Interior is bonkers clean too. And because of the options (M-Sport + slicktop), I’ll be able to move it pretty quickly if and when I want to sell it.

phenotyp > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 04/24/2019 at 14:17

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That looks pretty bitchin. Congrats. I loved my 5ers.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 04/24/2019 at 14:18

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The E39 is a gloriously good car. My former E39 is one of the few cars I’ve had that I genuinely miss and wish I had found a way to keep.

At least back when I had mine, Ebay, of all places, turned out to be the place to buy OEM parts for cheap. There were a number of sellers primarily out of Florida that seemed to have bought up large quantities of re ma inin g stock of OEM parts and were unloading them on ebay.

AestheticsInMotion > E90M3 04/24/2019 at 14:19

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Lighter and way more headroom. It’s the difference between fitting comfortably , and cran ing my neck in a surprisingly large number of models

fintail > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 04/24/2019 at 14:21

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Great color combo for it too, hard to believe this is a 20+ year old design.

Cash Rewards > E90M3 04/24/2019 at 14:31

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What AiM said. Some cars I can't fit in with a sunroof

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > AestheticsInMotion 04/24/2019 at 14:35

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Re #1: it’s a 4400 lbs. sedan. The weight doesn’t matter.

#2 is a reasonable point if you’re tall. I’m 6' and have never had a sunroof be an option, but can see it being an issue at 6'3"+

Shift24 > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 04/24/2019 at 14:42

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And the body color molding which can be rare. Where those rims stock from the factory?

They give a nice touch to the car. And from one M-sport to another, nice choice

punkgoose17 > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 04/24/2019 at 14:49

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That looks really great.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > Shift24 04/24/2019 at 15:14

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I dig the body color molding on mine, but the black molding looks great on a silver car like yours.

The Style 42s are indeed factory, listed as a selected option on per the MDecoder build sheet. Someone somewhere in 2001 was really lamenting the death of the straight-six M5, because that’s basically what the original owner created !

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 04/24/2019 at 15:16

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Oh that looks like it was a good one. That’s a great tip, thanks! Only issues on it right now are valve cover gasket (it’s an m54, I think it’s just assumed that the VC gasket is going to be bad), the steering wheel mechanism won’t adjust up and down (either going to be easy or a real pain), and the front passenger seat has the seat twist issue (easy).

Tripper > E90M3 04/24/2019 at 15:20

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I don’t like how sunroofs look on most cars . From the outside or the inside. They are also useless as far as I’m concerned. You get the wind noise of a convertible without the other benefits.

A sunroof wouldn’t stop me from buying a car, but the lack of one (particularly on this era of BMW’s) could get me to pay more for one without.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 04/24/2019 at 15:26

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I actually found working on an E39 to be a refreshingly logical experience, although I’ve also turned wrenches for a living. The key is following the directions in the service manual explicitly and coughing up for the special tool when it says you need one. The E39 service manual (out there as a free download these days) might be the most detailed one I’ve ever seen for a car. Even when it calls for things to be done in an order that doesn’t seem immediately logical, I found there was always a method to the madness, and often it was pretty nifty. The good Germans.

AestheticsInMotion > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 04/24/2019 at 15:30

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Wow... I wasn’t expecting it to be sub-3000lbs but 4400?! That’s nuts. Sure is pretty though!

At 6'1, I don’t fit in 3rd/4th gen 4runners with sunroofs, most Volvos, or bmws. At least not comfortably. It's pretty annoying because I would love to enjoy a sunroof

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > AestheticsInMotion 04/24/2019 at 15:47

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Okay, so my curb weight is way off, apparently that was the gross weight. Curb is 3,500, which makes way more sense.

And yet a Miata works for you?! Loved my NA and will own one (or it) again in the near future, but trying to see stoplights was the single greatest bane of my existence in that car. It was usually easier to just look over the top of the windshield than through it...

diplodicus forgot his password > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 04/24/2019 at 15:54

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It’s cause it was part of the sport package. So you had to specifically request no sunroof on anything with the sport package . I’m going to be super pedantic and point out that the M-Sport was only offered in 2003 and only on the 540i. All other e39 “M-sports” are just sports. IIRC the package was just M tech bumpers, M branded door sills and gauges, M parallels and the spring rate was different. Nothing special.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > diplodicus forgot his password 04/24/2019 at 16:28

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I believe the bumpers/sills/gauges was something different altogether altogether, or at least were in ‘02, because my build sheet is marked as S704A ‘M-Sports Suspension’ along with the wheels, steering wheel, and Shadowline trim , but doesn’t have bumpers/sills/gauges. Spring rates and roll bars are the differences as far as I can tell.

diplodicus forgot his password > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 04/24/2019 at 16:49

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Ya the m sports suspension is part of the sport package but the M sport package was a 03 limited edition run of 540i basically everything an m5 got besides lsd brakes and s62 i b elieve . 

Shift24 > Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney 04/25/2019 at 09:59

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Ah ok I wasnt sure and do have a similar look to what I would expect an M car to have.