E39 525/528

[yaofeng]

I am looking to get a e39, most likely an IT. A 540it would be ideal but there may not be that many to choose from on the market.

Some of you must have owned a e39 525/528 and a e34 525 (M50) at one time. How does a e39 525/528 drives and feel compared to the e34 525 in low gears? I am of the opinion the e34 m50 does not have enough power in low gears. If the e39's feel the same way I'd like to avoid it.

[Hallmark]

I own/owned two E34 525s and now own two E39 528s. The 528 is basically like the E34 525 when its been chipped. Nice and responsive. My sister has an E39 525 and it doesn't seem to be quit as crisp when you accelerate. The E39 handles very well, though and I'm glad I moved on to the newer cars.

YMMV
Mark

[Hal]

I still have my 94 530iT along with the 99 528iT and now a 2003 325iT.

The 528iT is a somewhat different animal, it seems heavier to me, with a somewhat softer ride quality, but not at all unpleasant to my taste. The wife drives the 528iT and is quite happy with it for her purposes. We get an indicated 22 mpg or so on our usual combination of town + hwy, and you can see 30 mpg on the highway at reasonable speeds.

I don't try to do much work on it myself.

Enjoy.

Hal

1994 530iT Nikasil powered 180k mi
1999 528iT non-Nikasil powered 115k mi
2003 325iT non-Nikasil powered 78k mi

[93 525 Paul]

Hey Yao
I was hoping you'd get more responses, I was thinking of the same thing as my wife's E34 is a bit long in the tooth and she has lost her patience with some of the minor issues with our 167k mile gem.
The E39 looks attractive and there seem to be some bargains out there.
Paul

[dennyg]

I have an 03 525 sport. The gearing is lower and the suspension is tighter then non sport models. Acceleration to 50 is good, after that not so much. Steering input is nice but E34 cars feel much lighter in your hands. I average 23 mpg with a combo of city and highway. Car has less noise from outside like wind noise but that may be because its so much newer.

[SnakeyesTx]

I went from a 95 525 to two 97 E39's. One is a 528i auto, which is night and day quicker than my 525 was. Seems like they've ironed out the acceleration issues in those two years. It's almost as good as my 540 in terms of acceleration (the 540's a 6-speed and epically quick), but I share the 528 so I'm basically in the 540 most of the time. Handling and drivability is the same on the 525 and 528 except the seats are more comfortable. The E39 is just 'a nice place to sit' compared to the E34. Steering on the 528 I have to admit is superior since they still have rack and pinion as my 540 uses a steering gearbox.
If you're in the evening traffic, just set the a/c 'just so' and put on something less than 'getaway drivers music' and the bumper-to-bumper just doesn't seem so bad.

[Craig Wright]

I have an '89 535iA and a '99 528iT 5 speed w/ the sport suspension package. Even though the E34 is auto, it has more of a seat of the pants road feel to me, due to the fact that I installed the sachs suspension kit. I also enjoy the sound of the M30 at 5K RPM's. I chose the 528iT over the 540iT because of the manual transmission. It does feel a bit more heavy. I have not tweaked the suspension yet, but perhaps after that installation, it will have a better road feel. I've taken several 6 hour road trips in the E39 and enjoy the improved mileage.
Short back road trips = E34
Long haul freeway travel = E39