It is for sale and I have offered it to the OP. I'm getting many PMs on the car. I will keep everyone posted. The car really is great.
525 might surprise you that it also has sharper steering. Due to it being R&P and also les weight over the front end. At the time all BMW V8s had recirculating ball steering and the I6 were rack and pinion. The first V8 BMW with R&P steering was the Z8. The radiator is a known problem area for aging BMW V8s. I think the E39 is the most "BMW" BMW they ever made. One of my car regrets was when I sold my 2003 E39 M5.
You can get rid of the radiator problem once and for all. Buy one here. or suffer over and over again LOL BMW Cooling Solutions ? Zionsville Autosport
Saw this on Houston Craigslist today and thought of this thread. Not sure if OP is still looking. No affiliation. 2001 BMW 540I - $4800 http://houston.craigslist.org/cto/5934729981.html Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk
Probably needs 2-3 grand but still a good buy. Sort it, grab a set of wheels and you're off to the races. Looks like it has some bad trim wear on the passenger side. Wheels look terrible
I drove a 1998 540i 6-speed for 7 years. Bought it with 54000 miles on it in 2005. Arctic silver on black sport seats. Sold it with 145k. Basically trouble free. A tree fell across the hood about a year into my ownerhip. Rebuilt it, drove the piss out of it. Eventually I got so bored of it I sold it and bought a Milano Verde. Great cars for sure--one of BMWs best, the E39. It did everything so well. But yaaawn. I'm weird though. I have two friends with E39 M5s. One is black on black with 210,000 miles on it. the other is white on black with 50,000 miles. Great cars.
