The Ferry! E39 530d Touring

[Michael Woodford MST]

I needed a bigger motor to replace the DCi but still needed to be suitable for moving engines and other car related rubbish round the country.

A 530d seemed to be the only sensible option really as I can't stand anything made by VAG.

Here she is.

2003 E39 530d Msport Touring.

I have to say, I love it. It's 1 owner from new with full BMW service history, just clicked over 120k

Has all the options (sat nav, leather, front and rear park sensors)

She drives like a total dream although I'd only owned it a day before my YB cosworth engine leaked oil all over the boot. Although even with a cosworth YB in the boot, there was still plenty of space for more stuff.

Obviously it would of been rude to leave it as a standard car,

So the first job what to have a little order up of goodies.

EGR power pipe delete kit.
Swirl flap delete kit
Pipercross panel filter

Fitting the EGR delete and swirl flap delete was really easy. 4 out of the 6 were loose so well worth the time to get them out the engine.

Next week it's going to the fabricators to get a proper decat made. All off the shelf decats come out the turbo, spilt into 2 and then go back down to 1 in the mid section. I'm getting the mid section modified so the decat can be 1 single 3inch pipe instead of this 1-2-1 rubbish.

After that's finished it will be time to give a custom ECU calibration.

Really can't believe how well it drives for an old ferry. So quite and comfortable.

 

[-J-]

Looked nice up at the Ace the other day, great engine hauler

 

[yeecup]

Nice, can I ask how much

 

[Michael Woodford MST]

Paid £3700 for it.

 

[Mr R.]

Paid £3700 for it.

Epic.

So much car for the £££££.

Im looking for an old Volvo estate for the family bus.

 

[Stefan.]

Nice!!

 

[Naith]

EXACT spec that I want, damn you!!!!

 

[Michael Woodford MST]

EXACT spec that I want, damn you!!!!

I do love it mate.

 

[Ian_182]

That's a great bus.

 

[Chi]

I love mine 230k and can manage 70mpg if I drive like Ms Daisy. . Thats with the tuning box I fitted for £70, be rude not to.

 

[Dr HMS Derv Destroyer]

these go like guided missiles when mapped. havin driven one , proper diesel!

hybrid billet wheel turbo needed

 

[Russ Rallye]

If its a manual I'm going to be v jealous, great cars.
Russ

 

[imprezaworks]

These are great cars. The first one I drove quite some time ago I was gob smacked how well it went. Any pics. Ignore the last question, pics didn't show straight away, odd.

 

[Michael Woodford MST]

If its a manual I'm going to be v jealous, great cars.
Russ

Auto mate!

I sit in far too much traffic to have a clutch and continually change gear.

 

[Budgie]

That's epic! I really want one of these.

High roller though- £4k for an engine moving shed. I love it.

 

[Russ Rallye]

Auto mate!

I sit in far too much traffic to have a clutch and continually change gear.

Fair enough, I looked for ages a few years back for a 530d manual but couldn't find one, ended up with a well spec'd 525d manual instead but was a bit gutless.
Russ

 

[Scrooge]

Awesome motor!

 

[Cub.]

Lovely motor Mike.

These are high on my list when I need to get a larger car. Along with Volvo V70s or Saab 9-3 2.8 Turbos. Be interested to know what real world mpg it gets.

 

[Michael Woodford MST]

Lovely motor Mike.

These are high on my list when I need to get a larger car. Along with Volvo V70s or Saab 9-3 2.8 Turbos. Be interested to know what real world mpg it gets.

It's not too painful on fuel mate.

It's about 34 round town and 52 on the motorway, but that's before the EGR delete, DeCat and map witch will all improve the consumption.

 

[Cub.]

That's good fuel consumption. Anything on these to look out for? I.e. Any known major problems?

Best colour aswell. A fine purchase!

 

[Michael Woodford MST]

Swirl flaps need deleting, there are no tell rail signs but they can just fall off inside the cyclinder and total the engine and a smooth change on the auto box. That's about it tbh.

Any one you buy, budget a swirl flap delete and an auto box fluid change.

 

[Cub.]

How much is the swirl flap delete?

 

[Michael Woodford MST]

How much is the swirl flap delete?

£25.00 for the Ali bungs delivered and about a 1.5hours to fit. So any garage should charge about £100 all in.

 

[Cub.]

£25.00 for the Ali bungs delivered and about a 1.5hours to fit. So any garage should charge about £100 all in.

Cheers bud. Good to know.

 

[Chi]

Didn't realise my manual was rare not that anyone would buy it lol

 

[Russ Rallye]

That's good fuel consumption. Anything on these to look out for? I.e. Any known major problems?

Best colour aswell. A fine purchase!

Rear suspension can be troublesome as its self levelling with air springs, watch for leaks, lop sided at the back or flat on its @rse if the compressors goosed etc.
russ

 

[Cub.]

Rear suspension can be troublesome as its self levelling with air springs, watch for leaks, lop sided at the back or flat on its @rse if the compressors goosed etc.
russ

Cheers Russ

 

[Michael Woodford MST]

Did a gearbox oil change today to help keep her in tip top condition.

Had to remove the sump to get to the gearbox filter too.

The gearbox holds a further 10l in the torque converter and valve pack so I had to make a feed into the new fluid to flush all old fluid out.

After 20seconds of cycling from D to R the fluid started to come through clean.

I fitted a new filter and topped the gear oil up and put all the covers back on.

The difference is amazing. So much smoother that what I thought was an already very smooth car.

 

[Michael Woodford MST]

Also fitted a Pipercross panel filter today

And my aux lead came for the radio. It was really easy to fit as BMW pre wired my car to have one so it was just a case of plug and play

 

[cat171]

Very nice, I still love the E39's, great car for the money :approve:

 

[Michael Woodford MST]

Today was decat day.

I took the car over to a very good friend of mine Mike Edwards Motorsport who built a custom decat for the car.


The aftermarket ones are really annoying as they are made as a bolt on bolt off replacement and because of the nature of the standard cats it means it comes out the turbo, splits into 2 and the. Back to 1 in the mid section.

I wanted a decat that was 1 pipe the whole way.

First the old cats were removed.

Then he set about making 2 end parts.

Then he decided the best way to run the pipe work so not to interfere with any covers or existing parts of the car.

Then he welded it all up. His welding is absolutely stunning.

Then mounted it back on the car

The difference is really impressive. The engine is much smoother and the power delivery is much better over 3000rpm.

The engine pulls hard and has much cleaner power delivery. I'm really impressed.

 

[Scrooge]

That welding!!!!

 

[Mr R.]

That welding!!!!

Is epic.

Ive just done a little wee.

 

[Scrooge]

Good welding always makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

 

[Michael Woodford MST]

Ay! Mikeys the man!

 

[Daveclarke16]

Dat weld!

 

[Crybert]

I've recently bought an e39 too, saloon mind and a petrol 3 litre. Absolutely love it! So smooth and quiet. Got mine for peanuts too. Champagne edition 2 auto.

is there a way to run an aux with the USB connection? So that my iPod/iPhone will charge?

 

[Crybert]

Car looks awesome by the way. My initial want for the e39 was the 540i manual touring but after trawling it appears these are uber rare. Happy with what I ended up with

 

[Michael Woodford MST]

No mate. Not on the E39. There's only a port for AUX in. I just use a fag lighter plug for charge.

 

[Michael Woodford MST]

I've recently bought an e39 too, saloon mind and a petrol 3 litre. Absolutely love it! So smooth and quiet. Got mine for peanuts too. Champagne edition 2 auto.

is there a way to run an aux with the USB connection? So that my iPod/iPhone will charge?

Make sure you do the gear oil mate if it's an auto. I can't tell you the difference it made and I didn't think there was much up with mine.