Should I have M54 BMW E39 engine rebuilt? Your opinion welcome.

Bluebottle

Bluebottle

Member
 Plymouth
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My lovely and very original manual 525i has always been burning 5 litres of engine oil every 1000 miles, causing misfires and frequent plug cleaning. Now after twelve years I let my BMW independent strip down and quote for a rebuild as there was no compression at all.
Six months later, my engine is in hundreds of pieces; this is their quote.


Total rebuild of cylinder head to include new guide, recut valve seats and valve faces. Decoke cylinder head, lap in valves and fit new valve stem oil seals. Carry out engine rebore, fit new pistons and rings to conrods, reassemble engine with all new crankshaft bearings, fit all new timing chain components including guides/tensioners etc. check oil pump found to be within BMW wear tolerances.

Refit engine to car, carry out oil and filter change, replenish coolant to strength, run engine and bleed coolant system, check for any leaks etc, carry out extensive roadtest


Labour: 2000.00

Oil filter: 15.67

Engine oil: 50.37

Engine coolant: 24.00

Consumables: 75.00

Specialist repairs: 1452.00 inc complete gasket set/bolts, upper/lower chain kits and conrod set, big end and main bearings, valve guides, valves refaced and seats cut, head tested, resurfaced and d-coke

Engineer repairs: 1200.00 inc engine rebore and new pistons/rings

TOTAL: £5780.45 inc vat

Yes it is a lot! My E39 chassis is totally rust free, has original paint that is excellent although I need bubbling on right front wheelarch repaired and painted along with scratched front and rear bumpers. Wheels need refurb as well. So perhaps another £1k.
Everything is in excellent working order. Prices of E39s are the on the rise. This is a keeper; my perfect car (within my budget) although who wouldn't want an E39 M5?

Opinions?
 
Yes save it and keep it running. Love the E39, my friend has a very similar 525 in a light blue.
Would it be cheaper to just replace the engine though, like for like or upgraded M54B30 or better?
 
Unfortunately, I would call it a money pit and would not spend £6000 just on an engine. If you must, get a secondhand unit. However, your car engine is in pieces and you are at the mercy of the garage.
 
I can understand why you want to keep it even if it doesn't necessarily make economic sense.

Personally I'd be looking for a good used M54B30 ideally, failing that another M54B25.

That has to work out cheaper than what you have been quoted for the rebuild.
 
Thanks all of you.
I have tried the second hand engine route for the past year with no results. You don't know what you are really buying and only finding out how good it is until you have paid £1k to have it professionally installed. I thought of buying a sacrificial car, but that requires MOT, insurance, tax ans somewhere to keep it, etc. I don't know any mechanic mates or have access to a longterm garage to keep it in, hence the safer but more costly option of a specialist.

Replacing mine with an original rust free manual E39 in a nice colour is an option, but will be in excess of£5k and require time and travelling to kick some tyres.

Quite a dilemma.
 
Depends on what is important to you IMO....
Close to £6k to keep the car on the road, scrap it and not find another good one for anywhere near the money or scrap it and move on to something else.

I like the E39 and good ones (usually M sport with the V8) are starting to fetch big money. But I don't like throwing money away either, so I would be in a dilemma too. Ultimately I think I would bite the bullet and scrap the car, as there is always the 'what if it is never the same as it was'?
 
It's a tough call.

If values are going up would fitting a used engine affect the value as it wouldn't have "matching numbers"?

Good luck whatever you decide as it's a really good looking car. :thumbsup:
 
I would like a 3.0 but that would require finding a good donor engine and changing quite a few other bits and incurring big insurance issues. A new 2.5 is not so far behind a tired 3.0.
If my block is kept I still have matching numbers.
In 18 years of owning E39s I have never had any big issues, and certainly none that cannot be reasonably cheaply and easily remedied.
The E39 is not a sporty, topless Z4, but a Z4 is not a comfortable, well built and practical 5series.

I guess I am answering my own doubts.
 
I’d just buy a 3.0 Z4’s with no mot for under £1 k. Swap the engine and break the rest, you’d even make a profit out of it! You’ve been unlucky that your old motor is in such poor health, they are usually very good engines.
 
Or a 2.5 z4. Of course that’s okay if you have a place to keep it and are okay with dismantling the z4. And the garage is happy fitting a used engine. It seems that you want to keep the car and it is in good shape otherwise so it’s heart over brain, if the money is there, do it.
 
You don't need a specialist to swap the engine over, any garage or mobile mechanic should be able to cope with it. Its easy DIY if you have a crane and some basic tools.
 
I am surprised that if it's been burning that much oil for that long, they haven't quoted for new cats as well.
 
In my 20's I swapped over a MG Midget and MGB engine but they were lighter and less complicated, I'm not sure I would want to do a BMW engine swap even if I was still in my 20's. :unsure:
 
If I were attached to the car and was facing a large bill to rebuild the engine, I would be considering what other engine might fit. I'm an idiot, so I wouldn't be pondering 2.5 vs 3.0 i6, I'd be busy researching how I can make a V8 or V10 work. I did say that I'm an idiot!
 
If you were to buy a used engine, you could easily do a compression test if the starter motor has been retained. Yes, it is a big, heavy engine, but with a hoist and a few helpers will make things quite easy. A few friends, fellow enthusiasts, could be roped in to do the swap if you give them beer and food. In my Club Lotus days, a few of us would gather together to do chassis changes. Happy days!
 
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