Bought second-hand in 2018, sold in 2022, just under 50,000 kilometres in between — most of them on the motorway. The black 525i Touring belonged to Daniel, the founder of s14.de. For four years, it was the car you didn’t have to think about.
Why the 525i, of all cars
With the model update in autumn 2000, BMW replaced the E39 six-cylinder engines. The 523i disappeared, the 525i arrived — with displacement unchanged at 2,494 cc, but with the M54B25 instead of the M52TÜ and 192 PS instead of 170 PS. In the Touring, this is the engine that suits the car best: powerful enough for a loaded estate rear end, without the running costs of a V8.
What the car shows
The light-guide sidelight rings and the round fog lights fitted as standard identify the car as a post-autumn-2000 model — there’s no other way with the 525i, as the name only exists in this model line from the facelift onward. Also double-spoke wheels, parking sensors in the rear bumper, sunroof. The model designation on the tailgate has been removed.
Inside
Black leather front and rear, five-speed Steptronic, the car phone handset in the centre console. The latter is the detail that gives away the model year most readily: a feature that no longer exists in any car today and that was a status symbol at the time.
Four years, 49,591 kilometres
When Daniel took over the Touring in 2018, the odometer read 176,455 kilometres — second owner, complete service book. By the time he sold it in 2022, another 49,591 had been added, a good 12,000 per year, most of it on long-distance drives. This is exactly what this car was built for: a large six-cylinder, a long wheelbase, a chassis that becomes calmer rather than more nervous at the recommended motorway speed.
What’s remarkable about these four years is what didn’t happen. No issues, no unplanned workshop visits, no rust in the spots the E39 is known for — rear wheel arches, sill ends, tailgate. Servicing was done when it was due, and the car didn’t ask for more than that.
This is not a lucky streak but the usual pattern: an E39 that covers distance and is properly maintained lasts a long time. These cars become expensive where they’re driven cold and serviced on a hunch.
226,046 kilometres
The reading in the pictures. For the M54, this is not a remarkable figure. The engine is considered durable; what ages sits in the periphery — crankcase ventilation, DISA valve, camshaft and crankshaft sensors, and above all the cooling system, which ages with time rather than mileage. What to look out for when buying an E39 is covered in detail in the buying guide on the model page.
Gallery
Bildnachweise
- Eigenes Foto · MOTORSPORT24