My E39 540i

FINALLY! MY OWN BLOG WHERE I CAN PUT MY CAR IN IT !

This is the second one I ever owned. The first one that I had was a 2002 model and got rear ended in February 17th, 2013. The insurance company said that it was totaled because the chassis bent from the impact. It wasn't a good time.
Moving on, the replacement, a 1998 Arctic Silver 540i, had 140,000 miles when I bought it from its second owner and I felt at home right away driving the car thanks to my previous experience of owning an E39. The car was originally purchased in 1998 from McKenna BMW dealer here in Los Angeles as a company car for a real estate company and 7 years later it was bought by a guy who also worked in the same company. He was going to give it to his son as a graduation gift, but his son messed up. So after owning it for 7 years, he decided to sell the car. It was a sad moment when he had to let the car go. To comfort him, I promised him that I would take care of this car and keep in touch with him to let him know the progress of the car. Yeah I know, bromance story with car. Laugh at it.

The car was bone stock when I bought it. Current problems now?

1. fuel pressure issue
2. I have to replace the front calipers soon
3. burn mark on the trunk from previous owner
4. paint on the car especially front bumper
5. and last is the mysterious Check Engine Soon light that has been on since 30,000 miles ago.

Anyway, after transferring some parts from the old car, replace the power steering pump, AC compressor, radiator, and replacing blown shocks with the Megan coilovers, this is how it looks now with 30,000 miles that I have put over the past 10 months since I purchased it. It is still a work in progress.

  

  

When I bought it, the car didn't start as a perfect car with nice condition paint, interior, engine, etc. The paint looks like the car has had a rough life before. The interior  pieces were all worn out and especially the wood panels were faded from the Californian sun heat. The 30,000 miles I put contributes on putting more rock chips all over the front end. Combine that with my clumsiness and the car being lowered, it now has a beat up front bumper; something that I would like to fix and repaint in the future.

Some dings and dents from being a 16 years old daily drive in ruthless Californian traffic.

More of the wear and tear over the time that I would like to fix. One of my friend said, "Why hide imperfections? Every single one of them adds character to the car." I totally agree with him. All of this makes my 540i is unique and no other E39s out there has the same problems that mine has. This is the beauty and interesting fact of buying used cars. All of the problems that make me have a love and hate relationship with the car and we know that love won't grow stronger if we don't encounter any problems.

So here you go, a short story of my daily warrior that has been loyally serving me to school, visiting the in-laws in San Jose, taking me and the wife for get away trips, or just running errand here in LA. Future plan? I intend to keep this car as long as possible and hopefully pass it to my kid. There will be more modifications and maintenance to improve the car in the future, definitely new set of wheels and M rear bumper in store. Also, I don't baby the V8 in this car - it always see past 5000 rpm every day - so some go fast mods are in order too. To me, it is such a waste of a car if we only drive it once in a while or keep it in the garage. Life is too short to drive miserable cars and gas price is only gonna go up, so might as well get out there and enjoy the drive in our favorite car while we can.

This car has become more than just a car. It has been there at the same time since I started a boyfriend girlfriend relationship with the beautiful woman who later became my wife. It has witnessed a lot of things with my wife and I and as long it is still running, the story continues to expand. It is a loyal friend and part of the family. Even my wife now starts referring it as "our car" which makes me smile and happy whenever she says that. Who knows that a car can have such impact in a family.