At last, a picture of my car which I can share with the group.

What do you folks think? I can't wait for the NorCal meet and the chance to see other great 5ers.

2001 e39 530i
DVD Nav Computer (16:9 widescreen and software version update 11/2003)
CD Changer
sand interior
stainless grill screen
M-tech license plate frame
Personalized Plate: my handle for more than 2 decades
20% 3M tint
Bavarian AutoSport embroidered floormats
Colgan Customs 2 piece front end mask/bra (not shown but always in use)

In the mail:
Ultimate Cupholder

Coming Soon:
BMW type 71 wheels

Coming after next holiday bonus:
Dinan S1 Signature Package
M-Tech bumpers

Nice - are you leaving the rims stock or are you buying some rims

Always have loved that color combo.Nice car.

nice car, love the color

are u filipino by any chance ? :)

Very nice! My car looks soooo dull after seeing yours.
Pat

very nice red color.

nice old school blue license plate

Glad to see your making the meet. :buttrock

Nice car.

Thanks for the input. I really love the color too. According to BMW's No.s, less than 1% of e39's were built in Electric Red. Evidently most people were scared by the car's brightness and did not want a large sedan with this color but prefering the more traditional whites, silvers, blacks, blues and metallics.

I shopped for my used CPO 530i for 4 months. I probably looked at more than 50 cars in person and more than 1000 on-line and was prepared to have the right car shipped or driven from anywhere USA to my location in NorCal. By pure luck I found this car in NorCal at Peter Pan BMW in San Mateo on the company's website. I loved the car due to its brilliant hue of red (which changes from fireball orange to deep crimson depending upon lighting conditions.) I was aware of the BMW color code but had never actually seen an example until I found this car. Since then, I have seen only 1 other Electric Red e39 and this was on-line at a dealer in TX. (as oppossed to IMOLA Red or Sienna Red of which I have seen many.)

The color is made even more rare due to the fact that BMW spec'd ZERO dealer lot cars in this color. This particular red in 2001 was only available to people ordering that the car be built, one could not simply walk onto a dealer's lot and expect to find one. I got lucky in finding this lease return car and purchased it as a CPO.

Now the best part, Peter Pan shaved $7K off of the sticker because of the color. They had the car for months and advertised it slightly below Blue Book in order to get prospective 5er buyers into the dealership. However, most prospective 5er buyers were put-off by a big car with such a bright color and would accordingly purchase a different, more expensive, more typical, and higher demand color like silver or blue. I played into this game a little by letting the dealer know that I too was scared about the color, especially at $36,995. (Of course I wanted the car the whole time loving the hue and knowing its rarity and was prepared to spend upwards of $35K for a 2001 CPO e39.) After some bantering about the price, it was mine for $29K, and they even added the $1000 CD Changer.

Two questions for GuapOh, what size/style are your wheels? And, where did you get that stainless grill? I'd like to get one like that.

dy540i

Where did you find all that info about paint colors and production #s? I'd like to do a check on my Aubergine E39 540i w/ matching interior and my Brilliantrot E34 525i Touring.

Two questions for GuapOh, what size/style are your wheels? And, where did you get that stainless grill? I'd like to get one like that.

dy540i

The wheels are BMW Style 82. 16x7 225/55/16 Continentals

Grill Screen was purchased from a fellow in Antioch, CA who makes them and markets them on the web. His email is mr.mpl@sbcglobal.net. He makes a great product.

Where did you find all that info about paint colors and production #s? I'd like to do a check on my Aubergine E39 540i w/ matching interior and my Brilliantrot E34 525i Touring.

Service advisor @ local BMW dealership was able to provide information on paint and actual build numbers by color. I would have had no idea about the uniqueness of the color had the salespeople not mentioned it in the first place.

I just noticed this thread where you have the grill insert...
OOOOOOoooooooooooooooo...
is this guys still around??:buttrock

I hate to "copy" you, but wow.. thats nice (and red- hahahaaa)!!:eyecrazy

thought i saw a pic of ur car with M-parallel's

how many miles????? Nice color.

wow...a bump for a 3 year old thread