What makes the e39 the best bmw ever made???

[Fresco]

The e39 has always been my favorite BMW. The first time I got to own one was one of the happiest days of my life. There couldn't be a more proud feeling. I read all over this forum about how it's the greatest sports sedan ever made. Better yet the best BMW ever made. Is this a biased opinion? Or does the rest of the BMW community feel this way as well? Do they think their 3 series or 6 series is better? What makes the e39 the best?

[jamesdc4]

The first time I got to own one was one of the happiest days of my life.

Congrats, but really?

[Gumbi4u]

The e39 has always been my favorite BMW. The first time I got to own one was one of the happiest days of my life. There couldn't be a more proud feeling. I read all over this forum about how it's the greatest sports sedan ever made. Better yet the best BMW ever made. Is this a biased opinion? Or does the rest of the BMW community feel this way as well? Do they think their 3 series or 6 series is better? What makes the e39 the best?

i'm sorry but no BMW is better than coochie. Get a woman.

[Skwisgaar]

The E39 is nice, but...

[Fresco]

Lmfao I said ONE of the happiest days. I didn't say THE HAPPIEST DAY lol. Coochie is by far the best feeling.

[jamesdc4]

The E39 is nice, but...

Took me a sec, but....

i'm sorry but no BMW is better than coochie. Get a woman.

+? There is no number in existence to plug in here for emphasis.

[champaign777]

most of E39 are crap now ... dying generation
There are still some VERY nice examples around and the most of them between forum members

[Xeniczone]

I place the E39 second on my list of best BMWs. The E46, in my opinion, has far better, more aggressive styling. Though I don't like the interior as much on the E46.

While the E39 and E46 are both still rather modern in comparison to todays standards, they don't live up to their luxury name. They lack standard components that make a modern luxury car luxurious. It kinda is getting harder for me to call the E39 and E46 my favorite BMWs because of this reason. When the F10 looks similar to the E39 and features:

-Night Vision Thermal Camera
-iDrive
-Ventilated Seats
-Convenient starting
-Lane Assist
-Automatic braking

Luckily, all this can be retrofitted to the older car. The only thing that really disgusted me about the new cars is how BMW is trying to push the automatics so hard.

Lmfao I said ONE of the happiest days. I didn't say THE HAPPIEST DAY lol. Coochie is by far the best feeling.

Coochie in the E39...

[E39 6spd]

I place the E39 second on my list of best BMWs. The E46, in my opinion, has far better, more aggressive styling. Though I don't like the interior as much on the E46.

While the E39 and E46 are both still rather modern in comparison to todays standards, they don't live up to their luxury name. They lack standard components that make a modern luxury car luxurious. It kinda is getting harder for me to call the E39 and E46 my favorite BMWs because of this reason. When the F10 looks similar to the E39 and features:

-Night Vision Thermal Camera
-iDrive
-Ventilated Seats
-Convenient starting
-Lane Assist
-Automatic braking

Luckily, all this can be retrofitted to the older car. The only thing that really disgusted me about the new cars is how BMW is trying to push the automatics so hard.



Coochie in the E39...

Interesting, I like my 540i for the reasons you don't. I have no patience for "nanny" technology and like the purity of my car. I can stay in my own lane, I don't want my car braking for me, being able to actually turn the key in the ignition instead of push button is nice, and iDrive is crap.

It sounds like you may be turning into a gadget lover more than a car lover. :

[qcdstick]

-Night Vision Thermal Camera
-iDrive
-Ventilated Seats
-Convenient starting
-Lane Assist
-Automatic braking

Wow. I consider most of that list a negative rather than something I want in a car.

I can see the seats, though those are easy enough to change if you want. Auto-start would be nice, but isn't very feasible on a manual trans so that one's out for me. The rest, I can't possibly see a need for, and most of it I would disable if I had it.

I'm actually of the opinion that there is little reason to buy a new luxury car anymore. Quiet ride, leather, comfy seats, climate control, power everything, maybe a heated wheel and seats is what used to differentiate the luxury cars. All were nice things you could actually use and appreciate. Now though, you can get them on any number of mid-range and even some "budget" cars. So now, the premium brands have to go out and find things to justify their price tag and come with tons of stuff that nobody actually uses. I just don't get it (my personal opinion of course).

Edit:
I've had an E39 for 6 or 7 years now. At this point, I don't see myself ever selling it. It's worth far more to me than it is to anyone on the market, and quite frankly there have been very very few cars come made since that I would consider replacing it with. CTS-V is really about the only one that comes to mind, but it is still a heavy pig and a considerably less good looking so even that has it's drawbacks. When my baby dies before she rusts away, I'll probably fix it rather than get something else.

And, no, I don't think the e39 is the best BMW ever made. I think it is very very good, but it is in the end a big compromise in size/performance.

[Xeniczone]

Interesting, I like my 540i for the reasons you don't. I have no patience for "nanny" technology and like the purity of my car. I can stay in my own lane, I don't want my car braking for me, being able to actually turn the key in the ignition instead of push button is nice, and iDrive is crap.

It sounds like you may be turning into a gadget lover more than a car lover. :

Let me elaborate on this.

-Night Vision Thermal Camera: This lets the user see farther and in higher contrast, as humans and animals create more heat than the road, than any head light could. Plus the thermal camera doesn't need to be dimmed when driving by another car. Combine a thermal camera and a heads up display and you got a combination where you can see at night without taking your eyes off the road.
-iDrive: iDrive is your one stop shopping place for anything with your car. It has your music, your navigation, and your cars diagnosis with no more computers or machines. With the iDrive computer and your memory you can control the computer without taking your eyes off the road.
-Ventilated Seats: Leather seats are great. They kill cows to make and I like steak, but on long journeys they cause a little too much back sweat for comfort. Vented seats fix this issue.
-Convenient starting: This feature is useless to me.
-Lane Assist: Another useless feature to me also. I don't see any purpose for it.
-Automatic braking: This is a big one. The BMW E39 can stop in ~120ft. Which for a car is pretty good, really good in fact. The issue is how long it takes you to get from the accelerator to the brake. At 60mph this can add several feet to your stopping distance. Automatic braking can decide whether the brakes need to be applied and apply them in less than 0.1 seconds. That can have the brakes applied when you still thinking about it. This comes in handy when someone runs a red light or a deer jumps out in front of you. I think crash test ratings are worthless. Why protect the driver in a crash when you can avoid the crash altogether.

I thing technology and cars and go great together. Don't get me wrong I don't want to remove the driving experience though. This is why I don't like automatics. They take away from the driving experience and are relatively stupid when it comes to picking the right gear at the right time.

[FredRC]

i'm sorry but no BMW is better than coochie. Get a woman.

always wanted to ask, where can I see more pictures of your ride ?

[mack101]

I love E39's because they have the right blend of tech/gadgets/performance/luxury in a DIY-able package. On my second now, a touring, looked at the newer wagons and the lack of DIY support was a real turn off, not to mention I can't stand crap like iDrive or the rest of the toys mentioned above. There are a lot of other BMW's I would like to own, and none of them are made these days, they would all be 10-20 years old now.

Also, just being honest, my wallet does not support going to BMW to fix a flat tire, I mean replace a run-flat tire.

[OldSkoolBMW]

Let me elaborate on this.

-Night Vision Thermal Camera: This lets the user see farther and in higher contrast, as humans and animals create more heat than the road, than any head light could. Plus the thermal camera doesn't need to be dimmed when driving by another car. Combine a thermal camera and a heads up display and you got a combination where you can see at night without taking your eyes off the road.

These were cool on caddilacs.. then a rock hit the camera and the owner didn't think it was cool enough to spend $3k on a new night vision thermal camera. That was GM pricing. Can't imagine ///M car pricing.



Oh and btw. BMW 2002's were the best ever made.

[collardgreens]

I love my e39!

Even though it doesn't love me back...

I do like the The way some of the Mitsubishi evo's look,

Wonder if it drives tight like the 3's?

[Petes540i6]

Because it's the total package. If you can only have one car, why not one that is a great blend of sports car, muscle car, and luxury car rolled into one.

[Skwisgaar]

Oh and btw. BMW 2002's were the best ever made.

As much as I love the 2002, I must respectfully disagree.

[Cyrix2k]

Interesting, I like my 540i for the reasons you don't. I have no patience for "nanny" technology and like the purity of my car. I can stay in my own lane, I don't want my car braking for me, being able to actually turn the key in the ignition instead of push button is nice, and iDrive is crap.

It sounds like you may be turning into a gadget lover more than a car lover. :

I'm with you. I like the 540i because it seems like a german muscle car. There's not too much technology packed in it and there's powerful engine under the hood of a family sedan. I just wish it didn't have traction control.

:edit: Oh, and the e36 M3 is my favorite driving BMW ever made. No joke.

[Skwisgaar]

I'm with you. I like the 540i because it seems like a german muscle car. There's not too much technology packed in it and there's powerful engine under the hood of a family sedan. I just wish it didn't have traction control.

Mine doesn't have it. I turn it off after I start the engine. I didn't learn to drive with it over 25 years ago and I don't need it now.

[Xeniczone]

These were cool on caddilacs.. then a rock hit the camera and the owner didn't think it was cool enough to spend $3k on a new night vision thermal camera. That was GM pricing. Can't imagine ///M car pricing.



Oh and btw. BMW 2002's were the best ever made.

Have you ever seen a thermal camera on a Cadillac? They were huge. I'm not even sure if they were thermal, I think they were night vision. The lenses on those camera were like 4" in diameter. Something pretty easy to hit. The new BMW thermal camera is only 1/2"-1" in size. It sits recessed in the grill of the car making it pretty hard target to hit.

[chiefwej]

I love my car because it is the last BMW built that an owner can actually repair and maintain DIY. I don't want a car that doesn't have a dip stick, too much technology can be a bad thing in a car.

As far as the best BMW ever, I like the E30 M3. But a case could be made for several others long before you get to the E39.

[ElleShooTiger]

I'm with you. I like the 540i because it seems like a german muscle car. There's not too much technology packed in it and there's powerful engine under the hood of a family sedan. I just wish it didn't have traction control.

:edit: Oh, and the e36 M3 is my favorite driving BMW ever made. No joke.

Yup, its a good-sized sports/family car, good power, great handling, timeless styling and the lasts of its kinda looks-wise, and the engine bays are fairly simple to work on. The dash is also full of well-placed buttons to control everything, and underneath there are only a small number of computers running it all, and with the rare exception of the LCM, they're mostly bulletproof!

Vented seats are something I would LOVE to have! Here in the South, those seats would come in really handy the 9 months it's hot haha. I work outside a lot, so it sucks getting in the car all sweaty and your back cant dry off.

[absolutegtr]

im a retard tonight....i dont get the license plate posted above...

help?

is it "its now dead"?

[alpinweib]

Oh and btw. BMW 2002's were the best ever made.[/QUOTE]


Agreed. Love my 02 more than my e39, but the e39 is more practical for dd or long trips

[e39hamann]

im a retard tonight....i dont get the license plate posted above...

help?

is it "its now dead"?

it says, it's no e30