I’m sure there are many of you fine readers with E39 5 Series‘ at home in the driveway. Not only is the E39 cheap now, it’s pretty beloved by BMW enthusiasts for being great to drive. Naturally then, there are many, many enthusiast owners. However, the E39 is getting old now, so it’s going to be much less reliable than more modern cars. Which is why this video from M539 Restorations is so helpful, as it shows you have to fix and upgrade many aspects of the car.
M539 Restorations host Sreten has an E39 5 Series Touring—more specifically, an E39 530i Touring—among his many other cars. Compared to some of his other machines, the 530i Touring is probably the least fun and least interesting, as Sreten owns some very cool classic Bimmers. However, he isn’t going to be using the 530i Touring as a show car but instead as a work car, a camera car, or a shuttle. So it doesn’t need to be pretty.
That hasn’t stopped Sreten, though, as his thirst for perfection and willingness to work on his own cars forces him to fix much of the car and do it the right way. For example, at the beginning of this video, he replaced the car’s rear subframe bushings. After removing the old ones, he found next to no significant sign of use or wear. Despite that, he changed them anyway and the results were profound. Not only was the car more comfortable but it handled better too.
After he finished up the rear subframe bushings, which he did incredibly quickly thanks to the help of good tools, he shifted gears to the inside. Sreten wanted E38 7 Series seats for his 530i Touring and was struggling to find them. However, once he did, there were some interesting issues. Sure, they technically bolted right in but the E38 7 Series had a massage function in its seats, the seat bottoms need reconditioning, and they had different wire harnesses. So Sretem shows you how to fit more luxurious seats to the E39 while also upgrading their technology. The most interesting part of the seat process was the massagers, which were made from water balloons: two bags of water that inflate to keep your butt comfy.
If you have an E39 5 Series, this is a great video for you to watch. Not only is it inspirational, as it make you want to fix everything on your car, but it’s also instructional and will help you keep your car running well for the majority of its life.