99 540i Any known issues?

[njmurvin]

I have an opportunity to buy my sister-in-law's 1999 540i for decent price (around $20k). I know it has the sport pkg. I don't know any other specific options - but it's pretty loaded. It has 85k and was maintained by the dealer. Are there any known issues that I should be aware of with this model? Am I looking at a maintenance money-pit by getting a car with this many miles (like timing belt/chain, etc)?

My wife drives a 2001 330cic, so we're no stangers to BMW. I could only hope the 540 would be as reliable and maintenance free as the 3 series has been.

Thanks,
Neil

 

[BMW-FW26]

Yea a known issue is taking a long time to get home from work.

 

[Montana]

I just bought mine a few months back. About same age and mileage. These issues are common:

Catalytic converters (fail around your mileage, warranty up to 80k) . They are $900 EACH part only! After market ones lure you in with cheap price but they are VERY SUSPECT. Research before you do that...IF you do it.

Radiator/water pump. If the originals haven't been replaced you WILL be doing that soon. Look for leaky drip where top hose meets radiator

Timing chain could be good for 250K or more if maintained well (Mobil 1 oil !!)

A/C systems usually last a long time. Mine is original and cold as hell.

Broken headlight adjusters (saggy boobs syndrome, if your headlights hang low or jiggle) . See here for install:

http://www.bmwtips.com/tipsntricks/headlightadjustment/Adjustment-fix.htm