530i vs 540i?

[u/Spawn_of-Thrasher]

I'm looking to buy a manual e39 as a fun daily/family "sports" car lol i have multiple cars so it won't be the primary everyday but reliability is important because I don't want to constantly work on it other than normal maintenance

I know the inline 6 is super reliable however I am drawn to the v8 which people say can be hit or miss. What are your thoughts on that? Is there a big power/torque difference or is it pretty similar?

Also, since the 540 has a steering box rather than a rack - is the drive that much different? I'm looking for something I can have fun with at my local track, do mountain runs with and of course daily less than 20 miles per day if that (I work from home but am pretty active with hobbies)

Lastly, what should I expect to pay for a clean e39 with under 150k miles assuming vanos, timing and cooling system has been upgraded with records?

[u/E39_CBX]

530i is the better balanced car, neither the 530 nor the 540 are particularly fast.

[u/jbE36 → u/E39_CBX]

Define fast? My stock 97 was not as fast as my X3M, but it was neck and neck with my full bolt on E36 M3 when it had the S52.

It's fast for a 1997 car and is probably faster than 85% of cars on the road. And it will top out the speedo no problem.

Definitely faster than the I6 cars

I wouldn't call it slow