POLL - You Decide The Future Of BMW E39 528i Touring Individual (Patreon)

First of all, thank you all for your lovely comments! It's pretty clear that whoever ends up with the E39, it's going to get a lot of love and care.

We have a whopping total of 70 Patreons that expressed their interest in taking the car. I gotta say, I'm a bit surprised that many people are interested in taking an old broken BMW, haha.

Anyway, having you read through 70 comments and then vote simply can't work. I don't think anyone has that much free time and it wouldn't be fair to ask that from you.

With that in mind, I had to narrow down the list to 25 finalist. This was actually rather difficult to do as we had some great ideas. I'll kindly ask you that you please don't get mad with me if you didn't make the list, it was hard to do this as it is and the last thing I want is to upset someone. 

Reading through the comments, I think some of you perhaps missed the inspection video and don't realize what you're are signing up for. This is very much a project car, not something in which you can simply sit and drive off into the sunset, or a car that you can give to your loved ones without doing prior work on it.
There's a reason it was free in the first place and for the start, this car will need around 1500-2000 eur just in parts to make it drive nice, to overhaul the entire suspension, fix the oil leaks, tailgate and so on.
If you are unable to do the work on the car yourself, giving this car to that person would be the equivalent of giving them a big bill. Because it will cost a lot of money to fix it up if you take it to a mechanic/workshop and it wouldn't make financial sense in that case.

That being said, the bones of the car are good and it's a great basis for someone to start wrenching on it, give it much needed TLC and just use it along the way and keep another E39 on the road. 

Below you will find all participants along with their comments and notes. I've put a letter next to their Pateron name so it's easier for you to find them in the poll and vote.
The poll will run for 48 hours after which it will close and we'll have our new custodian of the E39. If, for whatever reason, the winner is unable to take the car, it will go to the next person in line.

Thank you everyone for your time!

A: Antoni Krakowiak I come from eastern Poland and I remember that I was obsessed with BMWs from the earliest age. All cars in the country were communist creations, from Trabants, to Ladas and Zastanavas and our own Polonez. Our neighbour had a pre-lift e39, from a Polish dealer, and all the kids from the neighbourhood would come around his place whenever he came back from work (he worked  at a national bank) to see him park in the driveway. I also remember that he let me drive it in the street as a gift for my first Communion. It was also an Individual spec, a sedan, with one-tone brown leather seats, and a two-tone steering wheel. The story has a sad end as he totalled it drunk-driving, but the car has always haunted me in my dreams, an e39 with an Individual interior. You cannot find anything like this these days, individual specs go almost for 540i 6-speed manual level money, absolutely unaffordable. Anyway, I would definitely restore it and take the car to various car meets for BMW enthusiasts. Remember, if you want to haul potatoes and cements, buy a W210 diesel E-class, if you want to impress a girl on a first date buy a nice fuel straight-6 E39:) Thanks Sreten and everyone in the community.

B: Luca Leresche I would love to have this car.  I’m currently searching for a project car. I would use this machine  to improve myself, and learn more how to fix cars. My first one was a golf 5 absolutely loved it, no joke aside I literally cried when I had to sell it. I did the transmission all the suspension, breaks major engine work and a lot more. I Feel like I learned a lot from it. Now I bought a 2016 Skoda. The car is really awesome, the only problem is the reliability… it’s way too reliable! There’s nothing to do with it. I got so bored I literally read the entire repair manual to search for inspection holes in my check heft, funny enough the spark plugs are 5 years old and need changing. I want an old reliable BMW to go traveling comfortably with my wife or carry objects my Skoda can’t, I want a car that needs love and work,  but not too unreliable that will leave me bankrupt. this one seems perfect candidate. and I would love to have it, for learning and practicality.

C: Victor Pourroy Hello Sreten, dear Patreons, Im Victor from Munich. I would love to have this car as my first own project. My father and I have worked together on cars since I’m little. I learned a lot from him and we did some big repairs together. But I never had a car, or a project of my own. I would love to take this BMW and turn it into a daily driver for me. The E39 model series and the six Zylinder straight engines of BMW are a great combination and truly one of the last real BMW (Freude am Fahren). Since I’m from Munich and I’m allowed to tow big trailers I could pick up the car any time. Lastly I want to say that I think this give away idea is great. I wish everybody who wants this car good luck and the winner all the best with it. Greetings Victor

D: Mihnea Horia Iatagan Hi Streten, My name is Mihnea, I’m from Romania, Bucharest, to be more exact. I love cars ever since I was a little kid, when my dad was working on his 1310 Dacia, surrounded by all the male neighbors (communist contry, I guess in Serbia was the same). I’m writing you in regarding that e39 touring. If you decide to make a rafle or something like that, I would like if you would consider me as an participant to that, because I’m planning to propose to my girlfriend of 6 years, and the road trip back to Romania would be an perfect opportunity. Thank you for your time and for your videos! Mihnea

E: Jan-Hendrik K. Im from northern Germany and I´ve been looking for a 528i Touring for a while. I would like to have an indivdual as well. I would restore it to OEM spec because that is the way to go in my opinion. I would use the Touring mainly as a daily for smooth traveling.

F: Tommy Gundestrup Schou Hi From Northern Denmark :-) I would love to get an E39 as I have had an E39 530i (my favorite car by far) in the past that I sadly had to part with due to changes in life. I am now again at a point where I can enjoy having a glorious E39 BMW and this would be a perfect project for me as I now have the space to work on the car and once done I would be using it as a daily driver (about 110km every day). It would be perfect for that with its smooth ride and fantastic engine. Whoever wins this is going to be one lucky winner. Good luck to all. Best regards, Tommy

G: Hidde Jelsma Hi Sreten, hello from the Netherlands . My brothers and i are bmw fan and fan from you . We would like to make this e39 shine again and give it to our father. Hé is also big bmw lover and then we can give Some back to him . Greetings Hidde Jelsma

H: Jiří Lank Hey! I am Jiří and I come from Czech Republic. I've always loved cars and helped my dad work on family cars - Škoda Favorit, VW Golf Mk.2, VW Vento, Škoda Octavia Mk.1 and so on. My love for E39 and straight six engines started after watching Sreten's videos long time ago and ever since I wish for owning one, but could not afford one in past, but it was a spark to work on my car and ever since then I was able to fix some issues and do regular maintenance on it, watching M539 videos is always good motivation. I have a colleague who owns few BMWs and always pokes me about buying one, but I've never went and did it. This would be good opportunity for young guy like me, since my daily car - Octavia Mk.1 from '96 is rusting away beyond repair and I was already looking for one, which is bigger and 5 series touring would be perfect for that, I usually haul bigger things, so having big trunk is must. I love idea of comfy, highway cruiser. I have a good friends with place to work on the car and can afford to collect it, fix and run it here in CZ. I can also track (and record) the progress with the car, so you all would have ability to watch it, too. So all for all E39 528i is my dream car on which I wish to work on and restore to great condition! Cheers!

I: Kenny Hi! I currently own an F31 Touring diesel, which I had to get for the emissions norm, as my work used to bring me on long trips and into the cities a lot. Ofcourse now with covid, I don't do that anymore, and most of my work is remote. I need a touring for hauling my hobby (music) gear and building equipment/trash for and from my house, but the payments on the F31 are killing me now. Not having these payments would give me some more breathing room. I love E39s, and especially this quirky individual has stolen my heart. I've got access to tow trucks or dealer plates, towing it to Belgium wouldn't be an issue. Greeting from a big fan from Belgium! Kenny

J: Kai Köhler At the moment I own 3 E46s (2 Tourings, one of which I fixed after a light crash and facelifted it in the same step, and 1 Coupé). The two Tourings have to go if I am able to win the 5 series. My Coupe is an original M-Sport from end of 2004 which I completely stripped down to search for any kind of rust and retrofit things to full-spec - everything oem of course. So that’s why I want to participate in this because I have a lot experience in E46s and want to expand it to his bigger brother the E39. Furthermore I read a few comments and I was shocked how many want to throw out the individual parts of this E39 which will be a shame. I worked on all 3 E46, stripped them to search for any kind of damage and rust, and reworked them as good as I could. The same will happen to the E39 if I’ll get the win to take it home. First step will be to search for rust which I guarantee is hiding somewhere since it’s a car that was driving in German winter and it’s a bmw of the area 90s to 2000s. Next step is to fix and redo the mechanical parts and the last step will be the outside and the interior appearance. Once it’s done this car will be my all-season daily since I need a car to get my Coupé of the roads in salty-German-winter. I live around 2h away from Frankfurt and I can get red licenses plates so there won’t be any problems taking the E39 home. Final thoughts I am not sure why so many people want to have this E39 if they are on tight budget. After all it’s still a BMW and there can be really time consuming and expensive if parts brake or need inspection. It’s a big and somewhat heavy car so there will be a lot of usage on for example the suspension and brakes. Just a friendly reminder from my side!

K: Alex dres Hello. I am Alex from Romania Brasov and have owned a few Bmws in the past. Simply the best car manufacture period.Latley do to our taxing government and the assortment of cars that land in our country it’s very hard to get such a nice e39 even if you offer double the amount for what it’s worth. If I would win I would film the restoration and do the repairs myself as i wanted to start a youtube channel since a long time ago. I have worked on many e39 in the past, the car also would be daily driven. Thank you, Sreten for all your youtube videos, you are the best!

L: Calin Pirau Hi from Spain! In my case I have a little workshop in which I work on all kinds of classic cars, specially mk2 GTIs. This car would be a great addition to the workshop. As it is a touring, we could bring big car parts (engines, transmissions and so on) and tools, which would be of great help. Of course the car would be properly cared for, having all the maintenance done on time, since I already have the workshop. Thank you for reading and good luck to everyone!

M: Daniel Bak Hi! My name is Daniel and i live in Denmark, im actually in the market right now for an e39 and ive been looking for a 530i, im a mechanics apprentice and have a professional shop where i can work on the car, my plan would be to get the car to a tip-top state so it'll last me for years. I don't have a car right now and getting to work is a bit tricky, and I have to cycle 10+km each way. I would be forever thankful if I would win the car. Cheers Daniel

N: Nikola Nikolov I always want E39, maybe not the touring but the M5 and maybe that's why I started to watch your channel. Before I bought my E46 touring tractor, I was searching for an E39 touring in Bulgaria, but my luck brought me an E46. I bought it from my neighbor because it was in very good shape (I have had it for 4 years now). In fact, I will participate in project Skövde, hahah. However, cars and videography are my passion and I decided to launch a YouTube channel about cars but, to be honest, I wasn't very sure what to shoot. The last days before New Year (2022) I shoot a video for diesel chip tuning or as you will say - about tractors. I'm driving my E46 touring on a Bulgarian track and I'm planning my next videos to be focused on how to prepare your everyday car for the tracks. It's a lot of fun and not so expensive as most people think. I will be happy to "steal" this car from you because I assume that I will be able to make great content for my channel. Your car is already a famous actor and I would be happy to shoot the entire journey about it. It would be a pleasure to present the whole travel from Bulgaria to you and back. In fact, my plans were to go on the Nürburgring track this year with my tractor for one or two laps and make a video for the entire trip. If I win this car, I will do it with E39. I will keep its original shape and will go to Nordschleife. Thanks to you and Timo that you are giving us the chance to participate in something like this. Поздрав, Никола!

O: sprittiracingteam We would put a roof tent on top of it and do a road trip around the baltic sea in June. What a great machine to do it with! Fixed a good share of BMWs already, so this will fit right in :)

P: Juraj Kuzma Hello there Sreten, I really don’t expect to win, but this would just be a dream come true. I was looking for a nice combination of comfort, drivability and space to be used for a daily driving, since when my son was born. Currently we are using a very impractical Subaru Forester, borrowed from my girlfriends dad, which is awesome from him, but I would really like to have my own vehicle and not to owe him so much. In the past, I got an E30 and also E28 which I really loved to drive and maintain, as they were so simple. Now this one would be a new challenge and a big joy to work on and drive! All the best to you and all the people interested. Let the right one win!

Q: Fernando Spalding Hello, community. I live in Bonn, very close to Frankfurt, and have a wife and two kids. We are from Brazil and have been trying to make our lives in this beautiful country. Since January my employer (Amazon) changed my shift and now I have to wake up at 4 a.m. to start my 1:10 hours (each way) commute. The same could be done in 20 minutes by car. The E39 would surely change my life, giving me back 11 hours each month to spend with my family, instead of on a bicycle and on a bus. I hope you could consider me as a worthy recipient of the car. Probably voting for me would be a waste of an E39 but I promise to do my best to treat her well. Best regards, Fernando.

R: LunkLoafGrumble Hey! After an accident with my E60 523I I decided with inspiration from Sreten to repair and refresh the car my self. I found my self space for a workshop and after receiving the keys I sourced pallet racks in the area to build a workbench and installed a 2 post lift. With the workshop done I started to work on my car. The suspension is almost fully upgraded to M sport, the engine got an refresh with new fluids, filters and spark plugs. I'm still looking for M sport bumper package for the car they are hard to find OEM in the Netherlands. So in the meanwhile I will do the transmission and differential. If I win the car I would use it as my daily to find parts and drive to work. After the E60 is finished the E39 will get the love and attention it needs to get restored to her formal glory.

S: Nico Fonteyne Hey from France ;) I use to restore cars especially old french vans (Trafic MK1) for 6 or 7 years now in a non-profit manner. My last red ex-fireman Trafic MK1 restoration will be ready soon (paint, mecanic, interior design). This E39 deserve a respectful driver and a lot of fingers blood for a full lift-off project! The long-term vision on all my works is to reach an excellent condition and it'll be my first concern for this 528i E39. Last year I owned a BMW E91 320D. Unfortunately, the renowned N47 chain problem appears after few months (what a mistake...). No more daily car yet ! I never thought my thumb would be my best friend ;-) Hoping to have the chance to work on this wonderful touring individual and give it back its youth! Kind Regards, Nico

T: Idiotic Outlaws #225 Hello from Denmark. The opportunity for my very first BMW. Always loved E39's but never had a chance to own one, a secret between us all, is that I am a VAG man, primary Audi.. Maybe it is the end of en era for me and this E39 can make me do a turnaround for another brand. If Timo's E39 should end with me, I would use it as a daily driver, and a daily worker! My girlfriend and I just bought a house outside the city of Esbjerg, Denmark, we do need a handy second dailydriver for me to have when I'm home from the sea. I also do have a youtube channel of my own (Idiotic Outlaws 225), inspired by you Sreten, where I work on my current cars. It's been a while since the last video, I'm planning to resume it soon, and the E39 may be the new kickstart for the channel - I have a great idea on making the E39 a cool daily driver AND a cool Carbage runner. Taxe's on cars in Denmark, are insane, but I'll manage that, also the pickup should be easy - Denmark is not that far away. I'm crossing my fingers to get a chance to work on this car and on the very first BMW between my hands. Kind Regards.

U: Nick Hello there! My name is Nick, I am 22 years old and apparently live quite close to Sreten. It is only about 50 kilometers to Frankfurt from where I live. I study mechanical engineering with emphasis on automobile technology and combustion engines. I love cars and I love handcraft. Sometimes I feel like I was born too late. To my mind, the best cars were build in the past. Especially cars which you can maintain and do work on by yourself. Because that is what I just recently, a few years ago, discovered for myself and I really love it. Unfortunately, my income as a student is not the highest, so my possibilities are not the best. I would be glad to win this beautiful E39 with a masterpiece of an engine and in this way sample the sweet taste of the late 90s. I promise it will be driven appropriate, like a BMW should be - on the German autobahn :) Thank you to all Patreons that vote for me and help my wish come true!

V: Lucian Greetings and salutations! When I see the red primer on the tailgate of this car, it reminds me of the movie “Wheelman”; so why not paint the tailgate red and add an alcantara 3 spoke steering wheel. Neaaaahhh, after all, it’s not an E46 sedan and I, alas, am no Frank Grillo… On a more serious note, what I wish for this touring (whether I get it or not) is to see it age gracefully. Repaint or replace the front bumper and the tailgate, neutralize all the rust points, fix all the leaks, sort out the suspension, troubleshoot and repair the aircon. Last but not least revive the paint, the leather and the wood trim, the elements that constitute the core of what an “Individual” actually means. I’d like it to look dignified in the parking lot of a supermarket among younger sisters such as F11s or G31s (who am I kidding, they’re all crossovers and SUVs now); and I’d like for the younger sisters to look up to it the way we used to look up to some cool adults and say “that’s who I want to be when I grow up”. Clean, discrete, elegant; no 20” wheels, no slammed suspension, no stanced out, pimped out, “glow in the dark” fashion statement, no nonsense. Maybe, just maybe, retrofit cruise control, as it goes with the sole purpose of this wagon: to haul people and luggage in style and comfort. That’s it, best of luck to all the contenders! Lucian from France. P.S. I can’t help but think that maybe you and Timo should choose 10 finalists and only then should we vote; so as not to each vote for his own comment.

W: Shahid Rafique Hello Sreten, hello community! Your enthusiasm and love for BMW has inspired me to start wrenching on my own. I already own an e36 myself which I restored on the technical side. It would be an honor owning a car which was in your hand and in the hands of a fellow patreon, to be part of the philosophy: to keep it OEM! Thank you and everyone :)

X: Adam Polański Hello everyone :) I'm Adam and I live about 40 km from Frankfurt. I come from Poland - I moved about 2 years ago. I've always been a fan of BMW. Unfortunately, when I came to Germany, I had to sell my beloved 540iA E39 Touring (due to differences in regulations - technical inspection, TUV). It was the best car I have ever had. In order to fill the void left by BMW, I bought myself a motorbike, which unfortunately I had an accident on. The bike is not suitable for driving and I had to recover for over half a year. Now I have returned to work, but I am lacking any means of transport. I love working on cars - I do all the repairs myself. When I lived in Poland, I changed my E36 328 gearbox from automatic to manual, and in my friend E39 the engine to a larger one :) I would like to use this E39 on a daily basis - I think it is one of the best BMW models and I know them quite well. Greetings :)

Y: LAD My name is Luis, I'm 19 and I currently study at university near Koblenz. E39s, E46s and other BMWs from this Era are (like all of us probably) my great passion! There's not a single E39 I walk by without checking if it's a stick or not. I owned a beautiful E46 323ci with the prefacelift M52B25 TÜ that I sold to pay for my tuition in the belief I wouldn't need it - I regret this decision with every cell in my body. 
In the two years of owning the E46 I managed to gain a lot of experience in (preventative) maintainance thanks especially to Sreten's channel. Stuff I did on my own includes:
- The clutch
- The cooling system (expansion tank, intercooler, thermostat, hoses)
- All breaks (including fluid, hoses, calipers & wheel hubs)
- The exhaust (due to rust)
- fought with rust
- Small stuff like bulbs and all Fluids
...all using nothing but a carjack.
Basically, I have been through my fair share of blood sweat and tears and I know how to keep a baby like this one up and running. What I would do with the car is visit my girlfriend, who lives in Cologne (1h drive) more often and even take her and her horse to tournaments using the tow hook the car has. 
So that's it! Just another student in search of a beautiful daily driver. It would be an honor. Luis out!
PS: Sentimentally, I thankfully couldn't sell my set of 18" Styling 32s from my E46 and I think that would suit this car beautifully!