Phoenix Rising... 🔥🔥🔥

I have been asked a number of times about my E39 Sport Wagon - "Phoenix II" (Yeah, I name my cars!), so I thought it would be fun to share the story of my 2003 BMW 525iT. What's so special about this under powered old gal? Well, one of the most special things about her is that she is Imola Red.

Yep! Came from the team in Dingolfing in glorious Imola Red. Oh..... and to boot, she was actually a factory test car in her first life. Here is her story of how I acquired her and what's she's been up to.... what she HASN'T been up to recently, which is being driven.

Back in 2016, I had the fun adventure of driving an Imola Red 2000 BMW M5 across the United States. It was quite a fun adventure, you can read about it here: Roving Red M5. This was Phoenix I 😊 Soon after I got back from my trip, sometime in October of the same year I sadly wrecked and totaled that M5 - quite literally 2 miles from home. It was a sad loss indeed.

Click the image if you'd like to find out more about this car / trip.

Then in December of 2016, while I was idly surfing Craigslist, I came across Bright Red E39 Wagon for sale. I was certain I was looking at an Imola Red Wagon, but I knew that was near impossible, especially here in the States. Also, it was equipped like a bona fide M-Sport Wagon with sports bumpers and NLA roof spoiler and even ///M5 Style 65 Wheels.

I distinctly remember it being a Sunday evening, so early Monday morning the next day, I reached out to the seller. He provided me the VIN number and I pulled up the build sheet. Sure enough, it was Imola Rot! OH MY! What were the chances of this. I had to try to acquire. This seemed like a perfect replacement for Phoenix I, the M5 I sadly wrecked.

Apparently, the story of this car is that it was once a BMW Factory test car and then a show / display car. It acquired by a Stateside Dealer after it was done with factory duties and ended up in California. I was actually able to confirm it's origins with BMW AG. I will touch on that later. Back to our story.

I set up a time to go see AND buy this car. It was located close to Monterey, about a 2-3 hour drive away. I didn't care, I had to go check this thing out before other mad BMW enthusiasts like me got sight of it. The Seller informed me he was waiting on the title as he recently purchased the car himself for his wife. Apparently, luckily for me, she didn't really like it - Whooo Hooo!

I had to wait about three weeks for the title to be in his hand as he preferred to do a straight forward sale. I still went down to see the car. I immediately offered to buy it, he however still asked me to wait for the title. I offered him a deposit on the car which he declined. This is where I love the gear head community though. He gave me his word I would be the first he would call once the title arrived, I would have first right of refusal. Many thanks to him, he kept his word and weeks later I received that call to come get her! I headed down with my dear friend Dave, but the traffic was horrendous and he had places to be. I didn't want to miss out on the opportunity to get this car, so he dropped me off at a local U-Haul and off I went with U-Haul truck and car transporter. This Gal had to be mine!

I picked "Phoenix II" (Once I took possession, she got her name) up and headed home. This is where I get to confess that she had a perfectly complete bumper when i picked her up. I must have been so tired when I got back that I managed to get her front bumper caught on the darn U-Haul dolly bump stops, I damaged it unloading the car - AAARGGGH!!!!

Anyway, I got her home in otherwise one piece, and have had fun adventures with her since then. She has had some surgery done... LOL! I actually found Red Duct tape would you believe it? HAH!

Can Ya Spot the Red Duct Tape?!?! 🙄🙄🙄

She has also had her side mirrors swapped for M5 Mirrors and got a front splitter. I replaced her front seats with E38 Sports Contour seats and she has served as the nominal DINAN Crew Wagon here and there and now wears 19' DINAN Champion wheels.

In addition to her current 19' DINAN Champion Wheels, we had a couple mis-adventures with other wheels too! LOL! 😝😝😝

I was also able to update her interior with Imola / Black door panels, thanks to her predecessor - Phoenix I.

In the time I have had her, she has also attended some Car shows and served as a DINAN Booth car, she has also served as a Liqui-Moly model.

She even got to hang out with newer generation siblings at DINAN when they were still in Morgan Hill.

Along the way, she has also mode some pretty cool friends here and there.

She also got to hang with siblings past and present.

Her Sibling in this picture has a fascinating story as well. Click the picture to find out more.

She hasn't been driven much lately, like any ole high mileage BMW, she has been throwing codes and Check Engine lights - BMW Life! I have been toying with the possibility of doing an S62 M5 swap with her, but alas those as donor cars have sky rocketed in price. I am also wondering if swapper her would loose some of her originality and uniqueness from the factory.

Here with her current look and 19' Champions

Shortly after I got her, I reached out to BMW AG to see if they had any history on the car. Sure enough they did. Not much as it was a "Classic" car now, I guess a polite way of telling me she was an old car! LOL! Nonetheless, they were very kind in giving me some information about her. She started life out apparently as a test vehicle for the Radio Testing department. That might explain some of the stereo set up in her. Here is the letter I received from BMW:

January 12th, 2017

Dear Mr. Oxxxx,

Thank you for your messaged dated December 6th. Please excuse the delay in replying while we were investigating your concern.

Due to the age of the car we only have very limited information on the history of your BMW 525i. The car was taken over directly from the factory by the respective BMW department for radio testing. This is why the car was manufactured with the specification “S916 Development Vehicle w/o Conservation” as no conservation for shipping was necessary.

Unfortunately this is all we were able to find out. We do not have any information on the history of the car after it was sold by BMW due to data protection laws.

We hope we were able to clarify your car history a bit and we would like to wish you enjoyable driving with your BMW 525i.

Best regards,

Verena Dxxxxxx

--

BMW Group Verena Dxxxxx

International Feedback Management (IFM Team)

Prospect and Customer Experience Management (BD-31)

Hanauer Str. 46 80992 München

Postal address:

80788 München

The letter also confirmed and clarified the plaque on the strut tower in the engine bay. First time I'd ever seen one on a BMW.

I am not sure what the next chapter is in her story, maybe a swap eventually? I once toyed with the idea of swapping her to a DINAN S/C 540i Wagon, but I wasn't able to acquire the donor for that idea. At the moment, she is being your typical old high mileage BMW, so sort that out first and then decide where to go from there.

Whatever the case, I am sure there are more adventures ahead of us. I'll be sure to keep you all posted.

Cheers!