Thinking of buying 1992 525i..need some feedbacks

[gj1968]

Hi,

Im new to this forum. I test drove today a 1992 525i automatic transmission Burgundy color with tan interior . Car is in New Jersey and has spent its entire life here. The car has 151K miles on it. Seller is asking $3900 but I was able to bring it down to $3100. He is the second owner of the car ; owned it since May 2005. Reason for selling is he is going to Maryland for his internship. Carfax checked good exept for a left front impact with a parked car back in 1998. Average mileage per year is 11K. I need a daily driver car and especially with winter season starting I do not want to use my recently bought 2002 530i for daily driving.

The 525i car drives fine..but unfortunately Im not a car expert so it is really hard to say whether something is wrong with it. I have driven manual cars for years and this is the first automatic I will be owning so I dont know what to expect as far as transmission goes. It starts well and it has been pretty cold this morning.. about 40 degrees F.

The 2nd owner do not have any records except he just brought the car this month to a BMW dealership because it wouldnt start. Turned out that it needs a new battery which was replaced. Also the dealership replaced the coolant level sensor. He showed me the receipt.

I don't know if this means anything but the service indicator light still have 3 solid green lights. The only service he did for the car is an engine oil change and he claims he used synthetic oil for it.

The exterior looks clean except the rear bumper has several deep scratches going down to the primer of the bumper. The interior looks clean for its age and surprisingly the leather seats look clean and no tear. The vanity lights are not working and there is a warning to check washer fluid level. He claimed this is one of the annoying problems which he really didnt bother fixing.

Now my questions. Is $3100 a fair price to offer? I run KBB and for a fair quality car from a pvt seller , asking price at this condition is $3300. I really dont care about the aesthetic looks but maybe down the road I might change the rear bumper. Is there a way to buy a rear bumper and install it? Mechanically/electrically I don't have any clue how reliable the 1992 525. It is such a high mileage car that I am afraid I might be buying the wrong car. But I just dont want to go back driving another Japanese car since I got my 530i. The feel of a BMW is just too impressive.

If I decide to buy this car what maintainance should I do immediately? Can I use the same tires/wheels that my 530i uses? They are 17 inch I believe. Thank you for reading my post and I appreciate any feedbacks. Im sorry for such a long post.

[Mendozart]

Check out www.bmwe34.net. Go to the what will break and maintenance sections to get a feel for problems with this car. If the car has been maintained it's a pretty reliable car.

[Charlie Yuan]

Hi I used to have a 1991 525 Automatic, it was a very reliable car for the 4 plus years that I have owned her, you need to check the rust spots under all the door trim, being a northern car all its life, I think you may find some rust there, also make sure the automatic shift smothly, a trany rebuilt will cost you 2-3 G. I sold my 91 525 in NJ for $3,400 last year before moving to VA, and she had 176,000 miles, so I think the price is good. just my 2 cents

[gj1968]

I had the car pre-inspected by a BMW independent shop. This is what they found out:

1. The radiator has a slight leak because instead of the plastic bleed screw, a metal screw was used in its place. Can the bleed screw be just replaced or a new radiator is in order?

2. The transmission is working fine except there is leaking in it. Could be an expensive job ? THe shop that I had the ppi doesnt do transmission so they cant give me an estimate.

3. Left tire rod and center track are bent.

4. The defroster on passenger side needs to be fix.

Overall cost without the transmission leak fix will be close to $1500 including a new radiator installed. THe car itself drives well; engine; shocks and brakes are working fine. I tried to haggle the price down but the seller is firm at $3100. Should I bother with this or just skip it and find another car?

[Guapo]

I have the identical car. '92 525 Burgandy on tan.

I bought mine with 133k a few months ago for $3300 and have put maybe another $700 in maintenance items in it to freshen things up.

I cannot speak to reliability since I have not had it for very long, but I am finding myself loving the car. It is a pure joy to drive and ride in. My wife loves driving it, and for the money spent, we couldn't be happier. It still has a few niggling things to work out, but I chalk it up to age and character.

Also, I come from 300ZX's, so I may be jaded a bit about difficulity of maintenance, but the E34 is actually FUN to work on. BMW designed it with maintenance in mind, and I can see it in little details the more time I spend under and in the car. Parts can be had fairly inexpensively from a number of online vendors, so if you're the DIY type, it's really not that expensive to maintain.

If you're looking for something that might need a little TLC, but will pay dividends in day to day fun, I can't think of a better bargain.

[Jay 535i]

If it drives well, it's well worth that money. The first few months may cost you a couple grand as you gradually discover and fix the little niggles the previous owner deferred, but after that you'll get years of fine German motoring. For the price of six months' lease payments on a new 330i :)

[Gayle]

The price sounds fair. We sold our 90 525 with 200k for $4600 but we are in So Cal and you are required to have a bmw to get citizenship so the market is better here.

The engine won't die and everything else will. You were directed to the what will break list. It is absolutely true. IMHO it takes $2,000 per year to keep a bmw that is out of warranty on the road. It really doesn't matter whether it is going to the transmission or something else. There will be something. And driving an e34 is worth every penny of the $2000. You just have to accept the fact and not freak out that you bought a lemon. It is just what these cars do.

Since your major concern is the transmission, I would suggest you do a search on "transmission leak" or just "tranmission". Transmission leak will get you 61 threads of reading delight and transmission will get you 500 threads. After a little time digesting this plethora of information you should be in a very good position to make your decision. You might also want to do a search on "bleed screw".

[BMWDriver]

I had a good deal on mine I just bought. Had to have the exhaust changed, plus add winter tyres, change 3 broken headlights and the mechanic fixed other odd things. All for a total of 2300$ canadian (I figure around 1500-1700$ US). There is something to come next : the suspension - some knocking, nothing critical my trusty BMW expert Austrian mechanic says.

To me it's well worth it and expected. Even with the high mileage, the body is in superb condition, and the engine sounds like a jewel to me. There are minor cosmetic problems to it that I will have fun fixing myself. And I'm also looking to change the radio and amplifier, although I have not made my mind up wether to get a stock BMW used radio, or go for something brand new. The amp is giving me problems and the tape deck doesn't play. But I have the CD changer, a feature I really like.

So I agree, expect maintenance to be done, and fear not. It's a great car. But most important, I would say, find a mechanic you know you can trust.

[gj1968]

Thanks for all the info. I found another 525iA. It has 125K on it. MY 1991. I think this car is much better than the 1992 that I was considering since it has a lower mileage, more mechanically sound, and everything on the interior is working. Recently had the alternator replaced, transmission and differential fluid changed.

Things that this car need are: new paint job and repair the dent on the hood, shock needs tightening since it is making some noise on the front right . Seller claims these are new shocks he himself installed, possibly new radiator down the road since it is still has the original radiator and a wheel alignment.

For $2700 I think I will go and buy this car. Oh by the way it is a green colored exterior. Anyone knows what color the leather on this 1991 525iA with green exterior or can point me to a site where I can find BMW color combo for this MY ? The seller is describing it as champagne but looks beige to me. I need to know the leather color because I want to buy some dye to restore the seats. I already did a google search and could not find this info.

[Gayle]

Lower mileage is not necessarily better. The period pre-100k is not kind to these cars. All the stuff that breaks on american cars at 60-70k breaks at 90-110k on these cars.

Paint in not good shape is not a good thing. Paint is the most expensive repair possible. The general theory here is to find a car that has the body in the best shape possible and then just deal with the other crap that breaks by fixing it yourself.

The cars come up for sale in waves. None and then floods of them. You will find the perfect one if you can be patient.