Think it has too many miles?

[JoshBowers]

I found a nice 535i 5 Speed, 1993. It has 180K miles on it.

Here is the recent work done:
New upper and lower control arms with 750 bushings
New cooling system (rad, tstat, water pump, hoses)
New suspension - BMA sachs kits
New brakes and rotors (balo with Mintex pads, ATE fluid)
New driveshaft 4 yr warranty remains
New clutch
New windshield
Replaced the HVAC filter
and changed all fluids to synthetic

Seller wants 6K.


What do you think?

[liquidtiger720]

93 5speeds are rare...but 6k...hmm....

[JoshBowers]

93 5speeds are rare...but 6k...hmm....


What do you think would be a fair price? Or would you stay clear?

[TheEndIsNear]

I found a nice 535i 5 Speed, 1993. It has 180K miles on it.

Hell it's barly even broke in... The question should not be 'Does it have to many miles?' the real question is 'Do I want this car?'

[JoshBowers]

Hell it's barly even broke in... The question should not be 'Does it have to many miles?' the real question is 'Do I want this car?'


I thought the same thing... Getting a lot of "No way, stay away" from the house here though.

Trying to get input from people who own the cars... To use for reasoning :) Or to set me straight and tell me to run...

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

he's probably just wants to get free of the ol' girl.

Feel him out, ask how much he spent on the car, and offer a fist full of dollars more.

Bring your check book or better yet a stack of C notes and peal them off as you make an offer.

zzzzzzz you gotta a bite....now reel em in, and drive it home

Good luck

[TheEndIsNear]

Well, I just bought my 1990 525i with 247,000 miles. She has her small problems(see my other postings) but I only paid $2,300 for her. I kept getting the stay away from all the non BMW owners and the quick jump at it from all the long term BMW owners. Just be sure you can work on it yourself or have a fat wallet cuz BMW parts arn't cheap. And shops that dont know what there doing can royaly fu*k your car up.

Josh


I thought the same thing... Getting a lot of "No way, stay away" from the house here though.

Trying to get input from people who own the cars... To use for reasoning :) Or to set me straight and tell me to run...

[TheEndIsNear]

You know, Bob I like your style.

Josh

he's probably just wants to get free of the ol' girl.

Feel him out, ask how much he spent on the car, and offer a fist full of dollars more.

Bring your check book or better yet a stack of C notes and peal them off as you make an offer.

zzzzzzz you gotta a bite....now reel em in, and drive it home

Good luck

[JoshBowers]

Well, I just bought my 1990 525i with 247,000 miles. She has her small problems(see my other postings) but I only paid $2,300 for her. I kept getting the stay away from all the non BMW owners and the quick jump at it from all the long term BMW owners. Just be sure you can work on it yourself or have a fat wallet cuz BMW parts arn't cheap. And shops that dont know what there doing can royaly fu*k your car up.

Josh


I can do some work myself, but I have a good BMW mechanic in the next town over which worked on my 635, and still works on my moms 318is.

I figure around 1K per year for maintenance, which I figure is better than a new Toyota car payment.

[TheEndIsNear]

Sounds like a plan to me, but, I'd work him down on that price... As far as BMW's go the 525i is hands down my fav. And boy does my ex wife look sick everytime she sees me driving it... ;)

Josh


I can do some work myself, but I have a good BMW mechanic in the next town over which worked on my 635, and still works on my moms 318is.

I figure around 1K per year for maintenance, which I figure is better than a new Toyota car payment.

[JoshBowers]

Just don't want to make a big mistake buying a high mile car...

Only other thing I don't like about the car... It's black, with black interior. Cool looking, but not cool driving.

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

and able to do the repairs yourself, then this is the car...

It's a well thought out design with maintenance in mind. (thanks to BMW's aircraft history..No place to pull over in the air)

A joy to work on....

No knuckle busting, just straight forward remove and repair.

[TheEndIsNear]

Yeah, that would kill it for me. I went for the Gold with Tan leather. I never really liked the Black on Black on the 5 series. It's like little sports car colors on a big Sport/Lux auto. But thats just my opinion. Always remember there's a lot of used 5 series BMW's out there. Where are you located?

Josh


Just don't want to make a big mistake buying a high mile car...

Only other thing I don't like about the car... It's black, with black interior. Cool looking, but not cool driving.

[JoshBowers]

I live in Northern California.... the car is in Portland Oregon :( Between the high miles, and black/black color, and the transporting it here, the guy is going to need to come down a bunch... I don't think he will though.

Been looking for a couple months now for a nice 525 or 535. Frustrating at times... Would love a white one with tan interior.

[TheEndIsNear]

I'll agree on that. I started working on it this week and damn I wish my SUV had been this easy. I was unsure of this when I bought this car but now I realize that I made the right choice. I will never own anything other than a BMW again. And aircraft reliability is important, hell it's my industry.

Josh


and able to do the repairs yourself, then this is the car...

It's a well thought out design with maintenance in mind. (thanks to BMW's aircraft history..No place to pull over in the air)

A joy to work on....

No knuckle busting, just straight forward remove and repair.

[TheEndIsNear]

No sh*t, Your just south of me. Im in the seattle area and grew up south of Portland...

Josh


I live in Northern California.... the car is in Portland Oregon :( Between the high miles, and black/black color, and the transporting it here, the guy is going to need to come down a bunch... I don't think he will though.

Been looking for a couple months now for a nice 525 or 535. Frustrating at times... Would love a white one with tan interior.

[TheEndIsNear]

Did you look on craigslist?

Josh


I live in Northern California.... the car is in Portland Oregon :( Between the high miles, and black/black color, and the transporting it here, the guy is going to need to come down a bunch... I don't think he will though.

Been looking for a couple months now for a nice 525 or 535. Frustrating at times... Would love a white one with tan interior.

[JoshBowers]

Yeah I live in Willits, CA... About 5 hours south of the Oregon border.

It's a nice place... But pain in the ass to find a good used car without needing to travel. :)

Here I am on the map... With a pic of my 635 :) May she rest in peace :(

http://www.frappr.com/6seriese24

Most northern marker in CA.


No sh*t, Your just south of me. Im in the seattle area and grew up south of Portland...

Josh

[JoshBowers]

Did you look on craigslist?

Josh

Oh yeah... found a bunch. But they are all on their 5th owner, with no records, sold by dealer... Or I get people who aren't exactly able to communicate well.

Then I come on here, or other sites and read about how people find cars with 100K miles, in great shape, that only needed a windshield and bought it all for under 5K LOL.

Determined to get one though.

[TheEndIsNear]

http://seattle.craigslist.org/car/153404412.html



Did you look on craigslist?

Josh

[Paul in NZ]

if you are determined to get a 535 5 spd this sounds good,cant comment on value,as far as i am concerened
1) it sounds ready for another 180,000 miles
2) black on black is the ONLY choice......
3)Get a windscreen shade and you are good to go...just make sure the A/c is cold,everything works,and get your indy to give the once over from hell.

[Rustam]

I found a nice 535i 5 Speed, 1993. It has 180K miles on it.

Here is the recent work done:
New upper and lower control arms with 750 bushings
New cooling system (rad, tstat, water pump, hoses)
New suspension - BMA sachs kits
New brakes and rotors (balo with Mintex pads, ATE fluid)
New driveshaft 4 yr warranty remains
New clutch
New windshield
Replaced the HVAC filter
and changed all fluids to synthetic

Seller wants 6K.


What do you think?

seems like a nice setup - why sell it?

[ILoveMPower]

Hell it's barly even broke in... The question should not be 'Does it have to many miles?' the real question is 'Do I want this car?'

This guys got the right idea... if you have the money for this I would not pass it up.

My M30 has 176,000 miles and runs like a champion.

[azale]

PM the VIN# to me.

I bought my '94 525i with 191k miles for $4000.

Try to get the price lower, but sounds decent.

[miliue]

Sounds pretty good to me too. I wouldn't buy it without driving it at least. Take a good look at the exhaust and tranny mounts. They'll probably be going bad so you can maybe use that to get the price down a little.

6k seems a bit high to me, but not many people are selling manual 535s so it's a seller's market.

[JoshBowers]

I decided against it.

The price wasn't going to go down much, and between the registration, smog, and having it shipped down here I was looking at another $1,000.00 on top of the 6.

Plus whatever else needed to be fixed...

The interior being black was a big deal killer, it gets around 95-105 degrees here, a black car is awful in that kind condition.

So.. $7,000 for a car I can't even test drive, not the best idea.

If other people want to look at it, here it is http://portland.craigslist.org/car/153246319.html


Sounds pretty good to me too. I wouldn't buy it without driving it at least. Take a good look at the exhaust and tranny mounts. They'll probably be going bad so you can maybe use that to get the price down a little.

6k seems a bit high to me, but not many people are selling manual 535s so it's a seller's market.