Finally, the pictures of my first bimmer

[e34musician]

Picked her up 3 weeks ago. Gave her new O2 sensors (1221 code now gone!), new air filter, new fuel filters, new upper & lower oil pan gaskets, new real main seal (no more oil leak!), new ATF pan gasket and filter, new fan clutch, new cabin filter, new hood emblem.

With the real main seal job, my indy also drained the old ATF from touqe converter. We got ~5 qts out total, but we were able to put ~7.5 qtrs in (Mobile 1). It shifts and engages very smooth now.

I ended up paying more than I expected. I may have bought a high-mile E39 with the price I paid. But the car is very clean in & out (only 1 little door ding and that's it). I'm also lucky to find this indy (a friend of a friend). The charge is very reasonable. He also let me bring my own parts. I don't think I will see him for a while. I will drain and fill the rear diff oil my self next weekend.

I like the wider grill of E34, 530i/540i. It really makes the car look much newer considering its production year.

PS: don't blame me for the M badge the PO had it on. It looks pretty nice, but I may remove it pretty soon.

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[Fetch]

Ooo, nice, you've given it a nice little 'tune-up' too so far!

[SC David]

After all that work it sounds like it should be going for a while without many problems. Although the parts and labor were expensive, at least you'll get to enjoy all the work that was put into it, and know that you likely saved another nice clean car.

[Alexlind123]

Looks great!

[e34musician]

Ooo, nice, you've given it a nice little 'tune-up' too so far!

Thanks. I forgot that I also changed the spark plugs (bosch OEM, 2, 2 connectors). The old plugs tell that the engine is still in very good shape.

[Macv]

White always looks good.

OT: SC David, your sig looks like a diecast model ;) GREAT picture

[SC David]

White always looks good.

OT: SC David, your sig looks like a diecast model ;) GREAT picture
Thanks! I'll post up the high res ones from the shoot later this week.

[Evan]

sweet!

[KenB]

Nice, I like your wheels too.;)

[Denton]

Nice!

I'm 90% sure I'll be picking up an identical-looking E34 in a week!

Congrats...so clean!

[e34musician]

Nice, I like your wheels too.;)

Yeah, they are very easy to clean and look pretty good on any E34. They come with the car when I bought it. I was actually about to buy a new set of 2005, 530i 17" stock rims and tires for it (found a good deal on craigslist), but I had to fix other more important problems first. Will stick with these 15" wheels for a while :)

[Denton]

You mind telling how much you paid? :)

Or a close ballpark at least?

[winfred]

high mile e39s suck money way more then high mile e34s, id take a average e34 over a bitchen e39 any day


I ended up paying more than I expected. I may have bought a high-mile E39 with the price I paid.

[e34musician]

high mile e39s suck money way more then high mile e34s, id take a average e34 over a bitchen e39 any day

Thank the grand master! You make me feel even better with my purchase decision. I sold my sluggish 95' Volvo 850 GLT and bought this E34.

After all the tune-up works, I merge into a freeway without realizing that I'm already at 80mph :) This is the fastest stock car that I've own! Also, the 5 spd auto really helps the MPG on the freeway (only ~2400rpm at 80mph). Very smooth and quite V8 engine on the free way. Road noise is very very low, much better compared to my wife 02 Honda CR-V. I love this car!

[94_e34_525i]

What size are those wheels?

[e34musician]

You mind telling how much you paid? :)

Or a close ballpark at least?

I paid $5,800 for the car (very clean with check engine light on #1221 - I proved this with a stomp test that I learn from this forum). It has new drive belt, new water pump and radiator, new break. Suspension is tight. The tires are good. The rims are new with very little scratch. Interior are in good condition. Everything is clean including the engine bay. Clean carfax (CA car). I didn't know about the oil leak until a week later (lesson to learn here). So I spend ~1,700 part & labor total for oil leak fix, CEL fix, fan clutch and other tuneups. Total ~7,500. I don't expect anything else needed other than regular fluid / break service (which I will do it myself) for another 30K. I will be driving ~30 miles a day from now. We will see ...

I could have talked it down a bit lower, if I detected the oil leak. But anyway, for some reason KBB on this particular car is very high ~8.5K in my area (I'm in the bay area). You may want to check edmunds.com for the 'real' market value of the car (it shows ~5,900 for mine).

Bottom line, I know I may not have the best deal here. But I know now that I have a very clean and reliable car to drive for at least 30K without a big service bill.

[e34musician]

What size are those wheels?

15" rims with 225/60/15 tires on them.

[Denton]

Nice. You learned your lesson about getting a car professionally inspected before purchase. I've learned that lesson the hard way too.

Your car is really clean; I'd rather pay a bit more for a clean E34 than spend a ton of $$$ restoring an abused one.

At least your lowers have been painted. :)

Shadowline it!

[CarloE34]

Verry nice car indeed.Good luck with it.

[saj3n]

Nice! I like it! I'd suggest a leak down test as well... shouldn't be more than $120. Everything else sounds great! :)

[ILoveMPower]

At least your lowers have been painted

As far as I know, 95's come with painted lower panels.

[e34musician]

As far as I know, 95's come with painted lower panels.

Mine is 94'. Yeah, the lower was painted by PO. And that makes the car look much newer.

[Atl530i]

Nice car. I like the white.

[Thayne]

Looks great! :D

[Thayne]

As far as I know, 95's come with painted lower panels.


Correct.

[e34musician]

Nice car. I like the white.

Thanks! I do too :D I actually searched specifically for a white low-mile E34. I can't wait to drive her to work again tomorrow. My friend at work simply don't believe my car is 12 year old!