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QUESTION: Yeah, I put that in all caps. I'm in the market for a replacement daily driver. So I noticed there are three types of BMWs for sale: a)New BMWs b)Used BMWs with less than 65,000 miles on them c)Used BMWs with more than 143,000 miles on them I think someone who doesn't have any kids or grandkids of driving age has to die for thier BMW with 66,000-143,000 miles on it to go on the market. Are BMWs just so reliable that people refuse to sell them until they hit 144,000 miles? What happens at 144K that causes people to sell so quickly? I remember the magic number for old RX-7s was 189K as the apex seals were always about ready to blow. I noticed a few posts up that someone keeps smashing up their cars and buying BMWs with 144,000 miles and has no problems with them. Is it pretty common to drive these 144K BMWs till they die/get too expensive to maintain? It sounds like that magic number floats between 220,000 and 250,000 miles. It's a little frightening to see another 12 year old 3 series for $7,000 with 172,000 miles on it on craigslist every three days or so. *somebody* has to be buying these cars... Is a 145,000 mile 1997 BMW a safe bet for a daily driver? What major expenses will I see between 145 and 220K miles? Any links to other excellent "So you wanna buy a beater bimmer" threads? Hadlock fucked around with this message at 00:35 on Mar 29, 2008 |
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Mar 29, 2008 00:30
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miklm posted:Beyond a certain few models, that's not universally true. The E30 didn't really have cooling issues, but the timing belts need attention at about the same interval. The main cars with cooling issues are E36, but that's also possibly the most common BMW being purchased by enthusiasts on the cheap these days so you hear about it the most. What the hell is so bad about the E36 cooling system?
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Mar 29, 2008 02:37
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Is $5000 for a previously leased (leased twice, 3 year lease and then leased a second time and continiously owned by the lease company) 1995 bmw with 104K miles a decent deal? Interior/Exterior looks flawless and carfax shows it was rear ended within 6 months of bought new. 325i 5 spd, 4 door, black with grey interior. What should I look/listen for (watch out for) in particular? The clutch seems like the obvious wear part.
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Dec 26, 2008 05:38
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What's the low end for a CLEAN E36 these days in a major city (DALLAS)? 4 door, good paint, no collision damage, cold AC etc. Is $3600 really too low to ask for a clean E36 in this economy? That's a hefty chunk of change for a car with 180K miles, even if the cars are good for another 40-60k. Edit: asking what the city price is. I'm aware you can knock off $1000 if you're willing to drive 3 hours to the country to look at one.
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Oct 27, 2010 06:37
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It's the car I always wanted, and now it's MINE. 1997 E39 528i 5 speed 151K miles. Flawless interior, only thing that's wrong is the rear passenger cupholders. Whatever features were available, I'm pretty sure this has it. I didn't know you could get heated steering wheels. Flew to Austin, test drove, bought and drove back to dallas yesterday. Somewhere along the line the headlights ("angel eyes") and tailights got swapped out for the 2001 refresh designs. On the drive back I thought the transmission tunnel was getting hot. I finally realized that even though the AC was blowing, the floor vent by the gas pedal was blowing hot air. Weird. Also it sounds like it needs the belt/tensioner pulley replaced. What's the go-to forum for E39 fix it stuff?
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Nov 1, 2010 02:46
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Are short shift kits worthwhile on an e39? Shifting into 1st and 5th (and reverse, but that's expected) is met with some additional resistance I'd like to get rid of. Would that solve the problem? Also: selling a shift kit that's 10% the value of a car ($400+ kit on a $4000 car) seems slightly insane (even accounting for the BMW tax). Even if that plastic ball wears out in 2 years, you could still buy ten low end ones for the cost of an UUC shift kit.
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Nov 4, 2010 06:32
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My E39's throttle appears to be an on/off switch. Does anyone know if this is a common problem? The throttle seems to stick between "just below maintaining speed" and "80% throttle" - the throttle inbetween that is either sticking, or is all within 3/4" of pedal travel. While the on/off switch stuff is fun, I have a 30 min commute each way to work 5 days a week, 25 of which is bumper to bumper stop and go traffic with a manual transmission 
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Nov 11, 2010 07:46
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stump posted:Your car might have the DBW throttle that adjusts to your driving style? Resetting it wouldn't hurt, although I doubt that's what it is. Upon further reading it looks like they switched to drive by wire in 2000-2001, after my car was built. It's definitely worth a shot though. Thanks! televiper posted:Could your throttle body be gunked up with carbon? Quite possibly. The car came from California where gas is stupid expensive, who knows if the lower octane gas he might have put in there had some effect on it. I'll have to take a look at it tomorrow. Maybe a stuck throttle cable guide wheel somewhere? Once you get over that "hump", throttle response is spot-on from 50-100%. Definitely a direction I need to look into. Thanks!  Also: Turned off the ASC/Traction control tonight, got the back end to break out smoothly and let the wheels sing for the first time. Big grins coming from someone whos always owned FWD cars before. Safety first and always have to be careful, especially on public roads, but two weeks in and I am a very happy customer.
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Nov 12, 2010 06:28
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evobatman posted:Buy a Carsoft kit from Dealxtreme and check/delete the ABS error codes (this will cost you less than ONE code deletion at a shop). Disconnect the battery overnight and see what happens. Thanks for the handy tip! Ordering one monday. awesome-express posted:1998 E39 Triangle: Check your ABS sensors, yaw sensor under passenger seat Slow steering: Sounds like your hydraulic assist (aka power steering) is out of hydraulic fluid (aka power steering fluid) and has a leak.
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Nov 13, 2010 03:24
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wallaka posted:They've been making water pumps basically the same way for 60 years now, I don't think there is some special technology involved here. Unless by "special technology" you mean lovely plastic impellers to save a buck. A water pump shouldn't cost more than a full aluminum radiator for the same car. Well the market for M car parts is pretty limited. For example, they only made 5,500 M5s in 1998. From 1997-2003 They only made 22,000 M5s. Even if every car had survived to this day (opposed to being totaled) and replaced theirs with an aftermarket part, the total number of water pumps made for M5s for six years is only 22,000. My company is in the process of designing and manufacturing a $400 sheet metal item (retail cost) and the first run of 800 widgets including engineering, tooling and materials is going to run us over $80,000. Add in shipping from China and customs and it's over $100,000. That's just for a simple sheet metal widget you can design in 2D autocad designed to sit against the wall in an office at room temperature. The most complex part on it is the casters, and we buy those from someone else. This is a 3D cast metal part that has to be machined, smoothed, bolt to another 3D object (probably the block of an M5 engine, which are both a) expensive and b) hard to find). Not to mention the engine changed a few times in that time period as well. On top of that, it's expected to work in temperatures from -20F to 260F while bouncing over pot holes etc. So yeah, if you sunk $100,000 into developing and manufacturing a part for a very limited market and didn't expect to make back your money in the first three years, you'd be charging a whole lot too. If this were a water pump for say, a Corolla where they make a million cars a year with the exact same water pump on the same engine for 2-4 years at a time, then I would definitely agree with you. Hadlock fucked around with this message at 04:50 on Nov 19, 2010 |
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Nov 19, 2010 04:46
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I would greatly expand your search radius and consider flying to look at some better cars if you are seriously considering buying that car for anywhere near the asking price. Yes, it has excellent maint. history, but keep in mind you are paying $5000 for a 23 year old car. That same money will buy you a 1996 3 series with the same mileage in Dallas, which doesn't salt their roads.
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Nov 19, 2010 05:23
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540s tend to chew up transmissions around the 80-120k mark so that is due, if it hasn't already been replaced. I bought an E39 three weeks ago with 20K more miles and 4 more years on it than yours for a little less than half that price and have been very happy with my purchase. more info on V8 e39 transmission issues (5mb pdf) edit: now with working link Hadlock fucked around with this message at 04:05 on Nov 23, 2010 |
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Nov 23, 2010 03:39
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hawaiian_robot posted:
That looks suspiciously like the radio remover tool holes on my 1994 Ford Explorer  $3 online, but I fashioned mine out of an old coat hanger and some wire cutters. Push in the holes and "pull" them apart. Then pull the whole radio unit forward. Will probably take a few tries to get it right. Hadlock fucked around with this message at 09:02 on Dec 1, 2010 |
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Dec 1, 2010 08:59
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Does anyone know anything about BMW angel eyes? It looks like every headlamp for every model that had (has?) it uses a different lighting system for the angel eye part. I have a 1998 model 5 series (E39) but apparently use the 2000-forward headlights. For some reason the angel eyes aren't working. Google isn't much help unless you want them to change colors or strobe or weird poo poo like that. I just want mine to work. Before you say "just replace the bulbs" - they're custom (I think) and cost $23 each, and that's for the off brand. I pulled my bulbs (gingerly, after finding out what they cost) and they look brand new to me. Both the reflector looks super clean, and the red rubber gasket has no typical engine bay grime accumulated on it yet. What a new, $23 parking light costs:  So does anyone have any ideas on where else to look for why my parking lights/angel eyes aren't working? I could have sworn they worked (although dimly) when I drove the car off the lot Oct 30th. Car just passed inspection in August so surely they were working then.
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Dec 5, 2010 02:17
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Just ordered a licence plate frame and a new set of hood/trunk emblems, officially making this BMW the first car I didn't buy something for that wasn't needed to pass inspection/drive to the nearest service station.
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Dec 9, 2010 09:11
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vettenyy posted:I'm going to look at a 2000 528i 5 speed with every intention to buy it. I need something that doesn't get the 12.5mpg of my pickup. It's got 149k miles on it. E39s are pretty solid cars as long as you don't buy a 540 auto. Check out the E39 buyers guide. (5mb pdf)
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Dec 11, 2010 06:29
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The Amputee House posted:Anyone have any input on this: http://www.usedvictoria.com/classified-ad/1989-BMW-325is-e30_13523300 I wouldn't pay more than $4000 for a BMW older than 1996 unless it had the letter "M" in the model number or was a Vorshlag E30 V8 transplant. Even if you have to buy a one way ticket to Dallas to buy a reasonably priced BMW and drive it home, it's still cheaper, you'll have a vastly newer car, and is going to have less rust.
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Dec 14, 2010 05:46
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BrokenKnucklez posted:How easy is to throw the 6 disc CD changer into my E39? A simple plug and play job or am I opening a can of worms? The E39 is all plug and play for 1997-2003. You can swap a 2003 gps in dash nav unit in, as well as an MP3 CD supporting 6 cd changer and it'll all work together. Very flexible design. Or so I've read. Be sure and check out the e39 in dash ipod kit for $150. Seems like a better deal/more modern. https://vimeo.com/10701003
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Dec 18, 2010 03:37
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Cojawfee posted:Anyways, I bought a 2007 328i on Monday. But I'm sure you people don't care what with your E30s and your 2002s. Maybe we need a "Classic" (e30 and earlier) thread and a modern BMW thread (post OBD-I?). I've been thinking about it for a couple of weeks now, and I think e30s and their cousins are going to be some of the favored "classic cars" of the generation born in the 1980s and early 90's - who are just now getting to the point in their lives that they can afford a "fun" car or a second sporty project car. Most of the cars we grew up in, being driven around by our parents to soccer games were junky first generation front wheel drive cars that fell apart right after the 50K warranty ran out. E30s are one of the few cars still surviving to this day, built in the 80s that were both rwd cars and were available in a manual transmission - two requirements to become a desirable enthusiast car.
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Dec 24, 2010 06:56
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How many miles on the E31? Or did you mention it and I missed it?
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Jan 4, 2011 04:26
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Anyone know anything about adding an oil temp readout to my E39? My old '96 Jetta had oil temp in addition to outside temp/avg mpg/avg spd and I really miss having that.
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Jan 6, 2011 05:12
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SiGmA_X posted:Those ones don't count as car's There's no apostrophe in cars 
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Jan 8, 2011 07:47
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EvilMoFo posted:The 5 series is at ~175k ... I noticed that my E39 5 speed is occasionally (30% of the time?) grinding gears on the 4-3 downshift and the 5-3 downshifts, any thoughts on this? Are synchros effected by MTX fluid in any way? I've never had issues with grinding on downshifts on my previous 3 mtx cars.
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Jan 13, 2011 08:48
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wallaka posted:I'm located in Montgomery, Alabama and there's exactly one E39 M5 for sale within 300 miles of me. It has 115,000 miles and unknown maintenance history. That's the most important issue I have with them: I don't want a 100,000 mile M-car unless there are records that typical preventative maintenance has been done. I do see many of them for a good bit more than $20k. My purchase of a 5 series over the 3 series was mostly based on the fact that if the original owners could afford the thing in the first place, they probably took at least average, if not above average care of their cars. If you can find a one owner 5 series you're still taking a bit of a gamble, but the quality of the vehicle is very much more in your favor than if you bought a 3 series that was bought new by a 28 year old guy, tore it to shreds and then sold it to two more owners who proceeded to redline the engine within minutes of a cold start every morning. CornHolio posted:Welp. The underside of the oil filler cap looks like a milkshake but it's done that all three winters I've had the car and I've been told by multiple people that it's normal. That's normal if you have coolant in your oil Where did you hear this about that being normal? My first car was a Neon which has the coolant pump cast into the block and I have many many memories of seeing pictures of other people's cars with milkshake oil due to a ruptured coolant pump. Maybe it is normal, but that's the first I've ever heard of it.
Hadlock fucked around with this message at 03:18 on Feb 10, 2011 |
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Feb 10, 2011 03:14
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Depends on if it's a chocolate or vanilla milkshake. Chocolate = normal, vanilla = disaster in progress from what I understand  Click here for the full 800x600 image.
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Feb 10, 2011 05:06
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In a few weeks it will be summer (I live in Texas) and I am the proud owner of a black 1998 BMW with Black Leather that spent most of it's time in SoCal. I picked up some of those Meguiar's leather "cleaning and conditioning" wipes at the auto parts store for $10 which are ok, but the actual seating surface of the driver's seat is getting to the point where it looks like it might be forming a crack and/or start chipping in 6-8 months time, especially given Texas' weeklong 100+ in the shade June-September. What's the skinny on leather care? When I google for Real Information, google just returns a bunch of lovely sites with people trying to sell me magic Is there some magical, 9 step, 3 week leather conditioning process from Zaino I need to know about? I don't think it's possible to return them to factory condition, but I might have a chance at factory condition + 5 years. And B) Who still makes real, quality car wax? All I can find around here is carwax goo. It seems a hard wax like traditional turtle wax would be more durable. My dad used to use that stuff all the time but he passed away and now I can't find it locally anymore. I guess the goo is just that much easier to use?
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Feb 15, 2011 03:29
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Sterndotstern posted:This is truth. Spend the $60 or whatever and get the rejuvenation and cleaning kit. Personally, I'd recommend getting 2x as much cleaner as rejuvenator as you'll be using it more often. This is what my driver's side seat looks like. 12 years old and 156,000 miles. The other three seats, I'm pretty sure have 8 hours of use between the three of them combined and otherwise the entire interior looks brand new. Does this look salvageable?  Sterndotstern posted:Detailing 101: You live in Texas, What you need is called sealant. My car's paint is pretty flawless, however there are some light scratches that show up on the driver's side under direct light. Is this something sealant can help with? If they can make the car look as good as in the link you posted for $300, where do I sign up?? Does he do headlights too?  And here's a reminder to myself why I dump money into this pit  :
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Feb 16, 2011 07:33
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help "eliminate" scratches and swirl marks
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Hadlock posted:This is what my driver's side seat looks like. 12 years old and 156,000 miles. The other three seats, I'm pretty sure have 8 hours of use between the three of them combined and otherwise the entire interior looks brand new. Does this look salvageable? So I bought a 16oz bottle of the Leatherique Rejuvenatior (as suggested in the thread) and I am on day four of applying oil and letting it sit in the sun (it's about 75F outside during the day here), but the seating surface of the driver's seat still feels flat and like cardboard. It has some minor surface cracks, but the seating surface still feels like it would split or crack if I were to put a knee in it, reaching across to the passenger seat (which happened with my old VW Jetta). I've been applying it with a rag (suggests that on the bottle) but their website and the vanishingly few youtube videos all suggest/show people using spray bottles (usually for the Pristine Clean). Do I need to switch to a spray bottle or sponge? 4oz per seat seems like a LOT of oil.
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Mar 5, 2012 20:53
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AlternateAccount posted:Please keep us updated on this, mine is in about the same shape and I am not entirely sure what to do with it. Here's a shot of the freshly oiled seat. Keep in mind that these photos are about 14 months and 10,000 miles apart. If nothing else, for $30 it really improves the appearance of the interior, and using a rag it pulls all sorts of crap and dirt out (my once clean application rag is loving disgusting looking now), so those sorts of marketing claims appear to be true. Sorry about the lighting/shadows, but the interior of the car is covered in oil and I don't feel like sitting in that right now.  I think I might just go down to the dollar store and pick up a spray bottle for a dollar, it's worth a shot (or spray, in this case). Here's a video of it's pliancy, compared to "new leather" or even the leather in my friend's jeep grand cherokee it's really stiff. I don't know what I should expect, but "glove leather soft" is probably unrealistic at this point.
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Mar 5, 2012 21:47
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Sterndotstern posted:There are two possibilities here: 1) Well it's a black car with black interior in the sun, and it's about 73F right now; it's not 110F but it's at least 92-95F. Absorbtion is definitely happening, it goes from slimy to tacky to smooth in about 2 hours. 2) I... I think this may be the case. The leather grain mysteriously disappears right at the worst part of the seat. That center area also has a slightly odd texture to it. I guess whoever had it repaired caught it in time before something catastrophic happened, but I guess that part is unrepairable now?
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Mar 5, 2012 22:06
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Lowclock posted:Are you sure there's not some kind of occupancy sensor or seat heater under that panel that might make it feel harder? There are heaters in both the driver and passenger seats, but on close inspection, the passenger seat doesn't look anything like the driver's seat (pictured). I'll give it another couple rub downs and see if I can't get some improvement. The rest of the seats look brand new.
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Mar 6, 2012 05:39
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BMW ships CKD kits to Egypt and China as well, and at least 3 other countries. The parts are mfg in Germany though, I think.
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Mar 6, 2012 18:20
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Is this going to buff out? Some 35 year old "temporary driver" from another country (doesn't even speak english!!  ) swerved in to my lane. Mostly tire rub, but there's a streak where they ground through the clear coat that extends along most of the rear door and on to the rear tire arch.Using his translator, we agreed that he would pay up to $300 for the repair to avoid any insurance claims. Does that seem doable? I have the insurance info just in case. 
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Mar 9, 2012 00:18
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Yes, that is black paint. Ughghhhh. I wanted to avoid the insurance company because Texas is a "no fault" state and it is going to end up on both of our insurance rates. Why would it cost $1000? Are they going to have to respray the whole panel? Honestly, it looks like you could go over it with a paint pen and then buff it down. I've never done my own body work though.
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Mar 9, 2012 01:32
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I thought valve adjustments died along with the VW Beetle in the 1970s? Edit: I would offer $4-5K. I paid $3800 for a 98 528i (not 525i) in 2010. Same body style as the 03, similar mileage. Have you looked at Austin? It's about a $100 plane ride and you can drive the car back. Austin is littered with similar BMWs for dirt cheap. Kids grow up in Dallas/Houston/San Antonio, their parents give them the BMW for college and then they sell it there when they graduate. There were 10x as many craigslist BMWs in Austin in my pricerange than there were in Dallas. Hadlock fucked around with this message at 21:54 on Mar 16, 2012 |
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Mar 16, 2012 21:47
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bolind posted:Fuckit, if I'm ever in a position to buy a brand new car, you can bet your front roundel that I'm going to custom spec the poo poo out of that. Especially with BMW, which I think are quite customizable. I have to agree with this. You're looking at a 6 month wait + an extra $600+ in transport costs, but, want red leather with black stitching, in a blue car with beige trim? Go hawg wild! The dealership is going to have miles of row after row of silver with black leather, black on black bmws with the most popular features preinstalled, along with a couple of other colors. If you plan on keeping it for a long time, I really think this is the way to go. You'll be able to look at the car every morning and think, "built specifically for me from the factory, to my specifications". A nice luxury if you're willing to pay for it, and wait for the car to arrive.
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Mar 19, 2012 16:12
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Chinatown posted:Nice car, but its still crazy how big the 3-series has become. Wild, according to wikipedia the F30 is within 10mm of the dimensions of my E39 5 series. Someone a while back posted a picture comparing the 1 series vs a 2 door E46, which are very similar in size.
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Mar 25, 2012 02:32
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Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester posted:I got a Beemer at Bonneville too! Slightly off topic-- Did you make it to the 140s with those
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May 5, 2012 13:22
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Not terribly uncommon. That's roughly 36.18mpg; in my 1997 E39 with 161K miles (259K km) I am getting 33mpg (7.0L/100km) with underinflated tires (20-24psi, I forgot to check the pressure before leaving home), and my car has 400+ lbs on yours. If I turn on the AC though, it goes down to 7.8L/100km (29.8mpg) On that trip I found out that, by comparing it to my GPS, the car's computer is perfectly accurate on speed, while the actual speedo can be off (low) by as much as 7mph when you get over 70mph, wtf. At least I never need to worry about getting a speeding ticket on the highway...
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May 9, 2012 18:01
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The 540i has an iron block v8 engine that's much heavier than the front subframe was designed for (the 528 and 523 both use an aluminum i6) and it also uses truck style ball bearing steering to deal with the added weight in the front. The 540 also has a service life of 140-170k miles vs 200k for the less powerful models. For whatever reason the rest of the car isn't properly uprated to deal with the extra torque so things tend to break more often. It goes like stink though! Just be aware that you'll probably be it's last owner. There's a really good PDF floating around online comparing the 528i to the 540 from Car and Driver in ~2006 and what I said above is pretty much in a nutshell what they hash over for 7 pages. Disclaimer: I have a black E39 528i
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May 13, 2012 15:51
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