arros

I'm guessing it's only oil change every 5000 as the owner has a fleet vehicle business with a service garage attached and servicing was one there- so I could take it to a BMW specialist and find lots of things that need doing. I have never seen Japanese service documents but am really thinking I wond be adle to gleen much from it- being written in Japanese: how do you know what it says to know that has (and importantly has not) been done on the (any) import. Good spotting re the Inspection light- cheers. Yes $700 for a full inpection II i'd probably want to do anyway to get everything sorted- I'd definitely get a pre purchase inspection done- Hd one done on another e39- guy said car had not been serviced for a while and had an oil leak but as the bottom of the engine was dirty he could not tell where it was coming from. I would have needed to be cleaned to know it was a cheap or expensive fix. I did not buy the car. I am dubious about the servicing of this car- still wait and seeWill have a look at the car in the weekend 3 Series: "Looks a bit rough around the edges thou. Fews marks, paint scrapes etc to bumpers, kerbed rims" Ad says new bumper fitted , I think kerbing is not to costly to get removed- but yes this is possible point of (limited)negotiation Hotwire: "Rego shows car as 2000 & also 1/00 as first rego in NZ" That theoretically makes it an NZ New car so there's something odd there- particularly if it has service history in Japan. I should check the plate on carjam.co.nz Yip the wheels are nice- but if I can't redily see from the badge if it genuine or not as discussed then it becomes a moot point almost- bonus if they are the real deal- I'll assume for now that they are replicas- still nice wheel thou

I know there are many E39er's out there but... what do people think this is worth Link 2000 540 SE Motorsport 170K kms - obviously on the high side for the year. Guy says the NZ servicing is done in a car fleet garage- ie. no beamer mechanic and of course the jap servicing will all be non intelligible so of limited use (?). Yet to see the car. SE stands for special equip- no idea what special equip this might have- all look pretty standard motorsport to me Cheers guys

Indeed Ian that is my old car- tis a good'n. NZ New and good service history as stated. Sold it about 4 months ago for the starting price. I'd happily own the car simply for that fact that I know it's a good example

Cain I'm going for an E39 this time

Hi Ray, you anwsered a WTB (it was me seeing what people had)call I put on BS with photos of a maroon 540- same car? I was only half heartedly tooking at the time so did not respond to it particularly well. Could you PM me info- mileage, service history, any major work done and what you want for it. If you still had the photos- would be good to. So no thoughts of selling the 540 T soon .... Probably couldn't afford it anyway

No not yet- still looking for an E39 540- seen 2 or 3 but have not settled on one yet. Let this one pass the other day: on trademe. Not worth the $ plus it's lowered (front bumper mashed because of it) Cars i've looked at recently have been jap imports, each with issues. Looking at an NZ new one at the moment- probably look more at getting NZ new car. Yes I have been looking at Holdens- V8s: namely the SS but you can't really touch the last generation (prior to current shape) model SS (5.8 225Kw) under around $15K but I've always kept my eye on BMWs. I got warmed up about Holdens since I saw a cheaper SS (manual) come up at Turners a couple of months ago (got withdrawn from auction for the 3rd time- I think i've gotten Holden out of my system for now) Yes someone else has said clubbies are sh*t: 540i TOURING (Adam) who has a 2004 Manual VY Clubsport and a 1995 E34 540 Touring says the Holden is showing it age very quickly Thread. I still like to have his 540 T

Holden SV6 Alloytech "These vehicles are increasing in price due to falling petrol prices so this vehicles price will increase not decrease with time." WTF

So the guy gets the calculator out.. so I bought the car for $5K (or whatever), wheels cost me $2K (for argument sake) fitment, had service done, few other bits...and it all adds up to hey presto: $8K so that's what I'll ask for it Dreaming. I sold an E34 540 NZ new same mileage for $5500 probably in better condition (engine bay looks bit scruffy in photo). Being an Individual does not justify the price either

Wondering what sort of results people are getting buying beamer's (or any car for that matter) at Turners. Not sure about worying about Hammers as I can't find a website for them. Never bought from an auction before. Look at a E39 540- repossesed car, NZ New, higher k's:180,000 km (consequently cheap) but no service records with the car. I guess when you get your car repossesed by the finance company and watch your pride and joy being towed by a towie, handing all your service documentation to them is not at the front of your mind. Trouble is you have to use the onsite AA inspectors and as we all know most of them know f**k all about beamers. Thought of going to a BMW specialist garage and grabbing a mechanic to come along to check the car out at Turners..but then that's probably going too far Short of ringing around a few BMW specialist and asking if they have worked on the car, buying= bit of Pot luck. Driving the car around their little onsite circuit doesn't give you much of a test drive

You'll get a bit of respect in that car- turns heads for sure. My car had tints which looked good against white. Think about tinting

Hey Duncan Welcome along! Good to see you joined bimmersport... did I make mention of it (?) She looks like a good'n. Yip was not my car- guy from Palmy bought it. I'm still carless- particulalry BMW-less. Still waiting to find another 540 so we can compare notes. Has an issue with a car that still had money owing- was ready to buy last week but found money was owing ( Link ). I should really go back and have another look at the car. Might wait and see what turns up at Turners as well. Car running well? Adrian

Nice BMW 540 I saw in the weekend- really liked the car. All set up to have a pre purchase check at Bellars on the North Shore tomorrow. Did a VIR check- bingo: money owing on the car. Talked to the owner-They wanted me to pay purchase price into finance company account (or some 'holding account' or some such thing) and they would pay money owing. This all takes 7-10 working days for debt to clear. They say thay did not have enough to clear all of the debt. Pretty simple- all I wanted them to do if pay off the debt before I paid them. No mention was made of money owning until I called querying waht the VIR repoert has said about security on the car. No really making inferences here. It's not necessarly a dishonest situation-just would have been better if I had known when we talked terms the previous day. It did come up in conversation- "due for service I don't want to have it serviced.. just want to get rid" (or words to that effect) Few odd things wrong with the car- but not too worried as I was going to get it checked out. The lesson to remember is if there is security against a car the debtor defaults- the finance company can reposs the car. You buy a car in good faith but it can be take away. VIR- $30 online with credit car (can do on phone too- 0900 number) and report is emailed in about 15 seconds- so easy. Get an inspection report done- can save a lot of hassle. I dont really have anything against the owner- seemed a good guy actually. I REALLY LIKED THE CAR- damn shame to let it go

Car just sold- wanting a change (mitsi was something I wanted to try- but will most likely get another beamer)

Guy flying up from Palmy this weekend. all going well should be a done deal. Dude, had this can on trademe for ney on 5 months- price dropped from around $7.5K- the market spoke= Sold 5.5K

Cheers Ray. Will text you soon (when the cheque has 'cleared') Your welcome to give me some sneak preview details

Guy on trademe selling E34 radiators brand new. Check the TM BMW parts section. I think from memory looking on ReadOEM.com the brand he is selling is that listed as being fitted by BMW for the E34

Had the radiator on the E34 break at the water entry point- if you are going to buy 2nd hand check for hairline cracks around the connections. For those amongst us who have microscopic vision how do you know- unless you install it then have it pressure tested..taking the risk there buddy. But then I installed a second hand radiator back in and it's been fine.

Not too worried about economy no. Yeah the extra performance of the 540 would do it for me over the 530/535. Coming from an E34 540 even the E39 535 I tried seemed a bit sedate. Any way gas prices are on the way down...

BTW- Anyone see what this guy paid for this car at Turners a couple of weeks ago?

looking at this one 540i in Huntly but not so sure of the 'as is' bit - prob definitly want it checked out professionally (if anyone know of a good beamer person in Huntly, not that I'd expect any BMW specialist garages in Huntly This one 540 in Auckland is probably a better buy

Brent why so definite on the 540 (though that is certainly my first choice) I though you sold the 540 T partly because of the expense of work, but then that don't sound right cause you'd prob doing most of the work yourself . The E39 V8 can cost $$$ if things go wrong, Why did the 540T not stay around? Pre vanos 4.4 would be 1996-1998?

I'd second that. High K's yes but being 2001 facelift you'd probably still get $12-14K. Show me a 2001 facey for under 10K: i'd do the beer and buy the car

Looks like I've sold the E34 540. Guy from Palmy flying up to get it (must be keen!) Just wondering what is out there for (lower) price. E39s have come down in price quite a bit. Would expect higher mileage at this lower price. Prefer Auckland area/surrounds.

Cheers Simon* I will mention the ugly lights... yeah orange is so much better Of... course! See not that expensive to run

Cheers mate. Yes I am surprised too- 'ordinary' E34's going for around $5K. Must be the gas prices scaring some off as Quailboy says- ('afford to run') though town driving I'm getting around 12-14 l/100 so it's not particulary heavy on gas (better than you think). As I say to people: has more to do with driving style than engine size. Tis a V8 after all- a a crap load of fun when you wind her up. Anyways gas prices>south.