Eagle

What are they roughly worth these days? They are in tidy condition with caps, curbing removed and bolts and lips polished

That's what i was thinking too, id class it as middle aged. All 8 E34's ive owned have been in the 260.000km - 520,000km range with my current 540i about to tick over 300,000 mark Im sure the E34 540i would be the best BMW V8 to go the distance with the least expense.

What if i said id prefer a std face lifted model if i had to choose, would that be extra uncool?. To be fair though ive never been a big fan of A\C styling myself. Alpina B7 is the best looking E65 ive seen.

Was meaning in NZ, no doubt we aren't the worst drivers around. Everyone knows what a BMW grill looks like, take badges off a Toyota and i bet the average person wouldn't be to ID many of them.

BMW's etc being far easier to ID for the average person compared with the average jappa makes it easy to point fingers. Driver wise Auckland has the worst drivers i've encountered for many obvious reasons.

The drivers seat looks like it may cost you a bit to sort. I think the biggest expense on the E39 is suspension, most around the 200k mark are still on original tired shocks etc.

Not worth fixing that's for that for sure. You could put the engine is in something else but IMO the negatives outweigh the positives. I'd part it out for using it as a paddock hack\derby car (above as)

Been on for awhile now, i considered buying it until i realized it was an auto. Different rims i agree and colour matched body kit would look even nicer.

http://www.turners.co.nz/Cars/Used-Cars-for-Sale/BMW/525I/16383356

A leak like that wouldn't bother me tbh, id only fix it if i was doing the above. Good time to replace the timing chain tensioner though which is often neglected.

Was a few years ago now but i found it hard to get anything decent in 255-40-17 in NZ that had a reasonable price. Ended up ditched the staggered setup and going square, heaps more options for 235-45-17.

Probably since it sound like a tractor

The W140\C140 need nice larger rims to look decent, too top heavy looking otherwise. Probably wouldn't got bought mine if it didnt have AMG kit and rims. Ive always liked boxy cars myself. I agree about the presence, had quite a few random people asking me questions. People don't seem to tailgate you in it either. Quality wise im sure there isn't a car out there that would beat it for the price. The TT V12's haul hard but i dont see the point in having the kind of power when realistically you can't really utilize it in NZ, not to mention reliability and extra expenses.

I like the E31 shape but the M70 doesn't come close to the M120 in most aspects(even BMW's N73 appears lackbuster for a similar engine that came out 10+ after the M120). The M120 in the E31 would be sweet but otherwise R129 M120 output is more like 388-402hp depending on year and measurement standard.

I don't know easy it would be getting a 2nd hand manifold or if there are another options that can suit (sure members here the would know). I would just hollow out the cats myself if i couldnt get a easy\cheap replacement. In my experience people usually gut\replace the cat to sell and then sell the exhaust system anyway (may be different in this case having them part of the manifold) If you run your VIN number for build options and have the EU2 emission std then you probably wont have post cat o2 sensors.

Have you tested the cap? It's one of first things that should be done.

Ive used Fuchs with good results. I bought the 20L container from BNT a few years ago for ~$330. It was much better value buying the 20L compared to multiple 4-5L bottles. I figured id probably use the other 10L eventually on another car so for me it was logical.

Not sure why you'd bother with a 3.5L tbh or a TU engine. A short wheel base '94-'97 with M60B40 or M62B44 engine would be the way to lessen many potential problems.

Anyone have a spare bolt lying around, just after 1.

I dont think the 4 cylinder M42,M43 and M44 powered BMW's are fine , they lack in power dept but they have less flaws than the 6 cylinder M5X engines. The last 3 series that id consider truely reliable would be the E30 - better built, much more simple and cheap to maintain and repair.

If the speedo is working fine then it could be a possible instrument cluster fault. You should be able run the self test on the cluster, IIRC hold down the right knob on cluster with ign off, turn key to on position and let go.

Sounds like it. Probably in the $300-$400 region to drop the pan to clean, replace gasket and filter, then fill with the correct fluid

Should cover it then http://www.bmwe34.net/E34main/Maintenance/Transmission/Data/E34 Autotrans.pdf

What country was it first registered it?

For that sort of coin id expect that all fluids have been replaced, new tyres and the cambelt done at the least. By the sounds of the ad all he's done is get it legal and put on a large markup.