Advice on buying a e34 535

[Tev12 0]

Hi, never owned a BMW so trying to research as much as possible before buying. I have been told to look for a singaporean import as S.A imports dont have heaters and different wiring/parts etc, and UK imports have problems with rust( salted roads). Does any one have any pointers, and possible price on what one should cost?

Cheers

[petone 0]

Can't help ya about E34 info but this link might be useful

Singapore Imports

Edited February 6, 2005 by petone

[Tev12 0]

Thanks, that was quite interesting. Singapore cars were sugested to me because they suposedly came fully loaded. Seems like japanese is the way to go.

[BM WORLD 1262]

jap imports made in South africa (i have one) i also have uk import (no real rust probs) nz new is best though .

my uk import has lsd my jap import does'nt . nz new should have lsd .

singapore cars have all the rubbers cooked from the heat from the road and sun .

find a good nz new model dont worry about the millage most likly had lots of money spent on servicing .

[kiwi535 538]

if you are lucky you will find one like this..

a nz new 535is known by bmw nz as HD12's

they are solid solid cars mechanically and will last for ages.BUT if you want them to last they must be serviced!So the most important thing is to get some idea of service history. and make sure all the electrics work.When i was looking for mine i found this websiteand this websitehelpful,even tho they are american and canadian respectively..Brent has more experience than me but i will give you what ever help i can.ALL the 535 i looked at had the same spec,one uk import and two nz new,dont buy the first one you see AND get it checked by someone who knows what they are lookin at.BMW dealers have a set check,quite thorough,listing parts and part prices in my case,and they are quite critical,sometimes a bit to critical.prices ......dont know when i was lookin they ranged from 6000 to 20,000 I bought the 20 000 one....it was 10x nicer than the 6000 one,didnt pay 20 tho!.

Edited February 7, 2005 by kiwi535

[cainchapman 0]

Make Kiwi535 an offer for his. Then, he can buy my 540iS and I can get a new toy.

Simple.

[kiwi535 538]

yes cain i agree very simple....good price to a GOOD home

[CaM 0]

o0o0o0o0o0o0oo how much???

[kiwi535 538]

I dont know if i completely off the mark but if i could get 15k it would make the trasnsiition to Cains car easier.Without seeming over the top its a pretty special car. I looked a long long time before brent put me onto this one....Before replying you need to know that i am pretty firm on the price and that it IS a pretty rare E 34.I need to do a bit of research and also talk turkey with Cain.....in the meantime check out more about it hereNote..the engine withe red valve cover is NOT mine

[CaM 0]

lol,sweet, little outta my price bracket, I don't think I would wanna spend 15k right now...... awesome car though

[Tev12 0]

Thanks for the info, its much appreciated. Nice car but a bit out of my league. I was looking more at the bottom end of the market price wise. I'm starting to wonder if buying one cheap will mean I'll get a free headache!

[kiwi535 538]

a cheap one wont necesarily mean a headache but it will depend on how much you are willing to do yourself,mechanically they arent that special,but it does pay to have someone who knows what they are doing with them ,to fall back on if something does go wrong.Because they are a little bit different your non euro mechanic might be stumped,but the normal maintenance is mostly straightforward.If they are looked after apparently 300 000 miles is no problem(but you are probably lookin at two sets of front suspension parts,two radiators,two water pumps etc.........)

[arros 0]

No cheaper isn't necessarily a bad thing. I recently purchased a 1990 535i auto UK import, 200,000km, no rust- not that rust is really much of a problem with these cars. I've had it a couple of months- it has a good service history. Cosmetically it is a little average- coming right though- spit n polish and leather cleaned. Paid just under $6000 for it. No problems at all. As has been said - the key is service history- I didn't know much about the 535 before I bought it (had an e28 525e previously). Before you look at the car have someone lined up who knows bmws- rather that you local jap mechanic- take it for a test drive, if it all seems fine get it checked by the guy you have on the ready.

Check out http://www.bmwe34.net. There is nothing wrong with an import perse- it 's more important how well the car has been looked after. I have been told that if you go for an import- uk imports have the German transmission while Jap imports can have a japanese transmission fitted- German on is surposedly more reliable. Someone correct me on this if I am wrong. Transmission problem are big $$$. You can try the fault codes using the dashboard lights- to check for specific faults- as reassurance. There are 3 535s currently on tradeMe that are fairly well priced. Around $5K-6K for a reasonable one, $8-9K for low km's in good nic-extra $ for manual if you are lucky enough t find one! Prices are pretty low even for e34 535's. Anything $10K+ for early 90's 535 has to be special- as kiwi535's is. I read a few buyers guides on the net before I started looking- sorry can't remember what address was.

Edited February 9, 2005 by arros

[kiwi535 538]

hey arros what was the price range for e34s when you were looking???

[arros 0]

I was looking at 3 535's in Trade and Exchange here in Auckland end of last year: 2 @ $6200-7800, (170-190K km's) 1 @ $8500 (around 150 km). The car I settled on (see previous stats): the guy had it avertised for a number of weeks and reckoned nobody came to look at it- more fool them- got a great car for very reasonable $. Saw one for less than $5K but had with over 300K k's.

There was a manual one here : for some crazy price like $4000 - obviously had high k's

but sold the Ist day- damn it!

Yes probably $5-6K is a little on the light side in general for 535's-

[Tev12 0]

I've seen a fairly cheap one that no one seems to interested in. Its a UK import with leather and a slush box, 200k km's. Looks fairly standard. I got in contact with the guy and he said that it idles a little rough, he's had it serviced and replaced a sensor but its still rough. He's suggested to me that it could be a worn cam. Is the m30 an expensive/speacialist job to recon? Or could a guy with a bit of time and fair degree of mechanical knowledge do it himself? I've dealth with Valiants and Holdens before, but I feel its time to find a car that handles and does not require drivers to have oil stained hands:). Also, has anyone had to recon an auto transmision and at what price?

[kiwi535 538]

i havent really had real experience but i think the m30 is pretty straightforward,its just a bit different in some areas,and being a sohc a wee bit more difficult than the old push rod sixes.If you are serious invest in a bentley manual,i have one that brent has used,you can borrow it as long as you photocopy the relevant pages BEFORE those hands get greasy......any recon auto = $$$$$$

Brent hartge 535 changed the whole top end over.They are very durable engines.Idle problem more often than not are related to idle control valves,vacumn leaks,leaking injectors or bad o2 sensors if you have em.200 k is nothing for the big six.The cam can be a problem,something to do with the banjo bolts retaining an oil line.

[Tev12 0]

Where did you buy your Bentley manual from? One thing I forgot to ask is the availibility of new parts. Is it as easy as going to repco or do you have to deal with a BMW dealer?

[kiwi535 538]

i got it of a forum member of another board I go to,but amazon have it.I havent had to buy anything but oil filters etc,so cant really answer that...SD european seem to be able to get everything ussually cheaper than the dealer.Not sure what parts you want to get from repco youd have to check what they can do.....