E34 in Welly

[Viking 0]

Anyone know on the condition of this car or an estimate of what it'd go for?

http://www.trademe.co.nz/structure/auction...63&key=39242034

[rxsumo 33]

Anyone know on the condition of this car or an estimate of what it'd go for?

http://www.trademe.co.nz/structure/auction...63&key=39242034

There have been two 535 manuals for sale in Trade-me of late.

Check out the closed auctions, the other one up north I think was probably better spec'd than this car.

The reserve from memory on both of these cars was $7K.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/C...on-31374687.htm

Based on some on the questions answered so far, if you were to look at this car, I would count on spending some money.

It would appear that no major overhaul work has been done to the driveline.

My car required gearbox bearings (and synchro rings)at around 140K km, so if this hasnt been done, I'm guessing with 200K miles its going to be due at some stage. When Geartech did the job they commented on how expensive the bearings were (gearbox done under vehicle warranty)

At 200K miles (320K km) with no engine work at all, surely the engine is on borrowed time, a full compression test however would reveal the actual story.

The comment about the electrics may be typical with a British import, but isnt the normal for NZ cars as far as I was aware (apart from the boot loom...see kiwi535's posting about the issue). You would have to query what caused the electric's to crap out, and whether any permanent damage has been done. I'm assuming that time and environment rather than mileage would drive the electrics problem, and are you likely to be buying into an ongoing electrics nightmare (typical of some of the Hong Kong import horror stories I've heard).

I'm not too sure about the body kit, it's not the "standard" one on the NZ new E34 535 manuals.

I'm not bagging the car....I havent seen it up close, but reading the articles from the British BMW mags, you would be better looking for one of the NZ new 535 manuals. The spec is better....the NZ new cars had as a minimum about 90% of the available options ticked, where the British spec'd cars seemed to be a little basic.

Edited September 21, 2005 by rxsumo

[Viking 0]

Cool thanks for the reply.

I'm mostly interested in just a straight and tidy chassis more than anything, no dings at all. The M Tech kit was a bomus however as I'm after one of those for the E34 that I buy. Engine, Gearbox would all be replaced along with a retrimmed interior and new paint job, but yea, I wouldnt be looking at spending near $7k on the base car

[Ghost 0]

This may suit you then.

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/C...on-35984142.htm

Good luck with the hunt.

[Ghost 0]

Or:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/C...on-35521973.htm

[topless 13]

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/C...on-35521973.htm

Would rate this above the others. FSH in my experience is what to look for. These motors with good service will do huge mileage without problems. NZ new is another bonus. Transmissions last if serviced so I think this one is worth a good look at! Check what was done in the service history.

He would obviously be open to offers so who knows...

[kiwi535 538]

yes the last silver one is the pick,also notice it has shadowline(no chrome around windows)Has been reregistered at some time .........looks exactly the same spec as rxsumo and my car....mine had clutch and gearbox done before i bought it apparently had been stolen and the idiots ruined the clutch and box trying to do burnouts etc.....not easy with lsd and 235 wide tyres.The motors go for ages,the eelctrics are complex but not troublesome....some of the early cars would have had metric wheels...mine did(the spare still is)its a lot of car for $7900 sob

[BM WORLD 1283]

Anyone know on the condition of this car or an estimate of what it'd go for?

http://www.trademe.co.nz/structure/auction...63&key=39242034

i sold the interior to this guy . stage mix , white car with cream interior .(came from a nz new black 535ia)

no a/c in this car i think .

otherwise good car

[DCEIVN 0]

http://www.trademe.co.nz/structure/auction...98&key=39702213

is this car a little overpriced by any chance?

[m325i 709]

Anyone know on the condition of this car or an estimate of what it'd go for?

[

My car required gearbox bearings (and synchro rings)at around 140K km, so if this hasnt been done, I'm guessing with 200K miles its going to be due at some stage. When Geartech did the job they commented on how expensive the bearings were (gearbox done under vehicle warranty)

At 200K miles (320K km) with no engine work at all, surely the engine is on borrowed time, a full compression test however would reveal the actual story.

why do the g boxes need work? the e30 ones are bullet proof (std power). IS this a weaker box?

[Moose 0]

http://www.trademe.co.nz/structure/auction...63&key=39242034

I know a littel about the car as I was the last owner, I had it for almost 2 years, not the 8 yrs that the current owner suggests.

Its just a std british 535i which was brought into NZ a few yrs ago and given mags and a sport kit. The seats were stuffed when I got which I replaced with a leather interior from Brent.

I traded it in a couple of weeks ago, the guy who got it rang me up and told me he was stoked with it, so I'm not sure why he's selling it now, he asked me about the stereo card which I explained that its just a dud stereo that the car stereo company put in when I took out my eclipse and amp, all the wiring in still in though.

It was a great car to drive however a little on the thirsty side only getting 300miles to the tank open road and around town. The bottom of the doors were starting to rust out and the hoodlining and interior of the sunroof were a mess, however they may have been fixed by now.

Good car although expensive to maintain, I think the guy is a bit keen at trying to pass it off as something its not. He should have taken the offer of 5k last time it was listed.

My advice would be if you want an older car would be an E30 if you're smallish or if your vertically challanged like me pick up an early E39 like I did.

Good luck

[rxsumo 33]

The bottom of the doors were starting to rust out

This would be a worry, and perhaps a indication (not so flash), of the cars true condition

The English magazine, Total BMW, buyers guide for the E34s, reckon, that as these cars are galvanised, rust shouldnt be a problem, unless they have poorly repaired accident damage.

If the doors are rusting then I'm guessing that the car was some extreme conditions in the UK...salt...damp?

Perhaps its a car that it might be best to steer clear of......

[rxsumo 33]

Anyone know on the condition of this car or an estimate of what it'd go for?

[

My car required gearbox bearings (and synchro rings)at around 140K km, so if this hasnt been done, I'm guessing with 200K miles its going to be due at some stage. When Geartech did the job they commented on how expensive the bearings were (gearbox done under vehicle warranty)

At 200K miles (320K km) with no engine work at all, surely the engine is on borrowed time, a full compression test however would reveal the actual story.

why do the g boxes need work? the e30 ones are bullet proof (std power). IS this a weaker box?

Off topic but.....

I wouldnt think there is too much difference between the gearboxes, with the exception of shaft sizes and bellhousings.

However, I would suggest that the gearboxes come under a bucket load more torque loading than the E30 ones, therefore the gearboxes will run hotter...

My car has a towbar....and I know I've had a couple of tonnes on the hook which also will put stress on the driveline....and who knows what any of the previous owners have done.

And to clarify....the gearbox wasnt stuffed or noisy nor were there any issues with gear selection....it very occassionally dropped out of 1st gear, the bearings were replaced as there was a slight movement in them....and this was attributed to have caused the gear droppout issue. The syncho rings were discovered once the box was stripped, there were no symptoms to indicate that the syncho rings had any issues.

There was a quip about proper maintenance....to my knowledge the car was in a BMW service program up until about 20K prior to me buying the car (previous owner was a car dealer), so the problem was unlikley to be caused by poor maintenance.

A E30 gearbox with this many KMs on the clock could be in exactly the same condition....it might be that the extra torque of the 3.5 engine actually caused the box to jump out of first.