What do you all think of this inspection... assuming the seller takes care of the batteries and rims (19" M-pars) I'm thinking a leaking A/C compressor and Leaking "transmission shaft seal" are showstoppers. If the shaft has been leaking long enough, could it have been low on fluid long enough/often enough to cause tranny damage?

Car is cosmetically pristine but I'm not handy enough to work on these cars. My gut tells me to walk.

thanks, Bimmerforums.

Pending on the sellers price and the repair cost, I probrably wouldn't touch it unless they were ready to take a couple of frog skins out of the equation:stickoutt

What's the asking price compared to the amount of repairs that need to be done?

They're asking $15,500. The price of the repairs is the BMW dealer price ($5,000) but I'm more worried about needing a surprise $6,000 tranny replacement sooner than later.

One you click on the attachment, it comes up in a small window in the middle of the screen - click on the image and it should expand to a full-size and more readable window.

When buying a car, if your gut ever tells you to walk away, don't think twice. There are plenty of good cars waiting for you to buy them.

If you are not a self-wrencher, walk. If you are, offer him less than 10k as is.
Trans seal is less than $2., mostly labor to replace. Usually replace the selector shaft seal also, antoher $2. while you're there. A rebulid on that trans is apx 1600-2k shipped. Oil pan gasket is no big deal. The $1750 to replace the ac is a little much imo. Compressors are apx $200.+. Any service records? How many owners? History is key to buying an 8. If you are not a wrencher, get your wallet out no matter which one you buy!! Good luck.

edit- actually, get your wallet out either way!

If the rest of the car is pristine, I would offer him $10000 and walk if he didn't accept it.
You can take the car to an independent mechanic and save at least 25 percent of what the dealer was going to charge you for the repairs.
If the transmission is not exhibiting any problems, it is probably fine. Automatics are always a crapshoot. If you are going to keep the car 3 or 4 years, you have a pretty good chance of having to replace the transmission within that time anyway. They certainly don't last forever. Once you get past 120K, it appears you are on borrowed time.

Is it me or does that not actually sound like a bad car? No suspension issues... no vibrations... nothing really wrong engine wise. When replacing the compressor the belts will come off so its a great time to change them.. and do the tensioners. Aftermarket front and rear brakes... doesn't sound too bad to me. If the car drives well and the body and interior are in good shape, this might not be such a bad buy.

-JRW

Offer $10K and find an Independant shop and you will have made a great deal.

Don't let the stealer estimate scare you. It is meant to make money for the stealer (or scare away potential buyer).

Ignorant people pay for such work. Savvy people investigate parts cost and find knowledgeable indies who will not overinflate estimates and will do good honest work.

I'm not worried about the price of repairs estimated by the BMW dealer, I'm worried about the number of them and that two of them involve the AC and the Transmission. I told the salesman that without documented service history, these are showstoppers for me and I'm passing. I'm a terrible negotiator and since they're at $16K, salesman already said $15.5K floor, I doubt it's going to be lot go for anywhere near $10K. He said people call on it and offer thousands less all the time and his comment was "others sell for less because they need thousands in work" but it sounds like this one is not without it's share of warts. An "8er" wouldn't let it be in such shape, and would have some of the major service records, I could get no documentation at all on it. "Because the salesman said so" does not suffice when trying to sell to the next buyer about how old the brakes are :rolleyes:

Here's the link. It's a stunner:

http://www.thechicagotoystore.com/detail-1991-bmw-8_series-850i-3754223.html

but I'm probably over my head with these cars in any event and not even sure what I was thinking at this point.

More money than sense...
thanks again Bimmerforums.
-PT

I'm not worried about the price of repairs estimated by the BMW dealer, I'm worried about the number of them and that two of them involve the AC and the Transmission. I told the salesman that without documented service history, these are showstoppers for me and I'm passing. I'm a terrible negotiator and since they're at $16K, salesman already said $15.5K floor, I doubt it's going to be lot go for anywhere near $10K. He said people call on it and offer thousands less all the time and his comment was "others sell for less because they need thousands in work" but it sounds like this one is not without it's share of warts. An "8er" wouldn't let it be in such shape, and would have some of the major service records, I could get no documentation at all on it. "Because the salesman said so" does not suffice when trying to sell to the next buyer about how old the brakes are :rolleyes:

Here's the link. It's a stunner:

http://www.thechicagotoystore.com/detail-1991-bmw-8_series-850i-3754223.html

but I'm probably over my head with these cars in any event and not even sure what I was thinking at this point.

More money than sense...
thanks again Bimmerforums.
-PT

Unfortunately (for those of us who already own one) a '91 auto for $15k in today's market is just not reasonable-no matter what the condition. EVERY salesman has had lots of calls on whatever car you're looking at - usually someone saw it just yesterday and just needed a couple of days to think it over before coming back...
Fact of the matter is that it's well nigh unto impossible to get a good/fair price on an 8 from a used car lot. Just not the right place to get a good one and there are so many costs built into the vehicle...
They probably (over) paid 10k at auction and now are finding it's very hard to move...

To put this one into perspective, I overpaid for mine ($20k) 5 years ago before the bottom completely dropped out of the market-and mine only had 55k miles. For 15k I'd expect an immaculate 6-speed with full records and nothing obvious wrong with the car.

I love the fact that the dealership wants to charge almost $250 per battery...hmmm lets see how may Optimas we could get for that price...I forgot they must be those new Nuclear :redspot"never run out of Juice" batteries!

Zon

For 15k I'd expect an immaculate 6-speed with full records and nothing obvious wrong with the car.

And that's what I kept trying to convey to the salesman but he just didn't get it. You might get 15K if you have the SERVICE HISTORY and an inspection that didn't question major items like the AC and tranny.

This one appears to be a great car that fell into the wrong second-owner hands that are trying to let the car speak for itself.