I am looking at buying another Bimmer. This one is a 1989 535i. It has 200k on it. The asking price is 4450.00. The car looks great and seems to run fine. Any suggestions on what to look for? Thanks in advance

price seems about right.

check this out: http://www.bmwe34.net/e34main/trouble/what_will_break.htm

Thanks for the website. Looks like a lot of good information. Will use it wisely. I have an e30 right now that has no problems and hope that the 535 is as reliable. Thanks again!!

Well, there might be cheaper ones out there, but that's not a terrible price if it's really in good shape.

Read as much as you can here:
The best E34 site on the Web (http://www.bmwe34.net)

And here are the things I would look for:

LOTS of records
Clunk/shimmy/noises in the front end over bumps and when braking at speed (50+ mph)
Check ALL electrical accessories
Automatic tranny? Personally, I would pass just based on that. Otherwise, I'd want to know that it worked perfectly and had been serviced regularly. They aren't known for longevity.
Oil pressure light should go out within 2-5 seconds of cold startup
Fuel pump should be quiet
Should pull smoothly through rev range
Should be quiet at interstate speeds

And all the usual stuff...interior condition, shift quality, blah blah blah. There's a lot of things to examine, some of which can be expensive to fix, and some of which are no big deal. Do some reading and you'll learn what the problems are.

See, I type too slow, and got beat by shragon... :)

I forgot, check for signs of a blown HG carefully...very common on these cars at high mileage. Pay close attention to the cooling system, as it can be a pain to get in good shape.

oh, and if you're really serious, Badeer and I have a travelling road-show E34 inspection service... :D:D:D


pay particular attention to the average deviation of the compression numbers... armens is about 10psi, mine's gotta be about 50! (:mad:)

truthfully, Armen's car is a shining example of "excellent mechanical condition" and I would use it to benchmark any high-miles E34 I inspected. the number of minor issues were totally unrelated to servicability and reliability, and were mostly cosmetic.

i am looking to sell my 535i too. Its the 5 speed 1989 model. Its black with gray leather. Id say its an example of a good high mileage car. I was gonna try to get around 5 for mine with 200k on it. I will be honest with you right now that you can find them for less though. Heres my deal, a guy was moving to new york from where i lived, he drove the car back and forth from DC everyday so it was mostly highway miles,he was the only owner of the car up until that point i believe, it came with 2 sets of wheels and tires,and I got him to give it to me for 2500 bucks. If thats not a great deal i dont know what is. I race in it all the time with just a few mods on it and they can be really beautiful cars if you wax em up and get the clear corners and new tail lights. I think you would be making a good choice in buying one. I wouldnt expect to find a deal like me though, i took the risk of something being wrong for it with that kind of price on it but the guy just really didnt know what it was worth. I hope some of this info helped and you can ask me any questions about them you want.

the one other thing i forgot to mention was the AC compressor. Mine literally fell off of my car when i was racing someone. I think they can go out pretty easily if you push the car hard and at high RPM's constantly. Im no expert on that type of thing though so maybe one of the other guys who knows alot more about the car than i do can tell you.

Yeah, well, I must say that the AC Compressor falling off of the car is a pretty extreme failure!

My concern would be more along the lines that any E34 AC system is going to be old, and any of the 535i's are going to be R12, unless someone converted it. Keeping an R12 system running, and converting to R134, are both expensive propositions on an E34. So consider that as you look, if AC is important to you.

I cannot believe the reaponses!!! I appreciate all of the info and suggestions. I will try to get the price down a bit and make sure I go over the car very well. It is the automatic though. I will most definitely check for any service records that are available. I will update if I purchase it!! Thank you all again.

I was wondering if i could get a few responses as to whether i could get 5500 for an 89 5 speed 535i with 200k, 2 sets of wheels and a bunch of other small upgrades i wont get any money back on. Im not saying its for sale right now but im wondering if i should even try this high.

its in perfect condition

I was wondering if i could get a few responses as to whether i could get 5500 for an 89 5 speed 535i with 200k, 2 sets of wheels and a bunch of other small upgrades i wont get any money back on. Im not saying its for sale right now but im wondering if i should even try this high.

Visiting from the e38 board since we also just bought an '89 535i 5spd last week. It goes in for a thorough dealer eval tomorrow. Drives nice, may have a waterpump issue and a clunk in the rear end on clutch drop. Other than those it "seems" to be pretty solid for a 15 yr old. Red over black, excellent leather care apparent, auto driver door lock hosed, need to track down an H20 leak in the boot near the jack. Fun to drive, huge sunroof and lots of potential. Not sure if you want to hear what was paid. Less than I ever imagined. I'll PM you if requested. ODO is 129k. I suppose before I start feeling like I got the best deal since my e38 (eBay) I better wait for the dealer to comb it. Hopefully yours,

(Soon as I find my digicam I'll post up some actual images of the car, until then here is the same car/year/color)
http://www.bimmerboard.com/members/shled/535i.jpg

its in perfect condition

Dude, I've seen it and it's not in perfect condition.

I am looking at buying another Bimmer. This one is a 1989 535i. It has 200k on it. The asking price is 4450.00. The car looks great and seems to run fine. Any suggestions on what to look for? Thanks in advance


Bahha same deal for mine cept mine is a 525, trust me, well worth it

I forgot, check for signs of a blown HG carefully...very common on these cars at high mileage.

What is the best way to check for signs?