I am new to the forum and need some freindly advice. I am currently looking at a 1996 850ci w/81k. The following items are a concern:


Check engine light came on breifly
transmition faiure/failsafe error came on
Tiptronic will not shift into 1st
SRS ligtht comes on intermitenatly
Ac shnitzer wheels rub inside of heel well and cause violent shimmy in steering cloum at 55mph
Rust spot on Passenger A piller.
Sun roof not operational
Driver power seat does not raise up.Other than the list above the car does not have any signs of leaks any where and the engine runs smooth. The trans shifts flawlesy. And the car looks good. What on the list above is a maijor concern and whats is this car roughly worhth? The owner is asking 24,000. Any help would be well apteciated.

Thanks,
J.

For $24k you shouldn't have any of those issues.

Thank you for the reply. How much do you thnik this car averages in this condition?

Dosn't matter how much it avg's.. But to fix all the problem areas could cost u $$$ I'd say $200 just on the rust.. Depending on the location and how much it has effected.

24k you can get a nice 2002 7 series or better.

Check engine light came on breiflyWhat were you doing when it came on? At idle it may be a vacuum leak.

transmition faiure/failsafe error came onAgain, what were you doing when it came on and did it reset ? Low battery voltage from sitting for a while is the most common cause of this.

Tiptronic will not shift into 1stUndocumented feature of the 5 speed auto in the late 8 series. 1st gear works until everything is warmed up and then it is locked out. Eliminates the 2 to 1 downshift bump that all the 7 series owners bitch about.

SRS ligtht comes on intermitenatlyMay be a seat switch or something simple if it does it on the move. Dealer should be able to pull codes and tell you what it is.

Ac shnitzer wheels rub inside of heel well and cause violent shimmy in steering cloum at 55mphHubcentric rings for the shake and wheel spacers to correct the offset problem that is causing the rub.

Rust spot on Passenger A piller.Never seen anything rusty but the sunroof edges. Do a thourough check for other rust.

Sun roof not operationalHopefully just a fuse--the repair manual and schematics are available online See my signature for helpful sites including buyers guides written by those who own an 8 :cool

Driver power seat does not raise up.Seat repairs are also in those links--doesn't move at all or only one side moves?

The price doesn't sound bad to me if the rest of the car is good. IIRC The '96 - '97 850's are actually the rarest of the US 8 Series variants

Chek engine Light and Trans failure/fail safe

After the test drive I shut the car down and then restarted it. Both the lights mentioned above came on. HOwever, the secondary battery connections were loose. I had to tighten them and jump the car. The current batteries are economy brand and ubdersize.
The rust spot is about the size of two 25 cent coins.
The SRS goes on for the first 5 minutes while driving then it shuts off.According to Carfax The car has had 6 owners and suffers from simple neglect. I was expecting to offer a purchase price of 16,000 to 18,000. Does this sound fair?

OOOOOppppppsssss......the seat does move in all other directions however it actually raises up crooked.

The seat just needs a cable repair-simple DIY.

The lights are most likely the batteries being low/undersized

SRS is is going to need a code reading to see what it is. I have heard others with this but don't remember the resolution.

Rust is rust--good shop can match most colors

If it is neglected do your best to get it cheap. There are several issues that pop up at 80 to 100 k mile range-coolant system is one of them--just like every other BMW built in the last 20 years.

Do you know what the 90k tune for car consist of and how much it runs? This is another concern iI had.

Inspection 2 should be due--it can be done by an independent or by BMW

Does the car have full service records? If they are all by BMW and you worry about resale then have BMW do it--Prices vary wildly on the inspections.

If there are no records or they are incomplete have an independent shop do it .
It can also be done DIY. I pulled out the list and discovered that I had done everything on it within the last 6 months. It isn't rocket science, just common sense items.

Fluid changes are important so plan on a coolant flush and a brake fluid flush.

You are at the point of changing the transmission fluid as well--$pecial $tuff but good insurance.

Call around to the local dealers and independents to see who has done work on the car. You might find a shop that understand something about the 8 that way.

A bit of further info on the transmission fluid change.

It is listed as a "lifetime" fluid by both BMW and ZF the transmission maker.

BMW won't change it before 100,000 miles so it really isn't a life or death thing. My 840 is at 146,000 miles on the original fluid, too late to change it without adding another set of problems.