Hi all. I went over to my powdercoater's place today and saw that he is selling his 1984 528e. I'm new to Bimmers and know next to nothing about these. I'm going to give a rundown of condition to see what price I should consider buying this one for. He's already told me a number but I don't want to say it yet. :)

Ok, it's a 1984 528e. 5 speed. Lot of life left on tires. Paint is no good and there are some places with rust under the hood mainly. Body is in good shape. Leather is ok with some heavy wear in places but I didn't see any rips when I glanced at it. Dash is cracked. Mileage is ~177K. It doesn't run but it will be running if I decide to buy it which means he's buying a new battery for it. He said it was having issues before and he ended up buying some parts from a guy on ebay and the dude sent him a bunch of stuff like a MAF, random sensors, just a bunch of random parts that he was never going to use. It turned out to be the cam and crank sensors and ran fine but he had bought his wife a new Caddy so they just stopped driving it and it sat for a couple years. Anyway, he's putting a new battery and fresh gas in it. Basically, a big clean up will get this thing road ready(hopefully) and keep in mind it will be running at no cost to me.

Here are some pics:

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee126/evolvedrs/1984%20BMW/031208_162001-1.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee126/evolvedrs/1984%20BMW/031208_161903-1.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee126/evolvedrs/1984%20BMW/031208_162000-1.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee126/evolvedrs/1984%20BMW/031208_161900-1.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee126/evolvedrs/1984%20BMW/031208_161901-1.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee126/evolvedrs/1984%20BMW/031208_161902-1.jpg

Thanks!

Good price should be $2000.00 -$3000.00 It doesn't look like its in bad shape.

Yep, it's a BMW, and we all love BMWs - but we don't love all BMWs. For a car that requires a significant amount of money to maintain, it just doesn't make sense to grow attached to and invest in such an unknown that hasn't been kept up. It makes more sense to pay a little more and get something that has been maintained and is more of a known quantity. Are you really somebody who could buy this car and put a minimum amount of money and energy into it until you know its potential - and be willing to cut your losses and run? Most people who frequent car forums are more attached to their cars. If you make an irrational decision and go ahead and buy it, I'm sure everyone here will understand.

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=240200184

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=240645520

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=232658865

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?car_id=235685781

It RUNS!!!!! He said he drained the tank, put the new battery in, and it fired right up.

Arrggh! I need to make a decision tonight because if it is there tomorrow and he has no money to hold it with, the other guy will get it. I'm going by to look at it again tonight. As I said before, it was kept up until they stopped driving it and that was only because they had bought the Caddy when they were having problems with the sensors and had taken insurance off of it.

Thanks for the reply man.

How much is he asking? The $2k-$3k is a lot for a 528e unless it's in much better shape that what you describe.

What do you want in the car? Are you into mods? Forced-induction (the ETA begs for turbocharging)? Just a fairly economical alternate ride? If the latter, this one may not be for you, as it could be a money pit.

Unless you're getting it for cheap, if you want a BMW (any BMW) it's best to buy the best one you can afford (and by "afford" include any costs to keep it running).

It RUNS!!!!! He said he drained the tank, put the new battery in, and it fired right up.

Arrggh! I need to make a decision tonight because if it is there tomorrow and he has no money to hold it with, the other guy will get it. I'm going by to look at it again tonight. As I said before, it was kept up until they stopped driving it and that was only because they had bought the Caddy when they were having problems with the sensors and had taken insurance off of it.

Thanks for the reply man.

And I forgot the obligatory recommendation to get a pre-purchase inspection (not that I was smart enough to get one myself). Don't get caught up in the frenzy - unless he's selling it for an extremely good car, I think you should be able to find plenty of cars out there in at least as good of shape.

If you do end up getting it, get the other kind of PPI (post-purchase inspection ;-) ) and you might end up with a good deal on an economical ride. No matter what, it's a well engineered car with some character - it's not like your buying an old Pinto.

I went by and looked at it tonight. The price is 800 bucks. It fired right up. The only problem that needs to be addressed before driving is an o-ring that is used where the fuel pressure regulator meets the fuel rail.

I'm leaning towards not getting it. I have some cars already that need to be taken care of before I get another one. If I didn't have these, I would probably get it. He has a lot of extra little sensors for it, another maf, a wiper motor, new roundels, etc. Oh well. Thanks for the input guys.

I recently purchased a 86 528e. After searching for about 6 months I finally found one locally for $1000 which was in better shape than the ones that were going for $3000 - go figure that. Price all depends on who is doing the selling and who is doing the buying.

I will tell you this....I am new to the 5ers and I should have done more research. I assumed they were all pretty much the same except for the M5 which I could not find anywhere local. If i would have known, I would have bought a 535i or something with a bit more pep, more tuneable and more pleasing to the eye than the 528e. Although I love my car and will not sell it anytime in the near future, I am sure if I would have held out, I could have found something for the same price in the same condition.

I am in the process of making my 528e look like a 535i and with the $$ I have in the car, I "MIGHT" have been able to find a comperable 535is...but I would not have as much fun creating something that is my very own. So there is your trade off. At $800, if all else fails, you can always part the car out but hopefully that wil not be the case. See if the guy will take $500, then you will have $300 to sink into to get it road worthy.

Just my $.02

If it's running and only needs a few things to be a daily driver, then it's definitely worth $800.