so i met up with this guy on friday, i have a 99 grand caravan sport
and he has this http://newyork.craigslist.org/wch/car/619767077.html

well i enjoyed it, and he liked my van. all seems well and we are about to get it goin, now he believes the window thing is the G/M , does that seem acurate to you e34 guys?

i saw the recipts for the work done to the car and it drives very nice, i gotta mention tho, my 325e seems more powerfull, maybe cause its standard and this things auto? or is it just a dog with allot of miles?

my van is a 99 grand caravan with 103K and all options. MINT!
i was trying to get 4K for my van and he wants 4,500 for his e34,

also near the shifter there is a switch the selects between a and m, any idea what that does?

thanks guys

a and m (a= auto m=manual)
You can actually choose what gear the car is going through it you cannot choose 4th gear but yo ucan just flick it back to a and it should change back to 4th.
Pretty much manual without a clutch response is ok imo.

Fixing the windows can be a DIY project as it isn't too hard.
172k for the engine is not uncommon if all the maintenance it should take you past 200k no problem.
The car from that picture looks nice since he has done a lot of the major maintenance.
Your 235e probably feels more powerful due to the fact your car is a standard and is a lot lighter compared to the e34s auto and heavy weight.

so if you put it to M. you use the shifter to go thru the gears, anyone think that might take a negative toll on the tranny?

for some reason i have seen auto e34's without the a&m feature.
was this released wit hspecific models or years?

he did the head gasket and the water pump and the timeing at the same time,

to me this kinda hints twards a bad overheating with close to catostrophic resaults, or he is very very very ahead of the game.

what do you guys think?

m mode was later changed more correctly to * (snowflake) mode in later cars

It is not there for you to row thru the gears or drive it like a pseudo-stick.

it is there for you to use if you need a gear higher than 1st when starting from a stop in bad weather/low traction situations

I used it once for its intended purpose, and that was starting off in 3rd on a snowy slushy street.

it is bad for your tranny to otherwise use it, and Sport mode also increases thermal loads significantly.
my concern with this car would be the trans, and caliber of work performed on the car... particularly since the ad is very poorly written.
it need a very thorough PPI done on it
I hope that you are willing to spend money to bring the car up to condition and are able and wiling to do your own work.

not sure what a PPI is,

I am not against spending money on the car, im not trying to make it into somthing that it's not, thanks for the info on the snowflake feature, i doubt i will ever have a use for it, but you never know,

what worries you specificly about the trans? are there comon flaws with this model? or is it the snowflake option that may have had possible years of abuse?

that would be my worrie

Pre
purchase
inspection

all 4l30e transmissions are POS in my opinion. when I bought my car it had about 172-174k on it and the records indicated the the trans had been rebuilt at 145k.

that trans lasted 43k.

was the replacment very expensive?

did you replace with the same trans? or did you upgrade?

what upgrades are availible?

i know im asking allot of questions,

sorry

oh if it helps at all, i did see his g35, thing was hooked up beyond belief, so it settled my mind a bit that he wasnt lieing about the reason for selling.

one thing that did get my attention was that he had 2 540's in his driveway aswell,

would you guys take that as a sign of somone that knows the cars, or somone trynig to get rid of the worst in the bunch?

lol idk


thanks

ask him if his 540s r for sale =O
but the 525 is definitely the least power of the bunch especially with the slushbox

Overpriced slightly based on mileage. If he has a good documented service history then it might be OK but tranny danger imminent as stated. Not a cheap fix. Keep in mind that even a well taken care of car with this mileage may cost you $1 - $2 grand in various pieces and parts anyways in the first year so if your tranny dies then you are going to be suffering.

My suggestion. Spend $6-$8K now and get a better car

Oh, im not buying it, im possibly tradeing my mini van for it, what exactly is the weak link of these tranny's?

does anyone know a bmw auto salvage place?

If you end up needing a GM, I have a few of them. PM me.

The reason your 325e/5 feels faster is because the M20 ETA has a lot of low end torque. That and a 5 speed make it seem faster than an auto M50tu, which is anemic until it gets on cam.

A number of people around here, including me, have or have access to parts cars...What were you looking for?

well for starters i guess i need a GM, and if i come across a good deal on a tranny i might pick it up, just to have cause it seems like people have had bad experiences.

5 speed conversion here: http://newjersey.craigslist.org/pts/625861589.html

no affiliation