Another potential car for me....

[firehawk618]

Well the car in my 1st post fell through, we couldnt work it out, however here's another candidate.

Pretty crummy photos but does this look like an OEM color? Or has it been repainted......

It IS a salvage title.

Whoops, a link helps

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/1475115685.html

[mattmartindrift]

salvage + E39 = stay away unless you can get more info.


if the salvage title came from any of the following, stay away:

wreck w/ frame damage
theft recovery
flood
fire


with a salvage title you have no idea if the mileage is actual. with the number of modules and the amount they cost to replace (most have to be coded to the chassis so you must buy OEM new), I just would not chance it.




lastly, that's a crap-ton of money for a salvage car with body damage - rear bumper has a hole and it's missing the lower diffuser.

I paid $6900 for my 98 540 with 113k and full service records and what looks like similar options.

[firehawk618]

Ah yeah good point about the hole in the rear bumper, I missed it, and was hard for me to tell on the pic about the lower piece.

Damned cars sell for way more than what I think they're worth around here.

[1BADBM]

You can do better than that one.

[02540ico]

Salvage title will kill you if/when you want to sell, and forget trying to trade it in. Might be worth it for $5K; drive it 'til the wheels fall off, then part it out.

[s140s]

Hey, I knew that screen name sounded familiar, aRe you selling the R? or Want to add a toy to the collection :P

[quacktoduck]

hey man if you want i can go see some e39s with you... you can see the problem areas and what to look for as for options and problem areas...

[IndiansFan]

I'd pass on salvage cars, unless looking for a parts/donor car.

[billzcat1]

To make matters worse, it's an out-of-state salvage title. In order to register it in WA you will have to go through the State Patrol inspection. You'll have to supply receipts for the parts replaced. "But Officer, I bought it this way!" is not good enough. My best friend went through this with a salvage title from Oregon (theft recovery) and it was a nightmare because the car was 100% fixed and he had to get the previous owner to dig up a few receipts in order to license it.

PASS!

[jhstealth]

Looks pretty sketchy, I personally like the chunk missing out of the rear bumper.

[firehawk618]

Originally Posted by s140s

Hey, I knew that screen name sounded familiar, aRe you selling the R? or Want to add a toy to the collection :P

Need something that has a bigger back seat, my daughters are teens now and they just don't fit very well in the R anymore.

Since I posted that ad on swedespeed forum i've already got 3 people lined up to look at it in the next 2 days! Damn that was fast!

Ok, what about this one, clean carfax.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/ctd/1483290690.html

[e39dream]

I normally do not oppose of fixing up a salvage car etc if you are capable but you can do way better than that. he is asking a bit much for something with a rebuilt title. I see clean title 540i selling locally for 5-6k for the older models.

[firehawk618]

Originally Posted by e39dream

I normally do not oppose of fixing up a salvage car etc if you are capable but you can do way better than that. he is asking a bit much for something with a rebuilt title. I see clean title 540i selling locally for 5-6k for the older models.

I am all for fixing up salvage titled cars. If you're not looking to sell it then they're great, however, they are very tough to sell.

I am partial to the 01 to 03's because I like the body color mouldings and the newer headlights / taillights.

I saw somewhere on here the differences on the early / late E39's but can't find it again for the life of me......

I could probably get over the black belt mouldings but love the lights on the 01+'s.

[e39dream]

do some homework, you can run whatever lights you want.

mine is a 1998 with oem 01+ xenon headlights and celis tails.

[firehawk618]

Been doing homework, lots of it. I always do before purchasing a vehicle.

I'll keep poking around till I find the taillight swap / headlight swap how to....

[billzcat1]

Firehawk: PASS x2 on that Silver 540 at Select. I drove that one and it needs serious work. It's been for sale for almost 6 months because it is a huge POS. It has clunks throughout the vehicle that the dealer "couldn't feel". It was missing one of the fluid caps under the hood (forgot which one) and the right kidney grille fell out when I shut the hood as well. Inside was in good condition, but the wheels were F'd six ways from Sunday. I try to be polite because I know they have a job to do, but I wouldn't even take this guy's business card because the car sucked that badly.

Don't sweat it. A good one will come along! One thing I have noticed is that the Seattle metro area has higher average prices for cars (especially premium cars) because of our relatively strong economy. Even stuff like Jeep Grand Cherokees are ~40% higher here than in say Oregon or California. For that reason I had to pay a bit more than some people to get a good 540i. This part of the country is killer for car sales. Keep that in mind when people are telling you that you should only be paying X for a car. Around here it is more like X + 20%. If you are ok with doing the travel to get a car thing (BTDT a bunch) then picking one up out of state might be a more affordable option, even if you have to pay a couple hundred to schedule a pre-purchase inspection remotely which will serve as your "test drive" before you drive/fly to BFE to pick up a car. I have a story involving me buying a 1-way ticket to Cali to pick up a car and then getting there and saying "thanks but can you drive me back to the airport?" but we'll save that one for another day because I'm one wordy MoFo.