1988 BMW 535i
Asking $10,000. Car is in Houston, and would greatly prefer selling locally.
Cirrus Blau Metallic with Pacific Blue interior
272k miles indicates but the ODO is broken; approximately 3k miles in the 3 years I’ve owned it
Originally an auto, converted to a Getrag unit sometime in the 2010’s
Purchased from Vintage Beemers in Austin, Terry Sayther’s car sale business
The good:
• Very solid mechanically – it starts, runs, and drives great
• Interior is good overall, front seats were recovered while Terry owned it; all door cards were replaced at the same time
• Paint is good
• Power windows and door locks all work
• AC works
• Nissen aluminum radiator
• Distributor cap, rotor, plug wires and plugs replaced two years ago
• Engine has solid compression – 125-135
• Front upper and lower control arms replaced last year
• Current inspection and registration in Texas, clean title
• Torsen limited slip from a Z3, 3.63 (replaced 3.25 non-LS diff that was whining)
• OBC works (though it is really dim)
• Tucked bumpers
The issues:
• It is a car from 1988
• No fluid leaks that are enough to drip onto the floor, but there is some seepage from what appears to be the rear of the engine
• Trunk seal has a very small leak at one corner. I have a replacement trunk seal, but since I park the car in the garage and don’t drive it in the rain, I haven’t replaced it.
• Rear passenger door had rust on the bottom edge. I mitigated with POR15, but it is a bit sloppy.
• Otherwise, anyone from north of the Mason-Dixon line would call it rust free.
• I’ve got some records, but definitely not 272k miles of records.
• Paint is just good, not great, and there is overspray in a few areas. There are a couple of paint bubbles and some swirling. I polished some out, but I took it easy so there is still room for improvement.
• I took out the crappy radio and put in a blank. Not sure if any of the speakers work.
• No cats
• Headliner is ripped. It isn’t sagging, so doesn’t look like crap, but it needs to be replaced.
• Switch to turn on the aux fan when the AC is on doesn’t work. It is easy to jump, so I leave it on March-November, then just take the jumper off when it cools down.
Other:
• Backup ECU. Original one had some cracked solder joints. Reflowed those and the secondary one (based on research done here!), so I have a good backup unit.
• Replaced leaking clutch slave cylinder in 2019.
Link to cold start video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fdksb8MRHE
Please PM for details. I'll try to respond quickly, but will likely be mostly in the evenings.