1984 533i | The Story of my First Car
Posted: May 16, 2020 5:14 PM
1984 533i
Automatic
Bronzit on Mocha (I think)
Toronto, Canada
I don’t remember when or why I thought buying a car was a good idea. From a practicality sense, it made no sense. The majority of my life is walkable, as I living in a large metropolitan city has it’s benefits - along with plenty of downsides which I touch on later - but I digress.
This is the first car I’ve owned, and much of my driving experience thus far has been care of a 2007 Dodge Caravan, with some rental cars here and there. In the past, I’d considered Audi A4’s (sedan and wagon), VW Vanagons, Subaru Legacy wagons, and I almost bough a Toyota Rav4 for $1200 including snow tires, which I really regret not purchasing to this day. Eventually I think I decided an e30 was the right car for me, as I think it’s one of the best styled cars created, and I have a think for cars that look like sharp geometric shapes. That was until I learned what an e28 was, and the shark-like features took over the top spot. Looks wise, I think it’s the best car BMW has produced, shortly followed by an e34 touring. If you couldn’t tell, I like wagons.
Lacking common sense and having a few to many cents, I decided I would buy on. In Canada, they’re far less common, but I got lucky and found one in pretty good shape considering we’re talking about 80’s car. I managed to find a 1984 533i, which has spent it’s life no further than 100km from where it was originally sold. It’s a 4 owner car, and I’m the 5th. It was owned by one family for much of it’s life, then eventually was sold a few times before I purchased it from a local classic BMW fan, who has an exceptional 2002, along with a e28 B7 Alpina and e24 respectively. I actually live less than 10km from the original dealership it was sold at way back in 1984.
I should mention - which is well known to many of you - that buying a 36 year old car will come with it’s share of problems, and mine is no exception. What makes it more interesting is when the most you’ve ever done on a car was change tires from winter to summer. To say I had any idea what I most engine components were called, let alone they did would be a lie. Thankfully my father has an encyclopedias worth of car knowledge from many years of working on his own cars, to working on race cars, and believe it or not working for a BMW dealership many years ago, when he’d get to drive the cars from the freight trains to the dealership. While never having worked on a BMW himself, the simplicity of the e28 and M30 engine make it fairly approachable. Part of the reason I wanted a car -and older car - is that I wanted to work on it. My day job finds me at a desk working on the computer, which I can’t complain, I like my job. But at the same time, I really enjoy the physical aspect of doing things. So I figured that itch would be scratched, and I’d also learn some life skills that will save me money down the road. Plus I get to hang out with my dad, drink some beers and learn a thing or two.
Overall, the car was in pretty decent shape considering its age and seems to have survived Canadian winters for the most part. The paint really shows it age, and there are plenty of cosmetic imperfections however that doesn’t bother me all that much. Engine was running pretty well, aside from a ticking noise. The interior is in great shape, with no tears or cracking the leather, and the dash had two very small cracks, but barely noticeable. My main goal to for the car to be mechanically healthy and as reliable as possible. So far so good I’d have to say. There were some issues - big and small - that we shortly discovered after owning the car for a few weeks, but I guess that comes with the territory.
In the following posts, I’ll go into more detail regarding what’s been done leading up to present day. While my car doesn’t provide much eye candy at the moment, I hope that in the near future it will begin to catch up to some of the cars posted here. Part of the reason for this post is to create a documented history of the car while in my possession, as well as hopefully giving back a little to this community.
I’m glad a place like this exists, and appreciate the wealth of knowledge that gets passed on, and the patience of people answering the same questions year after year.
The car, as advertised in the for sale posting:
First long drive, providing support to my friends 1984 Porsche 944. About a 160km round trip. Although not sure how much support I could offer, as I think my car was only slightly more reliable at the time.
Present day. Not much has changed externally from the original posting, but I can assure you that the insides have. More on that in another post.
Automatic
Bronzit on Mocha (I think)
Toronto, Canada
I don’t remember when or why I thought buying a car was a good idea. From a practicality sense, it made no sense. The majority of my life is walkable, as I living in a large metropolitan city has it’s benefits - along with plenty of downsides which I touch on later - but I digress.
This is the first car I’ve owned, and much of my driving experience thus far has been care of a 2007 Dodge Caravan, with some rental cars here and there. In the past, I’d considered Audi A4’s (sedan and wagon), VW Vanagons, Subaru Legacy wagons, and I almost bough a Toyota Rav4 for $1200 including snow tires, which I really regret not purchasing to this day. Eventually I think I decided an e30 was the right car for me, as I think it’s one of the best styled cars created, and I have a think for cars that look like sharp geometric shapes. That was until I learned what an e28 was, and the shark-like features took over the top spot. Looks wise, I think it’s the best car BMW has produced, shortly followed by an e34 touring. If you couldn’t tell, I like wagons.
Lacking common sense and having a few to many cents, I decided I would buy on. In Canada, they’re far less common, but I got lucky and found one in pretty good shape considering we’re talking about 80’s car. I managed to find a 1984 533i, which has spent it’s life no further than 100km from where it was originally sold. It’s a 4 owner car, and I’m the 5th. It was owned by one family for much of it’s life, then eventually was sold a few times before I purchased it from a local classic BMW fan, who has an exceptional 2002, along with a e28 B7 Alpina and e24 respectively. I actually live less than 10km from the original dealership it was sold at way back in 1984.
I should mention - which is well known to many of you - that buying a 36 year old car will come with it’s share of problems, and mine is no exception. What makes it more interesting is when the most you’ve ever done on a car was change tires from winter to summer. To say I had any idea what I most engine components were called, let alone they did would be a lie. Thankfully my father has an encyclopedias worth of car knowledge from many years of working on his own cars, to working on race cars, and believe it or not working for a BMW dealership many years ago, when he’d get to drive the cars from the freight trains to the dealership. While never having worked on a BMW himself, the simplicity of the e28 and M30 engine make it fairly approachable. Part of the reason I wanted a car -and older car - is that I wanted to work on it. My day job finds me at a desk working on the computer, which I can’t complain, I like my job. But at the same time, I really enjoy the physical aspect of doing things. So I figured that itch would be scratched, and I’d also learn some life skills that will save me money down the road. Plus I get to hang out with my dad, drink some beers and learn a thing or two.
Overall, the car was in pretty decent shape considering its age and seems to have survived Canadian winters for the most part. The paint really shows it age, and there are plenty of cosmetic imperfections however that doesn’t bother me all that much. Engine was running pretty well, aside from a ticking noise. The interior is in great shape, with no tears or cracking the leather, and the dash had two very small cracks, but barely noticeable. My main goal to for the car to be mechanically healthy and as reliable as possible. So far so good I’d have to say. There were some issues - big and small - that we shortly discovered after owning the car for a few weeks, but I guess that comes with the territory.
In the following posts, I’ll go into more detail regarding what’s been done leading up to present day. While my car doesn’t provide much eye candy at the moment, I hope that in the near future it will begin to catch up to some of the cars posted here. Part of the reason for this post is to create a documented history of the car while in my possession, as well as hopefully giving back a little to this community.
I’m glad a place like this exists, and appreciate the wealth of knowledge that gets passed on, and the patience of people answering the same questions year after year.
The car, as advertised in the for sale posting:
First long drive, providing support to my friends 1984 Porsche 944. About a 160km round trip. Although not sure how much support I could offer, as I think my car was only slightly more reliable at the time.
Present day. Not much has changed externally from the original posting, but I can assure you that the insides have. More on that in another post.
