Looking to buy 95 E34 540 questions?

[glfingbug]

Hi,

I am new to BMW's and stated in subject looking for 95 540. I want a "fun" car to drive but am considering an automatic because it will be my daily driver and would be exposed to DC metro traffic jams. I've seen 540's advertised with ~90K + miles. When would an automatic need rebuilding? The 540's I've seen run ~$15K. Is this a good price for a "reasonably" maintained 540. I've also seen a 95 540I w/ 6speed, 125 K miles advertized for $16K. This seems high to me? Any info would be appreciated. Hopefully I will be a BMW owner soon. glfingbug:)

[Malcolm]

Check out the site below for some good info on those cars. Pay attention to the stuff in the right-hand column about the engine block issues with these cars.

www.e34v8.org

[shragon]

another link regarding nikasil block issue:

http://www.koalamotorsport.com/tech/misc/v8shortblock.htm

[CTE34]

IMO that price is way too high for a car with that many miles, it isnt even the kinda rare M-540-6, just a regular 540 A, I'll give you a comparison, In my area there is a 95 Black 540-6, non M package, it has 90k and the person is aasking 12,500. Its still for sale and it has been for 3 months. I would never pay more than $13k even if it was perfect condition. And do read up and know about the Alusil/Nikasil issue, it could save the investment of a new engine down the road.

[myred318i]

I just bought my '95 - 540 last fall. I love mine.... but define a "fun" car to drive. Personally, my 318i was a blast to drive. Not a stoplight drag racer by any means, but a total hoot to toss around. The 540 is fun, but in a more serious, nail-your-right-foot down and I dare you to keep it there! :D

A few things to make quick work of eliminating the bad candidates.
1. (2,3,4,&5) Check to see if the engine block was replaced by BMW. I'm on record as saying that it's not that big of a deal if the car has proven over 100K+ miles, then it's probably not going to be a problem.... but if the choice were 2 cars, one with the block replaced, and one not. I'd definitely take the replaced block car. Alusil = Good, Nickasil = Bad (Just remember "N" means NO, or "A" for all right) ;)

2. Check the suspension. Loose steering, or vibration could get expensive in a hurry. Many owners had the thrust arm bushings replaced with 750il bushings.

3. Automatics have "lifetime" fliud in them, and are designed to never have fluid changes. I took mine in yesterday to have the tranny fluid changed. My mechanic advised against it. a) the fluid was about $200. b) changing would void the warranty for the core should I ever need to replace the tranny ($800 for the core) c) they "could" develop problems if we changed the fluid. So, needless to say, I didn't. The car has 135K miles a shifts very smoothly anyway.

4. When you're serious about the final candidate, just spend the $75 or so, and have a good BMW mechanic check it over. These cars are built to last, but as with any machine parts will wear out. The mechanic can tell you if anything is in need of replacement.

5. I bought mine for about $11K, in great condition. I think anything over $12K is wishful thinking on the sellers part. If you look on autotrader.com, you can find 97-98 model 540 in the $16K range, all day long.

6. E34's in my opinion are true "classic" BMW's. Great car, great value. Get a good one, and I guarantee you'll love driving it everyday.


*edit* Just a thought.... someone once told me to plan on spending about 10% of the price a used car on refurbishment. If the above items are in good shape, that $1000 can come in handy for mods!!

[glfingbug]

Hi,

Thanks Malcom and shragon for the sites info.

myred318i, I have 2003 Mitsubishi EVO 8 as the "really fun" car. The EVO will be my track/autoX etc. I want a commuter car that has great handling/performance without the attraction that the EVO draws (especially the cops). I also prefer to get something local. Is the automatic "maintenance" free? I test drove the 540A and was very interested. The engine had been replaced. I ran a carfax and discovered the car had been involved in an accident. But all the panels had the original vin #s. I couldn't tell the extend of damage and the current owner didn't even know the car had been damaged. He had purchase the car off ebay and the "autocheck" from ebay didn't pick up the accident. The car was in really great shape but I didn't pursue it any further becuase of the accident. Now, I think I should have pursued it a little futher.

[shragon]

n/p.

just make sure the block has been swapped for an alusil block and not another nikasil block, which has happened in some cases.