Does this E34 look like it's worth it? New forum goer.

[TimeAstronaut]

Hey, I'm new here I've recently been looking for an E34 but all of the ones i've seen have been sold before I got to them.

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details....equestSource=b

I'm certainly not going to pay $7000, however clean the car may be. The leaking transmission and coolant have put me off quite a bit, but if I can snag it for a good price then i'm willing to fix it up. What do you guys think of it? Thanks

[papa t]

Pay close attention to the suspension. What the seller is describing as a shutter from a slightly bent rim could in reality be a worn front suspension. The seller didn't list any suspension work in their list of "good". With that many miles it should have been addressed long ago. It's not a particularly difficult job to replace the parts, but it's not inexpensive either.

[S61Dan]

I wouldn't pay more than $2500.

[AHenry014]

i realize the canadian dollar value makes that 7000 car worth 5300 bucks or so to the US guys, but thats WAY too much for a 525i, regardless of how clean it is. IMO $3k is pushing it for any e34 id be interested in.

[Philth]

Expensive for what it is. Good engine. Aftermarket parts are very meh.

Biggest thing I'd check for is rust on the bottom of the doors. Almost every Canadian e34 will have it, so just check how much this one has and any holes in the floor.

Coolant leak isn't a big deal. Expect a couple hundred to replace rad and pipes and a couple hours on a weekend. But I would ask if he's ever run it dry and overheated the engine or if it burns any coolant vice just slowly leaks it out. Ask how often he has to top it off and how much.

Wheel shimmy is hard to diagnose. Could be a misplaced wheel weight or a bend in the rim. Could be bad tires. Could be bad balljoints. Nothing that's impossible to fix and honestly I would never buy a 20+ year old car and not expect to do any suspension work.

This made me laugh: " last year of the classic hand assembled bmw's making it a very easy car to work on and keeps labour costs low"

It's an old car. Expect to pay.

Assuming the rust isn't bad, the leak is only a leak, and you're willing to do your own suspension work and diagnostics, I'd be expecting to pay 4-5k CAD.

As I mentioned in another recent thread, the Canadian market is different than the US market. It's not just the exchange rate. It's the availability of cars and cars that are in good shape. We don't have a California or an Arizona. Saskatchewan is about as close as we get as ideal vintage car climate and the roads there are terrible and eat suspensions like nothing else.

Goodluck finding vintage import cars in SK too, it's not really the market.



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[ross1]

Seller says he hates to part with it, at $7k he has no worries.
Nothing special about this one, it's a $2-$3k car without issues

[zubbie]

As a fellow canuck I follow E34 values closely. $7k cnd is pipe dream money for that. If it were stock, clean, low mileage, no leaks or rust, and had a binder full of dealer records he'd be hard pressed to get $5k cdn ($3800 us).

Given the stated (and unstated) issues it's a $3k cdn ($2300 us) at best. Unfortunately based on the asking point one can only assume the owner paid too much and won't drop to a reasonable value until it's sat for months.

For reference my 89 jdm mint 535, no winters, no issues with 120000 kms (75000 miles) might fetch 5 - $6000 cdn on a good day.

Recommend to keep looking

[Torston]

I'm the guy with the Wanted: e34 adds in Calgary (on Kijiji). I search kijiji Canada twice a day for all BMW's and Mercedes 2003 or older. I've been doing this for a couple years now, almost religiously since oil crashed and the market started puking up some real decent well priced cars. I've bought 4 e31's, 4 e30's, a euro spec M3 and two e34's in the last year and half. I've bought cars from both coasts now too.

This is what I am going to say about e34's, and this applies to the US market as I browse Autotrader.com too. Supply of low mileage clean examples of any model is simply not a reality. I would be willing to bet there is maybe two, maybe three e34's listed anywhere in North America under 60000 miles. If that. My thinking is the average mileage on offer is somewhere over 150000 miles and average condition is worse than a 3-. While the enthusiast base isn't there like the same era e30's and e31's, it is there, and this is BMW's best built sedan (I think the e39 is better handling though). I watch the home market and read the forums in German and the common complaint from most of the participants is rapid price escalation, dealers hoarding cars and re-listing for 100% mark up and a general lack of supply of anything not rusted/miled out.

I'm not saying e34's are going to do what e30 M3's did, or what e31's are doing now. Classic sedans with one of the best built interiors and engine combinations ever produced. I don't think these are $3000 cars any more.

Zubbie, if you have a jdm e34 I may be interested in it.

[moroza]

The grill is narrow. No mention of cosmetic swapping. Therefore I wonder if it was swapped because of accident damage.

Coolant leaks? Ride/handling issues? For 7k (~5400 US), that thing had better be Sorted! Or an M5.

It was not hand-built (M5 was) unless someone restored it.

Cosmetics look good. Depending on your skill set - do you do bodywork? Do you wrench? Both? Neither (pay someone else for both)? - that might be more important than the mechanicals.

Big (18") heavy (Style 65s are heavy) wheels on this car would cause a shimmy at 90-100kph with the slightest provocation, so the suspension rubber might be fine if the wheel really is bent. I can't imagine how that might've happened with low-profile tires and a 4-season climate...

Mileage is less important than actual condition when we're at this age. I'd be wary of any car with 25-30 years and 60k miles, especially for its likely asking price, unless I was expecting to restore it. Zubbie - how much of the rubber on your car is original? On the other end, much after 300k and things like timing chains and piston rings start to wear, even on well-kept examples. 207k is nothing to worry about per se.

Want a cheaper E34? Come to Seattle or Portland (if the latter, say hi).