Any Veteran opinions on this potential buy?

[fedisrico]

https://chicago.craigslist.org/wcl/c...559529023.html

I recently made a post about my 540i being too bulky, and I've come across this. Right away what worries me is the mileage and that the power will feel the same or slower than my 540i.

Could I get some advice from people with high mileage 528i's or people who've gone the vf supercharger route?

The M5 lsd and other parts are what are keeping me on the fence about it, otherwise it wouldn't be worth it to me

[killian665]

That things a turd

[edjack]

It's the same size as your 540!

A turd? Why do you say this?

The mileage is suspect. It may not be terribly dependable, but might be fun if you have a daily driver.

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

M5 subframe? M5 suspension? It's a friggin' i6 528!!!

Lol, the guy probably bought the car like that, was told this, and was told that, but doesn't really know much about it. I'm sure he doesn't even know the difference between a steering box and a rack and pinion...

As for a 528 with, what was it? 166-167,000 miles? Whatever.... I have a 528 wagon with 209,000+ on it, I rag on it daily, hit the redline at least 10 to 20 times a day, it doesn't burn oil, gets at least 20 mpg, 25-26 on the highway on long drives, it is bone stock, but for suspension and front brakes, I would hop in it and drive to California tomorrow if I had to..... Now, if I want to go faster, I have the 540.... But if I want to go faster than that, as in ludicrous speed, that's what the bikes are for. $5500? Dude, I got my '01 super clean Canadian spec M Sport 540, black on black, on black, for $6200 with 112,000 miles, go look for something like that instead. That 528 without the supercharger would probably go for $1900.

[fedisrico]

It's the same size as your 540!

A turd? Why do you say this?

The mileage is suspect. It may not be terribly dependable, but might be fun if you have a daily driver.

Wouldn’t a couple hundred pounds and a lsd make it easier to throw around?

[fedisrico]

M5 subframe? M5 suspension? It's a friggin' i6 528!!!

Lol, the guy probably bought the car like that, was told this, and was told that, but doesn't really know much about it. I'm sure he doesn't even know the difference between a steering box and a rack and pinion...

As for a 528 with, what was it? 166-167,000 miles? Whatever.... I have a 528 wagon with 209,000+ on it, I rag on it daily, hit the redline at least 10 to 20 times a day, it doesn't burn oil, gets at least 20 mpg, 25-26 on the highway on long drives, it is bone stock, but for suspension and front brakes, I would hop in it and drive to California tomorrow if I had to..... Now, if I want to go faster, I have the 540.... But if I want to go faster than that, as in ludicrous speed, that's what the bikes are for. $5500? Dude, I got my '01 super clean Canadian spec M Sport 540, black on black, on black, for $6200 with 112,000 miles, go look for something like that instead. That 528 without the supercharger would probably go for $1900.

I was going to offer 4500 but you’re Right I should have done my research about the suspension fitting first, having said that, I just researched it and got mixed reviews, some saying it would fit but Jack up the car and some saying it wouldn’t. Do you have a definite answer on this?

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

Well, having done a bunch of reading on doing the M5 swap for my wagon, which is a 528 i6, I will have to swap out the subframe, swap out the rack for a steering box, the struts, springs, and the all the suspension arms, add in the pitman arm, idler arm, steering linkages, steering rod, torsion bar, it's a whole ton of differences, that the i6 won't shoe horn into.
About jacking it up, the M5 springs and strut dampers are stiffer than those on i6's, the V8 is heavier, the car won't settle as much as it should due to the lighter weight of the i6, so yeah, it will sit higher, and just be way too stiff, the guy is full of crap.

[fedisrico]

Well, having done a bunch of reading on doing the M5 swap for my wagon, which is a 528 i6, I will have to swap out the subframe, swap out the rack for a steering box, the struts, springs, and the all the suspension arms, add in the pitman arm, idler arm, steering linkages, steering rod, torsion bar, it's a whole ton of differences, that the i6 won't shoe horn into.
About jacking it up, the M5 springs and strut dampers are stiffer than those on i6's, the V8 is heavier, the car won't settle as much as it should due to the lighter weight of the i6, so yeah, it will sit higher, and just be way too stiff, the guy is full of crap.

He said he’d send me pics of the receipts, if I do get them I’ll post them here. Now if theoretically he did get all that installed somehow, would it then be worth replacing my 540ia? I’m at 117k miles on it right now and not sure whether to spend more money on it or move on

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

I just went back and read your first post, WTH do you mean by "My 540 is too bulky"? Your 540 has 117,000 on it, not sure wether to spend more money on it.... So you are looking to blow $5500 on a shady 528 with over 160000 miles on it??? You're not making any sense.

[fedisrico]

I just went back and read your first post, WTH do you mean by "My 540 is too bulky"? Your 540 has 117,000 on it, not sure wether to spend more money on it.... So you are looking to blow $5500 on a shady 528 with over 160000 miles on it??? You're not making any sense.

Lmao, my 540i is
A. Heavier

B. The 528i is already fully upgraded pretty much and all I’d have to worry about is maintenance, my 540 is stock and I’m not sure if I want to spend more money UPGRADING it.

C.I could probably get 6k for my car and would lose no money considering I got it for 3

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

Keep the 540.

[ross1]

Lmao, my 540i is
A. Heavier

B. The 528i is already fully upgraded pretty much and all I’d have to worry about is maintenance, my 540 is stock and I’m not sure if I want to spend more money UPGRADING it.

C.I could probably get 6k for my car and would lose no money considering I got it for 3

Don't fool yourself about that.

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That things a turd

The dopey ///M bumper and bogus ACS badging is a turn off but the car looks decent and somebody dropped some cash into it.
I suspect the "sub frame " reference is for the rear as the ///M diff would be large case and (I think) require a different carrier, axles, etc.
Deserves close inspection as any modified car would but I see nothing in the ad to call it a turd.

[FieroSS]

That car is in my bored CL search radius and it really tempted me to pick it up and swap the upgraded stuff into my 528i Touring but its WAY too fishy.

The big red flag to me is that it has a M52 single vanos engine! A 528i after 1998 should be the M52TU double-vanos. So if its truly a 2000 528 chassis; its got the OLD iron block M52 engine in it.

As others have said; you can't put a M5 subframe in an I6 car. It just doesn't work so that's B.S. To clarify; i'm talking FRONT subframe. The rear i'm unsure about; perhaps that's posssible which would also explain the "M5 control arms"

I've also heard bad stories about VF superchargers on the M52 engines; perhaps its unique to the TU version which may explain why there is a non-TU engine in a TU chassis.

-Tim

[FieroSS]

Thinking about it some more and looking at the pictures more closely; my hypothesis is that its a 1997 or 1998 MY car. The ABS module is the old style along with a bunch of other electrical components that don't match the 1999+ cars.

Why you would attempt to lie about the MY of the car is beyond me. . .

I also got a chuckle out of the "Original M5 front bumper not a Chinese knockoff" that they secured with a rusty sheetmetal screw in front of each front wheel hahahahaha

-Tim

[ross1]

Thinking about it some more and looking at the pictures more closely; my hypothesis is that its a 1997 or 1998 MY car. The ABS module is the old style along with a bunch of other electrical components that don't match the 1999+ cars.

Why you would attempt to lie about the MY of the car is beyond me. . .

I also got a chuckle out of the "Original M5 front bumper not a Chinese knockoff" that they secured with a rusty sheetmetal screw in front of each front wheel hahahahaha

-Tim

Good catch. Absolutely an older car, nobody is EVER going to retro-fit the older(albeit less troublesome) ABS system.

[geargrinder]

I suspect the "sub frame " reference is for the rear as the ///M diff would be large case and (I think) require a different carrier, axles, etc.
Deserves close inspection as any modified car would but I see nothing in the ad to call it a turd.

Good catch. Absolutely an older car, nobody is EVER going to retro-fit the older(albeit less troublesome) ABS system.

Exactly on all counts above.

Comments about the seller perhaps not knowing his ass from his pie-hole may be spot on - HE may not know exactly what he's talking about.

I think there's a good chance a previous owner did the build (longer shot maybe this guy 'checkbooked' it with a shop so only half understands what they did but I'm gonna stick w/ 'somebody elses build' as my first guess...) and they snagged a whole loaded M5 rear SF (including rear brakes.) That's a tidy way to do the diff plus get some other bonuses and would mean indeed the 'subframe' got swapped out back.

The "M5 driveshaft" on the other hand IS at least a partial error - he'd have needed the rear-section of the M5 DS but I think it was probably mated up to the front section of the 528's DS.

AC Schnitzer badges w/ no parts is brutal poserhoser move. Headlight eyebrows are also a loser move.

Wiper arms are nasty. Woulda fixed those before wasting time and energy on the ACS badges and eyebrows.

While I'm crappin', I will also crap on his pix - for each external angle, he has like 3 of basically the same shot over and over again. Dude, look at your angles and pic the best one. Then only one interior shot makes it a good bet the interior is a bit rough (nice missing airbag logo...) He's also missing the clutch pedal cover which doesn't scream "detail oriented owner".

Engine itself looks clean in re: kit install but there's some odd 'not factory' wiring running all up and down left and right sides. Some of that could be blower kit required but not all of it. Aftermarket HID probably?

The pac-man connector is oddly flopping around over there. That's strange.

Indeed that is a non-TU for sure. Fishy. I dunno about M52TU blower problems, but I'm w/ Tim on the engine swap probably? The floppy pac-man would then likely be related to that - swapped the non-TU harness in and for some reason the pac-man didn't mount up again?

Lastly: These non-S-engine blower-kit I6 builds are just "OK". They definitely make some power but not loads. Its a very sedate powerband. Contrary to what he claims there's no big headroom for increased output, and he's overclaiming already (more on that in a sec). The I6 boys on F/I will tell you all day that trying to stretch the blower kits too far on these things is a waste of time and energy. I think it's not a bad approach if you really wanted say, 300hp-ish in a platform that doesn't come in M (lets say a 330xi or a touring body or something and you don't want to spend as much as an S54 swap...) but they don't feel super fast. It'll be slow next to a 540 cuz the 540 is gonna be off and away long before you start making your centriboost. Dude is really lying about the numbers for the kit too, if its a non-TU.

From VF:



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Good catch. Absolutely an older car, nobody is EVER going to retro-fit the older(albeit less troublesome) ABS system.

If its a swap, then I'm guessing the ABS module would have been retroswapped as well for DME/ACS compatibility.

That seems like a lotta work/expense but how could he lie about the year when that's gonna come up the minute you look at the title.

[geargrinder]

Ha. Last one I promise. Just closing the browser window I noticed he has the jump post uncovered and sticking out. Hope he's left the hood-insulation on, could get real sparky in an accident!

[fedisrico]

You guys really went off on him huh? But thanks guys I appreciate your input. Lots of stuff that I would have never picked up on