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Thread: Purchasing manual swap 540i advice??

  1. #26
    Join Date
    Jul 2019
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    601
    My Cars
    BMW E39 528i 1998
    That car was way too hard to get. It's not easy to move a car from thr US. Too many hoops to jump through. I looked into it and just decided it was too much.
    Apparently the car had water in the engine, hence the rebuilt status. Once the seller flushed the oil, it ran without issues. I don't know how much I really believe that.

    During this whole time I haven't seen a single facelift 540i, black on black with manual transmission and m sport.
    Ended up seeing one on FB marketplace for 7500 CAD yesterday.
    That was definitely a good deal, I thought, so I was super excited. Unfortunately it was in another city and I knew the car at that price wouldn't last, so I asked my friend to check it out for me.

    The car had some decent pictures and the following description:

    For sale is my 2002 BMW 540i M-Sport with the 6-speed manual transmission. Rare combination of the last model year, M-Sport package, and manual transmission

    Just clocked over 280,000 km, all maintenance up to date, oil changes every 6 months/10,000 km
    Clean title

    Engine and maintenance - all major work done.

    All new Bosch ignition coils and NGK spark plugs September 2019
    Timing chain, timing chain guides, and valve cover gaskets December 2021
    Valley pan, radiator, and cooling system overhaul December 2020
    Belts+ Pulleys and Tensioners January 2018
    New lowbeam HID bulbs March 2018
    Cabin Filter March 2021
    Water pump and thermostat June 2019
    Brand New BMW clutch+LuK Flywheel June 2021
    New battery with 4 years warranty september 2022

    New motor mounts

    Exterior
    M-Tech 2 coil over suspension.
    Style 66 wheels, mint condition except for minor scratched
    Hankook 275/30/17in in excellent condition
    Hood has a few scuffs and a loonie-sized crack


    I thought I found a gem!

    As always, the guy didn't mention the negatives in the ad. It has a crack in the windshield (no big deal...), keyfob doesn't work, hood doesn't open as something is broken, etc.

    My friend checked it out for me and wasn't too impressed...
    He said it has some small leaks around the engine and valley pan area (which doesn't worry me much).
    The hood has a bunch of rust spots, probably from rocks. The hood by itself is not not the end of the world, but that just gave me uneasy vibes about the seller, who claimed the car to be rust free.
    Which made me wonder, what other information did he omit to mention?
    There was also a rust spot in between the rear quarter panel and rear bumper. It seemed minor to my friend, but to me it seemed it was rusting pretty bad. I'll have to examine it better. It's hard to judge by blurry pictures in the dark.
    Again, not the end of the world and repairable, but should've been mentioned. At least the seller was honest enough, when questioned, to say that the spot had previously rust cut out and welded and it was done professionally.
    Well obviously not professionally, since it came back...
    Last issue was the tranny, where seller said he had replaced the clutch and flywheel.
    I wonder if that's outright made up or he screwed something up. My friend said tranny felt worn out, didn't go in gears a couple of times, didn't shift smoothly and car seemed not to show its full acceleration potential because of tranny.
    Lastly, he noticed some play in the front tie rods.
    Overall, my friend did not particularly like the car and did not believe it was worth 7.5k, but maybe 4-5. Of course he is not a bmw guy.

    On the positive side, the vehicle had lots of good to offer.
    Engine didn't make noise, or at least my friend didn't hear it, which leads me to believe, with the mileage of 280.000 km the timing chains have truly been done.
    The interior was very clean and nice, close to mint.
    All electronics worked, like traction control and ABS.
    Friend said the rocker panels were flawless and were was no rust there.
    There were very tiny rust spots on the door that he found later.
    This one thing didn't square up in my brain, how could the rear quarter panel rust so much while rocker panels were spotless? No rust by the licence plate, trunk, on the bottom inside of the door etc. It made me suspicious for sure, maybe it was patched up and rust would reappear later...but I trusted my friend.
    I also ran the VIN on realoem and saw that it was a manual from factory, not a swap, so that made me feel good, not needing to chase somebody's mistakes.

    Even though the seller wasn't super transparent and tried saying that the rust had been professionally fixed and the tranny maybe was not warmed up or mounts were worn out, he was easy to talk to and was not a pushy dude or anytning.
    In the end I offered 6000, which he accepted after some hesitation. That's around 4500 USD.

    Let me know what you think guys. In the very least, I think I didn't spend a lot of money, so I see lots of upside potential.
    I know timing guides are a major concern on this vehicle, and they appear to have been done.
    There are a couple of rust spots, but it's not a rust bucket by any means.
    Interior is clean, the leather is in good condition and buttons work.
    I fully trust my friend about the tranny. He said if he engaged the emergency brake and gave it gas, the front didn't rise, as it normally should...
    Still, manual tranny is not too hard to replace from what I heard.
    Given that I've recently installed a car lift in my garage, this should not be a major problem.

    I realize the car is not perfect, but these cars are so rare that I feel like I'm either never going to find one in perfect condition, or it will be way more expensive.
    Just a few days ago, one manual 540i msport 2003 sold on BAT for 14000 USD. If I tried to import it, I would be over 20,000 CAD for sure. And even that car, someone mentioned in the comments that he took if for a test drive and it was making some noise it one of the gears.

    I think at 6000 it was a pretty good deal, especially given that there's literally no such vehicles anywhere in canada listed for sale.
    The closest I found was a black on black 540i manual, pre facelift, listed for 15k.
    The cheapest manual 540i I found in decent condition (at least on pictures, because as we know, things change when it's in person - even though the seller swears by it) was 7k.

    https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...ibextid=dXMIcH

    But if I bought non facelift, I know I'd be spending endless amount of money and hours trying to retrofit those options lol.

    I know I have broken some rules here, buying the car without seeing it myself, and having my friend check it out while it was dark out, but I knew this car would not stay on the market for more than a couple of days.
    Soon enough I'll be able to share my experience with it.

  2. #27
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Location
    Boston, MA
    Posts
    1,154
    My Cars
    99 528i/5, 05 ZHP conv
    Congrats.....I happen to think the purchase price, whether it's C$4,000 or C$6,000 or C$10,000 is less significant.

    you will likely spend a good chunk of the purchase price additionally - like 75%+- over the next 4 yrs.

  3. #28
    Join Date
    Jul 2019
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    601
    My Cars
    BMW E39 528i 1998
    Thank you!! It was so much more fun to drive vs my 528i automatic...

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