I've loved E34's for longer than I can remember. For one reason or another, I've never owned one....until now.
Yesterday I sold my black '89 325i and I was casually browsing craigslist (very dangerous when you have cash). I was looking to see if there happened to be any cheap black E34 525iT's (of course there weren't), and I came across this '91 525i. The first thing I noticed was the price, $1200. What?! $1200? At that price, I could still put the majority of the money from the E30 sale toward credit card bills (the purpose of selling the E30).
The reason for such a low price is the she's getting the dreaded 'trans program' error and it's going into limp mode from time to time. The local dealership said the problem was an internal solenoid that couldn't be fixed and said the transmission needed to be replaced. They quoted her $4900 for a new one, installed .
She ended up taking $1,000 for it.
I was originally going to get the transmission fixed and sell it, but after putting around 100 miles on it today, I'm definitely keeping it *at least* throughout the summer. Everything about this car, aside from three issues, is clean and tight. Exterior has one door ding, interior is dirty but will clean up nicely. Brakes and suspension seem to be in good condition. Engine has one slight 'rumble' every 3-4 seconds, but I'd bet a tune-up would cure that. Great power all through the rev range and runs great overall. Tires have less than 2,000 miles on them. Almost all maintenance records, and the original owner was a little old lady :D
The only problems are the Trans Program issue, the sunroof panel headliner needs to be reglued, and the driver seat headrest has a stripped gear or something.
While it's not the black, manual, E34 525iT I want, I think it's the perfect car to usher me onto and down that slippery E34 slope. I'll be using this thread to update my work on the car.
Yesterday I sold my black '89 325i and I was casually browsing craigslist (very dangerous when you have cash). I was looking to see if there happened to be any cheap black E34 525iT's (of course there weren't), and I came across this '91 525i. The first thing I noticed was the price, $1200. What?! $1200? At that price, I could still put the majority of the money from the E30 sale toward credit card bills (the purpose of selling the E30).
The reason for such a low price is the she's getting the dreaded 'trans program' error and it's going into limp mode from time to time. The local dealership said the problem was an internal solenoid that couldn't be fixed and said the transmission needed to be replaced. They quoted her $4900 for a new one, installed .
She ended up taking $1,000 for it.
I was originally going to get the transmission fixed and sell it, but after putting around 100 miles on it today, I'm definitely keeping it *at least* throughout the summer. Everything about this car, aside from three issues, is clean and tight. Exterior has one door ding, interior is dirty but will clean up nicely. Brakes and suspension seem to be in good condition. Engine has one slight 'rumble' every 3-4 seconds, but I'd bet a tune-up would cure that. Great power all through the rev range and runs great overall. Tires have less than 2,000 miles on them. Almost all maintenance records, and the original owner was a little old lady :D
The only problems are the Trans Program issue, the sunroof panel headliner needs to be reglued, and the driver seat headrest has a stripped gear or something.
While it's not the black, manual, E34 525iT I want, I think it's the perfect car to usher me onto and down that slippery E34 slope. I'll be using this thread to update my work on the car.
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