Bought a Lemon, Any Suggestions?

[MJCRO]

Sucks to hear about the motor, but look at the bright side man, the car looks like beaut from the listing! IMO if you had paid around $9-$10k for it, then I'd be fucking pissed. But considering you paid on the low side for such a nice facelifted E39 with the 16:9 Nav system, that $1500 investment in parts doesn't sound too bad. Only real downside is the damn labor lol.

[freeride53]

This. Honestly, you're up shit's creek with no paddle. That's why you always do a pre-buyers inspection, even if you're out of state. The seller shouldn't have any issues with taking it to a shop to have it checked out and if it's an issue, do not buy it. Just fix it, in the grand scheme of things it's not worth the energy to go after the guy. Karma's a bitch, he'll get what he's got coming to him. I know of a shady used car guy that sold a lemon. Buyer came back all pissed off, told the guy to fuck off. Guy waited till he was leaving, fucking kidnapped him, beat the leaving shit out of him, and then left him naked and tied up around a light pole in the wal-mart parking lot. True story.

MLarsen,

this is still making me laugh to the point of crying in the library.

[mbonder]

I'm sorry to say it, but the chain guides, tensioner, and other associated components are a bitch to change out, be ready for a lot of time spent "bonding" with your new car. However, once it's done, you'll be all set for tousands of miles worth of carefree driving.

[Vtec?lol]

Oil pan full of honey/Lucas. You can tell from the sticky blue and green color. I could hold this pan upside down and only plastic and metal fall out. It's definitely the timing chain guides but there's no telling how long they've been broke with this shit it it



Metal flakes in the honey/Lucas mix

[Dakotademon7]

instead he goes to ebay and reports the car as not paid for. This instantly removes the negative review I gave him so he's off free.


That's really really F'ed up there ! It's getting so you can't even trust Ebay.

[Vtec?lol]

Added a few photos/screenshots to the first post.

[Vtec?lol]

Lots of good advice.

The car all around is solid. It only has one scratch on the entire car and you can't see it unless you're on the ground.
The suspension is solid. It has the e39 wobble at 80mph but that's easily cared for with new thrust arm bushings which i have.

I'll post some pictures of it later.

[BobombETA]

Lot's of good advice in this thread. I hope it works out for you OP.

[Stanley Rockafella]

/\ how it's done!

That's how I bought my 88 325is 11 years ago. OP was cool with getting a PPI doine at my expense. By the time he picked me up at the airport, I knew I was getting the e30 I'd always dreamt of

[agent]

they are the best drivers sedans ever built

Truth.

A few years ago I flew to Cleveland to complete the purchase of a 540i I found on eBay with Dinan bits galore. When I arrived, I discovered the car had issues, despite having a local dealer friend talk to the guy before I bid ("yeah just some ticky-tack stuff here and there..."). After six test drives and them not being able to resolve a serious vibration issue between 60 and 90 mph, I had to buy a plane ticket home.

The dealer I was working with said that when it comes to eBay Motors sales, a single negative feedback is a nail in the coffin for their business. Because of that, he did everything he could to make sure I was 100% satisfied with the car before I drove it home.

When they couldn't, they let me out of the deal. They refunded my deposit a few days later, but I was still out the $500 it cost me to make the trip. I look back on it as tuition for an education about buying cars on eBay and the importance of a PPI - which I had done on the 530i I bought a couple months later and still DD.


Cliffs: try to get satisfaction from eBay. Negative feedback there will hurt him more than having to pay for the parts you need to make the car right.

[z31maniac]

The "Stanceworks Solution"

[DEV0 E30]

1. Check insurance coverage 2. Apply more coverage. 3.Torch it.

Shitty situation, good luck man.

Came here to post this.

Ebay buyer protection?

Also... if he claims it's not paid for... did he cash your check? Do you have any way of cancelling payment?


Last resort... run it into something, then report stolen. Collect insurance money, and start over. And yes, I'm kidding.

Ebay buyer protection may not be covered here?

Kidding he is not.

Sucks man, classic case of excitement for new car eclipses all thoughts of common sense. You're going about it the right way though, suck it up and fix it. Doesn't sound like it was a bad deal even with the price of repair. m60 timing stuff is no fun, good luck!

In the end, really making the best of a crappy situation is the best plan of attack. Think of this as a learning experience, never get a car without an independent inspection done by someone who will check every inch of a car.

We <3 you too bro, good luck. Your avatar makes me think an Accord may have been a better choice? That's water under the bridge now.

[mulletman]

Ebay buyer protection?

Also... if he claims it's not paid for... did he cash your check? Do you have any way of cancelling payment?


Last resort... run it into something, then report stolen. Collect insurance money, and start over. And yes, I'm kidding.

[_JohnnyD_]

Although it needs some repairs, you can actually end up with a car that you are more than happy with because in the end, after the repairs you will have a car that you can rely on because you personally replaced vital parts that wear and fail on the m62 engine.

If you only paid $6k for the car, you actually got the car cheap, so if you put another $2k into it, you're still below market value for a nice msport. $8k in for a car that you know will run a while isn't a big deal as far as I'm concerned. Yes, you need to do the maintenance, but in the end you'll be better off because of it.

Have you had a chance to look over the rest of the car to make sure it is even worth throwing more money at. Is the body straight, suspension and steering tight, electrical working and not hacked up.
It sounds like you understand the engine troubles because that is the obvious problem right now.
The last thing you need to put 2k into the engine and find out the car needs more money into the suspension, trans, body, electrical, etc.
If you're not sure, have a professional look at the car and give a full assessment of what it needs in the next 1 year of ownership. (don't use the same person that will fix the engine, they might tell you everything is perfect to ensure you actual do the engine work with them)
In my experience if a car has signs of poor maintanence on one system chances are the rest of the systems were not cared for either.

Don't throw good money after bad!!!

[henryki]

I heard a story about a kidnapping...? if you plan one... I'm in, and the movie they'll make about our kidnapping will be called Taken: Advantage of. (A movie based off the Liam Nelson hit film Taken.)

All joking aside, my neighbor bought a 528i, auto, 180,000 miles, electrical issues, and his dumb ass still paid 8500 for it. so all in all I think you're doing fine, especially for having a V8 and manual trans, when its all sorted, it should be a great car to drive!