Re: <E28> Purchase Advice

[Andrej Gaspari <aeg@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> I have my eye on a 1983 528e, I have yet to drive it, as the owner has it in
> for service (the brake warning light came on).  I have however seen it
> casually, as the owner used to be a neighbor.  It did look to be in good
> shape, it was missing a couple of center caps on the aftermarket (BBS mesh
> type) wheels.  I was surprised to hear that it has 190,000 miles on it's
> clock, but the owner assures me that it is quite "tight" and works and runs
> well.  His asking price is $2500, but I think I may be able to talk him down
> to $1500-2000, which seems like a bargain to me.
> 
> I realize that without maintenance history, you cannot form a complete
> opinion, however, if you could help me out it would be much appreciated as
> the collective BMW knowledge on this list far exceeds my meager car
> knowledge.
> 
> Should I pass because of the miles?  I've had high mile cars before that ran
> like tops, and others that just nickled and dimed me to death.  What should
> I look out for?  Is the 1983 528e a decent car in general, or should I keep
> pounding pavement?  If there is any advice you could offer to me or answers
> to questions I haven't thought of I would greatly appreciate that as well.

The E28 chassis is certainly capable of living well beyond 190k miles -
there are examples out there with twice that. As to whether or not this
is a car you should be interested in, you have decide what you're
looking for. The eta motor is a low-revving, high-torque, fairly fuel
efficient engine. If this matches your particular preferences, then
fine. If you like to wind your cars up to a screamingly high redline,
don't bother.

As with any car of this age, you will have things to deal with. A
maintenance history would be nice, but if you don't have one I would
suggest you factor in money for the following:
- -Change all (and I do mean all) fluids.
- -Change all (ditto) belts and hoses. This includes the all-important
timing belt. Big no-no to let this item's replacement lapse.
- -New spark plugs (use the factory-specified plugs for your car).
- -Anything else that doesn't work.

Finally, these cars have a few known issues:
- -Transfer pump (fuel pump in tank - almost guaranteed to be dead at this
point).
- -Water leakage into trunk via taillight seals.
- -Front suspension shimmy-prone - new bushings help most problems.
- -Idle system is somewhat convoluted and tempermental, but not hard to
fix.

I've got a 1983 533i with 194k miles on it. With regular maintenance, I
expect it to last a good while longer. There's no reason to avoid the
car just because of mileage, provided you are willing to deal with the
inevitable maintenance and repairs that will crop up from time to time.
- -- 
- -AEG

Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get
you.

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