735i 5-sp: Thanks for the help and buyer beware

["Aggieboy and Therapygirl" <pohl@xxxxxxx>]

Thanks everybody who helped me with some of my questions recently regarding
a 735i 5-sp.  I decided not to purchase the one I found in WI because my
mechanic (who performed a very detailed examination) turned up just too many
problems to justify a $10000 price (Brickner Dodge in Wausau, WI).

So for anybody else who might be interested I can save you a lot of time
(i.e. if you're the dude from Chicago who's supposedly going to look at it
and buy it tomorrow - don't waste your time!):

- - Large paint chips on hood and both passenger doors (1/2 fingernail size on
hood), large scratch on passenger door.
- - Large cracks (no rips though) in driver's seat.  Looks like behemoth of a
man sat there (well over 300 lbs).
- - Cigarette burn marks on headliner
- - Small chip in windshield
- - Uneven wear showing on relatively new front tires, spare is cupped and
worn
- - no rust or dings (one of the few good things)
- - sunroof cocked a little
- - lower ball joint seals cracked
- - right outer tie rod end shot
- - rear transmission seal seeping
- - CV joints grease packed with dirt
- - Exhaust rusted, but solid
- - Headgasket seepage
- - Moter sounds good, but valve noise (needs adjustment, but valve stems
probably still OK)
- - Strange noise at startup/shutdown (probably stretched out timing chain!)
- - SRS light continuously on
- - Carpet on passenger side well worn

Any few of these might be OK, especially if the car is priced right, but all
of them together scare the hell out of me.  Anyone wager a guess how much it
would cost to fix everything to mke the car look and perfrom like the way
you would expect from such a noble sedan?

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