Need info on buying a 95 525i...1st time BMW Buyer

[zudeck]

Hello folks,

I'm new here. A little about me before I start asking questions.
My friends call me Fezz, so can all of you. I am a college student I drive a 1988 Mercedes Benz 300E with 187000 KMS !! I just bought the car over the past summer, I was in the market looking for 318i but came across this and hence bought it. Gorgeous car, slow and steady, nothing wrong with it. Heart still lies with Bimmers though

My neighbor is selling his 1995 525i with 225,000 kms for $6000 CAD. Its lowered, its chipped, and its got cross drilled rotors. Now I don't know ANYTHING about BMW cars, specially the older ones, so I'm looking for some info.

1) How expensive is it to maintain this car?
2) Parts cheap or expensive?
3) Known problems?
4) Is the asking price high, low or reasonable?
5) What should I look at, when buying? (Since I have no absolute idea)

I really appreciate the help and hopefully my questions are answered and I can go buy the beast and be a BMW owner and driver for life !!


Cheers

 

[MTBL525i]

Thinking about it in terms of US dollars and mileage the price is decent, factoring in the mods I'd say its a good price as long as its been well maintained. As far as the cost to maintain my standard answer is you're going to spend some money on maintenance as BMWs are not the cheapest to maintain but if you're handy you can take on some of the minor things yourself. Not sure about known issues with this car though - might want to ask if the ignition coil has been changed at any point.

My 2 cents

 

[E30m42cab]

Okay, a 1995 is an E34, which is what I have, but it's a 1992. Basically I bought the exact same car as you're looking at buying about 2 months ago. Lowered, Dinan Chip, K&N filter, M5 rims, M5 front spoiler, cross-drilled rotors all around, leather, heated seats, 6-dics CD changer, 198,000kms and snow tires on the factory rims... previously owned by a BMW salesman at BMW of Mississauga. It has a bit of rust around the rear wheel arch, but I don't really care because it's just my winter beater. I bought it off of him for $4800 CAD, and the only problem I've had with it so far is both of the front wheel bearings were shot, but I did the repair myself, and the parts were about $170(if I remember correctly) for each bearing. Maintanance isn't bad, just change all the fluids ever couple years, Chuck's Auto in Rexdale is $70 an hour, and there's Bimmersport Automotive in Mississauga that both specialize in BMW's. Parts can be a bit pricey, especially from a dealer, but if you have a good parts guy for your Mercedes, he can probably hook you up pretty easily for bimmer stuff. I'm 27, and I've owned BMW's since I was 20, and I'm not broke from parts and maintanence. I'm also not rich. I guess you can judge for yourself whether the asking price is too high based on my cars price. If the car is automatic, I would leave it alone... if it's manual, it'll be a pretty nice ride. Things to look at when buying... well... there's no timing belt, it's a chain drive so you're good there... just basically check for rust... most parts can be bought and installed yourself, but body work is a pain in the you know what. Check the belt(s), radiator, ALL electrical stuff (press all the buttons and make sure everything works). Check the catalytic convertors... there are two of them, so if they're rusty and look like they're dead, it's a twin pipe exhaust all the way to the muffler, so that'll be pricey. I dunno, just use your best judgement on checking stuff out thoroughly. I don't really know of any reoccuring problems with this model. You can probably talk him down a few hundred though.

Good luck....

maybe I'll see you driving around Toronto... is it the same colour as mine too?

 

[Big Daddy]

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