1994 BMW 525i
Classic e34 BMW
Almost all original with some small upgrades
I will consider all reasonable offers; Feel use the Make Offer button. Keep in mind that I put parts and labor costs into this car in the last 8 months.
(PLEASE SEE DETAILS BELOW)
Only now let's get down to the details:
THE GOOD:
I appreciate your time in reading my crazy "Bimmer" fan sales ad here on Craigslist.
Has expensive HID headlights upgrade kit. The low beams have a blue tint to them and the high beams are very bright. Professional install on the HID upgrade kit with special power modules, one per HID lowbeam lamp. Really cool looking to see the HID lamps in an old school circular e34 bulb.
-NEW Tires (Front)
-Two rear tires are almost full tread
-full spare tire in trunk with good tire.
-NEW Battery ($130) H-9 1000 cold cranking amps
Fall 2015, shop that specializes in German cars replaced a lot of parts:
-new lower control arms front and rear (front end)
-new AC/heater blower motor
-new driver side window and window regulator
-new front car seat covers
-new battery w/ 5 year warranty
-new Front Grille Frame Outer (already installed)
Spent over $1500 on restoration to fix all safety related issues. It really needs nothing at all as far as drive-ability wise.
The only needs to be replaced based on mileage (maintenance) but nothing is broken, suspension is fully functional. If I keep the car I want it to be even better than OEM, so that is why I have been considering an upgraded M5 grade replacement for the full suspension.
Left it with BMW of Alexandria for 3 days and they said there is nothing at all that it needs safety wise. In fact they were impressed with how great of shape it is in for a 94' 525i. This shows how well this car has been cared for and loved throughout the years and previous owners. It hales originally from Germany and spent most of it's life in PA before I brought it to Virginia last summer.
This BMW fires up with a new starter motor and purrs like a e34 bimmer should. This is the second e34 I have owned. The last one was an 88' 535is and this 525i is really awesome!!! Going to miss her! ;-(
Car is in great shape and will run strong for ever. The e34 is famous for it's reliability, and well if you are a serious buyer then you know about these cars and I do not have to keep harping about how awesome they are. I really do not want to sell it to someone who does not appreciate it's class BMW heritage. In a practical sense is ideal if you can fix small things yourself to save money. I will include the full Bentley Factory Repair Manual (PDF format). The same repair manual is used by BMW expert mechanics and costs $50-90 in print form. I prefer to use it on a computer monitor to study the diagrams and search for keywords.
VA inspection sticker from July 2015, also passed VA emissions. I drove the car 3 hours home from PA and brought it for inspection the next day. Passed emissions and I had to replace the control arms to get it to pass safety inspection. As mentioned, all the safety related (normal maintenance) repairs have been done so that is why I was planning on keeping this car for a while. Don't wait long because I will try to do whatever I can to keep this car as I do not want to have to do all the maintenance repair work on another one, so soon...again. Need to pay my IRS TAX BILL!!! YAH! I am a small business owner, so I need to sell this car by April 18th or it is NO LONGER for sale.
It has roughly 188k miles on it but runs like new. There is never any oil or fluids on the ground when parked. I checked each time when I first purchased it last summer. NOT A DROP! The valve cover gasket could be replaced (regular maintenance). If someone pays my asking price of $3,000 then I will repair the driver's side seat, change the oil, spark plugs and valve cover gasket before you pick it up. The gasket on the valve cover is an easy replacement job and I have done it on multiple BMW engine top ends.
I was actually planning on eventually rebuilding the entire engine top end myself with a piston bore, and high end CAM upgrade. No reason to do all of that yet though.
My loss is your gain. I had planned on fully restoring this e34 and eventually selling it for at least $5k. The body is in great shape for a 23 year old classic car. It is more of a hobby for me and I am not looking to make anything from selling this car. I prefer to just break even (not counting the many hours I have spent working on it)...but prefer to see someone buy it that will continue to appreciate and fix it up than make a profit.
Don't hesitate to MAKE ME AN OFFER! The car will not be for sale long!!! If it does not sell this week or next then I will likely not put it back up for sale for another year or so.
THE BAD (Items that are easily fixable)
-Trunk needs a new tumbler lock cylinder. The trunk looks like it was bumped by a pickup truck in a parking lot or gas station. It shows up as a minor accident on the Car Fax Report. You can tell only if you look very close that a previous owner had it repaired. I think they replaced the trunk lid (door part) from another e34 bmw of the same color. The person I bought the car from did not mention this because it is only noticeable if you look very close. I only noticed it after having the car for a couple of months and realized this must be why the trunk key is not the same. ***Good news is the master key is the one I have 2 copies of. In e34's the master key does not unlock the glove box (parking valet). Just to be clear the 2 keys that come with this car are both master keys and it works on the doors, and glove box. Any BMW dealer can order a matching tumbler cylinder and you can have your local shop install it.
The driver side seat has the common issue of "bmw e34 seat twist".
It is a $0 fix, just go to the YouTube or Google and search for the video: "e34 seat twist fix"
eBay will not let me paste the YouTube link here so just Google search the term: "e34 seat twist fix" and it should be the first YouTube video that shows up.
-I just have not had time to fix the seat twist issue, and only drive the car a few times a week so it does not bother me.
There is really nothing else wrong with this car. It is really a gem of a 23 year old classic. Please keep in mind that it will need some TLC if you use it as a daily driver. It is not perfect and I am not claiming it is like a new BMW. It is from 1994! I only got so far this far (explained above) with the Full Restoration. It makes a great (affordable) and safe daily driver (in current state), Dual front Airbags and many other safety features that BMW pioneered the auto industry with. This car has so many bells and whistles that most cars you buy new in 2016 do not have.
Driver's heated seat does not seem to function, but it is going to be summer soon in VA! Passenger side heated seat does work and gets hot very fast. I am sure the driver's side heated seat is an easy fix. Might just be a wire is disconnected because I did take the seat out to replace one of the power adjustment motors from a parts car last summer.
The complete set of owner's manuals, bmw apparel catalog (super cool 1990's gear and clothing:-)
ALL INCLUDES - This e34 BMW had all the features from the factory, even a car phone! The antennae for the car phone is left on the car for nostalgic purposes because it is really awesome! I planned on restoring this car because the only thing that is missing OEM is that car phone! Dang!!!
THE UGLY:
There is a few knicks and scratches here and there. Again the car is about 23 years old! For the age it looks very nice considering it is all original cosmetically. From not too far away, and with a fresh wash and wax, it really looks very nice still.
There is a small dent just below the drunk lid. It is about 1/2"x1" in size but could be easily pulled out. Again 23 YEAR old car so I am not gonna say it is perfect. ;-) but I only noticed this dent the other day when looking very close, and I have had the car for almost a year.
Please don't waste my time just to test drive it and kick the tires. Serious buys only, NO NON-PAYING BIDDERS - YOU WILL BE REPORTED IF YOU "BUY IT NOW" AND DO NOT PAY, SO PLEASE JUST BE SURE YOU WANT TO MAKE THE PURCHASE AHEAD OF TIME <<<<ASK QUESTIONS BEFORE BIDDING>>>>...WILLING TO CONSIDER REASONABLE OFFERS. Please just ask ANY QUESTIONS AND MAKE AN INFORMED PURCHASE. NO REFUNDS OR RETURNS, THIS IS AN AUCTION - ALL SALES FINAL!!!
Tell me upfront what you would like to spend and I promise to give you a very straightforward answer quickly. For $3,000 I will take care of the items listed above, seat twist, oil change, new Bosch Spark Plugs, and Value Cover Gasket. I should mention that the valve cover gasket could go another 10k miles easily. It is a maintenance thing, and as mentioned above there is no oil leaking on the ground. It is just a tiny amount around the valve cover. I am being as straightforward to list any and all information I can. I hate buying cars from people to find little things they must have known about and just did not mention. You will not find a nicer 90's e34 anywhere for less than $3K!
CAR is for sale locally as well. I reserve the right to cancel the auction / sale at anytime.