1993 BMW 525i Touring Wagon. No title...parts car

1993 BMW 5-Series wagon Description

Not running. No idea why, possibly a fuse to the fuel pump. I let the battery die, and when I charged it, it now just turns over and does not start. It had a new fuel pump maybe 10K miles ago, but I’m not hearing the pump turn on when I turn the key. Maybe it needs a pump, but I’m guessing just the fuse.

This has been such an amazingly good car...I'm sad I've treated it this way. I've owned it for 17 years and always changed the oil with synthetic oil, waxed it once a year, conditioned the leather once a year, and only used the best parts for work which is why it's still in such good shape. BUT, I've totally neglected it for the past 5 years or so as I've been traveling a lot and own 4 other cars. It is unfortunately not worth enough to mess with, plus it’s my ex-wifes car and has some not so happy memories.

The good:

* Never in any accident.

* Adult owned its whole life.

* Originally a Beverly Hills car, moved to Seattle in 2006.

* Could be brought back to very good condition for a relatively small amount of money plus a lot of care.

* 100% rebuilt front suspension including bilstein HD struts and all bushings and joints and tie rod ends and springs and whatnot about 12K miles ago.

• I used to condition the rubber with gummy pfledge every year so most of it is like new.
• The leather is still in great shape. Dirty, but not broken anywhere. The whole car could pretty much be detailed back to extremely good condition.
• Came with that awesome dual sunroof system.
• Has a very nice, almost new pioneer stereo with bluetooth and iPhone connectivity and sounds really great. The stereo is likely worth more than the car…think of this auction as buying a very nice Pioneer head unit wrapped in a 525i wagon.

The bad:

*The paint is of incredibly high quality and I was able to polish out the oxidation dozens of times, but this past spring when I was trying to bring it back it became visibly thin on the hood in spots. You'll be able to polish the car out maybe one more time before it needing paint. Or you could just wax it.

* Self leveling suspension has been leaking...forever. Throws off the pressure in the system and makes the ride in the back a little bouncy. I have a new strut for the left, still hunting for the right (they're like $700 each so you don't want to just buy them, found the left for $150). Or Bavauto has a self leveling delete kit. Or, you drive it for another 17 years with bouncy a rear like I did.

* The vanos has been knocking for the same amount of time as the suspension has been bouncing. Not a big deal, but since the car now has close to 200K on it, probably a good time to do the timing chains and tensioners. If you're in there, might as well do the Vanos project.

• I have zero ideas on where the title is. It’s still registered to my ex-wife who kidnapped my son and ran away to Japan where she is certainly not reachable. I’ll sign a bill of sale, but I can’t get a duplicate title in the state of Washington without a notarized signature from her, which is not happening. I’m guessing the car will sell for like $100 so not worth bringing out of state. I’m selling it as a parts car as I have no idea how to title it. I can sign her name, but I won’t be able to get the notarization required to get a Washington title.
• The sunroof seal started leaking probably 8 years ago. Not terribly, but enough to get the headliner wet. Which over the course of 8 years ruined the headliner…there is currently very little of the headliner still hanging.
• AC works great, but needs to be recharged every summer. BUT the blower motor only works on highest setting…needs a new switch.
• Water pump needs to be changed pretty desperately. It’s circulating water, but is squeaking. I have a new pump and was going to do it with the timing chain/vanos job I never got around to doing.
• I put on new micheline tires what feels like yesterday, but was actually like 8 years ago. The tires have great tread, but are starting to get those little cracks that 8 year old tires will get.

Read some reviews on these cars. 350K miles is totally normal for this year range of e34 BMW with the m50tu engine. It's been INCREDIBLY reliable for me. I've driven it back and forth LA/Seattle more times than I can count. It's an amazingly comfortable freeway cruiser, gets a good 28mpg on the highway. My plan was to bring it back to new condition and just keep putting miles on it. I just have too many other cars, too little time, and this thing is just worth too little money for me to fuss with at this point.

I’m selling the car with zero reserve. It has to be moved off my street as I have some neighbor who keeps reporting it as abandoned so it will get towed by the city eventually. If I get $50 for it, I’m happy. Otherwise the city will eventually impound the thing when I’m not able to push it around the corner again the next time it gets a notice on it. 17 years is long enough to have one car.