I own a 1985 524td. If you google "bmw 524td", it's the car from the 2nd link at BaT.
The car was originally sold in NY, made its way to Florida, where it was owned by a diesel enthusiast. He sold it on BaT (for $6k).
It then made its way to CA, where it was for sale at a high end dealer for mid-high teens. Sold for unknown price.
I came across the car at a local auction, and after searching recognized it as the car from BaT. It had few miles over those 10-12 years, so it must have sat.
I bought the car, and it barely moved home. I did a bunch of work - glowplugs, rebuilt injectors with Bosch nozzles, Bilsteins all around, steering and suspension full refresh. Rebuilt cluster with SI board, probably other stuff I am forgetting. H4/H1 lights with relays and harness.
Just added a set of refinished Style 7s but still have the same wheels/tires shown on BaT too.
Sounds nice. So where's the dilemma? The drivers side rear bumper support literally pushed into the car when it was just tapped. Those few years in NY weren't kind and the resulting rust in that spot needs to be fixed. Most people would just tack weld something on, cover it up and put the bumper back and away it goes. I can't do that.
I cut a rear end off a 535i and took it to a shop, they want more of the piece and to replace the whole back end. That's $1500 plus the panel, if I can find it, and then I still have another issue which is that the paint is original and nice, but up close you can see flaws in the clearcoat, almost as if someone had rubbed the car with steel wool. A repaint would not make any sense.
The car has about 52k original miles, verified. Zero mechanical or running issues, I would drive it cross country in a minute. Starts right up, isn't fast off the line but loves to sit at 80mph turning around 2200rpm. Clean original interior, stock radio, etc. Small, very small dash crack you might not even notice. Original glass all around.
I thought about doing a 5 speed conversion, a bigger turbo, etc but that's more time and money and I'm probably already over my head in value. Plus I just bought another BMW that will need some of my time.
So... if you have solid advice, or are seriously interested in what is definitely the lowest-mile surviving 524td in the country (possibly the world), let me know.
Oh - one thought I had is that if I need to do bodywork anyway, perhaps I should just install some type of euro bumpers, since that usually involves some amount of bodywork anyway? Again, more money into the project though...
Mandatory photo:
