FS: '88 535is auto, red/black, near Philadelpha, not mine

[Tammer in Philly]

Hey guys and gals,

Just a heads-up about a decent car. I looked at this thing last night (took along my kick-ass LED Mag-Lite--if you don't have one, get one!). I'm not interested in the car, but I indirectly know the owner so I went to check it out.

It's an '88 535is auto, ZinnoberRot over Black.
240k miles, give or take. $2500. Car passes PA inspection.

Here's the deal:

Useful mods: Hella H1/H4 lights, aftermarket 5-spoke wheels (TRX included in sale, yay!).

Engine: fires great, runs well except a stumble at idle (a bit worse than the usual lope). Pulls very well, revs freely with no hesitation. Throttle response good. Needs valve adjustment and valve cover gasket (weeping oil), with a general tune-up should be great.

Transmission: to the owner's knowledge it's original, and it's one of the better autos of this era I've seen. Downshifts readily and smoothly, upshifts very cleanly--no jerks or clunks. I was impressed!

Interior: condition overall very good. 2-3 small cracks in dash, seat leather very nice overall, minor d/s wear but no rips, tears, cracks, and the leather is rather supple. Black wears well. Carpet is clean, car is generally clean (except underhood--nasty). Trunk clean and dry.

Interior electric: everything works EXCEPT: pax front window (motor runs, glass doesn't move; pax rear window: motor doesn't run, a new switch would probably cure that). Original radio works fine. Didn't test the AC, it was cold.

Suspension: very good overall. Steering is pretty tight, responsive and linear. Ride is good, feels stock but not too wallowy ... didn't push it too hard, shocks may be tired but maybe not. Needs thrust arm bushings but not badly (yet). In my experience a month of DD work will kill these bushings.

Body: here's the rub. The paint is beautiful, only the side mirrors are faded. Overall it's a very attractive car. Panels are straight, etc. BUT it's got rust in a few spots (fixable for probably $1500 in body/paint work ... nothing structural that I could see but a closer inspection is warranted):
*rear valance, corners, has spread up to the corners below the tail lamps where the rear panel is welded to the quarters. Also some rust around the license plate lights. So a new rear panel, some work around the seam where that's welded in, and some paint and that's fixed. The bumper mountings are probably rotted as well.
*One door has a bubble.
*The leading edge of the hood has a bubble, probably an old stone chip gone bad.

Overall a solid car with lots of DD life in it for the money. Dunno how flexible the guy is on price. His name is David, and he is a very straight-up guy; if you want contact info PM me.

-tammer

[RoyW]

Tammer,

You need to hire yourself out to do PPIs for this group. Based on that report I'd hire you in a second!!! What's you rate?

Sounds like a nice car for someone looking for a DD, or someone wanted to get in the "club" and willing to get their hands dirty as a DIYer.

Hope you have a great Holiday... see you in '08 for sure.

-RoyW

[wkohler]

Tammer,

You need to hire yourself out to do PPI for this group. Based on that report I'd hire you in a second!!! What's you rate?

x2

[Tammer in Philly]

Okay, if someone buys this thing I'll let you pay me $20. How's that? ;-)

Kidding ... but the owner sent me a boatload of pics today. If there is any interest, PM me and I'll e-mail them to you.

-tammer

[bmanice]

***not hi-jacking the thread, just a side note to anyone looking***


btw...still have mine up for sale...

around philly as well, about 45min drive... central NJ

$1800

http://mye28.com/viewtopic.php?t=38639&highlight=


thanks!