Opinions on BMW V-8 wanted

[Pit Bull]

Got a chance to pickup a 1997 BMW 540i, it has 113K miles and a new clutch, they are asking $16,000 sold new for $50,000. My neighbor has his own shop and is a foreign car mechanic he installed the clutch and knows the car and feels it is a steal. You can't tell it from a 2002, same body and it looks like new. Anybody think this is a bad idea? These things are real sleepers, the 6 speed V-8 BMW is faster than a new corvette. What are the down sides? Should be putting around 12K miles on it a year.

 

[Qualey]

Clutches and rear tires tend to be weaker points of this generation 5 series. Sounds like a good price. We just sold a 97 with 69k for $23000. The dash is a little mundane, but typical German engineering. Find a good mechanic and have fun!



MAtt

 

[ToolManTimTaylor]

a 540i for 16 grand!? Sweet! We used to absolutly KILL most of the hotrods arround here with it. FAST!!!!!

 

[willyslover]

my good friend has a 5 series 6cyl... [I know not the same]... however he has close to 180K on the clock and has NOT done proper maintenance on it and it runs VERY well ... well built IMHO and the price is right . . go for it

 

[15w40]

There was a problem with some of the V8 and straight 6 engines of that era. BMW experimented with aluminum blocks (remember the Chevy Vega?). These BMW blocks had a silicon anti-wear additive called Nicalsil (sp?). However it did not work and there were some angry BMW owners. I don’t know the exact years involved and the details of the recall but many people got burned.