FS 1986 535i Cosmos Blue / Pearl Beige / IS - SOLD
Posted: Mar 22, 2012 8:47 PM
$3250 FIRM. 171k miles, non-actual mileage title. No accident history. 5-Speed.
I don't want to sell this car. There. I said it. I love this car. But I should probably be prudent and only keep one vintage BMW around so here he is.
Bandit is a 11/1985 build date 1986 model year 535i. Overall he is in good condition. He runs well and I have been driving him this week to verify that, however he does have a few quirks.
I have either done or had done a replacement BMW driveshaft, the shifter has been entirely redone with some transmission seals, the A/C works and was converted to 134a, new trunk seal, new plugs, valve adjustment in the last few weeks, and a bunch of other nickel and dime stuff that I cannot remember.
When I first got him he looked like this:
Then I bought a used set of front and rear 'is' spoilers from Andy South in Dayton plus his current wheels. I had them professionally installed at Rife's Autobody in Grandview. they did a good job, but there is a small bubble on the trunk spoiler.
The entire photo library can be found here and should tell the entire story of the car. Click on an individual image to view it larger. I can also send or upload larger images if you so desire.
http://www.rmiddendorf.com/VirtualTour/ ... index.html
Now the quirks. There is some rust- as seen in the photos. At all the jack points there is a little. And on the rear bumper mounts there is a little, as well as on the trunk lip. To me its all manageable at this point, but its there. His idle is sometimes a little high and I think its a little sticky on the throttle cable. Its actually gradually sliding back to normal but not there yet. The SI batteries have been removed completely. He has new odometer gears but does have a non-actual mileage title from when I purchased him. Truth be told I don't know why and there are not any significant gaps in the history report. I suspect he only has 1-2k more miles on him than is reported by the odometer.
The front end can sometimes shimmy- but its rare. I drove him to the Vintage last year and only had the shimmy for about 5 minutes on the entire trip. But then sometimes it will pop up briefly on a short trip. I actually blame the wheels, as I like the look of them on the car but they are heavier than the ones that came on the car. The tires are acceptable- the fronts are different than the rears. He's not as tight as my new E28, but he's certainly not bad. I just know how tight it can be.
I also suspect that the in tank fuel pump is either hit or miss or bad. I just never trust him to go below 1/4 of a tank.
He also runs a little rich. I've checked cold start valve (one possible culprit) and suspect that the injectors are leaky. I've run quite a bit of fuel injector cleaner through him but that hasn't seemed to fix the problem. Another item that is tolerable, but I wanted to disclose it as well.
Truth be told I'm at least $9000 into him over the past two years in total. I know that doesn't mean much but it tells you the maintenance that has been done. I can get a detailed list later if needed.
The paint on the hood, trunk and roof is a little faded. Not terrible but there. Its very difficult to photograph. There is wax on some of the trim- that's what you'll see in the pics. I was a little sloppy because I was considering pulling it all and refinishing it anyway. Don't worry though- my new ride will be professionally detailed once a year. We have a great shop for that.
I bought him from a local Ford dealer when he popped up on Autotrader. Love the car and would like him to go to someone here if possible. He's not perfect, but I love him. Hopefully somebody else here will too.
PM me if interested. Thanks!
EDIT: One more thing I remembered overnight- there is a little oil drip from the oil pan gasket. I forgot about it because he only leaves a small puddle if it sits in the same spot for months. Since I've been driving him this past week he's in a different spot and there's only a little drop- which you have to actively seek out to find.
2nd EDIT: The CCA badge and front plate holder do not come with the car.
3rd EDIT: A few more things I want to disclose. I'm trying my best to make this a no surprises car. First the front brakes sometimes shimmy sometimes under hard braking. Its not prevalent during day to day driving, but can sometimes show up. If I tracked the car I'd fix it. But truth be told it was fine last year during RTT 2011 so it usually doesn't bother me. For some reason I think its the left one, but I don't remember why. The headrests don't work. One fog light is out- the bulb is good but I think the connection at the fusebox needs cleaned. And the brake light check light sometimes comes on even though the brake lights work. I'm pretty sure that is everything. My descriptions are not a substitute for a PPI but I'm trying to be very thorough.
Also a few spares are included including a new replacement Graf waterpump, thermostat, valve cover gasket and crack free (last I checked) dash. There are probably a few other small spares that I'm not thinking about right now that I'll no longer need.
You know there's even a third light blue (unsure of the exact color) non-IS with the front and rear spoilers floating around the NC area as well. Our cars are triplets.
