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  Aug. 25, 2011 7:00 p.m. irish44j Dork

  I've been asked to give advice to a local family friend whose husband just died with no insurance, so she has to liquidate (house, his cars, etc) to make ends meet now.

  In any case, I was called because I'm a "car guy." She has a 1997 528i with almost 160k miles on the ODO.I know precisely jack about older 5-series BMWs!

  I don't have many details now, but am going to see the car tomorrow and want to know specific things I should look for in terms of mechanical, body rust, etc. She will be looking for my advice as to how much she can ask to sell the car pretty quickly, but as I noted above she needs the money so I don't want her to get screwed, so am looking for what a fair value for a quick sale is on the car.

  The only extra information I have on the car right now is that she said something vague about "it might need transmission fluid" though I'm not sure at the moment it it is M/T or A/T. Will obviously know when I get there and can check fluid level and drive the car to see what the issue feels like.

  In any case, any advice as to things to check, and a tentative quick sale value for the car, assuming that everything works fine (or I can fix it to do so). Much appreciated!

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  Aug. 25, 2011 7:27 p.m. ansonivan Dork

  $3500-$5000 assuming it's a runner with no body issues or major driveline issues. Much less if it's banged up and has a bunch of leaks/clunks.

  Complete cooling system is failure prone. Check the passenger rear corner of the head for coolant seepage, the head gaskets can vent there.

  Oil leaks from the valve cover gasket and filter stand gasket are common.

  It's easy to spend $600 just on suspension links, bushings, bearings even if you DIY. Drive it over some bumps, listen for clunks and feel for misbehavior. Bounce the shocks.

  Roll the windows/sunroof and listen for clicking/grinding. Rear window regulator/motor assembly's will cost $250 each.

  It's hard to do much more without the aid of a lift.

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  Aug. 25, 2011 7:28 p.m. 02Pilot Reader

  Values for the early E39s are pretty low at this point. The transmission fluid comment makes me fear that a) it's an automatic, and b) it isn't shifting properly. That takes the value from little to next to nothing.

  Beyond that, rust isn't a huge issue, but check the lower areas around the wheel arches and rockers, and the bottoms of the doors. A quick drive should give you some indication of general condition, bearing in mind that a good, sorted E39 should be a pleasure to drive, quiet, and handling should be quite precise. Rattles, noises, shimmies (especially under braking), and general sloppiness are signs of a poorly maintained car that will need a lot of investment.

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  Aug. 25, 2011 7:34 p.m. irish44j Dork

  I'll be driving my GT6 down when I go to see it, so I may be more or less immune to rattles, noises, and discomfort when I get there, lol.

  Will also make sure to get a service record. The family lives in a fairly well-to-do area, where people really take care of their stuff - so I EXPECT that it will have good maintenance and condition, but we'll see.......

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  Aug. 25, 2011 9:40 p.m. 02Pilot Reader

  With modern BMWs, there's maintenance and then there's maintenance. Factory 15k mile oil changes plus 160k miles equals plenty of sludge. Cooling components replaced as they failed rather than all at once and a regular intervals equals time bomb. Lifetime transmission fluid plus 160k miles also equals time bomb. I could go on. Unless it's been meticulously maintained by someone semi-fanatical about it, there are a lot of things that could go wrong at that age and mileage.

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  Aug. 25, 2011 9:49 p.m. irish44j Dork

  thanks. and I found out it is an autotragic. Sadly another subject I know virtually nothing about, having only ever owned one (my wife's 4runner), and never interested in!

  will report back to you guys tomorrow on what I find upon inspection/drive and then see what I should tell her....

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  Aug. 25, 2011 11:41 p.m. BoxheadTim SuperDork

  If it's autotragic and it doesn't shift right, that's going to be a nice pile of money to fix - IIRC these boxes were 'sealed for life' and if it's been serviced according to dealer schedule, the fluid's never been changed. Which accelerates the death of the box...

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  Aug. 26, 2011 12:32 p.m. irish44j Dork

  for anyone who is interested, details and photos of the car are now posted up in the grm classifieds....

  http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/200x-classifieds/1997-bmw-528i-nice-shape-e...

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