tmtf11
New Reader
7/4/21 2:22 a.m.
Up for sale is my manual x5. I liked the car alot, but dealing with engine problems right now is just not a thing I can do so it has to go. 210ish thousand miles
Bad: No compression on cylinder 3. She does run and drive but misses on that cylinder. I had it in my mind that it had a bad headgasket awhile back due to a few drops of water in the oil, but I haven't seen them recently and the test I did didn't find exhaust fumes in the coolant, so could be head gasket, could be something else. Drive's side front cv axle chatters and needs to be replaced Throwout bearing also has alot to say, but clutch engagement has been good. Brake sensor(I have one.) Leaks oil from valve cover gasket. Driver's side mirror shell is broken. I have a new mirror but after doing the passenger side I didn't want to replace the driver's side :P. Downstream 02 sensor(have that too). Both passenger side doors are screwed up: front opens from inside but not outside, rear doesnt open at all. The latch on the hatch is loose: if you slam it, it closes and stays latched. Little chips and dings all over. Cracked windshield
Good: Roof rack Hitch 5 speed manual Reasonably rust free for the midwest, but there are some spots starting to show through. projects on the underside have been a breeze. Snow tires with one season on them
Story: Bought this a year ago thinking it was going to be my dd and support vehicle. You may ask who decides that about a 20 year old BMW with 200k miles. Well, I figured that as long it didn't suffer catastrophic failure in the middle of my move that I could handle it under any other circumstances. Well, I am in the middle of moving to Tennessee and now it needs an engine or engine work. Cool. So 1,200 obo. If you really want it we will make something work. I'm not that worried about the money. I am pretty done dealing with marketplace and would love to get rid of it here instead.
I moved to Tennessee and the car is currently in Muskegon, Michigan. My girlfriends family has volunteered to handle the sale and they have the signed title. Pm me and Ill get you in touch with one of them
I love this thing. Im kneed deep in projects or else, I would be sending you money right now. Hell, if it were anywhere close to the KC area, I would be sending you money. But I just cant get up to Muskegon to trailer it home and then have nowhere to store it for a few weeks.
Hope it goes to an enthusiast - this thing would be neat with headers, exhuast, cam, and tune.
Did not know you could ever get those with a manual. Kinda cool, hope it goes to someone who will appreciate it.
OP, out of curiosity, how long would your GF's family be willing to hang on to this rig if the buyer were to pay them now but ask to pick up at some point in the future?
tmtf11
New Reader
7/4/21 4:29 p.m.
So far, they've been very chill about me not trying to sell it that hard, and have actually been taking it for a drive around the block every week, Id say a month is definitely safe, probably more than that as long as it leaves before it has to be plowed around. Im hesitant to offer, but I haven't found a job here and the thing has done north of 1000 miles as is, so If a buyer covered transport for me I could "probably" drive it to them.
tmtf11
New Reader
7/4/21 4:32 p.m.
With you specifically, Its a triangle of 10 hour legs between me, the car, and you, so it would be an ordeal, but probably possible.
To save everyone some work, dunno what engine in it but if 3.0 it's <$1k, 4.4 are ~$1,250, 4.6 are >$2,200 and there are like ten in the US and Canada (according to car-part.com)
tmtf11
New Reader
7/4/21 7:58 p.m.
its the 3.0. The manual 3.0 actually has the highest towing capacity at 6000lbs
Sheesh that's a lot of towing for a 3 liter, isn't it?
So this could be a project for my boys that started drives training yesterday?
I passed through Muskegon 8 times in the last three weeks.
No compression? Bad valve? New snow tires, Interesting.
You mention work done to the underside, care to provide details on that. Also any other history or evidence of maintenance would be appreciated.
I'll likely send you a PM after pitching this idea to my wife. We have a history of old manual BMW's as first cars.
These are pretty cool, my buddy also has a 3.0 manual. If it were closer I'd be very tempted. They are pretty good cars.
My buddy had one. I loved it. But you had to rev the snot out of the 3.0 to get it to move. His died a similar death as this one just too much cost to fix. He bought a taco.
This one is cool but not right now
OjaiM5
HalfDork
7/6/21 4:23 p.m.
I had one, lots of stuff breaks (especially window regulators) however not too difficult to repair.
The transmission is odd, 1st gear is way too high and only has a 5th gear which makes it high rpms on the freeway. The way to solve this problem it to put big tires on it.
I did some "overlander" stuff to mine. I had a 330i at the same time and it shared many parts. It drives much more like a old truck compared to the newer gen X5s.
Good luck to seller and new owner!
tmtf11
New Reader
7/6/21 7:07 p.m.
I installed the hitch and replaced the brakes as well as a control arm. Rust was not an issue for any of these projects. As far as why there is 0 compression, I havent looked into it. I had a mis, checked various spark and air/fuel suspects, and then when all looked fine I checked compression. Since the engine is no spring chicken I had thought about picking up a low mileage junkyard engine, but my project e30 occupies all of my work space(my driveway) now so it just wasnt reasonable. I would be tickled to have it go to a young enthusiast. I do have some worn summers on 18s that came on it but I hadnt planned on reuniting them with the car strictly due to logistics. (Theyre in the UP)
SWMBO Gave the ok to look at it.
I’m heading to Pentwater this weekend so I’ll try to arrange a time to check it out.
Proud new owner of one old broken BMW.
tmtf11
New Reader
7/18/21 12:18 a.m.
That's great! Hope they love it and happy problem fixing!