Would you buy a $2500 E34 M5?

Well Guru's. I have a (mild ) dilemma.

I just took a look at a $2500 E34 M5. Much cleaner than expected, but it's missing a transmission and flywheel, and can't be started. The car was purchased by a local business to use the motor for one of their projects, but it never happened.

Details: 1991, VERY clean mechanically, decent interior, paint needs a polish, but no real rust. No trans, but I happen to have one collecting dust in the garage.

I'm REALLY nervous about a non-running M5 engine, and the potential pitfalls. Do I take the owner at his word about how well it ran before the transmission was pulled?

I need another project like I need a hole in the head, but I figure this is a $6000+ car with mostly just some assembly work. And I like BMW's from that era. Am I nuts?

YES.

If I had the trans in the garage I'd be tempted to do it. Worst case, you could break it and probably sell the engine almost for what you paid for it, plus the interior has to be worth money, too.

How much would you pay for it if the engine had a hole though the side? If that is less than $2500, as you willing to bet the difference that it might run fine? If yes, then buy it, if not, I wouldn't if I were you.

Low risk purchase - the enabler in me sez dooo eeeet

Well, we (my wife and I) are going to take another, closer look at the car. I want to be sure some of the other goodies are still there.

Even SHE's saying "do it", knowing full well it'll postpone the restoration of her E30 EVEN more. The devil in me wants to put the drivetrain in her car....

if you pass on this, you will be a fool.

I'd want to AT least get compression numbers on the engine.

I'll bet that car needs all kinds of expensive maitenance on the engine, self-leveling suspension.

Did the business tell you WHY they decided to just pull the 6 speed and leave the engine there? To me that's a warning sign.

I would say yes. I love those cars.

And if the motor turns out to be bad, you could always go this route: e34 M5 with LS power

In reply to njansenv:

I had an E34 but it was the 530i not the M5. It was like new when I bought it, with 30k miles. I put 60k miles on it. E34 is the sort of a problem generation of 5 series BMWs from an electrical standpoint, because it is loaded with fancy electical gadgets, but does not benefit from bus technology in later BMWs. It has miles of wires. Expect to get very familiar with your multi-meter. Beyond that im sure this is something you can guess but expect very expensive parts. Im used to $300 parts, even $500 parts, but not $1500 parts. This car has many $1500 parts. It was fun to drive, fun to own, but not fun to fix. Im glad I had it, but I wouldnt buy another, and definitely would never buy an e34 fixer upper, just because everything ends up costing more than you think. It is a great car for trips though and great car to drive with the family. The M5 would be even better, im sure. Anyway, be careful. and if youre considering paying someone else to work on it dont even think about it. Every time I paid someone to work on the car they did more damage than they fixed. I have a great article in BMW magazine about buying a used E34. You can have it if you want to send me your mailing address.

z31maniac wrote: Did the business tell you WHY they decided to just pull the 6 speed and leave the engine there? To me that's a warning sign.

That was/is my biggest concern as well. I just priced an MAF for fun: $1000-1700 depending on the source. Holy E36 M3.

I might be better off just getting that air-cooled porsche I want if I'm paying prices that high.... I'll keep you posted.

Unless it's a euro spec car, it would have had a 5 speed transmission. If the engine is bad, figure $10k or more for a rebuild. However, if it is bad you should be able to get your money back by parting it out.

njansenv wrote: That was/is my biggest concern as well. I just priced an MAF for fun: $1000-1700 depending on the source. Holy E36 M3.

Megasquirt is the answer to that question.

Yes. Yes it is.

Doooooo eeeeeettttttt!!! My smoking E34 530 was an awesome buy at $1K. A M5 with no trans @ $2.5K is still a steal. If it doesn't pan out . . .you can make your $$$ back almost two fold for parting it . . .

I bought an e34 525i with 60k on the clock. It was a joy to drive, so I can only image what it would be like with an extra 130 hp. However, mine left me stranded 7 times in the next 50k. Also I never had a repair that was less than $900. I would run from that car.

You seem to have the best luck finding good deals on old bmws. I'm going to need your help when I finally decide to get one. The m3 you sold rob is beautiful. This would be a pretty sweet car to do an engine swap with, but I don't think I would want to have one with the stock engine.

:) Thanks! I'm glad to hear that Rob's car has been working out. We missed it enough that we picked up a 328i "M-tech" (bad clutch) last week for my sister-in-law to use. The cars are out there: I seem to have the most luck with cars that need assembly, or a "$3500 clutch" (really!), or simply abandoned projects that need the finishing touches.

In any case, we just got back from a more detailed study of the car. I'm going to sleep on it, but after asking more questions, it seems the story checks out. It was purchased as a parts car for a higher dollar shop project car. The trans was taken, as were some interior parts (which I happen to have). The car was someones DD (85k miles) when it was pulled off the road: it was purchased because it's a repainted car w/o the original wheels...IE, not a particularly great specimen. The shop looked high and low for a G280 (M5) transmission, but this was the quickest way to get one in the end. The shell is nearly rust-free by Ontario standards, but some rust exists on the pass rear wheel well. We'll see, but I think we'll do it: worst case involves parting the car.

Nathan

face it dude. you have already talked yourself and your wife into buying it. Besides, you're right, you can part it out for more than you paid if it doesn't work out. I hope it works out for you bud.

Do those toronto asian escorts come with their own canoes?

Wife said do it? Well what more do you need? I bet she is thinking that it will end up being her car.

First rule of car purchasing if the wife sais yes do it!!!!

Update: I made an offer on the condition that he could procure a legitimate ownership. It seems he doesn't have one, but he believes he can "straighten it out". Time will tell.