1986 BMW

Sedan

6 Cylinder 3.5 Liter

Manual

WBADC7400G0961359

Clear

Gasoline

Up for sale is my 1986 BMW 535i in the cosmosblau metallic and tan color combination. This is a great running car with a little over 275 thousand highway miles that spent all its life in southern CA. The prior owner lived in Newport Beach and commuted daily to San Diego. The car has been meticulously maintained and the body is absolutely clean with no rust to speak of. There is a very small surface bubble on the sunroof but it’s very small and easily missed by the untrained eye. There is also is a very small ding on the driver’s door which you might notice in the pictures. Other than that, this car is absolutely stunning. I am the second owner since 2009 when I bought this car to temporarily replace my daily driver diesel mercedes which was undergoing an overhaul. However, I have to say, even after my diesel overhaul was complete, I could not get myself to part with this beautiful car simply because it runs so great and decided to keep it for the long haul. I have owned many cars; including a 2008 Audi a4 quattro which was absolutely fun to drive by a bear on maintenance and I also own several Mercedes diesels and a 560 SEC coupe. This was my first BMW, which I bought simply because I was always fond of this particular 5 series, so when I found this clean example, I couldn’t pass it. Nonetheless, I certainly learned a thing or two about this legendary BMW. For those of you not familiar with the BMW M30 big six motor, you should know these are bullet proof and can easily go to 400 thousand miles before needing an overhaul – refer to Wiki article for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_E28 This car runs very smooth and has excellent compression, burns no oil and easily passes CA emissions, which are no doubt the strictest within the continental U.S. I cannot comment on whether the motor has been overhauled; the prior owner stated the top end had been rebuilt at around 150 thousand miles and the clutch replaced at 180 thousand miles; however, he could not provide the receipts. Since owning the car, I took care of any deferred maintenance issues to get this car running tops so I could continue driving long distances without a worry. Here are some of the important maintenance items that have been addressed: · Complete tune-up (plugs, wires, distributor cap, rotor etc) · New intake manifold boot and vacuum hoses to smooth idle · New fuel injectors, fuel filter and fuel lines in engine bay · New thermostat, fan switches, all hoses, expansion tank and fresh coolant · Fresh transmission oil (synthetic gear oil) and differential oil (Lucas) · Overhauled drive shaft (new center bearing and flex disc) · New tires and BMW E34 wheels to replace the stock E28 metric wheels · New battery plus extra for a priority start kit · New bushings for the rear subframe · New timing chain tensioner · New differential mounting · Window tint all around · Valve adjustment · Magnetic drain plug I have easily spent well over $2000 in maintenance in the past 12 months alone with receipts to show for it. The only reason I am forced to sell this beauty is because I recently bought a 1972 Mercedes 280SE which is my dream car, and my wife has since given me an ultimatum as I now have 4 cars including this BMW. Of course, as with any car of this age, there are some things that will need to be addressed in the near future. As evidenced from the pictures, the driver’s seat could use some R&R and at some point the car will benefit from a new propeller shaft as the ‘U’ joints could not be serviced by my mechanic and sometimes there is a faint hum from the shaft, particularly when the car is cold. A complete rebuild shaft for this car can be sourced from Driveline Service of Portland for around $400 shipped with a core refund for sending the old one back http://www.driveshafts.com. The AC works fine, but probably should be charged as on very hot SoCal days when we hit triple digits the car takes a while to cool down. Also if you’re a perfectionist, the dash board has some cracks which I covered with a dash cover, but there are some solid dash pads available for around $80. Lastly, with the sale of the car, I will be including some routine maintenance parts such as filters, a valve cover gasket for the next valve adjustment and the Bentley Service Manual, which is a must have as it really saves $$ as you can do some of the easy stuff yourself if you’re a DIY. If you’re in SoCal, I also know a great mechanic that specializes in these cars and is reasonable. The car is available for a test drive and I would not hesitate to drive across country if you’re coming from out of state. I can also deliver the car to any shipping terminal or pick you up from the airport. Here are some videos I thought would be pretty cool, so just follow the links or cut and paste and you’ll go to YouTube. I apologize for the short length and poor sound quality. Thanks for stopping by and good luck! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlVpGVj1BTo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvQ7A2BJnhg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tExHoiVRC0M