Re: I also have questions, about purchasing an M5. (archive)

I currently drive an e28 533i, but have always been in love with the e28 m5. Anyway, I test drove one today and was blown away! The car seems to be in really good shape. The power is amazing!! So what are the things to look for? I know a lot of the typical spots where e28's rust and all those spots looked good. The interior was good with minimal dash cracking and the leather was good, except a little dirty. I really want this car!! It has nice mille miglia five spoke 16x7.5 wheels. It also has a tri-flow exhaust and an auto authority chip. He figures these give the car 50 or so more horses. Does that sound right? What should I expect to pay for this car? I was thinking around 11,000. Thanks for the help. BTW it has 131,000 miles on it.
Jim Eagan
533i 427,000 miles

Deduct $500 for the B&B, noisy, will crack, poor fit. Deduct another $500 for NO ORIGINAL WHEELS!! You'll fork over $1000 to get a set of excellent E28 M5 wheels or $600 for a set that needs repair and/or refinishing. I'd have the whole car checked thoroughly by an independent shop that knows M cars, and provided it passes with flying colors (mechanically), I'd offer $10,000. It does have high miles for an M car.

M5-specific things that can go bad:

Timing chain and related sprockets/tensioners, $1000
Transmission, $2500 for Metric Mechanic rebuild

If the chain goes, you destroy the engine. It has happened to several E28 M5 owners. You must replace the chain, all tensioner and guide rails, tensionser piston assembly, and crank, cam and idler sprockets. No one can give a good reason why the chain either breaks, streches, or jumps a tooth, so you just have to do it all unless you want a reason to rebuild the whole engine. It only happens at high RPMs, so just take it easy until you can get everything replaced. Also replace the crank hub with the $350 Fahey hub to prevent crankshaft damage. When many mechaincs reinstall the front nut, they don't tighten it enough, or they tighten it too much. The factory spec is something like 325lb-ft. You need a torque multiplier and a flywheel holder. If it is tightened too much, the hub "barrels" and it will loosen/vibrate on the crankshaft at high RPMs. Too loose, it just vibrates and loosens. The vibration may damage or destroy the crankshaft. The Fahey hub is much harder and will not "barrel" if tightened too much. It also has a positive locking plate to ensure the crank nut won't loosen.

The tranny has a bad habit of wearing in such a way that it pops out of gear when coasting in third or fourth. You need to rebuild the whole thing. Because it's so expensive to open it up just once, might as well get it all done. Metric Mechanic and Jim Blanton (formerly of Met. Mech.) both rebuild them to fix many chronic Getrag transmission problems.

Things that may need attention:

Rebuild front calipers--broken or deteriorated dust boots will seize a piston or two. Good luck if this is already the case.

Catalytic converter is $600 for DEC, $1200 for OEM
OEM muffler is quietest, best flow, $500

Front suspension arms, tie-rods, bushings, up to $700

Broken seat mounts, worn seat mechanisms

Leaky/malfunctioning self-levelling. Just buy Bilsteins, 535 rear springs and upper perches and be done with it!

Cracked steering box mount on subframe--labor intensive, involves welding.

ALL of the other E28 items apply. Seeing that you have a 533i with ungodly mileage, I'm sure you've seen it all. Also, when the black windshield lockstrip deteriorates and shrinks, it's exactly twice as much to replace as the standard chrome parts.

Good Luck!
James
james_535@yahoo.com
88 M5
88 M3
83 535i

Follow Ups:

Thanks for the help James! Jim Eagan 18:15 2/20/2001 (0)

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