96 Bmw 525 Tds

HashSlinging

I am looking at one of these at the weekend, with a view to buy. just wanted to know what the BMW owners thought of them. Its the old old type, has about 130k. 2 years NCT.

Blaster99

I hope you're not thinking of spending a lot of money on it. €5k tops.

I drove a 525i (petrol) of that vintage the other day and it feels really dated. That diesel was good in its day but 150bhp for a 2.5 litre diesel isn't a lot by today's standards and I believe the fuel economy wasn't that great on them either. I would go for a 525i instead if you necessarily want an E34 5-series.

Seth Brundle

The E34 is reckoned by many to be one of the best BMWs ever made with fewer electrical things to go wrong compared to the E39 (I can confirm this ).
Have a look at these buying guides from Total BMW Mag:-
www.totalbmwmag.com/Buying/BuyingJan01.PDF
www.totalbmwmag.com/Buying/BuyingAug01.PDF (touring)
Also have a look at www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/e34.html

Do the usual things like being a mechanic with you etc.
Have you decided on a deisel or would you consider the 2.5 petrol?

HashSlinging

I'm set on the diesel, or should i say she is set on a diesel, they're hard to come by. Do you know anyone selling a petrol one, in good nic.

unkel

HashSlinging wrote:

I'm set on the diesel, or should i say she is set on a diesel

The E34 is a fine car, way ahead of it's time when introduced in '87, but that diesel is old-school, so you don't get the torque and economy of a modern diesel

What kinda mileage do you do and what's your budget for the car? Early E39 petrols ('96, '97) can be had for very little now and they still look very modern

HashSlinging

the budget is about 7 - 8k wont be doing crazy mileage lets say below average.

unkel

HashSlinging wrote:

the budget is about 7 - 8k wont be doing crazy mileage lets say below average.

Yours is a '96 E39 523i so

bazz26

Just spotted this one:

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carid=277936

Also spotted this as an alternative:

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carid=315273