wwGRMD, BMW 520i content

Greetings gents. I just got back from looking at a Euro 520i BMW, 1991. It's a 5-speed car, rust free except a bit at the right rear corner.

I. Don't. Need. Another. Car.

It fired up, ran great. New clutch, brakes, front suspension linkages, shocks, bushings etc all within the last year.

The car overheated, he towed it to his mechanic who (without looking at it?) diagnosed a bad headgasket. The owner of the car is fed up, and wants....$300.

I have a complete 535i (5-speed) parts car in the garage that could supply a drivetrain/rearend IF the motor is toast. The 535 was/is intended to be a doner for our project E30.

Now, knowing I don't need a car, what would you guys do? It'll cost about $150 to tow the car home. It SEEMS that I can't lose, even if I do a mild part-out and scrap it. Right???? EDIT: I should add that the coolant and oil are clean, and the car sounds great. Maybe a misdiagnosis? If it is, will I be able to sleep at night? Thanks all! Nathan

A $450.00 5 Series could pay for another engine donor car AND pay for a lot of your E30 budget.

? I'm a dunce..... can you explain? You mean fix and flip? Profit?

As an aside, my wife asked if it would be a good challenge car.
I married a wonderful woman.

Yes, fix, flip, profit, reinvest.

Some ideas, and note that I don't really know these cars that well;

Fix & flip; sounds like it's not a head gasket, maybe a cooling fan or related item? Don't touch the rust, just figure out what is wrong with the overheat issue and fix that, then spend a weekend detailing it and sell. In theory could make you a good amount of return on the investment.

Part it out on ebay/CL/etc. Takes very little monetary investment but you're left with a pile of BMW to sell off, not sure how in demand parts for these are.

Chevrolet L33 / trans swap w/ megasquirt controlling it. Amazing science project, in theory could be done on a Challenge budget. No idea how much the stock driveline would like this idea.

Home-brew turbo the stock engine. See previous idea for caveats.

Which of these ideas sound the most fun / least annoying?

I VERY much love the idea of the L33...and it was my first thought when I saw the car. That said, I think that will be beyond the scope of this one, simply due to lack of time. (and a few other projects I need to finish first!)

There seem to be a LOT of ragged BMW's making it to the scrap yards or being parted out. I don't know how "profitable" it would be, but I'd definitely get my money back.

Fix and flip is a great idea: I've wanted to try in the past and haven't yet....

The devil in me wants to find a 2.5L M50 (I did: $400) and megasquirt it, boost it, and drive down to the challenge next year. I have lots of time....

Thanks!

I've the L33 on my mind a lot lately, starting to try and plan out a swap that in the end should hopefully net me a full sized pickup for less than $5k that actually gets quasi-decent fuel economy and good handling for the street. So, yeah, that's an answer.

what else is in your fleet? maybe fix this and flip something else?

i vote fix and drive first (yeah, i'm an enabler), fix and flip second. but there is no way you should not buy this car.

njansenv wrote: Euro 520i BMW, 1991. It fired up, ran great. New clutch, brakes, front suspension linkages, shocks, bushings etc all within the last year.

You wrote, fires up and ran great...
Buy and drive or at the very least, buy and sell with little to no effort put into mechanicals. If it runs it will bring minimum of $1K.

Second idea. If it is a true Euro, it likely has Euro parts like Euro bumpers that may be worth the $300 in resale right there if all else fails.
A quick parting can be done by just pulling some easy and profitable items like tail lights and front grill trim. After that, drag it to scrap for a few more dollars.

It's definitely a true Euro, with some neat items that "might" be worth something to E34 enthusiasts. (adjustable fog lights, "Smilie" Hella headlights etc) I think I'll get it. I have some misgivings with respect to timing (I really need to be getting rid of cars, not adding to the fleet!), but it really seems like a no brainer. (famous last words...)

Thanks for the help, all of you. I didn't really expect anyone to talk me down, but it's great to have some enablers (ahem...advisors) around.

Nathan

Update: it's in the driveway. I idled it to temp, and everything "seems" ok. I'll take a closer look later.

Anyone have any recommendations to get the smell of pot out of it? (really.)

Nathan

nathan are you in dirty jersey? as for pot try 1/10 ratio vinegar in a spray bottle.

Colin

njansenv wrote: Update: it's in the driveway. I idled it to temp, and everything "seems" ok. I'll take a closer look later. Anyone have any recommendations to get the smell of pot out of it? (really.) Nathan

i had a really stinky rental car a month ago. cigarettes, not weed. anyway, i placed a couple of drinking cups half-filled with white vinegar in the cup holders and sprinkled a bunch of freshly-used coffee grounds on the carpet, and the stink was eliminated in about 3 days. i stopped at Panera and got some coffee grounds from them.

Nah, I'm in Hamilton, Ontario. (Canadia) I'll try the white vinegar and coffee grounds: the car will be parked for a bit.

Anyone know the freezing point of vinegar?