Good price for E39?

[cornercarver]

Hey folks. Just joined the board and have been lurking/scavenging for about 48 hours straight (almost). I am about to pull the trigger on a 97 540i automatic with 120k. All the records are there and the up to date recent servicing, clean carfax and such. asking price is $11,500. Has new brakes, tires, 19" rims, radiator (something about a plastic piece on the neck broke). Has super clean leather interior and paint is an 8 out of ten. Mechanics check out. This seem like a decent price?

Hopefully if this goes through, I will have my future mountain burner to show off (after mods of course).

Hutch

[James]

Radiator is a common failure and it's a good thing he already took care of it. Look at the engine to see if the valve cover gaskets are leaking oil. The car seems to eat brakes faster than tires as mine are getting soft again.

Having just looked at the "black book" this past weekend for my car (sounds just like the one you're looking at except a manual transmission) and 11,5 is definitely much more than he would receive on trade-in. Offer the guy 10 and see what he says.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

[cornercarver]

Thanks, James. How would a brake upgrade improve the brake situation you mention? Talking about aftermarket brakes. I would assume that the stock brakes are insufficient if they're needing to be replaced frequently. I appreciate the advise and will adhere to it when I view the car today.

[James]

The brakes on the 540 are very good - don't get me wrong. Maybe it's a function of the car's age, but I was surprised at rotor wear as compared to the M3. I think the reason being the vehicle's comparitive weight - as I'm sure the setups are similar.

Replacement brakes aren't expensive, just kind of a pain in the ass. I would not advise a BBK as it could potentially cost over 25% of what you paid for the car.

[cornercarver]

Understand about the BBK. What about pad and rotor manufacturing companies... Some better than others? I had always used power slot with green stuff in the past. any recommendations?

[James]

Green stuff as in EBC Greens? I had pretty bad experiences with them on my M3 - although some people swear by them. I haven't really tested a variety of pad/rotor setups yet but with my eminent replacement will definitely be doing some research myself.

[cornercarver]

Well, I purchased it today. Way better than I thought it was going to be. Interior is immaculate, 19" rims, brand new brakes, Pirelli's, recent servicing and all papers of ownership.

I was thinking about purchasing Sidewayz2's supercharged M3, but spouse informed me that I may be a papa again, so had to get a 4 door.

I'll post a few pics when the wife gets back with it... she's already claimed it and I bought it for myself. How did that work that way?!

[James]

Congrats on the new ride! Can't wait to see some pics.

[cornercarver]

Cant wait to take them. Unfortunately, the weather guys are a bunch of ding dongs and said it would be decent until the evening. Raining cats and dogs in Olytown. It has 17" rims BTW, the owner was a little off on the size. I'll post em soon, though.