Is $19,000 about the right price for a 1991 850i with 55,000 miles?
Yep. Watch maintenance and the electronics on it though. Make sure everything checks out well and you'll have one SWEET car. Are you getting it as a daily driver or as a play car?
Depends largely on condition of the vehicle. I'd say that's about $5-9k high, but prices can vary a great deal. PS: The M70 is a great engine, have one in my car (750il).
DL- More like $1000. It won't be $0. And it will be worse if you park it for more than a week at a time.
A/C breaks all the time.... 1,000 a pop Untraceable oil leaks......mine ended up costing 2,000 by the time it was said and done Power seat motor....1,500 ECU....god forbid (there are 2 in the 91) 5,000 broken shock towers (complete reweld in the trunk) 1,500.00 Im not the only one whom I have known to have ALL these problems. BTW I got one with 29K miles on it! Best looking nightmare on the road! Even though I'm an AVID V12 fan, I'd get the 840. DL
Get your car serviced by an independant shop, and cut those numbers to 25% of their current. IE, my PS pump went out (at 170k!). Cost was $350 for pump and $200 to install. Would have been a $2500 job at the Stealer. ECUs are not $5k! (though you are correct, the M70 has two. One per bank of 6.) And an entire power seat isn't $1500. Sorry you had such a time with yours, they are great cars (and I don't think the V8s cost any less to run, on average. Esp with Nikasil problems in early cars, oil pump bolts, etc.)
More than half of it was. Don't get me wrong, I actually loved that car...although I thought I would be buried in it eventually! DL
My mechanic has another customer with one. Red/black with 65,000 miles. Asking $16,500 or so. Been for sale for a while. Like a year and a half.
Buy a 400i for the same amount of money. Running costs will be the same, but the car will be worth more than $10k in 3 years.
We have a customer with an 840,all i will say he's sold it now,after front suspension legs,droped the rear suspension to replace the bushes,exhaust rear end,front discs-pads-one brembo caliper,the front timing covers leaking oil-he didnt have that done,changed the plugs-full of oil-leaking out the cam covers down to the plugs,cheap enough to buy,not cheap to keep it tip top, cheers Dale.
I've read that you should avoid cars with EDC and to look at the front closely, if it's been in an accident, the panels may not fit right because it is a bi-atch to put back together. And avoid any 8series that has had aftermarket electronics installed cuz that mucks up the already complicated stock electrics. Oh, and the V8s are just as suseptible to oil leaks, if not more, than the V12. In addition to the 2 ECUs, you also get 3 exhaust silencers, and 2 batteries!
850's are beautiful cars all right. And while I don't know if the price you can buy the one you posted about for is fair as I am not in the US.....I can tell you a neat 850 story attesting to their attraction and verifying why they are seemingly cheap. One of our service customers was in Toronto a while back, apparently was out drinking with a business associate and they decided to pay a visit to a ''retail" car auction as they were bored and it was nearby. Well......this shiny black on black 1991 850i went to the block and he paid $25K CAD for it (it's about $15K too much for a car like a 1991 850i...especially for one with 220kms !!). It shows up on his doorstep 2 weeks later and the wife "almost" divorces him.....true. It's also going to end up costing him about $7-10K in our shop to keep it running and it still needs more work too. Be forewarned and talk to your significant other if you have one first. It's a beautiful car....isn't it ? Sort of like a Ferrari 308 in many, many ways.
Dang. Still think $5k for the ECU is robbery. Well, I'll sum it up by saying they are like Ferraris. Expensive to maintain, but if you are crafty you can cut the maintinence budget withought sacraficing quality (ie, do simple things yourself, source parts, etc.) Not for the 'maintinence free' or 'weld the hood shut' crowd. Still love my 750.(knock on alloy...
As it has been said many times before, the purchase price is only a down payment. You will lose your ass sooner or later on this car. Unless you don't buy it in the first place.
I used to have an 850Csi before the 512TR, and I still love the e31/8-series body style. It was just time for a change. Suggestion: you may want to ask your question on this forum http://bimmer.roadfly.org/bmw/forums/e31/ if you haven't already. Lots of good information on that Board as it relates to the 8.
I went and looked at the car in person. I took it for a test drive and it drove ok. The guy selling it said he just had the brakes put on and had a tune-up done. It has a little scrape on the front spoiler, but you cant notice it unless your really keen. It just depends on insurance now.
Carefull with those 850's. They look nice but damn are they a pain to keep on the road. Everything for the car is expensive and they see, to have may issuses. The BMW dealer next to me has 3 on the lot that have been there of years. They can't sell them. I looked at one aswell, then I started pricing stiff out to see how much it would cost to keep,,turns out it's more expensive to keep then the Ferrari. Just be careful is all.
Thanks guys. I did some reseach and they do have a history of having numerous problems. Scratch that car.
