Subject: Re: Nice. Recent pictures? As for the gong, it has three functions> Author: novabeem : member since February, 2005 : 50 posts Posted on: 2005-02-13 14:07:03

BMW535i

I wouldn’t call myself an enthusiast in the sense that you guys are, but I just love the old 535i and “is” models. I just felt it was a super well-built car. I’ve always wanted a good, used e28 model just because I liked the styling (even though people often accuse me of having a limited eye for beauty – in cars).

Anyway, the only ’85 to ’88 that I could find over a two year search either had extremely high mileage or was in lousy shape. I wanted one I could just get in, start up, and drive without too much concern for maintenance (well, you know what I mean). To make a long story short, I saw it on e-bay in April 2000. The seller touted it as having only 16,000 miles and never having been rained on. Otherwise, it was in showroom condition and it WAS flawless. I felt he wanted too much money for it, but my need to have it outweighed coming up with a fair price (through intense negotiating). I took it for a spin and knew I had to have it. It was all original (new-car smell included) and even the tires still looked new. The owner had kept it in a barn-like garage and only took it out occasionally for a spin or day trips. In the 12 years he owned it, he put 450,000 miles on three p/u trucks.

I took it to a well respected BMW mechanic who couldn’t believe his eyes. He called all of his buddies to check it out, went over it w/ a fine toothed comb, replaced ALL fluids w/ synthetic, adjusted the valves, and took care of a few minor things that would have been considered warranty work 12 years earlier (e.g., one of the electric headrests had come off track).

I bought it intending to make it a daily driver, which I did for a year and a half. In that time – as you can see – I doubled the miles. Unfortunately, I became paranoid about parking it next to other cars as the body was still unblemished. I made the decision to buy another daily-driver and park the 535i. I put new wheels on it and that’s about it. I took the pictures in the spring of 2002 and have only put another +/-1500 miles on it since then. I keep it garaged and drive it (like it should be driven) from time to time in order to get the temp up to spec, give the suspension a workout, and change the clock at Daylight Savings Time. Sometimes I feel like I’m not doing the old girl justice by not racking up the miles at a hard pace, but so far she’s been more than forgiving.

I hope this gives you a good idea of the story behind the machine. I just signed up on the BimmerBoard.com web site and I’m looking forward to gaining some useful insight into the inner-workings of my car and hearing some great e28 stories.

Thanks for the interest.

• '88 535i (pic) - novabeem 2005-02-13 10:14:59 (1252 views)
  • Re: '88 535i - farwig123 2005-03-03 04:18:36 (834 views)
  • Hey, what's this guy doing with my car?? LOL >> - 5erquest 2005-02-22 16:50:24 (820 views)
  • Nice. Recent pictures? As for the gong, it has three functions> - kff 2005-02-13 12:48:36 (914 views)
    • Re: Nice. Recent pictures? As for the gong, it has three functions> - novabeem 2005-02-13 14:07:03 (956 views)
      • Sweet ride. They are nice when they are near new aren't they? - kff 2005-02-13 21:04:31 (960 views)