733i questions

[pauzed]

I'm looking into buying a new car. Well, not a new car, a 1983 733i. I haven't had the pleasure to fully look the car over, but I'm curious if there are any recurring/well known problems to look for in the car. It's a 5speed manual, 200k miles. Body looks nice, but again, I haven't had the chance to go and really examine the car. I've been told the car runs strong, but anyone know about how long I could expect these motors to run before a swap/rebuild? Also, how are these things known for upgradeability? Perhaps dropping a larger motor? I want a nice car, nothing street racer, just a nice car that can move when it wants to =) The person is also asking 1500, but I feel this is extremely steep for the high mileage. Any tips/hints/known problems/anything you know about the car would be greatly appreciated. Thanks alot in advance.

[jeffreyb4me]

make sure the engine idles smoothly and isn't 'tapping' loudly, drive it from cold and let it run a few minutes on a clean patch of concrete to check for any major leakage, make sure the heater/ a/c controls & fan all function. if it feels 'tight' over bumps [no big cluncks or rattles] and the oil's been changed often enough, those engines can easily run past 350k miles.

[pauzed]

Thanks alot! I've worked on cars before, but only a few Hondas, and never actually a BMW. I've heard they run really well for a long time. I'll be able to check the car out this weekend. So far, it looks pretty clean. The person who's selling it states "no rust", though it looked a bit orange. Digital cameras are nothing to the human eye, so I'll get a better idea of it. For such high mileage, what would a bit more reasonable price be? Checking the bluebook value, I think it was booking about.. 870.00, though thats it's maximum value. Any idea on maybe a better estimated cost. The interior looked nice from the pictures I have, extremely nice for 20 years old now. No rips or anything, looked like the car sat fine and all. Just curious of opinions. 6-700 seems to be a bit more reasonable. Anyways, I'm excited to own this car, it really looks nice. Thanks alot!