good buy?

[rushtiger]

hi, i've been looking for a new car for a month now because i hate the car i have now, 93 tauros with terrible transmission (it was my first car) and i always thought that a BMW would be a good car for me. Well, today when i was looking at some small local dealerships i found a 1990 735i for sale.

It has 160,000 miles on it, sunroof, CD changer and seemed to be an all-around good car. The interior is perfect. There is a small ding on the bottom of the passenger side door. I got to take a test drive in it and liked it alot, although i don't have much to compare it to. The only part i don't like about the car is the color (i'd rather have black), but i can't be too picky. Anyways, the asking price is $3995. Is this about right or should i see if he'll come down on it? If it's not worth that much what price should i offer? Also, if it's not worth that much what should i look for in that price range or just a little higher ($5000 is probably as high as i can go)

Thanks

[libertylover]

The Kelly Blue Book dealer asking price for that car is over $6000. That's for a car with no dents or rust, shiney paint, and EVERYTHING works, so $3995 seems like a good asking price. Another comparison for you is that I bought my 1993 740iL with 113,000 miles for $7550.

Here's a link to some things to look for:
http://bimmer.roadfly.org/e32/messag...w14/54855.html

Still, offer the dealer less, maybe $3500 or even $3000. Have your finances worked out and say, "I'll give you $nnnn for it", not, "Will you take $nnnn for it".

Also, there's lots of help for these cars. If you do buy it, invest in a Bentley's repair manual, http://tech.bentleypublishers.com/forum.jspa?forumID=66 and do as much of the maintenance yourself as you can since dealer parts and labor will eat you alive. You can find these manuals on ebay for $75-100.

Good luck.

P.S. I saw this car on ebay and thought you might be interested, depending on where you live. It's not black but it's that super dark blue color-beautiful! http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...&category=6009
Don't be afraid to buy a car on ebay. I did and I'm very happy with it.

[rushtiger]

Thanks for your help liberty lover. I found another car today that i'm leaning towards now. It's a 1993 740i. It has 144,000 miles, black w/ gray leather, loaded (whatever that includes), heated seats, and it says it has A+ interior, which i'm sure it does. I haven't actually had a chance to go look at it yet, but it seems like a good deal from what the advertisment says. They want $5400 for the car. I think it seems like another good price that i could maybe get them to come down on.

My question is what are the main differences between those two cars? They look similar. The 740i obviously has a bigger engine and less miles on it. But are there any other key differences between the two that i'm missing?

Also, what would the approximate gas mileage be on that 4.0 litre V8 as opposed to the 3.5 litre V6 in the 735i?

[libertylover]

Both of the cars you're looking at are known to BMW as having the E32 body, which are 7-series cars between 1988-1994 (USA). Other than the different engines and a few minor electrical changes, they are the same. These were BMW's top-of-the-line series cars so they're all "loaded" with only a few options. The options that I know of were the heated seats, a power rear sunshade, power rear seats, and maybe different sound systems. The Bentley's repair manual that I mentioned in my earlier post covers these differences.

My car is a '93 740iL (L is for long) so I'm familiar with its gas milage. Around town it gets around 18 mpg. On a trip from Florida to Savannah around Christmas it got 25-26 mpg. Also, the V8 REQUIRES premium fuel. I don't know about milage on the 735's 6-cylinder. I'd guess 20-22 around town and 27-29 highway and it can run on regular gas, but again, that's a guess.

IMPORTANT NOTE: A '93 740i is in the range of the infamous Nikasil problem caused by a reaction of the nickle in the engine and the sulfer in the fuel. My car has a Nikasil engine with 120,000 miles and I've had absolutely no problem with it. My opinion is that if were going to have a problem it would have shown up by now. Using high quality, name brand gasoline and synthetic oil is supposed to minimize the chance of having the problem. Also, the sulfer content of US fuels is much lower than it used to be. Still, here's a link if you want to read more about it:
http://www.koalamotorsport.com/tech/...shortblock.htm

Good luck.