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11/1985 build date 1986 model year 535i, 5 speed
Some of you may remember this car, others have no clue or care, which is fine.
This is my 1986 535i that i thoroughly enjoy and take great pride in. Nothing special, no super rare parts, no crazy engine swap, or anything of that nature.
My brother owned an e28 when we were in high school, and I fell in love with the idea of things that are old and things that are German. It was in that two years of my brothers ownership that my outlook on cars changed in a drastic way. I went from wanting nothing more than a 65 Coronet big block 4 speed car, to some "expensive" "over engineered" "big money waster"
Naysayers aside, I knew what I wanted, but it would take me a long time to get there.
Somewhere along the way I bought a Honda. Then another, and another, and another, and so on and so fourth. The Honda s weren't all bad, they taught me more than I thought possible, were cheap, easily available, and I had some knowledgeable friends to help me along the way. Shoot, they even led to me working for Honda. But, they were just temporary for me. I still wanted a Bimmer.
After my umpteenth Honda, I finally decided a proper car was in order. I wasn't sure exactly what it was going to be, I was a poor college student, was sick of driving crappy cars, and wanted something nice that my girlfriends dad wouldnt mind her leaving the house in.
At first, I was against the idea of a BMW. I was more interested in something a little more practical to own, as I knew I would be doing a ton of miles, needed good mpg, and an overall practical car. Then, one rainy Sunday, I saw this
Crap...it was so pretty, too expensive, but so perfect, not the mpg I was looking for, but so unique, to impractical, but I always wanted a nice car. So, I pulled the trigger.
And I was on cloud nine. I seriously felt like a million friggin bucks leaving Rodney's driveway that day. I know it doesn't seem like much, but this was my big block Coronet, my 69 Camaro, my super exotic Italian sports car, a dream come true and a major life goal achieved for me. I had the dumbest grin on my face for the entire 3 hour drive home in that car. She was the one. I would be buried in this car.
Then, I started getting older, realized I couldn't provide for the car the way I needed too, and things with this beautiful lady started getting a bit more serious
Photo11182139 by Stan Mikita's Donuts, on Flickr
(she is on the right)
So, all of that being said, I started to kind of but not seriously throw the idea around of selling the car. We live in NE Ohio, (which is no es beuneos) and want to move, West, someplace where there is no snow, like Arizona. However, we can't move until a wedding happens, and a wedding cant happen until someone buys a ring and stops playing with his BMW. (thats me, I need to buy a ring)
I will miss this car dearly. It has seriously been so fulfilling to own and it was such a fantastic feeling to achieve a goal I thought wouldn't happen for many many years down the road. I'll miss taking pictures of it, I'll miss taking off on a sunny day and ripping down some back roads to try to find that perfect shot, or the perfect view. I'll miss hearing the exhaust echo off buildings downtown as I annoyingly rev match every gear, I'll miss the noise it makes when I first turn the key and it fires up, I'll miss waxing it, buffing it, and cleaning it.
The truth is though, I cant afford the car at this point in life. I'm only 20 years old and have my whole life ahead of me, and if I have to sell some old BMW to get life started, I guess I'm ok with that.
Assuming you're still reading, heres what all of you care about:
The car is fantastic. In my 20 months of owner ship, I have driven it about 13 months. In that 13 months, the car was pretty much my daily. I bought the car at 171xxx miles, and it is currently at 199xxx, I drove it from NE Ohio to Virginia Beach and back twice in a single weekend, 1800 steady miles and the car took it like a champ.
I do a pretty extreme amount of driving, and It is more than reliable, and only left me stranded one time when the original starter failed at approximately 185xxx. The car starts every time and runs beautifully and is a joy to drive.
Now, here are some negatives:
-Needs a rear Differential (i'll get to that in a second)
- It is turning 200k, and needs some love.
- The paint isnt perfect and is showing it's age despite my efforts to preserve it.
- Several groups of bushings, mounts, and seals need replaced as well as some suspension components.
- I planned on doing big brakes this winter, and when the pads needed replaced in September, I put the cheapest pad I could buy on the car and did not replace the rotors, even thought they needed it. I only needed the car for about another month, so I cheaped out Embarassed I do roughly 3000 miles a month, and the pads weren't going to make in that long.
- The interior needs cleaned up. I've been maintaining it, but it needs some love.
- The valve adjustment is due, and the car has a moderately rough idle which i believe is due to the valves. As it got colder outside, the idle got worst.
-The blower motor makes a fierce noise. It works great, just needs some lube.
-The ABS light is on, and I have no idea why. ABS were working great, but are inop with the light on.
- Interestingly to me, the left turn signal indicator in the dash recently stopped working. The signals works front and rear, but the indicator does not.
-At one point this summer, the shift linkage snapped.
In a bind, I had it welded back together, and it works great, but I was going to replace it.
- The trunk seal is relatively new, but I have noticed some wetness in the trunk after some car washes.
-I tried hard, I really did, to dodge a cat that walked out in front of me this summer, but I nailed it. In doing so, I broke a fog light mount and did some damage to the front valance. However, that fog light never worked to begin with.
- The hanger on the rear of the muffler broke, so the muffler sways around some and occasionally makes a noise.
-I had a freak fuel rail leak while driving the car this summer. Out of nowhere, the fuel rail developed a pin size hole and was gushing fuel out. I located one and replaced it, but the #6 injector has a torn o-ring that leaks some fuel
-The valve cover, power steering pump, transmission, and oil pan all have fluid on them, the outside of them, which is not good. All leaks are probably 5/10
- ALL fluids need changed. Coolant, oil, diff, trans, power steering, brake fluid.
- I also was going to do the timing service this winter as well as a waterpump, spark plugs, plug wires. The cap and rotor are new as of March of 2013
-All the bushings underneath are 27 years old and approaching 200k. I was going to replace them all.
-The trans mounts are torn, the engine mounts look tired, and the rear diff mount needs to be replaced.
-The car has some rust in the rockers, around the rear bumper supports, and a small spot in the trunk.
-It has also been running on the rich side of things. Valve Adjustment?
The big one here is the rear differential. I have been daily driving the car since April, and about a week before I parked the car for the winter, we got BLASTED with snow. I got stuck in the driveway, got unstuck, got stuck again, and then made it out. When I was leaving work on my lunch break, I realized I fried the rear diff. Around any corners or any turning, the inside wheel is binding severely and not turning. I parked it immediately and towed it home.
Now, I understand it is very difficult to sell a car without driving it first, and I took that into consideration. The car is awesome to drive and runs like a champ, aside from the rear diff being an issue.
I have put a successful 30,000 miles on it, and was extremely well cared for by Rodney, and it has about 10k in receipts.
I know these pictures are not very detail oriented, and I will be taking more detailed ones this weekend. Interior, engine bay, etc.
The car is not drive-able at this point and delivery is defintley an option for me. We have a car trailer and diesel pick up that will more than suffice for the task at hand. Of course, distance will play a part in the final cost of things.
By A Nose (1 of 1) by Stan Mikita's Donuts, on Flickr
015 by Stan Mikita's Donuts, on Flickr
ocean1 by Stan Mikita's Donuts, on Flickr
handshake by Stan Mikita's Donuts, on Flickr
043 by Stan Mikita's Donuts, on Flickr
030 by Stan Mikita's Donuts, on Flickr
goodnightlucy by Stan Mikita's Donuts, on Flickr
015 by Stan Mikita's Donuts, on Flickr
020 by Stan Mikita's Donuts, on Flickr
first attempt by Stan Mikita's Donuts, on Flickr
Sorry for being so long winded and taking up so much bandwidth.
Realistically, I'd love to get $4,000 out of the car. However, it has several things going against it.
I am actually a little embarrassed to be posting the car for sale here and contemplated not posting it at all. I have not been able to provide for the car like I should or would like, and really planned on going at it really hard this winter to correct all the issues, then sell it. However, time and money are very tight and I dont see it happening anytime soon.
I would like someone like Rodney to own the car. Someone meticulous and able to care for it.
However, money talks and I cant be overly picky at this point.
All things considered, I'm going to post it up for $3000 obo.
Delivery is an option. Distance and time will affect the price.
My name is Garrett.
Calling or texting is best 330 257 9122. Please no emails but pm's are accepted.
If I do not get back to you quickly, do not get worried, I'm pretty busy and work alot so I have limited availability at times, but I will return to you as quickly as possible.
Any questions, post them up. I will be taking more pictures this weekend and would love to be as thorough and open as possible, so please, do NOT hesitate, im a cool, easy going guy!
Thanks all
-Garrett
EDIT, More pictures!
The car is currently being stored on a trailer, the trailer is very close to the house, and when I took the pictures, I had no way of moving the trailer, so some of them are a little crappy however...
055 by Stan Mikita's Donuts, on Flickr
PLEASE FOLLOW THE LINK dont want to post up all 50 pictures
Again, any questions just ask. I was surprised to find a flat left rear tire and will address that before a sale is made, and depending on weather, I'm also going to try to give the car a wash and vacuum.
Some of you may remember this car, others have no clue or care, which is fine.
This is my 1986 535i that i thoroughly enjoy and take great pride in. Nothing special, no super rare parts, no crazy engine swap, or anything of that nature.
My brother owned an e28 when we were in high school, and I fell in love with the idea of things that are old and things that are German. It was in that two years of my brothers ownership that my outlook on cars changed in a drastic way. I went from wanting nothing more than a 65 Coronet big block 4 speed car, to some "expensive" "over engineered" "big money waster"
Naysayers aside, I knew what I wanted, but it would take me a long time to get there.
Somewhere along the way I bought a Honda. Then another, and another, and another, and so on and so fourth. The Honda s weren't all bad, they taught me more than I thought possible, were cheap, easily available, and I had some knowledgeable friends to help me along the way. Shoot, they even led to me working for Honda. But, they were just temporary for me. I still wanted a Bimmer.
After my umpteenth Honda, I finally decided a proper car was in order. I wasn't sure exactly what it was going to be, I was a poor college student, was sick of driving crappy cars, and wanted something nice that my girlfriends dad wouldnt mind her leaving the house in.
At first, I was against the idea of a BMW. I was more interested in something a little more practical to own, as I knew I would be doing a ton of miles, needed good mpg, and an overall practical car. Then, one rainy Sunday, I saw this
Crap...it was so pretty, too expensive, but so perfect, not the mpg I was looking for, but so unique, to impractical, but I always wanted a nice car. So, I pulled the trigger.
And I was on cloud nine. I seriously felt like a million friggin bucks leaving Rodney's driveway that day. I know it doesn't seem like much, but this was my big block Coronet, my 69 Camaro, my super exotic Italian sports car, a dream come true and a major life goal achieved for me. I had the dumbest grin on my face for the entire 3 hour drive home in that car. She was the one. I would be buried in this car.
Then, I started getting older, realized I couldn't provide for the car the way I needed too, and things with this beautiful lady started getting a bit more serious
Photo11182139 by Stan Mikita's Donuts, on Flickr
(she is on the right)
So, all of that being said, I started to kind of but not seriously throw the idea around of selling the car. We live in NE Ohio, (which is no es beuneos) and want to move, West, someplace where there is no snow, like Arizona. However, we can't move until a wedding happens, and a wedding cant happen until someone buys a ring and stops playing with his BMW. (thats me, I need to buy a ring)
I will miss this car dearly. It has seriously been so fulfilling to own and it was such a fantastic feeling to achieve a goal I thought wouldn't happen for many many years down the road. I'll miss taking pictures of it, I'll miss taking off on a sunny day and ripping down some back roads to try to find that perfect shot, or the perfect view. I'll miss hearing the exhaust echo off buildings downtown as I annoyingly rev match every gear, I'll miss the noise it makes when I first turn the key and it fires up, I'll miss waxing it, buffing it, and cleaning it.
The truth is though, I cant afford the car at this point in life. I'm only 20 years old and have my whole life ahead of me, and if I have to sell some old BMW to get life started, I guess I'm ok with that.
Assuming you're still reading, heres what all of you care about:
The car is fantastic. In my 20 months of owner ship, I have driven it about 13 months. In that 13 months, the car was pretty much my daily. I bought the car at 171xxx miles, and it is currently at 199xxx, I drove it from NE Ohio to Virginia Beach and back twice in a single weekend, 1800 steady miles and the car took it like a champ.
I do a pretty extreme amount of driving, and It is more than reliable, and only left me stranded one time when the original starter failed at approximately 185xxx. The car starts every time and runs beautifully and is a joy to drive.
Now, here are some negatives:
-Needs a rear Differential (i'll get to that in a second)
- It is turning 200k, and needs some love.
- The paint isnt perfect and is showing it's age despite my efforts to preserve it.
- Several groups of bushings, mounts, and seals need replaced as well as some suspension components.
- I planned on doing big brakes this winter, and when the pads needed replaced in September, I put the cheapest pad I could buy on the car and did not replace the rotors, even thought they needed it. I only needed the car for about another month, so I cheaped out Embarassed I do roughly 3000 miles a month, and the pads weren't going to make in that long.
- The interior needs cleaned up. I've been maintaining it, but it needs some love.
- The valve adjustment is due, and the car has a moderately rough idle which i believe is due to the valves. As it got colder outside, the idle got worst.
-The blower motor makes a fierce noise. It works great, just needs some lube.
-The ABS light is on, and I have no idea why. ABS were working great, but are inop with the light on.
- Interestingly to me, the left turn signal indicator in the dash recently stopped working. The signals works front and rear, but the indicator does not.
-At one point this summer, the shift linkage snapped.
In a bind, I had it welded back together, and it works great, but I was going to replace it.
- The trunk seal is relatively new, but I have noticed some wetness in the trunk after some car washes.
-I tried hard, I really did, to dodge a cat that walked out in front of me this summer, but I nailed it. In doing so, I broke a fog light mount and did some damage to the front valance. However, that fog light never worked to begin with.
- The hanger on the rear of the muffler broke, so the muffler sways around some and occasionally makes a noise.
-I had a freak fuel rail leak while driving the car this summer. Out of nowhere, the fuel rail developed a pin size hole and was gushing fuel out. I located one and replaced it, but the #6 injector has a torn o-ring that leaks some fuel
-The valve cover, power steering pump, transmission, and oil pan all have fluid on them, the outside of them, which is not good. All leaks are probably 5/10
- ALL fluids need changed. Coolant, oil, diff, trans, power steering, brake fluid.
- I also was going to do the timing service this winter as well as a waterpump, spark plugs, plug wires. The cap and rotor are new as of March of 2013
-All the bushings underneath are 27 years old and approaching 200k. I was going to replace them all.
-The trans mounts are torn, the engine mounts look tired, and the rear diff mount needs to be replaced.
-The car has some rust in the rockers, around the rear bumper supports, and a small spot in the trunk.
-It has also been running on the rich side of things. Valve Adjustment?
The big one here is the rear differential. I have been daily driving the car since April, and about a week before I parked the car for the winter, we got BLASTED with snow. I got stuck in the driveway, got unstuck, got stuck again, and then made it out. When I was leaving work on my lunch break, I realized I fried the rear diff. Around any corners or any turning, the inside wheel is binding severely and not turning. I parked it immediately and towed it home.
Now, I understand it is very difficult to sell a car without driving it first, and I took that into consideration. The car is awesome to drive and runs like a champ, aside from the rear diff being an issue.
I have put a successful 30,000 miles on it, and was extremely well cared for by Rodney, and it has about 10k in receipts.
I know these pictures are not very detail oriented, and I will be taking more detailed ones this weekend. Interior, engine bay, etc.
The car is not drive-able at this point and delivery is defintley an option for me. We have a car trailer and diesel pick up that will more than suffice for the task at hand. Of course, distance will play a part in the final cost of things.
By A Nose (1 of 1) by Stan Mikita's Donuts, on Flickr
015 by Stan Mikita's Donuts, on Flickr
ocean1 by Stan Mikita's Donuts, on Flickr
handshake by Stan Mikita's Donuts, on Flickr
043 by Stan Mikita's Donuts, on Flickr
030 by Stan Mikita's Donuts, on Flickr
goodnightlucy by Stan Mikita's Donuts, on Flickr
015 by Stan Mikita's Donuts, on Flickr
020 by Stan Mikita's Donuts, on Flickr
first attempt by Stan Mikita's Donuts, on Flickr
Sorry for being so long winded and taking up so much bandwidth.
Realistically, I'd love to get $4,000 out of the car. However, it has several things going against it.
I am actually a little embarrassed to be posting the car for sale here and contemplated not posting it at all. I have not been able to provide for the car like I should or would like, and really planned on going at it really hard this winter to correct all the issues, then sell it. However, time and money are very tight and I dont see it happening anytime soon.
I would like someone like Rodney to own the car. Someone meticulous and able to care for it.
However, money talks and I cant be overly picky at this point.
All things considered, I'm going to post it up for $3000 obo.
Delivery is an option. Distance and time will affect the price.
My name is Garrett.
Calling or texting is best 330 257 9122. Please no emails but pm's are accepted.
If I do not get back to you quickly, do not get worried, I'm pretty busy and work alot so I have limited availability at times, but I will return to you as quickly as possible.
Any questions, post them up. I will be taking more pictures this weekend and would love to be as thorough and open as possible, so please, do NOT hesitate, im a cool, easy going guy!
Thanks all
-Garrett
EDIT, More pictures!
The car is currently being stored on a trailer, the trailer is very close to the house, and when I took the pictures, I had no way of moving the trailer, so some of them are a little crappy however...
055 by Stan Mikita's Donuts, on Flickr
PLEASE FOLLOW THE LINK dont want to post up all 50 pictures
Again, any questions just ask. I was surprised to find a flat left rear tire and will address that before a sale is made, and depending on weather, I'm also going to try to give the car a wash and vacuum.
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