Looking to buy a 5 series, look here
 

E34: 1989 to 1995

Pre-Facelift 1989-1993
- 1989 -1991 came with US Spec projector headlights
- 1993 gets updated mirror style

Facelift 1994 - 1995
- All years came with US spec projector headlights
- Wider grill, M5 Side skirts
- Available models: 525i (2.5L M50), 530i (4.0L M60), 540i (4.0L M60)
- Interior door panels updated

Special Models
M5 - 1989-1992?
M540 - 1995 - This was a special edition that came to Canada instead of the M5, look for the plaque that will state which number out of 132 cars came.

Available options to look for
- Drop Down seats


Things to look for
- Rust at the bottom of the doors
- Thrust arms rattle, causing vibrations at 55mph (88km/h)
- M60 motors suffer from nikalsil problems, lower quality gas ate away at the sleeves of the cylinders, the engine should go for a compression check before purchasing.
- M60 - power steering leaks, driver's side motor mounts, valley pan gasket (mysterious coolant leaks), timing cover gaskets, valve cover gaskets, rear main seal
- M60 Oil pump bolts/mounting nuts notoriously rattle loose and end up in laying in the pan.


E39: 1996 to 2003

Pre-Facelift 1996 - 2000
- Available models: 528i (2.8L M52), 540i (4.4L M62)

Facelift 2001 - 2003
- Available Models: 525i (2.5L M54), 530i (3.0L M54), 540i (4.4L M62)
- Updated headlights/taillights
- Updated steering wheel

Special Models:
- M5 (Headliner was upgraded from black felt to alacantera for the facelift as well as updated cluster steering and steering wheel.)

Things to look for:
- M62 motor mounts tend to leak and get soft, this causes the rad neck to crack and eventually break off.
- LCD pixels in the lower display in the cluster almost always go, this is a very common occurance in E39's.


E60: 2004 to current


F10: Future




Feel free to add to this list, I will add them as you guys go along.

E34 M60 - power steering leaks, driver's side motor mounts, valley pan gasket (mysterious coolant leaks), timing cover gaskets, valve cover gaskets, rear main seal, lol etc.... can be expensive and a bitch to fix all that crap so make sure you know what's been done, cause if not, these things WILL leak eventually.

are these problems specific to you, or do you know for a fact that it will happen to most cars?

Every BMW power steering leaks, so I didn't put that in.

yes, all of these are well documented as being specific M60 problems.

I forgot a really important one that's also M60-specific: Oil pump bolts/mounting nuts notoriously rattle loose and end up in laying in the pan. This definitely happens to most cars...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure there were only 32 M540's imported into Canada - not 132, making it one of the rarest out there.

Correct.

FYI , the latest Bimmer mag has a great article on buying a used E60.

good thing I already read up on most things before buying my CPO 535i

Look at this site for diff parts: http://www.parts4euro.com/DCShop/ind...fd50ae3b941552

Hope someone can shed some light on this. I was looking at a E34 and I noticed on the back it said AC Schnitzer. My google search has come up empty.
Thanks

And only 16 were 6 spd Manual, and I have one of those 16 :)