Today I find out the fate of my one and only E28 528eA. I'm gonna drive it to my trustworthy BMW body shop (not a stealer) to check the rust under the car and see how much/if it can be fixed. This car has been with me for 12 years and is like the sibling I never had. If he tells me it will be around $1500 I'll do it. I just hope all goes well with it . I'll update and maybe I'll take pics while its on the lift to show you guys the bad and the ugly
Don't be afraid to poke at things with a screwdriver. Better to know how much rust you have and what it'll take to fix now rather than getting that call mid repair "we found another $1k worth of rust here, what do you want to do?"
UPDATE It can be fixed but it will take $$$$$$ (no duh). He has a running parts car that he will sell to me for $650 (same exterior color) but with super clean black leather interior (I have tan cloth). He said my doors are starting to rust from the inside. He told me that I should get the doors put on from the parts car and then he would tackle the rest. No pictures as I didn't get a chance to put it on the lift. The parts car will have to wait a bit till I get a bigger place (we are looking at places with more space tomorrow). So eventually this car will be restored.
What year? Not many of the 528e got leather. I think that if you are not married to the idea of having a 4th car and you really love this one, you should spend the money on it.
I should have asked for the year but I was just amazed on how it looked. The offer is on the table and I doubt it will be going anywhere soon. However, I should grab it soon. Um, the idea of a 4th car took an interesting turn. A customer of his is selling a 92 525iM. Yes I know, its not a 535i. The car was there but the keys were with the owner who wasn't at the shop. Car has 251K miles (M50 has 120K). Needs blower motor as the ad states. It is lowered, stock (no fake offs) E39 M5 wheels, angel eyes, painted front, side and rear aprons. Extensive maintenance history available. $2K OBO. Plus, comes with the factory bottlecaps and "BMW 17 wheels". Not sure what type of 17's they are. I though about calling up the owner this weekend to check it out and drive it. Maybe offer $1500 and sell those M5 wheels and get 1/2 of the purchase price of this E34. I am driving you guys nuts. First its a 85 M535i or a 92 535iM and now this car. My wife puts up with it everyday
Let me be honest here. I think you should restore your E28 if the rust isn't so bad. If it was my money (and I liked the E28), then I would, in this order: * Fix rust * Repaint the car an entirely different color (sorry, not my cup of tea) * 5-speed swap * if the engine's in good condition, leave it till it dies, then do an M50 swap (make it a modern day 525, only a lot coooooler ) * it's already lowered, so you're good there Keep them baskets on there! Pretty much make it a restored Sunday car... but I think you'd be driving it way more than just on Sundays.
Thats why I will probably buy the parts car so when spring hits you'll come over and help me swap out the interior on a Saturday .
Major rust is Major $$$. I'ts easy to feel an attachment to a car but with yours being an automatic (?) I would really think it through. These cars in good shape are easy to find - Have a look here for typical places for rust - start looking in the list from about December 2004 - on http://sfiedos.free.fr/alpinab9/textes/resto/a-resto-index.htm
If I do decide to restore the car, I would probably convert to a 5-speed. Doesn't matter if a car is a 3-speed automatic, 4-speed automoatic or a 6-speed manual trans, any BMW is fun to drive and worth IMO to repair.
