Looking at purchasing a '97 BMW 540i in next couple of days. - United Bimmer Community

**Gavkiwi** · 12-25-2005, 09:56 PM

Hello Everyone, im new to these forums

. Like many of you I have admired BMW's from afar for a LONG time. But now, as fate would have it, I have an opportunity to be able to afford an "Ultimate Driving Maching".

about 5-10mins from where I live, there is a 1997 BMW 540i, fully loaded for $14000, but the price is negotiable. Im thinking of offering between $12k or maybe $12,500 (im paying cash).

It's silver (I dont know what the proper BMW name is for the silver color, im a bit of a Bimmer Noob), has 96k miles on it, its missing the BMW emblems on 2 of the 4 factory std rims (are these easy to replace), interior is very tidy, has some slight scratches on the exterior paint (2-3).

I'm going to take it for a test drive tomorrow morning to see how it drives, its an auto trannie, im really looking forward to taking it for a spin, it will only be the 2nd Bimmer that ive ever driven, I drove a friends '05 330ci earlier this year (very nice coupe) btw.

anywho, is the asking price of $14k overpriced for what the seller is asking for?

and am I being reasonable if I offer $12k or $12,500?

well, I love the forums so far, glad to be apart of this BMW community

cheers,

Gav

**c1apton** · 12-25-2005, 10:09 PM

I'ld offer him like $11k cash . Couple of reasons: this time of year is thin for sellers,(taxes, etc coming up) and you're offering cash. If he wants to nickle & dime horse trade maybe 12k at best but no more than that. That would be my approach...

PS: Welcome to UB

**Gavkiwi** · 12-25-2005, 10:33 PM

Hey c1apton, thx for the tip

i CANT wait to be a bimmer owner

thanks,

Gav

**Rooz** · 12-25-2005, 10:48 PM

Where you located? My mom is looking at selling her 97 540i..

**Gavkiwi** · 12-25-2005, 11:03 PM

Hey Rooz, im in Arkansas. Im actually travelling to N.C on a business trip in mid Jan '06, Charlotte Actually.

What color/trim level is your Moms 540i?

any pics you can post of it here?

Gav.

**Rooz** · 12-25-2005, 11:37 PM

Here are some pics:

Storamin · 12-26-2005, 11:08 AM

AHHH! IT'S AN AUTO. jesus Rooz are there any manual cars in your house?

**Rooz** · 12-26-2005, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Storamin

AHHH! IT'S AN AUTO. jesus Rooz are there any manual cars in your house?

humm, same car manual is like 3-4k more

And they are hard to come by

**Gavkiwi** · 12-27-2005, 11:28 AM

report on my Test Drive yesterday afternoon of '97 BMW 540i auto...

good: Nice power/acceleration, interior was in really Good shape, very tidy inside, although it does need a good detail.

bad: The paint work in the daylight was alot worse for wear than I had previously seen (i saw it once before at night). on the hood was a BAD mismatch of color/paint touch up of a stone chip, some more swirl marks, scratches that I feel would take a WHOLE day to buff out, these are pretty much all over the hood, trunk.

bad:...continued... Driving it at first was kinda strange, for a BMW, the '05 330ci that I drove earlier this year did feel like "the Ultimate Driving Machine", this 1997 540i DID NOT. Under Braking for a stop light, about 1 mile away from the dealer, was this really noticeable shuddering, and the road was smooth/new asphalt. It wasnt BAD, but not good either, that was the first OH!, oh. Second OH!, oh was just about to take the Bimmer back to the dealer after getting off interstate, driving down a service road, doing 40-50 miles an hr, and there was this very, again noticeable vibration coming through the wheel, more so than in any other vehicle I had driven.

Sooo....I tell the dealer that I do like the car, but am conerned with what I had noticed during the test drive, he say's that it was just traded in, I could tell, the previous owner had not cleaned the interior AT ALL. He said if these issues were addressed, would I still be interested, I said YES

. Ofcourse if they were fixed. So in a nutshell I still REALLY want it, but only if it feels like a BMW, not a Ford Pinto.