1988 635 stock 5 speed value

[sixseries]

I crossposted this to the e24 section of bimmerforums too, but just wanted to reach a wide audience as possible.

I want to get back into sixers since moving out of NYC. I used to own a euro '85 that I sold for $3500 (yikes, I know). I just found a stock manual 1988 635 that is in pretty good condition, which is damn rare. It runs and drives very well too. I'll post some pics below. The seller is asking $10k, which is definitely more than i planned on spending when i started this search, but it seems that 1) my price expectations were a bit outdated and 2) this car is in better condition than i was looking for. The main issues is there are around 250,000 miles, a small oil leak that the seller thinks is an oil pan gasket (this seems to be a complete PIA to replace, as I don't really have access to an engine lift), there is some surface rust on the front fenders (see last pics), and it when driving, the steering seemed a bit loose. The paint appears to be in great condition, but I think it's a respray. The dash also has a couple cracks, and unfortunately one of them is pretty sizable.

However, pretty much all the electronics work, the A/C was changed to r134a (I don't think it works though), the entire interior is in leather (not the dash though) which seems to be in excellent condition, and it runs and drives very smoothly. Also, it's a 5 speed, which is the first US spec late model manual I've seen (and the benefits from the B35 and Motronic 1.3, producing better HP). Guy has solid records too, and i get a set of style 5's. I also have a good set of powdercoated black staggered style 32's that I want to put on the car (I'm very interested to see what it will look like with the black/dark grey wheels). The SLS was also disconnected and bilsteins were reportedly installed all around. It's not lowered though. One other cool thing is it has a stock rear sunshade.

I realize that it's not all about the value, and I've looked at Bring a Trailer and it seems that a car like this could go for a bit more, but the main outlier on this one is the 250k miles. Just wanting to bounce my thoughts off the forum and get some feedback, since I've been out of this game for a long time. I'm also going to have a PPI done inclusive of a compression test. 9.0 is the right compression for the B35 right?

Thanks for any help!





















Here is the full size image gallery link: https://imgur.com/gallery/mpktekF

[Pod]

You got it in one. The mileage.

If you intend to keep the car a long time and it is in really good condition, then buy it. Otherwise, if you decide to sell it in a few years, it'll be the mileage that kills the sale at anything like a reasonable price.

Just my 2c

[sixseries]

Yeah, it seems high mileage cars don’t show on BaT often. Any chance remedying that rust will be simple or will that probably be some serious body work?

[Pod]

From the pics, the rust doesn’t look bad at all. I’m talking from a UK perspective, but most cars have rust even when you don’t see it upon purchase. Once you start cutting it out, it can go on and on...........

[86_6series]

sixseries,

I've seen this many times on photos with a plate.
Could you tell me the reasons for blacking out plates.

BTW the car looks great--good luck with it.

Thanks
Bob V

[hornhospital]

sixseries,

I've seen this many times on photos with a plate.
Could you tell me the reasons for blacking out plates.

BTW the car looks great--good luck with it.

Thanks
Bob V

I'd like to know the why of that myself. It seems silly to me. If you are driving the car dozens/hundreds/thousands of people see your plate number every day. I cannot see a reason to blank out the plates when posting pictures of the car, but it seems most people do, either when showing the car in a forum, or selling it on an online site.

[sixseries]

I didn’t want to show the plate cuz it wasn’t my car. I don’t care about mine, but i felt it wasn’t my place to put someone’s info out there

[86_6series]

I didn’t want to show the plate cuz it wasn’t my car. I don’t care about mine, but i felt it wasn’t my place to put someone’s info out there

OK got it, makes sense.

When you get the cost to fix issues from the PPI,
negotiate with the seller and you may get it for
a decent price. The draw back is the mileage no
doubt. The right price can cancel that out along
with the other issues. Still a nice car.