Hooptie or Honest Car

"Just wear your damn mask..." (jimal) 01/05/2016 at 15:29 • Filed to: HOHC, Hooptie, BMW

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Welcome to the premiere (and possibly only) installment of Hooptie or Honest Car, where we take a random old car and decide what is worth fixing before trying to sell it.

Our first subject is this 2000 BMW 528i automatic...

If you’re still reading, good for you. Don’t let the mob tell you what you can and can’t like. This particular 528i has about 172k on the clock. It is fully loaded, and complete with such period features as an in-car Motorola Startac phone, 6-disc CD changer, Homelink and power everything.

At first glance, the body is in pretty good shape; some stone chips but no rust. The wheels are clean, with no curb damage. The leather looks pretty clean. I drove the car about 40 miles from where it was parked to my house. During that drive, I noticed:

- A slight shimmy over 50 MPH, which I’ll assume a balance and rotation will address.

- The Service Engine Soon light is on. I don’t yet know why.

- The heater fan does not work.

- The radio does not work.

- Tge cam cover (or some part of it) leaks oil.

- The driver side mirror cap is missing.

The car belongs to my mother-in-law, and we are selling it for her. Looking around on Craig’s List, similar cars in my area are priced anywhere from $1,500 to $3,495. I don’t know how much they paid for the car (according to the window sticker in the glove box, this car new in 2000 cost $46,120). What, if anything, is worth fixing if I have any hope of getting a good price? Or should I skip the repairs and see what I can get for it, as-is?

Party-vi > Just wear your damn mask... 01/05/2016 at 15:35

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Check the fuses. Heater fan might be the final stage resistor. Drop buy Advance Auto or Autozone and have them read the code(s) to figure out what issues you’ve got. In the mean time, put it on CL for $3,500 and see what offers you get.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Just wear your damn mask... 01/05/2016 at 15:45

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Diagnose what you can then figure out what it costs to fix things. But I wouldn’t put more than $500 into it. Start your listing high unless you need it sold right away.

pjhusa > Just wear your damn mask... 01/05/2016 at 15:48

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you're clever

Ash78, voting early and often > Just wear your damn mask... 01/05/2016 at 15:51

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Part that mutha out! The E39 is a great car and lots of people really baby them — surely you’ll get a few grand before you even have to think about stripping body panels, glass, or wheels. Assuming you have the time, that is...

Noah - Now with more boost. > Just wear your damn mask... 01/05/2016 at 16:00

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In my experience working on a high mileage modern BMW is painful. Electrical gremlins galore, broken expensive plastic parts, and the possibility of yet another malfunction as soon as you’ve addressed the latest issue. I consider myself a “BMW guy” and I wouldn’t touch that car with a 10 foot pole. Try to get rid of it for around 2k and don’t put any $$$ into it if you can help it! The service indicator is just a timer the dealer resets, unless the CEL is on too I wouldn’t worry about it.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > Just wear your damn mask... 01/05/2016 at 16:01

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Look at what it would cost to get the car a really nice detail. That detail will gain you more price than any of the mechanical repairs would. Now, radio and heat are noticeable, unfortunately, but if you spend more than maybe $500 in total (including that detail) fixing those things you won’t get it back.

Klaus Schmoll > Just wear your damn mask... 01/05/2016 at 16:09

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For the radio there might be a cheap fix. My mum has a ‘02 530d wagon on which the radio died a few weeks ago. Dead, as in press the knob and the screen stays blank for radio options and even the sat-nav has no audio etc. We made an appointment with an indie mechanic specialising in BMWs, but even before that the battery went flat. The car wouldn’t start but the radio worked, and still does. Seems like depriving it of electricity forced it to reset/reboot/whatever. This is highly annecdotal but disconnecting the batttery and letting it sit for a day is free, and a car with tunes blaring is instantly worth §100 more.

Just wear your damn mask... > Ash78, voting early and often 01/05/2016 at 16:16

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No time/space/interest.

Just wear your damn mask... > Noah - Now with more boost. 01/05/2016 at 16:36

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It ran fine during my drive. I didn't even see any missing pixels on anything. My goal is to get as much as possible for my MIL.

Just wear your damn mask... > Aaron M - MasoFiST 01/05/2016 at 17:05

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That’s what I’m thinking. I will at least diagnose the issue and hope for cheap solutions to each. For example, I’m not interested in ripping into the dash after a blower motor.

Needmoargarage > Ash78, voting early and often 01/05/2016 at 17:08

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This is so much better in theory than reality. After about the 3rd time pulling a part for somebody who doesn’t show, you’ll regret it. Sell it complete, fixed or not.

Ash78, voting early and often > Needmoargarage 01/05/2016 at 17:12

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I’ve had pretty good luck doing some minor part-outs online (model-specific forum stuff), but I doubt I’d ever do it “cold” on Craigslist or something like that. My time is worth way too much...

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Just wear your damn mask... 01/05/2016 at 17:57

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I have almost the same car.

Just wear your damn mask... > Klaus Schmoll 01/05/2016 at 21:03

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I went poking around in the glove box fuse panel tonight, and it looks like one of the radio fuses was blown. I’ll tinker this weekend when it is a bit warmer and I have more time.

Needmoargarage > Ash78, voting early and often 01/06/2016 at 09:52

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Same here. Seems to work better with wrecked cars with a valuable powertrain.

Flynorcal: pilot, offshore sailor, car racer and panty thief > Klaus Schmoll 01/10/2016 at 19:22

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Many things that the CPU “learns” will be forgotten and re-learned after being disconnected from power for a half hour. I think 18 minutes is the official number, but as I don’t remember where I learned that, I’d go safe and make it 45 minutes. Things like gas mileage, SMG clutch adaption, etc, will all be re-learned. Sounds like it worked for your radio. It might even reset a SES light, although an OBDII scanner/reset too (with I/M readiness) will be invaluable. I’d get this if you were planning on doing anything else (or are the OP), along with the round OBD adapter for older E39's with the OBD port under the hood:

http://www.amazon.com/Autel-MaxiScan…

Note that things like airbags have their own lithium batteries that will outlive the car, so disconnecting the battery won’t do jack.