Selling a project when it’s halfway through a major refurbishment is always risky, as it could seriously impact the asking price that likely reflects the work that’s already been done. In the case of this 1988 BMW 535is, one of the foremost sports sedans of the 1980s, the seller has done a boatload of work but is now selling the car with the engine and transmission removed and the former disassembled. It sounds like he is simply moving onto other projects, but with major repairs underway that included hot-tanking the engine head and a recently powder coated intake manifold and valve cover, it seems like there were big plans for this E28. Find it here on eBay with bids to $3,250 and no reserve.
The E28 chassis BMW 5-Series has long been heralded as the brand’s breakthrough sport sedan that came out as the M5 was blowing minds at driving events and among road test editors. The E28 with the factory sport package finally allowed enthusiasts to own a car that was almost as compelling as the top dog performance model for a significantly lower price and with more reasonable maintenance costs. The 535is shown here came with an aggressive front air dam, a rear spoiler, sport leather seats, a three-spoke leather steering wheel, and in some cases, a limited slip differential. It looked the business and didn’t give up much (appearance-wise, at least) to the M5.
The 535is (and non sport package models below it in the pecking order) came equipped with the wonderful M30 inline-six engine. This motor is an incredibly durable unit that loves to rev and is torque-rich. It’s actually surprising the seller went to the lengths he did to tear this engine down for two reasons: one, it has a reputation for going 300,000 miles or more without much in the way of a rebuild. These motors are not known for headgasket issues, either, so I’m curious what prompted the rebuild. In addition, you can still find complete M30s for not much cash, making it relatively simple to drop another one in if the original engine fails. The interior appears to be in decent condition, with the must-have sport bucket seats in good shape overall (although the power seat switches are pulled apart, so perhaps the motors are bad.)
As you can see here, the seller was well on his way to re-assembling this engine with freshly powder-coated components (I’m assuming they’ve been powder-coated, but they may simply be repainted as well.) Getting the intake manifold and valve cover to look their Sunday best is the sort of work you do when you’re rounding the bases on an engine rebuild and the end is in sight, but it doesn’t sound like much work has happened on the labor side of the build, with the seller noting that the cylinder head was hot-tanked and not much else. It’s always risky to pick up where someone else has left off, but at least this desirable sport package E28 is offered with no reserve.
I can hear this car crying “Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore”. It could be a good car and good project, but what a state to leave it in. Are all of the engine parts there, and what shape are they in? Hopefully someone near its current location will sort through things and rescue it. To my way of thinking they put the icing on the cake before they even started to bake the cake.
These also make good track day cars. (especially if some judicious amount of weight reduction has happened) Good strong cars. (A little heavy for sporting purposes) but weight is about right for a daily touring car. I have spent many miles in one of these and it was always enjoyable.
The head gaskets, and water passages in the head can rot away if antifreeze is not used and changed every few years, great cars and a great engine though! getting very hard to find in the UK!