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      05-20-2013, 12:42 PM   #22
SwissCheeseHead
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Drives: '11 328it
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Madison, WI

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Nice thing about M5 owners are that they usually maintain their vehicles. Like others have mentioned, get leak down numbers and ask the owner for all maintenance records. Things that tend to go around 100K miles are front/rear suspension and bushings, valve cover gaskets, oil filter gaskets, fan, water pumps to name a few. If you keep these up and running, the S38 is a tank and will last you a few hundred K miles. Post on bimmerforums.com as the e34 crowd is much more knowledgeable.

One thing to look for is rust at the base of all the doors (beneath the trim). It's a huge design flaw that BMW had with the e34s. There's a removable piece of trim at the base of all the doors. Dirt and grit get in between the trim and the door and rust begins to form over time. It happens to most all e34s. If there's rust and it's fixable, get it fixed asap. Otherwise, you'll be looking at new doors. GL! Post pics if you get it.
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