Are these good old wagons? (BMW E34 TDS)

[funkyrobot]

This one is very close to where I live. To be honest, I love the look of them, but don't really know much about them. Honest John doesn't seem to have too many negative comments about them:



http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...

The only thing that worries me about these is how they age as it's an old turbo car. This one has some dodgy rear sill work (rear driver's side door doesn't seem to fit correctly) and the grill has had a smack. But, if I could barter down to under £600, would it be worth a punt? Could be a good runaround until MOT time in March?

[HustleRussell]

I looked for a half-decent E34 TDS for nearly a year before giving up and buying the petrol instead.

The TDS is a fine engine but
-It was bought originally to do lots of miles cheaply- so now they've all done lots of miles and might have been ran on veg oil or otherwise neglected
-Many suffer hot start problems due to lift pumps. The high pressure fuel pump on the engine will also start to throw up problems at higher mileage, and that's a really expensive fix.
-It's barely any better on fuel than the petrol version

[funkyrobot]

Thanks. I guess I'll take a look at petrol ones then.

[rosscobmw]

I have one of these, paid £500 and had it over a year now.

Mine's done 170,000 miles, ive tuned the hell out of it, i do a 45 mile daily commute and use it for drift days and I've never had a serious issue with it. They like to drink diesel though. And they're fun, mine does this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jwI-SQL2iw&fea...

[funkyrobot]

[rosscobmw]

funkyrobot said:

Having enough torque to tow a house from its foundations makes Drifting fun

[funkyrobot]

Just found a 1994 one which has had the 'in tank' fuel pump replaced in the last year. Not sure of the mileage but it is only £695 ono. Would this be worth a look?

Thanks.

[HustleRussell]

The high-pressure pump on the engine is the bigger problem, look closely for evidence of diesel leaking down the back of the engine. If you can stomach the chance of that going, then why not, assuming the rest of the car is good. Check the sills for rust, particularly around jacking points.
I bought an E34 as a bit of a fixer upper a couple of weeks ago and I'm pretty happy with it so far, bar the nasty suspension shimmy (make sure you test drive it, and repeatedly accellerate to 65 and coast down to 50, feeling for a vibration through the seat of your pants)

[Baryonyx]

Very much 'old skool' diesel. A milkman near me uses a green one to do his round. It's absolutely battered but it's a consistent runner. There is another one, in Brocade Red which is a private car. Total smoke blower, not sure how it keeps going.