850Ci/540i trade questions

I have a local party that offered to trade their '93 850Ci, Silver, M-Pars, 104K miles, 6spd, for my '02 540i.

I'm somewhat interested, but hesitant about the V12 maint cost. (if it were an 840 it'd be a done deal already)

I tried to download the PP checklist, but it timed out.

I'm not sure about maint records, I haven't persued it further at this point.

How deep do my pockets need to be compared to the 540i maint? This would likely be a weekend pleasure car at this point.
I may not keep it long-term; what would the sales prospects be vs the 540i?

Thanks!!

your maintenance concerns are a myth. The V12 isn't any more expensive to MAINTAIN than your 540 (or 840 for that matter). It can get expensive if the car was NEVER maintained in the first place (same applies to the 840).
Look at it this way - you would be going from a hum-drum BMW to something that people still turn their heads at, and you will enjoy every minute behind the wheel.
I personally am partial to the V12, because as someone once told me: "A man needs to own a 12 cylinder at least once in his life". Mine has 250,000 miles on it (100,000+ of my own driving), and I have never looked back.

Originally Posted by TxGr8White

your maintenance concerns are a myth. The V12 isn't any more expensive to MAINTAIN than your 540 (or 840 for that matter). It can get expensive if the car was NEVER maintained in the first place (same applies to the 840).
Look at it this way - you would be going from a hum-drum BMW to something that people still turn their heads at, and you will enjoy every minute behind the wheel.
I personally am partial to the V12, because as someone once told me: "A man needs to own a 12 cylinder at least once in his life". Mine has 250,000 miles on it (100,000+ of my own driving), and I have never looked back.

+1

The E31 is a truly specail car. The 850 with a 6 speed and M-pars? Can you say RARE and HTF?? Dude, there is nothing to think about. Weekend and special occasions. Keep it pristine and make improvements. The value will go UP versus donwn with the 540.

I would have done the trade and then came on the forum to brag about it!

In the older BMW game, only the special ones count. Everything else is just taking your money away forever.

OK, saw the car today. Overall very rough. The body was pretty rough, but thats not a big deal. The driver's seat was really worn, glove box broken, windshield with multiple large cracks on the driver's side, engine looked like it needed all new seals, climate controls apparently non-functional.
Now enough of the good; on to the bad. The engine sounded like it either had a miss or exhaust leak at idle. As soon as I got in and gave it some throttle I knew it had serious issues. Had a bad hesitation just off idle (not due to DBW, I'm used to that), more of a stumble. When run at 1600-2000rpm, it had a bad, loud vibration and sounded like a freight train. Had the loud vibration any time it was in that 1600-2000 rpm range. He told me the car had been in the family for 7yrs and had always run like that. He says its normal. Says he had an Indy mech check it out and they say mechanically its in near perfect condition. Uhhh, from what I've read, the V12 is supposed to be the smoothest engine BMW produced, and this certainly was not. He had no idea what banjo bolts were or if they had been checked/replaced. It had a little trouble getting into 2nd gear, all other gears were fine, so I'm guessing a bad syncro. Not quite a grind, but close.
I'd say, even though its one of about 88 roadworthy 1993 6spd 850Ci's, its at best a $4K car. I'm guessing in the neighborhood of $12-16K to bring it up to what I'd consider good condition. I'd say very poor condition for a car with 104k miles.
If anyone is interested, it is listed on Denver's craigslist; he'd like to get $13-15K for it.