E39 Touring thread! What do you think!

Originally Posted by Aquila

Remember, we just don't want you to sell the car

Where are you getting flack from? I don't see any responses yet on BmF. Getting Flack on BFc?

Stick to your guns till you find a serious buyer. If the car is worth, time will tell from offers or interest. I often get success from national ebay listing as some buyers are not exactly close by.

its been most folks on CL's. The emails all start of something like this.
"Please email me when you are planning on being realisitc"
To which I reply"I will when you plan on being a bit more polite"

Am I nutz for asking 4500?

Originally Posted by therealsuv

its been most folks on CL's. The emails all start of something like this.
"Please email me when you are planning on being realisitc"
To which I reply"I will when you plan on being a bit more polite"

Am I nutz for asking 4500?

I don't think $4500 is unrealistic, how many miles?

Never forget, Craigslist is filled with cheap lowball bastards looking for a deal to flip......

190k as of this am. Here is a link to pics
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vincentpuopolo/

Find me a better manual under 5k I tell them.

Originally Posted by therealsuv

190k as of this am. Here is a link to pics
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vincentpuopolo/

Find me a better manual under 5k I tell them.

Damn, that's a nice wagon! And with a stick I think you should be asking more, that's a rare piece (I know, mine is a stick also). Maybe it's the mileage scaring them off? You have it advertised on any forum lists?

I sure have. Getting some love. At the end of the day money is not the issue, I don't need to sell it but since we are getting a new car it just does not make sense to have this one. Honeslty, I want it to go to someone whom has loved it as I have.

Originally Posted by Touring Dude

Congrats on the new wagon!

Just a thought on your water leak, check that the sun roof drains are not plugged.

Thanks - I checked them, and they were fine. Ran a wire through them to be sure. I hope I caught them all, I will post my most recent updates.

By the way - you and I can SO NOT be friends man!!!! You own the touring that I SO WANT!!!! Dang It! That thing is gorgeous! I am Green with envy! LOL!!!!

Originally Posted by Studawg

525iT M Tech? Dont think that exists, I am pretty sure thats a 525iT with the sport package.

Agreed. No such thing as a 525iT M-Tech or M-Sport as they would have called.

Originally Posted by Jase007

Door vapor barrier too.

Pull the rear seat, door jam trim, lower "B" pillar trim, inner door weather stripping, rear cover stow-away brackets on carpet in 2nd row (hex head bolts) and then pull that carpet back ASAP.

There is 2-3" of foam under that carpet that is probably saturated. You need to press, shop vac, hook up a box fan and blow air on that carpet/under-foam to get it dry otherwise you'll continue to have mold problems.

I recently went through this and with the carpet/under-foam pulled back (propped up) and a box fan blowing on it ... it took several dry days to get the carpet dry enough that I was comfortable putting it back together.

Like mentioned, check the sunroof drains but 99% of the time it is the door vapor barrier that has come un-tacked (dum-dum/ weather stripping sealant) and needs to be re-done.

Good luck.

Thanks.... I have actually done quite a bit on the car already. Wait till you see the pics of what I discovered!!!!

Originally Posted by therealsuv

its been most folks on CL's. The emails all start of something like this.
"Please email me when you are planning on being realisitc"
To which I reply"I will when you plan on being a bit more polite"

Am I nutz for asking 4500?

You are nutz for taking CL ad replies seriously You know there are a bunch of nut cases on CL. Since you don't need to sell it and there is no rush on your part, just stick with it. Actually, raise the price and shut people up... LOL!

Originally Posted by Touring Dude

I don't think $4500 is unrealistic, how many miles?

Never forget, Craigslist is filled with cheap lowball bastards looking for a deal to flip......

Exactly what he said. I am one of those cheap bastards, but I tend to be polite.

Here are the updates on my Touring for anyone who hasn't seen them yet (kinda Long):



Jan. 7th/

Okay... I must have a German / Bavarian hex on me or something. I seem to have a knack for acquiring weird messed up cars and sometimes when I am lucky - I bring them back to life.

Today, I started my investigation of the leaks in the Touring. The rear windows didn't work so I already knew I had to replace the regulators or at least check them out. Of, to do this I have to open up the doors - removing the door panels, etc.

I first ran the car through a car wash to see where I get water coming in (Car looked great after the wash by the way). As soon as the water jets hit the car, the driver's side passenger window started letting water in. On examination, I noticed the window did not go all the way up. There was a barely visible gap but it was enough to let water in.

After the wash, I decided to start with the most likely culprit of the leaks. I started with the Driver's side passenger door. There are some things on BMW's that make me want to punch the designers in the mouth. There is a silly un-needed screw on the window blind - right in front. Miss that and you likely break your shade.

Anyway.... pulled off the door panel and much to my horror, there was the glaring indication that the door was leaking - THERE WAS NO BLOODY VAPOUR !!! I mean nothing - just bare door. That wasn't all - like a midnight infomercial - There was more! The window regulator was toast! The thing was so mangled it was unbelievable. The - the Piece De Resistence'.... someone had actually punched a hole in the door frame to use a hanger wire to hold up the window!!! I mean someone literally beat a hold out right beneath the spot for the door handle.

On further visual examination, I could see this leak had been going on for some time. This would explain why the carpet was that drenched - both in the front and back. The puddle light housing was filthy with water stains and dirt. The bottom inside of the door panel was also filthy.

I checked the door drain just to be sure the water would be able to drain if this was all fixed.

Luckily for me, I had acquired a Barrier as back up - so I had something to put there. I also had a spare regulator with me. I replaced the regulator and then installed the barrier using GE Silicone material. I gave it time to get gooey and then installed the vapour barrier.

In this particular case, I can see how water was getting in from this door. With any rain or such, the water would get in through the gap atop the window. I would then run down into the door in large amounts. This would fill up and then just overflow into the cabin.

After the left door, I moved on to the passenger side rear door. Panel off and once again - SHOCK! This time, there was the barrier but NO WINDOW REGULATOR! I mean, it just wasn't there at all. The barrier / Butyl was already failing so I am surprised it did not leak in at some point. I was able to replace the regulator.

Now, both rear windows are working. We'll see if I caught the leak. I also examined and tested the sunroof seal and the one beneath the brake booster. Everything is cleared up as of now. I also ran a little water down each drain outlet just to be sure.

DRIVER'S SIDE REAR DOOR:



In this picture, you can see all the water staining and grime at the bottom.

[IMGhttp://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww171/ElaineBeemer/E34%20Bumper%20Cover/EbayParts1004.jpg[/IMG]


PASSENGER SIDE DOOR

You can see all the collected grime at the bottom of the door.




That just about catches everyone up on progress.


Jan. 16th/ Okay.... some progress today with the. Got sound, but also found what might be my other leak point.

The gasket at the base of the Roof Rails on top of the driver was badly pinched.

After fixing the Vapour Barriers, the rear foot well has been dry in all weather so far. The front mat right in the middle has stayed wet though.

I am guessing that water was getting into the car and somehow was draining down to the driver's foot well. I am pretty certain of this as yesterday, I found drops of water on the driver's seat. However, amazingly enough the headliner and the area around the grab handle and sunroof seemed dry.

I used Silicone to seal this area for now till I have time to pull out the Headliner and fix the gasket or replace it.

See area in pic:

Originally Posted by therealsuv

Am I nutz for asking 4500?

No way, that price is very reasonable.
I'd just wait.

Originally Posted by therealsuv

its been most folks on CL's. The emails all start of something like this.
"Please email me when you are planning on being realisitc"
To which I reply"I will when you plan on being a bit more polite"

Am I nutz for asking 4500?

I had a ton of fun recently trying to sell a set of wheels on Craigslist, in decent shape with tires. I finally resorted to having fun with the idiots. If they lowballed me I'd say "sure, be here within the hour and they're yours" then watch the parade of texts stream in asking for my address.

I just treat CL like a game. Eventually a serious buyer showed up, we negotiated, and made the deal.

Sorry to see you're selling her, but GLWS.

Originally Posted by La-Sean

I gave up my 02 LMB M5 when we had our first child, and replaced it with the current 03 540iT MTech. This is as close as I could get (stock) to my M5 with a "family oriented" twist.

are those M66 rims? staggered? 17" or 18"? i need to get me some of those bad boys for my wagon.

Originally Posted by therealsuv

Am I nutz for asking 4500?

I dont think so. Maybe you should list for $5.5K and then "settle" at $4.5K Gives the buyer a sence of getting a deal! You can list it in Roundel for free if you are a 'CCA member. I think a buyer who is nervous about 190K miles with records is not a serious buyer.

The Ft. Wayne BMW dealer is asking $6.5K for a '99 540iT w/ 144K miles. Original asking price was $6.8K. As a side note this car was previously owned by someone quite knowledgeable who posts here on a regular basis...........

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...Index=13&Log=0

Off topic for sure, but touring related non the less, My cousin just picked up an 03 X5 and I noticed his rear mounted factory subwoofer has 2 speakers vs the tourings single speaker. Anyone ever heard of a retrofit or if this is possible? I am looking for a little more bass without going aftermarket or losing storage space.

Nline6

If you can find them, JL Audio did custom fit E53 subwoofer enclosures with a subwoofer driver in them. Very rare, hardly come up for sale but appear from time to time. Those are the only ones I know of that were available off the shelf as it were. Discontinued now of course and would require a suitable high quality and decent RMS output amplifier to drive them. That in turn means to get the best from them, you'd need to upgrade the cabin speakers as well, else all you'll do is turn the 'bass/gains' down on the subwoofer(s) which kind of defeats the object really.

If none turn up, you could get a reputable and experienced audio installer to make some enclosures that will fit there for you.

Cheers, Dennis!

Dennis,
Per jimlev I snagged a set of sc50s for the front doors and I am happy with the improvement, but I feel I'm going to want more down the road.
I will do a little digging and see what I can find. Thank you for the reply