I'm considering either trading in my BMW or selling it for parts/ working vehicle. I've had to replace the radiator twice due to a bad head gasket, usually likes to blow hoses or separate the plastic part of the radiator from the aluminum. Anyway I need to know if these cars more valuable for salvaging parts or should I just trade it in for $1500. It has 189k, and I really do not want to put anymore into it to keep it running.
Thanks for any input,
Chad
Gee; that's too bad. Has it occurred to you that, for the price of one of those radiators, you could have REPLACED THE HEAD GASKET?
-- C.R. Krieger (In one of THOSE moods today)
You are joking, CR. Are you not? Or you must be talking about doing the head gasket yourself so it is cheaper to do the HG. But I was just thinking was it a bad head gasket causing the radiator to go or was it the other way around?
I'm a tad on the sarcastic side today, but I'm not joking. The head gasket *is* causing the pressure buildup in the cooling system that's grenading the radiators. If he'd fixed it right the first time, he'd only have bought one radiator - not two. Maybe not even one.
If you're not doing anything but replacing the head gasket, it isn't all that hard or expensive. Maybe $250-300 for the gasket set. Hey, YOU have an E34, don't you? Could be a nice cheap parts car ...
-- C=2ER. Krieger (In one of THOSE moods today)
I am seriously tempted. But my fleet is spilling out of my driveway into the street. My two car garage is so full of junk I can only park one car in this winter. And one of my two e34's has been parked in the driveway since last May. I have been so busy the 6 speed convesion just sees no end. Soon.. I hope.
Agree, the parts to replace a headgasket is about $250-300. When the headgasket blew a year and a half ago, on my 1990 E34 535i with only
97K miles at the time, it cost me about $1100 to have an independent repair it. The culprit in my case was a broken t-stat, which caused the t-stat housing to crack (about $80 or so to replace).I too wonder why the OP kept replacing radiators when it appears he knew the head gasket was the problem. Note, my car now has 111K miles on it and I'm still on the original radiator.
Where are you located? How is the body and interior? If the body is solid I would think the car would be worth at least $3k to an E34 enthusiast.
Thanks for all of the comments. Radiators were $182.00 and I could do them myself - head gasket was a little above my ability and at $1300 independent I decided not to invest any more. Being somewhat of a moral person I wouldn't want to sell the car to someone without letting them know about the HG, which then doubles the cost of the car, so I would feel better selling to someone for parts.
Rundown of condition: Cracked Windshield Cracked driver side headlamp lens Broken driver side Fog Lam lens Head Gasket Minor dings in body Some rust in door sills Interior is good - not holes or tares Needs tires, rear shocks, front suspension work (Control Arms replaced)
I'm in southeast Michigan, the car is drivable and I am using to get to work just anticipating the next problem and don't want to be stranded again.
If you can get $1500 for the car, you should trade it in....
Agreed. The rust is the killer.
Yeah thats what I figured. I bought the car for for 2k a little over
2yrs ago and for what I've put in it I'm very happy with how long it's lasted, I just figured it may be nice for an E34 enthusiast to salvage the parts and save some money. In it's current condition I don't think it would be advantageous to take the time to rip it apart.Thanks for all the suggestions, I'll trade it in before the summer heat kills it. Better to drive it into the dealer than have it towed.
Chad
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