What to look for in an e34

Look for:

Tappety engine. Knocking rear suspension Woren suspension. THe handling should be quite firm. Worn rear tyres. Warped dashboard. Any rust on it and walk away. Make sure the headlights work for more than 10 minutes. Worn drivers seat Faulty speedo (usually the sender has gone and its expensive) Service indicator light on. Take any comments by the seller that he has it maintained at a non BMW garage and they can't reset the light to mean "This vehicle hasn't been serviced since I bought it" as you can reset the light with a bit of wire.

FULL BMW SERVICE HISTORY. THere's plenty out there. They need regular oil changes to get 200,000+ out of them. My wifes has 184,000 on the clock but always had 0W/30 fully synthetic oil changes. I saw well rattly ones at 110,000.

Press all switches/buttons etc.

all the above plus...

-If it's got the self-levelling suspension, walk away. (It's over £1500 to replace the shocks. Google for further info).

-Check windscreen wipers for a lot of play. Causes wiper arms to hit bonnet edge. (bastard of a job to fix)

-Check aircon and all vents for funcitonality.

-Ensure waterpump has been changed. (originals had plastic impeller which breaks up).

-Check emissions as CAT is bloody dear on these.

-Auto boxes can fail at 120k+ miles if not maintained correctly.

-If a VANOS model, check for odd noises from VANOS control.

These can run for many 100,000's of miles if maintained correctly. My 520i has now done 330,000 and it still runs and drives beautifully.

JB

Try and get as late a model as possible - the VANOS variable valve timing improves the low down torque. I had an early 24 valve 525 auto ('92) which went like stink when revved, but could feel sluggish at low revs.

In no particular order:- Check rear subframe bushes - a clonking from the rear on bumps. Bugger of a job to DIY, although the parts ain't that bad. Check for wheel wobble at around 60. Don't be told it's 'just wheel balance' - it could be radius arm bushes. Check for smooth idle - poorly maintained or short journey cars can have sticking valves. If an auto, check for smooth changes including kicking it down at speed. And all the usual and other things mentioned here.