Big car, big miles, big fun! (BMW 5-series (pre-1988))

Member Name: r_welfare

Product:	BMW 5-series (pre-1988)
Date:	16/06/02 (650 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Style, performance, build quality

Disadvantages: Heavy thirst, pricey parts, people assume you're a third-rate drug dealer

The 1980's BMW 5-series (known as the E28) is currently down at the real banger end of the market. It is surely only a matter of time that the standard models pick up classic kudos like the M5 and M535i have.

I bought my 528i, with 150k miles, in April 2002 from an advert on the BMW Car Club website. At £650 I probably paid a little over the odds which gives you a real idea of the low values these cars currently command. However, the car was in excellent condition with a long MOT and full service history. It also features some unusual options such as a Getrag close-ratio manual gearbox, M-Tec sports suspension, sports front seats and a limited slip differential.

Since I have had the car I have spent some time fixing niggling little faults which all older cars have, some of which appear peculiar to this particular model. The boot was leaking water which was traced to a faulty rear light seal. Some adjustment of the electric window channels was necessary in some of the doors before the windows worked faultlessly. The driver's seat trim had worn, so new material was ordered from BMW (impressive parts availability!) and fitted by a local seat trimmer. The interior door trim had shrunk from the corners so was stretched and re-stapled to its backing. A radio mounting bracket was sourced so that the radio no longer slid out of the dashboard during hard acceleration. The gearlever gaiter was ripped and so was replaced.

On the bodywork side, the car really is excellent with no rust on the external panels, although it was subsequently discovered that one jacking point required welding, and there were some rust holes in the bottoms of the doors. These have been repaired. Otherwise, no rot. Pretty good for a 17-year old car.

Mechanically the car has been excellent, although it needed new HT leads, distributor cap and rotor arm initially to run on unleaded. These can be expensive if genuine BMW parts are used, this was before I discove
red specialists such as German and Swedish! I subsequently used them for parts such as the exhaust centre pipe (£60!). I have spent about £700 on repairs and servicing, but a lot of this is perfectionist stuff like the seat, I like my cars to be "right".

To drive the car is an absolute hoot. The 2.8-litre straight six develops 184bhp and makes a very distinctive noise (anyone who has heard a 6-cylinder BMW will know exactly what I mean). It's pretty damn rapid - contemporary road tests reckon on 0-60mph in just over 7 seconds and a top whack of 130mph. The limited-slip differential keeps things in check in the dry but it's very easy to slide the back end out in the wet. It's probably best to drive with restraint in this particular car as it still has the original metric TRX tyres, which apparently cost £170 each. Ouch.

It's very easy to live with - there's quite a bit of room in the old square-rig body, the power steering has lots of feel, but the gearchange is, well, a bit agricultural. There's a bit of wind noise at higher speeds. Economy is not a strong suit - 24mpg average if you're lucky. This car has a full complement of creature comforts, too - electric windows, mirrors and sunroof, central locking and an excellent stereo. All of which must have cost the original owner a pretty penny when he or she ticked up the options sheet.

In summary, then, it looks and goes better than any C-registration car with 153k has any right to, and makes far more sense than an old Granada, Rover SD1 or even (dare I say it) Jag. Buy right and you'll do well - however, most cars out there are real sheds and you need to avoid them. BMWs are not cheap to run. You have been warned! A good one is a peach, and it will be all the more heartbreaking when I have to be parted with mine in September when I move to the Channel Islands!

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