Description
I am the second owner of the car. I bought it from a BMW dealer on 10th February 1989 and used it as my every day transport until 2000, when my way of life changed & it was placed in storage, where it has remained until now.
The first owner lived near Hungerford and used it to commute up the M4 to London every day. When he had the car it was on the number plate ALL 60, which he kept when the car was sold. I originally had B444GMW, and then changed it to HWV994, which it will keep when it is sold.
At the time I used the car I owned garages, one of which won a VW Group "Aftersales Dealer of the Year Prize" meaning that our workshops were the marque's best in the country. My mechanics, valet team etc. maintained the car and did everything that needed to be done as soon as it was necessary, so it was immaculately looked after without having specific scheduled services. I sold the garages at about the time the car went into storage.
For the last 20 years I have had working pointer dogs which travel with me everywhere, so I now drive an estate car & 4x4 and the BMW no longer fits my lifestyle, which is why I have decided to sell it. The car has been removed from storage, checked over and put through an MOT (expires 11 November). It has had a few minor repairs to put right the effects of 23 years of non-use, but has not been tarted up to be sold, so buyers will effectively be buying a remarkably good condition "barn find". I will try to give as good a description as possible - "warts & all".
Mechanics - The car was in very good running order when put into storage, however, after 23 years some things needed attention. The first was that the front brake calipers were seized but released quite easily when put into a vice. The bores were honed and a new seal kit fitted. When first started up the engine ran very roughly. A change of fuel and new high pressure fuel pump corrected the problem. There was quite a noise from the timing chain but after a couple of minutes the hydraulic tensioner started working and it is now doing so efficiently. Everything else seems to be in good order; brake hoses and pipes are good and there is almost no corrosion on the underside of the car.
Electronics - The electric switch on the back of the ignition cylinder broke up but after a lot of searching, we managed to source a new one from Lithuania. It now works perfectly. Many of the electronic connections had corroded which stopped the instruments working, but the binnacle has been removed, the connections cleaned and reinstalled. It will still be necessary to clean up contacts to make things perfect. Shortly after I bought the car in 1989, the oil level warning light failed and, as the oil was checked by my mechanics at least twice a week, I never bothered to replace it, so the warning light is permanently on - but it only warns about oil level, not pressure, so is immaterial. All lights, wipers, washers etc. were working when it passed its MOT last year.
Interior - The car is very clean. It has always had heavy duty over carpets, so the original carpets are immaculate. The leather seats are good for the mileage. The car has had bigger Pioneer speakers fitted into the rear parcel shelf and it had a high quality stereo with a graphic equaliser fitted into the panel above the accelerator. I have removed the amplifiers in order to make access to the car's main wiring easier to check - they will be supplied with the car. The boot is clean and tidy, with almost all tools and I even have the original first aid box. The leather on both the steering wheel and gear knob were disintegrating, so I have had both re-covered.
Bodywork - the car has never been crashed, but was in daily use for 15 years so has suffered a few small dents & scratches from people opening doors against it etc.. The only real rust worth commenting on is in the top of the OSF wing (photo), my ex-wife hit a tow ball when reversing it and there's a dent beneath the NSR light cluster (photo). During the time I was using it it was vandalised a couple of times - the sides were "keyed" and a yob broke a chrome mascot off the bonnet and scratched the car with it, so it's had a bit of paintwork to repair that damage as well as stone chips along the leading edge of the bonnet and front air dam. It was stored in my home garage, but was exactly the same length, so had to be touching the back wall for the doors to shut and the rear bumper has lost some of it's normal curve. The plastic film in the laminated front windscreen has started to go milky & a crack appears to have propagated since it's been in storage. The bumper chrome work is tired and could either do with renovating or replacing (body panels and chrome work is still available from Germany). I have changed the wheels as the original tyres are both very difficult to source and horrifically expensive. The original wheels with tyres will be supplied with the car.
In conclusion, the car is usable in its current condition, but would benefit from the electrical connections being cleaned up, a small amount of bodywork and a respray. Mechanically, it is OK, but had its last full service over 23 years ago, so could obviously benefit from a good check over
I have priced it at £35, 000 and would sell it happily at that price, but am really looking for a good offer over £30, 000
