WTB: Fast 4 Door

[Jake]

So fill me in on these BMW gurus - https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/...89459.html

They're fun and make good noises. The S38 engine is based on the engine that BMW put in the M1. It takes peanut butter oil (20W-50?) so it reeeeeally doesn't want to get moving until things thin out on a cold day. At 101k the engine will not need a rebuild, but closer to 150k it may be something to consider. I've heard they are finicky to put higher miles on, but I've also driven some un-rebuilt examples at 140-180k and they've been fine. The engine sounds great with a catback (they all have ITBs).

Not super luxurious inside, heated seats are the biggest novelty item. Steering is kinda slow as it's a box, not rack/pinion. Front end suspension is made up of about 11 pieces that involve bushings and you cannot cheap out on replacement - do the entire thing and get a good brand, or it'll all blow back out in short order. These cars are like any other BMW and sensitive to blown out bushings - they'll get wandery if stuff is bad.

It's a good size chassis - a modern 3-series is the same size exterior - so it's big enough to haul four people but small enough to be fun on a back road. 

Dinan sells all sorts of modifications, and each one has an assigned point value. Once you have earned enough points, you earn the badge for the car to say it's actually "Dinan modified." But, find out what all has been done to make it have that "status" as some of the items can be kind of hokey. 

I dunno, I'd do it if it's not a shitpile car. My E34 was an awful example (ish) but I miss it and would have a nice one back in a heartbeat. And with this one being an M5 (OMG last of the hand-built!) it will retain value more than a 540.