Roadtrip Pics of my new 535

[Gayle]

What do you get when you live in San Diego and buy a car in Scranton, Pennsylvania? Road trip. Once I read about some college kids who kidnapped a lawn ornament and took it on a road trip, sending pictures back to its owners of the gnome in front of Mount Rushmore, the Golden Gate bridge, etc. Always had an urge to do that. So those who are interested will get to see pictures of my 535 in front some off the beaten path destinations.

Maybe you are wondering why a not-young chick buys a car 2,500 miles from home sight unseen. Here is the condensed version of the explanation. My husband and I had 4 cars and wanted to thin the fleet. Sold the wrangler, sold my 90 325 convertible, and had plans to sell hubby’s 90 525. I started driving the 525 and decided I wanted to keep it, but there was the problem. Hubby’s definition of maintenance is top off whatever is leaking and when something breaks to the point it won’t run, get it towed in to the non-bmw-trained indy. I started reading this board to figure out what I need to do to keep the 525 running for another 200,000 miles. I found the 535 on this board and it was love at first description. Bought it and instead of shipping it, preferred to spend the money on a vacation.

Got it July 4th. My initial reaction is I love this car. The paint job was better than the pictures. Started it up—engine sounded good. Doesn’t have the throaty rumble our 525 had but it doesn’t have valve clatter either. This one had a nice quiet purr. And oh, the clutch…..I have owned 9 cars with manual transmissions, and this is the best ever…. Tight, smooth, not contrary. Thank you Philip (P.O.) and thank you to your indy.

Drove down the Garden State Parkway to the southern tip of Jersey. The M30 and the chip make merging on to the freeway much less of a challenge than the in-need-of-a-tune-up M20. And oh, by the way, did I say how much I love the clutch? Watched the temperature. A hair below 12 o’clock. Everything seems smooth and tight. Made it to Cape May a happy girl.

[Jeff N.]

Nice...stick around and join in the fun (madness?)

[Gayle]

So I am doing a Jeff and posting to my own post.

So after taking stock of the important stuff, I reverted back to the chick that I am an
started thinking things like “This car smells like vanilla. Yuck.” I started dreaming of shopping—what could I buy to put on the car—maybe chrome exhaust tip. Definitely will get one of those kits from Whit’s boss to reinforce the door before the hinge goes through the door wall.

Then started fantasizing of sending my boss a rub-it-in email about how great the car is. He really gave me a hard time about buying this car. His attitude was “I wouldn’t drive 6 blocks to buy a used car. You know I think you are nuts.”

Took the car to the beach. She has been a NYC car most of her life. And she has spent a lot of time in garages. I want her to be a free-range BMW. Here she is getting a whiff of ocean air. The thing in the background is the prototype of a fleet of concrete ships our military had plans to build. It was not one our country’s stellar moments in defense technology.

[Jon K]

What do you get when you live in San Diego and buy a car in Scranton, Pennsylvania? Road trip. Once I read about some college kids who kidnapped a lawn ornament and took it on a road trip, sending pictures back to its owners of the gnome in front of Mount Rushmore, the Golden Gate bridge, etc. Always had an urge to do that. So those who are interested will get to see pictures of my 535 in front some off the beaten path destinations.

Maybe you are wondering why a not-young chick buys a car 2,500 miles from home sight unseen. Here is the condensed version of the explanation. My husband and I had 4 cars and wanted to thin the fleet. Sold the wrangler, sold my 90 325 convertible, and had plans to sell hubby’s 90 525. I started driving the 525 and decided I wanted to keep it, but there was the problem. Hubby’s definition of maintenance is top off whatever is leaking and when something breaks to the point it won’t run, get it towed in to the non-bmw-trained indy. I started reading this board to figure out what I need to do to keep the 525 running for another 200,000 miles. I found the 535 on this board and it was love at first description. Bought it and instead of shipping it, preferred to spend the money on a vacation.

Got it July 4th. My initial reaction is I love this car. The paint job was better than the pictures. Started it up—engine sounded good. Doesn’t have the throaty rumble our 525 had but it doesn’t have valve clatter either. This one had a nice quiet purr. And oh, the clutch…..I have owned 9 cars with manual transmissions, and this is the best ever…. Tight, smooth, not contrary. Thank you Philip (P.O.) and thank you to your indy.

Drove down the Garden State Parkway to the southern tip of Jersey. The M30 and the chip make merging on to the freeway much less of a challenge than the in-need-of-a-tune-up M20. And oh, by the way, did I say how much I love the clutch? Watched the temperature. A hair below 12 o’clock. Everything seems smooth and tight. Made it to Cape May a happy girl.

Gayle, there is a very good possibility that you and I passed on the Garden State Parkway as I came north from Ocean City NJ! Read your whole post, you were in Cape May, that's so freaking weird, I was too... weeeeeeeeird.

[Gayle]

Gayle, there is a very good possibility that you and I passed on the Garden State Parkway as I came north from Ocean City NJ! Read your whole post, you were in Cape May, that's so freaking weird, I was too... weeeeeeeeird.

Jon

Did you see the fireworks in all the towns south of Newark? How did you like Cape May?

Gayle

[Bimminator]

What do you get when you live in San Diego and buy a car in Scranton, Pennsylvania? Road trip. Once I read about some college kids who kidnapped a lawn ornament and took it on a road trip, sending pictures back to its owners of the gnome in front of Mount Rushmore, the Golden Gate bridge, etc. Always had an urge to do that. So those who are interested will get to see pictures of my 535 in front some off the beaten path destinations.

Maybe you are wondering why a not-young chick buys a car 2,500 miles from home sight unseen. Here is the condensed version of the explanation. My husband and I had 4 cars and wanted to thin the fleet. Sold the wrangler, sold my 90 325 convertible, and had plans to sell hubby’s 90 525. I started driving the 525 and decided I wanted to keep it, but there was the problem. Hubby’s definition of maintenance is top off whatever is leaking and when something breaks to the point it won’t run, get it towed in to the non-bmw-trained indy. I started reading this board to figure out what I need to do to keep the 525 running for another 200,000 miles. I found the 535 on this board and it was love at first description. Bought it and instead of shipping it, preferred to spend the money on a vacation.

Got it July 4th. My initial reaction is I love this car. The paint job was better than the pictures. Started it up—engine sounded good. Doesn’t have the throaty rumble our 525 had but it doesn’t have valve clatter either. This one had a nice quiet purr. And oh, the clutch…..I have owned 9 cars with manual transmissions, and this is the best ever…. Tight, smooth, not contrary. Thank you Philip (P.O.) and thank you to your indy.

Drove down the Garden State Parkway to the southern tip of Jersey. The M30 and the chip make merging on to the freeway much less of a challenge than the in-need-of-a-tune-up M20. And oh, by the way, did I say how much I love the clutch? Watched the temperature. A hair below 12 o’clock. Everything seems smooth and tight. Made it to Cape May a happy girl.

Very nice, I'm considering a manual in the future. How mch did it set you back?

[Gayle]

Very nice, I'm considering a manual in the future. How mch did it set you back?

$8,500

Philip (PO) had a thread about was the $10,000 he wanted for it reasonable. That thread is how I actually found the car. The feel I got from the replies and from some inquiries I did that 7000 to 7500 would have been market for it, even though Philip put 10000 into it. Since I won't be wrenching myself it was worth it to me to pay 8500. It wouldn't be worth that to someone who could work on it himself.

I also concluded was that the low mileage was not a big deal since the years could do as much damage as miles. Rubber rots you know. From my 325 I also know that things break while the car sits in the garage not being driven. What I was actually buying with this car was its history of good maintenance.

[uscharalph]

Great post!

[bahnstormer]

chrome tips?!?!? blah!!!!!

do a full eismann catback setup stainless steel - u'll get that nice purr
and then some! =]

[Gayle]

Bahnstormer--Thanks for the suggestion.

Day 2 of roadtrip

In my desire to get a picture of my car next to all manner of tourist attractions, I tried to get a picture of a gaggle of geese looking at my car. I am trying to herd them to a spot next to the car; the geese aren’t having any of it; and hubby is laughing his ass off. So I yell at him to move the car to the spot the geese want to go. He get in, starts her up, and starts swearing. The car is overheating in the middle of nowhere.

It is not like we haven’t been down this road before with our 525. Hubby caught the 535’s hot flash at the ¾ mark. He turns on the heater to pull the heat out of the engine. Does this really work or is this an old husband’s tale?

We call AAA roadside service (just upgraded our membership to premier status so I am looking forward to cashing in on the 80 miles of free towing). We pass the time waiting by trying to figure out where the coolant goes (doesn’t look like the 525 or the picture in the Bently) and berating ourselves for not checking the coolant level before leaving.

The car cools back down to normal in about 15 minutes. The tow truck gets there. The coolant level is normal. The driver can’t see any leaks either. We decide to drive on to Washington DC without using the air conditioning.

Here is a picture of my first overheating episode. Stay tuned to find out what happens.