I bid on this 95 540ia with 144k miles on Ebay knowing it has the Nikasil problem. The owner said so and he didn't want to handle it anymore. It is close enough for me in eastern Pennsylvania, about 190 miles so I made a run for it and got it for $2,750. Flat bed it home. That was almost a year ago.
So I knew the engine is crap when I bought it. Bought a M60 engine for $800, again on Ebay and another Nikasil. It is from a 1993 e32, 66k miles. It was a California car wrecked in 98 and came to the east coast. The engine has been sitting on the shelf for 3 to 4 years. So I rolled the dice a second time. But I tested compression with the engine on the stand. They were good.
One thing led to another I bought a 6 speed conversion package from Austin, Texas and undertook the conversion project because I never like to drive an automatic. It cost me $2,000 plus shipping.
I was so busy with work and other family commitments almost a year later the 540 is still sitting in my driveway. The only time it saw the raod was a week after I bought it to take it out for a spin to fill up the gas tank. It died on my way back but I was able to restart it later and bring it home.
I am going out of town again for two more weeks. Hopefully when I come back in April I can finish the project. So with my free labor and more than 6 grand plunked down for this toy, I'd like to say it is not the outcome that counts, it is the experience. But I know I am only fooling myself.
'01 540it, 6/01
'03 325i 5 speed, 9/02
'10 535ix. 9/09
'10 mini 6 speed
'15 mini countryman 6 speed