As I struggled to pack in lots of people and gear into the E28 this weekend for a wedding, my love of wagons continued to be stoked. Today’s 525i Touring may not be a barnstorming M5 or E63 wagon, but it would have been the perfect lug-anything car this weekend and would have looked damn good while doing it. Sitting pretty in black on 3-piece Style 5s with a pin stripe spicing things up, covering just 55k miles in 12 years has done this 5er well.
Year: 2001
Model: 525i Touring
Engine: 2.5 liter inline-6
Transmission: 5-speed automatic
Mileage: 55,388 mi
Price: $12,950 Buy It Now
Click for more details: 2001 BMW 525iT on eBay
17-inch SPORT BMW Rims!
Four matching MICHELIN TIRES with plenty of tread left
(Tires size : 235-45-R17)Steptronic Transmission
DSC – Dynamic Stability Control
Leather
Dual climate control
Power/Memory seats
Moon Roof
Roof Rack
Folding rear seats
Cargo cover
Original full size SPARE rim with MICHELIN tire
Jack, tools
Master key + Valet key
Books, manualsYou are looking at an exceptionally nice looking luxury wagon. The black exterior and gray leather interior color combination gives the car a certain kind of unique classy appeal. From the way the car drives and looks and the year of the vehicle – most of the miles on the car are highway miles. The car has been garage kept. There are no reported manufacturer’s defects on thisvehicle. A never-smoked-in before beauty that looks great and smells clean.
The engine is an exceptional 2.5L inline 6 – one of the most powerful in the segment – runs strong and smooth provides the power you have come to expect from a BMW. The transmission has the BMW mark on it as well andshifts like on a new car, no skips or slips on shifts – actually it does it sosmoothly that you can’t feel it shifting. The car runs great! The engine compartment is clean, and free of any leaks.
The A/C works well and blows cold air! All in all, the car really runs great! As you can judge for yourself from the pictures – the interior is clean and looks great! All the electrical options appear to be in working order. The check light of the diagnostic computer reads ok. The engine compartment clean, and free of any leaks. This BMW is equipped with a dual climate control system. The power locks, windows,seats and moon roof all work and are in excellent condition. All the power controls and buttons work.
The car also comes with VERY nice all season tires have plenty of tread life left. This is an exceptionally looking vehicle – Loaded with tons of extras and is in good condition.
My (USA-available) dream E39 wagon is a 540i Touring manual, but this would get a lot of the same work done. Though it’s very, very clean, Blue Book is much, much… much lower. Until the seller is willing to accept at least 1/3 less (and closer to 1/2), this wagon isn’t hauling anything anywhere.
-NR
Personally, I hate the pinstripe. The rest of the car speaks for itself. I wish it would because it gets tiresome reading the typical dealer ad-speak that manages to tell nothing of value in an inordinately large number of words.
A couple of notes: the first owner is listed as 2 months and 2,000 miles in New Jersey. In my experience that means someone at BMW headquarters had it. Nothing wrong, just an observation…
No service records other than what was reported to CarFax. Given the car’s age, I’d be concerned about the condition of the water pump, fan clutch and fan blades. If you’ve ever experienced one letting go, you’d understand the concern.
Only one master key is shown, I thought there were two issued with a car but I may be wrong on that. Definitely something to check into.
As to price, it’s up there. It’s funny but I saw the price and the pictures and just knew it was from Europa-Online. They are consistent…
Good points, Kevin, particulalrly with the dealer speak. Big turn off. Looks like a relatively basic 525 wagon that someone subsequently added the big wheels – not a sport package car. Autotragic also a turnoff here and given the mileage and high price a greater area of concern to replace – longtime BMW shop I use is not a fan of e39 automatics. At $12k, they will have this car for a while but as they say there is an ass for every seat. Car would be much nicer and more appealing if sold by a CCA’er, maybe unfair, but to me it has truth.
Recently traded in SWMBO’s ’03 525i Touring. Once it passed 100k miles it started becoming a money pit. The automatic was actually never a problem – but suspension bushings, cooling system failures, alternator, and the topping on the cake – having to remove the intake manifold to replace the engine-recirculation-system valve so it stopped gulping oil pushed me over the edge with it. Loved the utility and driving the car (we did have the sport package, with the 17″ wide rims and sport suspension and seats), but couldn’t take the continual repairs.
Lexus dealer gave us $6,000 for it on trade for an RX350.. I imagine they wholesaled it for about the same money (even though the chain owns several BMW dealerships.)
Great cars when under warranty..
BTW – if someone buys it and wants a set of snows and rims FOR FREE – you pick up in NJ – contact me. Can’t seem to sell them or give them away..
Of course, this 525iT would be so much better with a manual transmission (and in a perfect world, a V8). But it is what it is – and that’s not an entirely bad thing. It still has all the inherent goodness of being an E39 wagon. With the low mileage, good colors and clean history, this would be a pretty nice ride – if the asking price were a little more reasonable. In the current market, this should be a $10-11K car. Europa might get $12K.
Similar to Don’s experience, we had a 2000 528iT with auto. A little better equipped than this example (xenons, heated seats, etc.), and slightly more power. The automatic didn’t cause any problems (other than being an automatic), but despite regular maintenance, after 100K miles, our car also became a money pit. Loved the car, hated the costs piling up – ours got traded for $6K also (coincidence?) on a CPO E60 530xi.