Sold - We are looking for more stock like this
E28 525i (M20 B25) lux · Alpine White · 127k
This little rocket is actually the fist E28 I ever owned personally! After owning E24’s I thought surely all BMW’s cannot be as good as this as after all the E24 was a flagship model. I actually swapped a VW Corrado for it with my Brother-in-law and it turned out to be the first real stepping stone in the Bahnstormers story. I wasn’t expecting much from a lowly 520i Lux but the impression this little car left on me is responsible for where I am today.
Regular Bahnstormers fans will know we don’t really do straight car adverts and this is no exception. In this case however it is important that I point out a few things. We are selling this car on behalf of its current owner. This is not the sort of car we normally sell. It is mechanically spot on, and in fact I have mostly been the one looking after this car for the last 10 years but it isn’t cosmetically up to the standards of our normal stock and it does have a few niggles, however if you are looking for a solid, attractive, well specced, driver focused E28 then read on.
The car started life as a 520i lux with manual gearbox and as such was fitted with a M20B20 engine. Shortly after the current owner bought it from me an issue with the radiator caused it to overheat and the head gasket failed. At this point the decision was made to replace the engine with a more powerful M20B25 engine (So upgraded from a 2 litre to a 2.5 litre engine). Now to avoid confusion there was a factory 525i e28 but this was actually the smallest capacity M30 based engine or big six, were as the E30 was fitted with an M20 derived 2.5 engine which is the little six. The rest of the running gear in this E28 is original so the smaller M20B25 was the obvious choice to gain a little extra power so the original engine was replaced by one from an E30 325i sport the effects of which quite frankly transform the car into a serious little machine, upping the performance and drivability this car is a lot of fun to drive!
Mechanically this car has been really well looked after and as stated above I have done most of the work. It had a new radiator and hoses when the engine was changed. It had a new viscous fan coupling, brake master cylinder, clutch master cylinder and slave cylinder. New front brake callipers, new front to back brake lines, front shock absorbers and to enhance the drivability further it is lowered tastefully on a set of H&R springs. The owner wanted to keep the car as subtle and understated as possible so he tracked down quite an unusual set of wheels, style 15’s which where originally an option for the E38 750’s. It is a 16 inch wheel which takes its style cues from the original metric bottle tops this car came from the factory on. They have been clad in an equally sympathetic tyre size which provides and excellent balance between performance and comfort so the ride is not at all crashy but still grips like its on rails.
The interior of this car is something quite special. It has the only Pine green leather sports interior I have ever seen fitted and in my opinion it looks absolutely stunning in contrasted with the Alpine white body work. This is also not an original feature, the car has had a complete interior swap from its original pacific blue lux velour, again I think it would be hard to argue that in this case it is not a significant improvement. A rear sun blind has also been fitted and the rear windows upgraded from stock manual wind to electric. The seats themselves are in overall good condition but they are showing signs of patina in places. No rips, no tears just a little wear to the bolsters. It has a matching set of original pine green BMW mats and the carpet, trim and leather door cards are in fantastic condition. Most of the equipment functions as it should however the cluster has suffered the common E28 rev counter and temperature gauge failures, the speedometer and fuel gauge however work as they should. The dash top has unfortunately also succumbed to the common problem of being cracked although this one is not to bad as they go with a limited number of minor cracks it is a shame as the rest of the interior is so good. These can be fixed/improved and I would be very happy to advise any perspective buyer on how it could be rectified.
The body work of the car is very presentable but I would best approach this car as a perfect daily or rolling project. The body is solid and the owner has had most of the problem areas addressed already. Floor corners, sills, axle carrier, inner sills, battery trays are all good. The car also largely has good panels, the doors, sunroof panel, boot and bonnet are all in good shape. The car has benefited from being dry stored in a modern and well insulted garage and I can honestly say in appearance the car has not altered in the last Ten years, the bits and pieces it had when I sold it Ten years ago have not changed at all. The corrosion the car does have is limited to its front wings, corners of the rear valance and the near side lower windscreen corner. In my opinion both the front wings need to be replaced but the car is super presentable and this could easily be tackled over the winter after you have enjoyed a whole summer of use. The chrome is generally pretty presentable although there is some rust present in some of the sections.
This car is certainly one for the drivers, the power to wait ratio makes it feel nimble and more representative of a hot hatches whilst retaining all the presence and style of an E28. It is an excellent balance of drivability and practicality giving a similar performance to some of the larger six cylinder engines whilst still retaining m20 based running costs. It’s certainly been well locked after with regular servicing despite the low milage covered and tastefully upgraded it has been used and enjoyed by its current owner to attend shows and ferry round his family during the summer months and has been faultlessly reliable. After ten years of ownership the current owner had the chance to buy something he had always wanted which means this cool little E28 is now up for grabs. We have just given the car an oil and filter change as well as a small service. The car has recently had all its fluids changed anyway and a timing belt was done fairly recently also. It will be sold with 12 months MOT and I would be very happy to discuss doing any of the work which I have mentioned with potential new owners.
In conclusion this is a very presentable car with some very cool options. It has great history from the last 10 years of ownership and has been very well maintained by an enthusiastic owner. It is mechanically excellent and drives on point with a strong engine and smooth transmission. A new owner may decide to make cosmetic improvements but this is a very solid car and most importantly it is a lot of fun.
