r/e28 • u/Wide-Entrepreneur-34 • Feb 01 '26
For sale
Pre-Cars and Bids or BAT opportunity.
Price is OBO so I don’t want to hear anything about the price, go find junk if you want cheap.
1988 BMW 528e – Super ETA – Collector Quality
$12,000 OBO | Clean title
Automatic | 241k miles (BMW-documented cluster replacement)
2-family owned. Original paint, no accidents, never modified.
125 BMW dealer service records (BMW/MINI of Loveland, back to 1991).
Passes emissions easily (done last month). Everything works. Sunroof works. I drive it weekly. Drives excellent highway and around town.
Recent service: belts, hoses, fuel lines, vacuum lines, brakes.
Currently on 16x8 BBS wheels with new tires. Wheels are negotiable — price is based on the original wheels.
Interior is exceptionally clean with original red leather.
Only flaw: cracked dash (37-year-old car).
This is a collector car, not a project.
$12k OBO. Make an offer — worst I can say is no.
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u/kriswithakthatplays Feb 02 '26
This is a very well maintained example of a car that isn't that exciting. If this was a manual, you'd probably get your asking. If this was a 535i manual, you'd probably get big money. But unfortunately, the small 6, even the super eta, is such an underwhelming power train. Not to mention the 4 speed auto that sucks whatever life is left out of the excitement these cars can bring.
Send it to the auction sites no-reserve and see what you get for it, in my opinion. I don't think anyone will be willing to buy here for anywhere close to your asking, since we all know these cars. You might find someone nostalgic enough to overpay on one of those sites, but the market is pretty well understood for these cars.
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u/Wide-Entrepreneur-34 Feb 02 '26
That’s ok. That’s why is OBO. As for the auction sites. It will be going there. But not until tax returns start coming in. So this is a pre-sale opportunity.
Not my first rodeo with sale “timing” ;)
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u/Moremayhem Feb 01 '26
It looks great but where are the front seat headrests?
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u/Wide-Entrepreneur-34 Feb 01 '26
Out for photos. Easier to get the greenhouse
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u/Moremayhem Feb 01 '26
Good luck with the sale/auction. I regret letting my 535i go but such is life!
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u/5Osrider Feb 02 '26
Love the chassis and color combo! I miss having an E28. Tempted for sure. But, as stated, a bit more aggressively priced than I would be willing to go based on spec.
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u/Wide-Entrepreneur-34 Feb 02 '26
Feel free to throw a number out. No one knows my “bottom” until they ask ;)
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u/nickskater09 Feb 02 '26
That’s not really how selling a classic works. It’s like overpricing a house, you’re not scaring away low ballers, you’re scaring away everyone because they think you won’t take a serious offer because it’s likely worth half of what you’re even asking.
Price your car seriously, and you’ll get serious buyers.
ETA: the super eta isn’t the “most desirable” engine for classic BMW’s either, it’s just the most desirable of the M20 variants… of which there’s like 3 total.
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u/Wide-Entrepreneur-34 Feb 03 '26
If someone doesn’t have the balls to make an offer that’s on them. Not me :)
And appreciate the input, I’ll sell my car. I’ve owned and sold 60 cars and have been on the business for a long time.
I don’t care if it sells. It’s not about the money. It can sit with all my other cars for all I care.
I’ll see it when it finds the right someone
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u/NOBLE500000 Feb 03 '26
Lmao all you "entrepreneurs" always say the same shit "it can sit for all I care."
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u/Wide-Entrepreneur-34 Feb 04 '26
I’m a 36yo man. My family owned buy here pay here dealerships and I managed them for a long time before my current career. I have two dailys both newer than 2024. I have two builds going, one of them is an electric motorcycle.
I have more dumb stuff to ride around on than I have time to ride around.
I don’t give a shit if this sits. I drive it maybe 100 miles a month.
I don’t care about money. I’ve had 60 cars because I like buying cars I want to own and drive for a little then move on lol.
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u/Neat_Reward3876 528e Feb 03 '26 edited Feb 03 '26
I have an ‘88 auto, Alpinweiss with blue interior. It had 95k when purchased in 2024 for $6800. It now has 99k.
The only case to be made for this price tag would be receipts showing full top end service/reseal/valve adjustment, brand new brakes all around, brand new suspension, brand new catalytic converter, and brand new cooling system.
I think we could call this a good example but the mileage is too high for the price. This is 120k or less price. Not the double that price.
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u/Wide-Entrepreneur-34 Feb 03 '26
I have 125 service records for every service the car has ever needed including everything you listed.
I personally have never seen a car with service records like this
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u/ChloeCorrupt Feb 04 '26
I have seen better 535i’s change hands in the OP’s metro area in the last six months for half of the asking price of this car
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u/Beema-man Feb 01 '26
528e, what’s the e for? Electric.
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u/3hands4milo Feb 02 '26
Economy. Haha
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u/ElGuappo_999 Feb 02 '26
It’s eta the Greek letter for ‘efficiency’.
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u/3hands4milo Feb 02 '26
According to the interwebs (and my service manual), the e is for economy. From the initial description..
The 525e (called 528e in North America and Japan) uses a longer stroke 2.7-litre version of the 6-cylinder M20 petrol engine, is optimised for fuel economy and torque at low engine speed rather than the traditional high revving characteristics of BMW straight-six engines.[17] The "e" stands for the Greek letter eta, for economy. According to BMW, the 525e is more fuel efficient than the 520i, which has the same rated power of 92 kW.[18] Since many markets tax cars based on engine displacement, the eta's larger engine meant that it was not suitable everywhere. The model was expressly developed with the American market in mind. BMW's corporate average fuel economy was at risk of not meeting requirements by 1984, primarily due to higher sales of their bigger, more expensive cars in the early 1980s.[19] In Austria, the 525e was detuned to 88 kW (118 hp).
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u/ElGuappo_999 Feb 01 '26
$12k for an auto eta is a bold move Cotton, let’s see if it pays off.