Description:

Rare Manual Transmission 535i with tasteful modifications and all maintenance up to date. Excellent driver quality car in great mechanical condition.

Full disclosure: I purchased this car on Cars & Bids in June 2022. I had a Porsche on order and needed something fun and interesting to hold me over with the intention of selling it once my car came in. However, my family loved it so much that we held on to it. My wife especially loves to drive it. Car is fast and smooth and is fun to carve corners with. The manual transmission is buttery smooth and really makes this car. However, where it shines is in eating highway miles. We have taken it on numerous road trips and it is comfortable, reliable, and quiet. AC blows ice cold, heater and heated seats all work perfectly.

As with buying anything sight unseen on an auction site, you take some risks. However, I really lucked out with this one. Zero oil leaks or consumption, pretty much everything works as it should (exceptions below). The main thing I changed on this was the quad exhaust which was too boomy with the cat-free down pipe. I swapped in 200 cel catted downpipe and installed the OEM cat-back exhaust. However, the quad exhaust comes with it in case you want to swap back. Why am I selling this rare beast? I would keep it, BUT I have too many cars and have two other family haulers so sadly this one is redundant.

Recent maintenance:

Spark plugs, valve cover gasket, oil filter housing gasket, auxiliary belt, idler pulleys, and belt tensioner were replaced in 2022. New Pirelli tires in June 2021, new battery in November 2018. I brought it to my indi BMW mechanic and he found nothing wrong with it. I swapped out the exhaust myself and was pleasantly surprised how clean and dry it was, no oil or other leaks. Car has 137k miles but you wouldn't know it driving it or crawling under it.

Stock Features:
· Premium Package (Comfort Access keyless entry system, power tailgate, Park Distance Control, universal garage door opener)
· Cold Weather package (front and rear heated seats, heated steering wheel, retractable headlight washers)
· Technology Package (navigation system, rear-view camera)
· Adaptive xenon headlamps
· Power sunroof
· Dakota leather upholstery
· Ash grain wood trim
· Rear sunshades
· Power-adjustable front seats with memory functions
· Split-folding rear seats

The car has the following mods:

19-inch BMW Style 351 wheels
M5-style front bumper, rear bumper, and side skirts
MHD Stage 2 ECU tuning software
VR Speed Factory front-mount Race Intercooler
VR Speed Factory charge pipe
Becker Performance exhaust system
200 cel cat downpipe
Faux carbon fiber trunk lid spoiler
Faux carbon fiber rear exhaust surround insert

Now for the defects:

· Driver’s side easy access does not work (all other three doors do)
· There are some rock chips and paint defects. These could probably all be corrected
· The heated steering does not work
· There is a small dent on the driver’s side roof that may be repairable with paint free dent repair
· The wheels have some curbing and rash and I would have them refinished if keeping it
· Driver’s side door switch area has “sticky” plastics. I have a new, aftermarket panel but have yet to install it.
· Only one key

That’s it. Car is solid with no creaks, rattles oil leaks, or rust. Brakes are good. Car tracks straight. I would drive this car anywhere with confidence. Clean, accident-free title in hand. PPI welcomed.

Original auction where I bought it. I paid $1,500 to transport it to NC and the usual auction fees.

https://carsandbids.com/auctions/r4VeB22p/2012-bmw-535i

$13,000 OBO