This video has ONE goal. MAKE. IT. RUN. I know these "will it run?" type of videos have been pretty popular on the channel and what better questionable result could there be than an auction bought inoperative 13 year old BMW?
I'm just good at collecting basket cases I tell ya.
Somehow I landed this clean title 2010 BMW 535i X-drive Wagon with reasonable miles for a reasonable price and a "Mechanical" loss type at the auction.
I've already owned one of these cars for years so I'm very familiar with their multiple failure points and possible issues. I had NO idea how good or bad this car was, I just knew the risk was low as the price was cheap enough to still come out ahead if the car wasn't worth repairing by simply parting it out.
Digging into this car exposed so many incorrect repairs and bandaids that I'm almost afraid to tackle the less important things, but I will eventually.
Let it be known, I don't think these are good cars for everyone. They are great cars for people like me who like to turn wrenches and don't mind spending time and money fixing the things that fail as they will. I do like how they look and drive which is why I'd even be willing to put up with their "reliability" in the first place.
I do have grand plans for this car as an eventual replacement for my blue 535xi wagon. Of those plans, the big ones are converting this car to RWD and manual transmission, unlike any wagon sold in North America. It will certainly be a while before this car makes an appearance on the channel again. Hopefully by summer time I'll have the other project cars done and this one can get into the limelight. I just didn't want to pass up the chance for the cost even though the timing wasn't perfect.

I hope you enjoyed this midweek video. You can look for many more of these over the coming year!
As always I like all of the comments, feedback and criticism.
Catch you on the next one!
-Eric