The 528e was sneered at by beemerphiles when it first came out. But later 5-series cars were quite similar and not sneered at so much.

The 1987 with 120k miles sounds like a good deal, but do you really want to buy a 15 year old car? Rubber parts deterioriate...

Check [link|http://www.kbb.com|Kelley Blue Book] for a rough idea of whether they're overpriced. [link|http://www.hemmings.com|Hemmings Motor News] is also a good place to check prices.

If you're really interested in a BMW, you might want to check out the [link|http://www.bmwcca.org|BMWCCA] site. In the classifieds in their Roundel magazine they list a lot of hot cars, but a few < $4000 as well, e.g.

1987 325isa VIN WBAAA2307H3110074 White/tan, 133k, major service including timing belt and water pump. Tires 75% tread. New alternator, battery, muffler, tie rods, and shock mounts. Excellent condition! $3,900. Louie: 401 474-2543. (RI)

1987 528e VIN WBADK8307H9708496 Luxor beige/black leather, one owner, 196k
miles, original owner, over maintained and garaged, sunroof, a/c, loaded.
$3,400. 310 370-8751; kollios@earthlink.net. (CA)


Of course, those aren't close to you...

A neighbor up the street has a 635CSi and a 535i. They're nice cars, but I know nothing about their reliability and maintenance issues.

Good luck!

Cheers,
Scott.