Actually, my wife is. 1998 XC, 140,000 miles reasonable cosmetic condition, but ..... needs a steering rack. Owner wants $2,000, says his mechanic will do the rack job for $700.

From some research, it looks like a $250-300 outlay for parts, and 3 - 5 hours of a mechanics time to fix. Is that a reasonable estimate? Also, any other must do/should do replacements that go with a rack replacements?

I'd also appreciate any comments on this model for known bugs, good points, bad points? The missus is driving a 1990 745 GLE right now, nice car.

On one hand, buying for $2,000 leaves a lot of room for spending on fixes - best guess on street value without major issues is about $4,000 to $4,500. On the other hand, I feel really comfortable rooting around in a B230 powered brick, and not at all comfortable in an engine that sits sideways.