new . Help on 735il

[ahmerkhan]

Hey .. I just got a 89 735il for 3000 dollers with only 90k miles on it. I paid 3k for it so im not going to complain but there are notable problems that are driving me crazy.

1) Fuel Guage.. The fuel gauge reads fin up untill half way or doesnt read fine at all. but after teh half way mark it moves up and down up and down. from end back up to half way . the light goes on comes off even if the needle is on quarter. caused me to starnded a couple of times. I thought it could be the guage. but the electronic gas mile readed doesnt read properly either. On a full tank it shows 450 plus and it keeps increasind and decresing drasticly. and never falls below hundred. miles.

2) stearing play. The stearing wheel seems to be a lil loose. what i mean by loose is that i can move it about 20 degrees to the right and it wont have n e effect on the tires. its after teh initial 20 degrees do the tires begin to turn. would an alignment solve this problem ?

thanks please n e help and experiecce would be appreciated.. Btw how much would all this cost. did i get a good deal ?

3) srs light flashing till it goes solid what does that mean ?

[shogun]

First of all some general info.
If you do not have an owners manual: can be downloaded from my website below. Same is with online wiring diagrams and repair instructions. Have a look at my website. It has links to all important E32 websites all over the worls.
1. fuel level: clean the sender unit
http://shrubbery.student.utwente.nl/johan/fuel_sender/fuel_sender.html
2. steering play:
go to my website and then to e34.net, there is an instruction, or on Johan's page
http://shrubbery.student.utwente.nl/johan/steering_box_adjustment/steering_box_adjustment.html
But there is another screw inside the cabin on the steering column. If it clunks when you drive over bumps and the steering has play, adjust this screw. The instrction is in German, but the pics explain it. For the text use translation program altavista.babelfish
http://www.7-forum.com/modelle/e32/lenksaeulenspiel/lenkung3.jpg
http://www.7-forum.com/modelle/e32/lenksaeulenspiel/
3. SRS light: that is a dealer only item. Must be reset with a special tool. You could buy one, but it costs about 120 $ and not worth to use it once in every few years. Go to the dealer and ask for a reset and a readout of the trouble. On that occassion I would recommend also to ask them for a readout on the diagnosis DIS to check for stored fault reports on the car. Then you have the details, after that they can reset/clear the faults. You can do that also DIY, when you buy a PEAKE tool. Very handy and useful and saves money and time to drive to the dealer.
http://www.peakeresearch.com

Also use the search engine on top of this page and search for online ETK. It is also shown when you enter the website bimmer.info
This is the online spare parts catalog. You can enter your VIN of your car and search for part numbers and prices. The drawings are very useful for DIY. If you click on them, the enlarge to explosion drawings and it helps a lot when you want to repair or disassemble somthing.

[Visions]

I know this is an old thread but I had 5" of play in my steering wheel... I tried adjusting the bolt on the steering colomn like Shogun has shown but what I found to be my problem was... The steering box itself needed to be tightened down... Start the car... Locate the steering box... Reach down and grab the linkage to the steering box and twist it... if the box moves it needs to be tightened... The top bolt that you can see is easy... You will need to get under the car to hold the nut cause it most likely will just spin if you try and tighten it from the top... The other bolt I personnally couldn't get to ... it was a little loose but once I tightened down the other bolt my steering was absolutely wonderful... You can also adjust how easy the wheel moves... I like mine a little stiff so I adjusted it by taking off the bolt in the middle of the steering box and then you use an allen wrench to do the adjusting... try a 1/4 turn at a time... Tighten the nut each time to try it or the adjustment may move as mine did... My steering was awful and now it's like new...