Hello, My name is Ben and...

[oharab]

..if I'm not careful I could become a bimmerholic.
All I wanted was a car to get to work and back when I needed to go places the bus wouldn't, but now I've found there's a community and 'scene' to go with it! This could be dangerous!
I've just bought (like a week ago!) a 1990 BMW 525i SE in Gold for the grand total of GBP800, christened by my 'friends' and now known forever as 'The Pimpmobile'. I'm really happy with it. I love the noise of the engine, I love the smoothness and control, the feeling of power and quality.
It's a little worn inside (done 170k miles, so to be expected), but the outside is really good for a 15 year old car, a few small dents here and there, lacquer peeling around the bumpers in a couple of places, but not a spot of rust or stone chip damage.
Problem is, I was blinded by the logo and now I'm starting to worry that I've bought a citrus flavoured fruit! Could I throw myself at the mercy of the forum and ask a few questions? I'll apologise now for writing so much, feel free to answer in installments!
There is a slight drift to the right whilst driving. Nothing major, I'm not struggling for control, but when I'm struggling for a cd in the glove box it's annoying to find yourself on the wrong side of the road ;) What should I look at? Is it a common problem? I've seen a couple of threads mention it, but they all drifted to the left. Is it becuase they drove on the wrong side of the road :D
When I lock it, the car locks then unlocks itself. If I then lock it again, it stays locked. The same happens when I unlock the car. Is this a feature? If so, what's it doing? If not, what's it doing? It's a small thing, but as you go on, you'll see it's the small things that matter to me!
When I test drove it, I noticed a very slight ticking from the engine. It seemed to be coming from the middle of the engine block, but I'm not experienced enough to have looked for anything specific. Nothing I've not heard before in a car, but not what I expected in a bmw, but it wasn't bad and I wanted the car. Now I'm worried it's getting a little louder. This may be paranoia setting in as I'm currently 600 miles across france with probably another 1000 miles to go before I get home, but I'm scared! How do I know it's nothing major? Is there button that shows a "relax, this is a normal sound" message?
There is also another noise, a kind of ticky, graty(sp?), rumbly noise that stops when I dip the clutch. I'm not sure if this is the same noise I hear when I'm listening to the engine as I can't be in the engine and press the clutch at the same time, I'm hoping it is! I think! This isn't going to be an expensive fix it it?
I have no owners manual, so I'm not sure how the heating's supposed to work, but I'm sure it's not like this. With both temperature things set to cold (why 2? What do they do? Can someone give me instructions on keeping warm or cool in my car please) or both to hot or one each way or whatever, the same thing happend. Air blowing out of the middle bank of blowers, ie to the face, is always cold air. Air blowing to the screen and to the feet is always red hot. Sometimes I like my feet to be cool too, that's not too much to ask is it?
The passenger door does not unlock with the key. It's fine with central locking, but with a key, I'm scared of breaking something, possibly a blood vessel. On the subject of locks, the boot doesn't seem to lock or unlock with central locking. It locks and unlocks fine with the key, I can hear some sort of whirring noise when I use the key, but not when I centrally lock. The fuel cap doesn't lock either, but that's probably due to the mass of corrosion round the locking pin!
I've mentioned about not having an owner's manual, where might I get one from? To remind you (I know it's a long way since the beginning of this post, I've had to look outside to check!) it's a 1990 525i SE, UK spec. Whilst I'm at it, there is no jack. Is this available anywhere (I know I can keep the bottle jack I'm using atm, but I'm anal!). Talking of anal, what about the rest of the toolkit? Is this available anywhere? I've found some stuff on bavauto, but I don't know what I should have in the first place! What about the triangle thingy. It hurt me deep inside to buy one in a plastic case to sit at the bottom of the boot when there's a perfectly nice place for it in the boot lid.
Finally, what else should I know? What should I be looking/listening for to keep the Pimpmobile in the best of health? What should I be doing when? I keep hearing scary things about head gaskets and belts and things. What have I got into here? Good job I'm drunk right now, else I'd be sick with worry now I've written it all down in one place!
I'm guessing that some of the minor problems I have documented are going to require spare parts. Can anyone recommend a UK, Yorkshire would be spiffing, source for BMW parts?
I'm not bad at this DIY stuff. I can follow a recipie as well as the next man, it's diagnosis I have trouble with. Give me a database any day! I understand how they work! (Goblins if you are interested) Cars are just odd creatures that don't follow normal rules! The help of the denziens of this fine portal into the darkness of engines is greatfully accepted. Talking of the darkness, what happens when I run out of service lights? Is it a simple job to reset/turn off/ignore them after I've serviced it? Surely BMW don't expect to see this car ever again!

I'll try and attach a picture to this if possible, but in the mean time, a quick poll...

Have I purchased a lemon?

[uscharalph]

I had the same problem with the trunk lock. Solving this problem also solved the problem with central locking (Locking, popping back up and locking - stay locked). If you go to the trunk hinge, you'll see a bunch of wires attached to the arm (Left Side). I'll bet one or more wires have been cut / broken. Repairing these wires fixed my problems. Welcome to the forum.

[infinity5]

LOL. Its called dual climate control, the two temp dials. the passagnder and driver can change the temp of their respective vents :) its pretty common on newer cars now-a-days.

As for the weird temps, there shuld be a rotary wheel in between the center vents, it spins from red to blue, blue being for hot and red being for cold. hopfully thats the problem.

if you search hard you can find links to online-versions of the owners manual you could check out.

the ticking is probably the valves- they must be periodically adjusted. not an issue.

[infinity5]

oh, and the lock problem is pretty common. I forget if it's the wires that die or the locks themselves, but its not a huge huge issue, although repalcing the locking mechanisms would be a hassle I imagine.

the clutch noise might be related to the driveshaft/center bearing. these cars are like 80% rubber, and after 15 years rubber tends to go south :)

have you visited brunos site? www.bmwe34.net (http://www.bmwe34.net)
sometimes what's-where can be confusing, but just look around.

[Kalevera]

I'll number them for you.

1) (the slight drift issue) First, check tire (sorry, sorry -- TYRE :D) pressure. Our cars are sensitive to such things, especially if the wheels/tires are custom. Beyond that, it's an alignment or strut/spring issue. Also, some "drift" is normal if you've got anything custom in terms of the ride (edit: suspension/tires); my car is incredibly sensitive to how much crown is in the road. Just something I live with and appreciate, but you should check said items before concluding that it's normal, especially since the car is a recent purchase.

2) (the locking issue) People on the board are working on this one...I think it's a microswitch issue in some cases, or even a faulty actuator. But the one thing to check is for frayed wires at the trunk lid harness (left side trunk arm). In short: in the network of actuators, if one "reports" a problem in the locking process, the system will reverse itself. A short in the bundle at the trunk lid is often the culprit.

3) The tick. Non-hydraulically adjusted valves do this. It could also be a dirty/worn injector.

4) ?

5) Two temperature "things": that's called climate control, each side can, in theory, have a different temp. Hot air with the system turned off is a dead heater valve (do a search, we talk about it a lot ;) ) EDIT: or possibly a bad control interface.

6) The owners manual issue. Someone's digitized it; do a forum search or it's probably on Shogun's site.

7) What else should you know? "pimpmobile" is a ridiculous name for what was designed to be (and usually is) a conservatively luxurious sports sedan. Think of a better name, perhaps? :D

Welcome!

best, whit

[oharab]

Damn, don't you guys ever sleep!
Don't recall seeing any dials between the centre vents. There's a big vent on the top of the dash, below that there are the 2 vents for each side, but no middle red or blue dial.
Looking at http://luuk.xs4all.nl/bmwboeken/bmwe34manual/pg30.jpg (goddess bless google!) it seems I have a fault with my electric heating system as it fails to all on! (not good now, but better during summer!)
You guys jumped in so quick you may have missed my edit. What do I do with these inspection light thingies? Can I ignore them or will it bing me to distraction until I do something about them?
The ticking of the valves wouldn't cause the noise to stop when I dip the clutch would it? Bugger, I guess I have 2 problems. Is it a cheap fix to adjust the valves? (money is an issue, it cost me GBP800 to buy the car and GBP500 to insure it!) Is it ok to ignore that for a while?
B.

[Kalevera]

Reset the lights with a heavy gauge wire. I always get the pins confused between remote start and inspection reset (11 & 14? 11 & 7...whatever), but Bruno's site or Don Gale's page (http://www.nmia.org/~dgnrg/page_2.htm) have info.

You can ignore the lights, but if the previous owner did the same, and the maintenance that should be done in conjuction with them (which is plausible, because, for some reason, people give up on their cars after 100k or a few years...this seems to be an especially pertinent issue with 3.8 M5s and Europeans), get ready to buy a lot of parts or pay someone else to buy and install them for you :(.


best, whit

[infinity5]

The inspection lights? Ignore them :) OR you can reset them manually with a few feet of wire and a little bit of instruction. I like to use and reset them so I don't have to keep track of when I change my oil, the car does it for me.

Search the forums for the correct procedure. You open the little round socket in the engine bay and touch a wire from pin 7 to the strut tower nut.. or another pin, 19 I think? the point is to ground it, either way. But don't take my word for it :)

Adjusting the valves is considered regular maintance, so I guess it wouldn't be expensive. Call the dealer and then start calling independents.

Lowell is probably right about the heat- there is a valve that controls when the climate system recieves hot coolant and when it fails it fails in the open position (by design), just incase you live in siberia and would die without the heat :) Here in the States it's a 100$ part, not a huge deal.

[infinity5]

Lowell beat me to it, but at least he gave you a link :)

As for general words of advice -

1. Replace every single heating/coolant system hose now, before they rot apart. At the same time, replace the water pump and thermostat. It's fun and you'll have piece of mind for another 60-100kmiles.

2. Now that you've got the car, preform a nice big maintaince. Spark plugs, air filter, fuel fitler, cabin air filter, oil change/filter. About the only way you can ruin these cars is by not taking car of them, just as lowell mentioned.

Go to www.realoem.com (http://www.realoem.com) and look up your car using the VIN#. It has every part possible, and nice pictures for showing you how it all goes together.

And he's right, pimpmobile is awful, i personally call my car sexybeast, its much more tasteful. :)

[632 Regal]

dont forget the belts and also look up "maintenance" as replacing every concievable fluid on a manual trans car is also concidered maintenance.

[DanDombrowski]

Wait a second, you said it drifts to the right, and then you end up on the other side of the road?

YOU'RE DRIVING ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD!!!!!!

Sorry, it was cheezy, but I had fun :)

[mikell]

You have picked the wrong audience for your poll - this is a hotbed of irredeemable fanatics - they'd insult their mothers before dissing their BMW's. You have also picked the right audience for your questions - this bunch knows more about these wonderful cars than you can imagine, and most of it is reliable - the jokes are usually good, too. Welcome to the board.

[Gayle]

You were referred to brunos site. www.bmwe34.net Under troubleshooting, look at "what will break". BMWs are very complicated cars with very strong engines. The engine will go forever and everything around it will misbehave. There is lots of stuff to go wrong. Once you realize that lots of stuff will break and that it happens to all of them, you can relax. You don't have a lemon, you have a BMW.

I see in you the obsessive compulsive disorder that binds us all. It becomes a hobby to figure out what is cause the cars current deviation from peak performance and to figure out how to fix it without going broke. There is lots of help here. Welcome and enjoy.

[Zeuk in Oz]

Talking of anal, what about the rest of the toolkit? Is this available anywhere? I've found some stuff on bavauto, but I don't know what I should have in the first place! What about the triangle thingy. It hurt me deep inside to buy one in a plastic case to sit at the bottom of the boot when there's a perfectly nice place for it in the boot lid.

Relax and welcome Ben. The above quote proves that you are "obsessive / compulsive" enough to own a Bimmer, as Gayle said in the reply above !
The only thing that concerns me is that you did not perhaps wax lyrical enough about how your car drives and handles. If this hasn't hit you yet, either go and drive a ricer for 5 minutes or get the nerve endings in the seat of your pants replaced !
Please, please, please find another name for it though (and enjoy).
Jeff is right though, maintenance on a bimmer means constantly replacing most things - all oils & coolant, belt, hoses, suspension components and so on regularly. Just tackle one thing at a time.
If some things are beyond you, find an independent BMW specialist to do it for you or ask here for advice - these folk know their onions !!!!! :)

[shogun]

almost all was said, there are plenty of websites available. Check out my one below too. That is mainly for the E32, but as the E32 and the E34 have a lot in common and many parts are interchangeable, it will help you a lot. Basically it includes all major repair links for these models and online wiring diagrams, electric trouble shooting manual etc.
In case you need help in the U.K. for spare parts and other hints, contact the chaps here on the 7 series register, there are some good experts as well
http://the7seriesregister.co.uk/Main.html

They also know of some good sources for used parts in the U.K.
Here is the BMW online vendor list. It is sometimes cheaper if you buy from the US instead of your local dealer, we from Australia, NZ and Japan know the differences.
http://home.earthlink.net/~hainesinutah/bmwvendors/

[632 Regal]

looks to me like we see most of these problems all the time so nothing is scaring us...got your answer Ben

[1995 525i]

looks to me like we see most of these problems all the time so nothing is scaring us...got your answer Ben

Welcome to the land of the BMW. I bought my car almost 2 years ago and have invested $3000 in it so far and I have much, much more to do. THis car handles unlike any I have driven and even the though it is a V6 it moves quickly and with authority. These cars are engineered better than most and it stops becoming transportation and starts becoming a hobby/obsession. I still get a kick out of the fact that people look at my car and think I must have spent $20,000 (which I sure I will by the time it is all said and done) buying it. They don't believe it's 10 years old (well until they look at my armrests). Welcome to this fanatical club of the E34

[Omega]

Hi Ben

I also have a UK spec 1990 525 and can possibly answer some of your questions. As is sods law, BMW changed the spec in mid 1990 from the 12valve engine to 24valve (called the M50).

1> Rattle from the top. Is the engine an M50? The engine can be identified by looking at it. If the rocker cover (where the oil filler is) is black with BMW on it it's the M50. These are 24 valve engines and have hydraulic tapets (lifters) These can give a light rattle noise on startup but will stop if the engine is revved (once warm). It's caused by crud in the oil blocking the lifters. I get this rattle every 6-8k miles and just run an engine flush and change the oil/filter. Try changing to a lower viscosity oil, some of the guys here run 0w40, I use something like 5w40.

My stealer quoted £20 per lifter and they wouldn't try and find the faulty one they wanted to replace them ALL :( Do the maths, five-hundred notes before they'd lifted the bonnet (US: hood) hence the engine flush, hard rev and progressively louder stereo...

2> The heater controls. What fun they are.....
The two outer dials set the temperature for each side of the cabin, so you can be toasty and warm and the missus can sit and shiver, or vice-versa depending on the weather! The center dash top vent and the middle vents and the vents in the door are for fresh (cold) air only and are accessed by the middle of the three levers that direct the air flow above the heater controls.

The hot air is blown at the screen and door pillars from the dash and into the footwell. To shut off the hot air, torn the two outer dials to cold and put the top and bottom air-flow levers to the left. Open the middle lever to the right and open the center vents.

3> Inspection lights, short pin 7 to earth for 15seconds (ignotion on position 2, but not engine on)

4> The best manual is the Bentleys one, got mine direct via t'internet for £40 ish. Forget the Haynes manual it's complete toss. I also managed to aquire the full BMW dealer CD-ROMS from ebay which are very indepth and give all the part numbers.

5> As has been mentioned before, go to Bruno's site..

Where in the UK are you?

[uscharalph]

Jeez! I feel so stupid! I was wondering why my a/c suddenly wasn't as cold as it used to be. Even though my heater core is bypassed, I had the middle rotary wheel on RED, and the a/c just wasn't cutting it especially during the day. Thanks to this post I was reminded of the middle rotary wheel and I dialed it to BLUE. Voila! The a/c is back to normal.

[E34-520iSE]

Hi Ben! There's quite a few UK BMW owners on this forum. I'm up in Tyneside. My e34 is a bright red 1990 2 litre with the M20 engine. Your problems are just the "typical" ownership niggles. A bit of TLC and your car will thump around for a lot more years yet.

Good luck!

Shaun

[Kalevera]

Welcome to the land of the BMW. I bought my car almost 2 years ago and have invested $3000 in it so far and I have much, much more to do. THis car handles unlike any I have driven and even the though it is a V6 it moves quickly and with authority. These cars are engineered better than most and it stops becoming transportation and starts becoming a hobby/obsession. I still get a kick out of the fact that people look at my car and think I must have spent $20,000 (which I sure I will by the time it is all said and done) buying it. They don't believe it's 10 years old (well until they look at my armrests). Welcome to this fanatical club of the E34



V6?!??!?!

[infinity5]

LOL, i'm sure it was just a slip of the tongue :)

[Kalevera]

LOL, i'm sure it was just a slip of the tongue :)
Nah, I think they sold him the Elantra when he thought he was getting an E34.


Plus, if you're....OBSESSED with BMWs...you know that the company has never commercially produced a V style 6 cylinder automotive engine.

Kinda defenestrates any credibility, don't you think? I mean, I'd hate to see how the guy handles the details associated with being a vascular surgeon, or whatever his day job is :D


Sorry, I'm just being a jerk. Jeff isn't around, I had to fill the void. Ha ha.




best, whit

[Omega]

V6?!??!?!

Maybe it's a v8 with Nicasil issues with two cylinders?

[Interceptor]

Sorry, I'm just being a jerk. Jeff isn't around, I had to fill the void. Ha ha.
LMAO :)

[BobHarris]

Welcome Ben,
I too am from England (down south).
You should try GSF (German Swedish and French) for your BMW parts, they are pretty good. check out www.gsfcarparts.com to see if there is one near you.

HTH

All the best

Bob

[JonE]

"drift" under those circumstances might also be the column nut for the steering wheel, does it seem to have some "play" when going down the road? the "ticking" of the m20 engine may still be there even after valve adjustment, just don't adjust them too tight in hopes of ridding yourself of the tick. I just live with a bit of tick as do others. Switching to synthetic oil seemed to help a little bit.

[emw525E34]

For 800 quid, you could not have purchased a lemon. An "old bomb" maybe but not a lemon!. Fix up this car and it will give you years of great driving!.

[oharab]

Well I suppose I ought to give you all an update.
I'm back in Calais after travelling across most of Normandy & Brittany. About 2000 miles I reckon. Just come up from Carnac to Calais in 1 journey (apart from a stop for beer and wine of course).
The PM has been fantastic. I've been told I don't wax lyrical enough yet, but words fail me. It's been a smooth powerful journey, tripping up and down the A roads at 90mph without a murmer. Just been brilliant. And so comfortable too. The other half has slept for most of it so it must be comfortable.
I'm going to treat her to the tune up and service of her life when I get home. SHe deserves it! I'll keep you all up to date with what's happening, hell I may have to add some pages to my website for the bimmer!

Thanks for all the help so far, I'm sure I'll be in touch real soon!!

Ben

[BobHarris]

I'm going to treat her to the tune up and service of her life when I get home. SHe deserves it!

Which, the car or the Wife? :D

All the beat

Bob

[oharab]

The car! Despite all I've read, I still think that the car is the cheaper to service and look after!

[Marshy]

Welcome, BTW. I don't post much, but am another UK E34 owner. Only I've got a 540i which basically means I get bled dry at the pumps... Had a 525i for a time though - nice engine.

Second recommendation then for GSF car parts. I've just had springs and shocks from them for more than 50% less than the BMW stealer wanted (that was *with* a staff discount from BMW too...). So the springs are no-name specials and a *tad* lower than I was after, but the improvement (150k miles on the original stuff) is amazing. I can really dig into corners with confidence now and start to hassle the tyres properly :) Eeek, I'm waxing lyrical... :)

[dacoyote]

The car! Despite all I've read, I still think that the car is the cheaper to service and look after!

Amen to that brother....

-Charles

[Gayle]

Are you still calling it the pimpmobile?

[oharab]

Are you still calling it the pimpmobile?
I never christened it the Pimpmobile, it was my other half and her friends who christened it without seeing it! It's kinda just stuck now, so yes, I guess it will always be the Pimpmobile, with my biatch in the front and ho's in the back!! :D

B.

[dacoyote]

Are you still calling it the pimpmobile?

Some days I call mine the money pit... like when I make more then one car payment between trips in it...

-Charles