I need help with my E34

[BMLOVER]

Hi everyone I'm new here. I live in Canberra, Australia and recently bought a 1989 525i from Japan for which is immaculate! Only done 145,000 km.

I am a problem with my new car the computer is constantly going off with warning messages like "Catalyst", "Dip Beam", and "Owners Manual". Does anyone know how I can reset the computer? Or can anyone help me in working out what I need to do, I really like this car but it has really put a damper on buying it and the wife is say if I can't fix it get rid of it.

So please help.:(

[Paul in NZ]

The first thing you should do is make sure the battery is fully charged topped up with distilled water and the battery terminals are clean and tight.These cars are sensitive to low voltages.You could also try a computer reset which you can do while you are checking the battery.Someone more familiar with the procedure will post the details i am sure.

[mattyb]

welcome to the site. we would love to help u. " so please help?" dip beam is a check message i think, nothing to worry about. as for catalyst i dont know. what is the message immediatly before "owners manual'? do u have an owners manual ? tell ur missus to shut tha fk up and give u a chance! how much u pay for this ? many dollars? me thinki u need to tell us some more about car.

[SRR2]

One common cause of odd electrical behavior is a cracked fusible link. After a time they fail due to temperature cycling and vibration. Use the search here for more detail on it. On the upside, it's absolutely the cheapest thing to fix on your car, with the possible exception of replacing a missing valve stem cap on a wheel.

[Alexlind123]

You should find out what is wrong with the car before you make any decisions about sellling it, IMO. Im sure other members of the board can tell you what to check concerning those messeges better than myself, but chances are you dont have too big of a problem.

[BMLOVER]

Hi Guys

With my 525 the catalyst message comes up immediately when I start it followed shortly after with the owner's handbook warning. It has very poor performance in comparison to my 535 and seems to struggle matching the traffic around me. I think the catalyst warning may also be related to the poor acceleration. Does anyone else think their auto gearbox shift points are set to low in the RPM range?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

[Alexlind123]

There is a very high chance that your catalytic converter is dead. In fact, i would probably bet on it. Get a new cat at a muffler shop, or order one and install a test pipe in the meantime.