Another new Bimmer owner intro thread...

[madjeff]

After lurking the past few weeks learning everything I could pre-purchase, I just wanted to make my official 1st post from a brand-new BMW owner. I finally pulled the trigger yesterday on a '92 e525i and am ready to join in the fray!

She's a little high on the miles (172k) but is one of the cleanest '92 vehicles I've ever laid eyes on. Interior is black leather and it is almost flawless, no rips/tears/wearspots at all. Exterior is straight as a pin, and the paint is in excellent shape except for the hood, which needs a good buffing to remove some hard-water spots. I will be the 3rd owner, with the previous owners had it for 6 years, and the original california retired couple had it since new. I have all maint. logs and it looks as if both owners maintained it religiously.

Here's some pics, I have not done any detailing or cleaning yet, these are immediately post-handoff:

http://www.madjeff.com/images/jessicaside1.jpg

http://www.madjeff.com/images/jessicafront1.jpg

http://www.madjeff.com/images/jessicaback1.jpg

I look forward to learning a lot from the regulars about my new toy. While not new to the car bug (I used to restore/show 60's era musclecars until marriage/kids got in the way...) I am new to the whole European car thing, so I'm starting over a little.

Edit: Geez, It's a 525i, not a 535i. It's bad enough I mistyped it in the post, but i did it on my profile as well. It's been a long week... =)

[SC David]

Looking good! I love that color. You better be prepared to face the modding bug now, as everyone on this forum seems to do one thing or another, or one thing and another to their cars. The spending has just begun!

[Ross]

Have you named your car Jessica?
Congrats, looks like a good one. Documented maint. is the key when buying, good job.
Since you've been hanging around you know all the E34 foibles and shouldn't have any surprises. If you do someone here will likely have an answer.
You're going to miss the torque of those muscle cars but "Jessica" will have charms of her own.
Looks like a good score. What did you have to pay??

[Dr. evil]

very nice

Needs some cross drill/slotted rotors

[angrypancake]

lookin great! welcome to the boards. so uhh.... when are you gonna lower it?! :p

is it 5 speed? if it is i hate you :)

[brosher]

Very nice car and welcome.

[Zeuk in Oz]

Welcome.

Love the colour, by the way....;)

[takumidrift30]

Looks well kept, nice one bro welcome! I like the color. For me wish me luck guys, in a few hours I'll be looking into this 1989 535i hope I could close the deal and bring her home tonight.

[Qube]

Nice wheels! Springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs springs... oh, and welcome!

[Evan]

Welcome... and nice car!

[Alexlind123]

I like the wheels, they are the perfect type to show off your brakes (get a big brake kit :)). At 172k, she's still a teenager!

[horseheadnebula]

Looks great. How much did you snag her for, if you don't mind me asking?

[genphreak]

Sharp as a tack. I agree re the logs, if you can see continued, professional maintenance that is the main thing.

First thing to do once you've bought an e34- no matter what is;

Check that the coolant is OE BMW 'cool blue' as you Americans call it. If it is green, red pink or purple, the Previous Owners have diddled you, or they were diddled by their mechanic. It is very incorrect and must be changed immediately or you will face problems with all sorts of things in the cooling system, any one of which will be costly and difficult.

Then is all the less urgent things and basic checks:

Change fuel filter (dep. on when it was last done) and check cam belt date , if you have a cam belt not a timing chain (later 525s).

Change all fluids;

ZF trannies tend to go best on Castrol Transmaz Z (the GM tranny may be different should you have one). You need 3.0 litres, a pan gasket, filter and filtre o-ring (comes with the filter).

Power steering can be flushed with new, of course check the pads and rotors, they are cheap. it MAY make your steering box last better... mine uses ATF (same as the tranny) so I used TransmaxZ there too and it then felt slightly better :). Beware some use CHF 7.1- these are marked (in yellow) on the cap. Others are red (I think). In aus we only have red ones so they leave the idiot stickers off. Hint: Change the fluid resovoir too, they are only $12 and include a filter inside.

Brake fluid needs to be DOT4, changed once a year.

Diff oil is synthetic only, 1.7 litres of BMW SAF-XO or for LSD it is SAF-XLS.

Engine oil is as per the manual, whatever is best for your ambient and seasonal conditions. Only use OE filters, they come with extras that you need.

After that; Pay attention to your cooling system. At this age the thermostat, fan clutch, thermo fan (its resistor and radaiator mounted thermstatic switch), ECU temperature sensor, water pump, radiator, overflow resovoir and of course the pipes are all worn... (unless changed before), and all are vital: One failiure can do more than leave you on the side of the road at the wrong time and the wrong place, it can also lead to sufficient overheating or gradual heat spiking which might upset your (now old and stressed) head gasket. This is a costly, painful and a job that provides no imporvement in perfromance).

After that O2 sensor and intake leaks. Check AFM/MAF and ICV operation, especially if the engine doesn't 'feel right', idle, accelerating, crusing, ecomony, smelly, all these are tell-tale indicators. Charcoal canister, air filter, micro filter (PITA to do but well worth it if you it has one). Check wiring loom in boot for damage from fraying under the parcel shelf. Install sufficient padding/insulation to prevent damage form rubbing. Have a (trustworthy) mate lock you inside and see where it rubs if you don't beleive me :) Thsi cause problems on all e34s!

Check AC is strong, if not decent service centre to change drier/replace refirdgerant before it runs out and seizes up.

Boot struts, Bonnet struts (easy to replace and cheap).

Hmm what have i missed people? Suspension... it'll tell you if there is a problem...

Pay heed to all these things and you will have trouble free driving in the roads ultimate driving machine- definately one of the very best of them too. Congratulations on joining the fold :)

[madjeff]

Wow genphreak, that's quite a post! :D I drove the girl over to the Oregon coast this weekend to get a feel for things and plan to change all the fluids tomorrow, thanks for the heads-up! She was purring like a kitten, but I did notice some front-end noise while going over bumps, going to get under and see what's loose.

And for everyone asking, I paid $4500, a little higher than I wanted too but it was soo damn clean inside and out. Between that and my wife pushing me to get a car purchased so she could have hers back, I had to make a decision. :p

And yes, it's going to get lowered, although not too much. What's a good spring kit for these e34's that will drop an inch or so but still give a good ride?

[madjeff]

I got a chance to do my first maint, changed the oil over to Mobil-1 synthetic. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to change the oil on this car, that top-mounted oil filter makes things really easy! :)

I checked all the fluids and everything looked good, but was a little dismayed to find the coolant was green and not blue. From genphreak's post I take it if it's not blue, it's bad? Coolant level was good and they had just replaced the coolant sensor at a supposedly reputable indy BMW shop prior to me picking up the car, so I don't know if they've been running it long-term or not. Should I drain the coolant and replace ASAP?

I spent the evening cleaning/restoring all the black trim, door handles, etc. Man, what a difference a good detailing does! The car looks newer already. ;)

Next up tonight, a good wax and figure out where the front suspension noise is coming from.

One other question. The rear view mirror came off the window prior to me picking it up the other day. I went down to pick up some mirror adhesive to reattach, but notice the button the mirror hangs on has a hardened black adhesive that I can't seem to get off the button. Does BMW use something special, and is there any way to clean off the old stuff before reapplying the new adhesive? I notice the mirror snaps to the button instead of sliding on like most vehicles I've had to reattach, and I'm concerned this aftermarket adhesive won't be able to take the twisting motion it needs to reattach the BMW mirror. Any insight would be appreciated... :D

[Thayne]

Nice car! Welcome to the board.

[632 Regal]

The green isn't going to kill anything fast, it's when it hasn't been changed that it turns into an acid where cool blue takes longer but should still be religeously changed.

The noise might be a challange to find. If you have ramps start by pushing the sway bar links up and down with your hand on the joint ends, If that tight well... um... could be lots of things lol.

Either Eibach or H&R springs are adequite, too much information on this subject, look in the suspension forum here.

no clue on the mirror button.

Welcome aboard and congratulations.

[Fetch]

I'm concerned this aftermarket adhesive won't be able to take the twisting motion it needs to reattach the BMW mirror. Any insight would be appreciated... :D

I had the exact same fear when I accidentally knocked my mirror off (don't ask), but the aftermarket stuff holds very stong!!

[Fetch]

The green isn't going to kill anything fast, it's when it hasn't been changed that it turns into an acid where cool blue takes longer but should still be religeously changed.

Don't mean to 'hijack', but:
What can get damaged, and how soon?

(My M60 has very clean looking green coolant, I plan to change it in 1 month)

[madjeff]

The green isn't going to kill anything fast, it's when it hasn't been changed that it turns into an acid where cool blue takes longer but should still be religeously changed.

That's good to know. Since they just flushed and filled it, I'll let it ride this winter and change it next spring.

[madjeff]

I had the exact same fear when I accidentally knocked my mirror off (don't ask), but the aftermarket stuff holds very stong!!

That's good news, I'll reattach the mount tonight and let it cure all night before trying to reattach the mirror.