New to the Board and New BMW Owner

[Venus4NU]

I have been lerking around for a couple days now and decided it was time to introduce myself.

The week before Christmas I got an early present from my husband. A 1990 535i. Granted it is high on miles but in beautiful condition. It is Red with perfect tan interior. I am the third owner of the car. Both of the previous owners kept great record of all the maintenance. I have a two inch thick folder with every oil change and repair the car has ever had.

Took it into the shop yesterday to have a full check up on her. Mechanic said the water pump sounded really bad so I had that replaced and the valve cover gasket replaced (total $414). He gave me a small list of other things needing done: RT low beam headlight is cracked (found one on eBay), Needs a new valve cover vent hose, rt rear marker light blown out, one fog light cracked and needs new wiper blades. Within a year it will need the CV boots replaced and oil pan gasket replaced. Other than those he said it is in excellent condition and has obviously been well taken care of. None of these repairs sound to terrible and out of the ordinary.

I hope the car last me a long time (until I can afford a newer one).

My favorite feature: Heated seats.

[Chris'91'525i]

Welcome to the club Venus4NU !

Sounds like you got a winner of a car with it's service history and keep up maintenance. Very good ! Keep it up.....
I bought my first Bimmer last year, and I was amazed at the quality of this car with 150K. Such a tight car overall, it's still hard to close the door if a windows not cracked.
A lesser car with that mileage is nearing the scrap heap...

Enjoy your new ride and have a great new year !!

[632 Regal]

with a set of wrenches and a bently manual that small repair would have cost ~100.00

Congrats on your new baby, keep her warm and it will last you a very long time.

[Venus4NU]

We wondered if we could have accomplished it ourselves but didn't have full confidence. My husband was going to do the oil pan gasket himself. They want $400 to repair it. We thought no way we can do this ourselves! Than I did a search on this board and got cold feet. Think we will take that one in also. The headlight they want $258 for but I found one on ebay for $24. We will that one ourselves.

[Fahad]

congrats

if your are going to use it as a daily driver make sure the fuel pump and filter are new.
if the battery not changed for 3 years or so.. i think you better change it aswell.
im guessing you have an auto transmmision?

[Venus4NU]

No, it is a five speed. The clutch and battery were replaced within the last three months.

I will need to check the service records on the fuel system. Not sure if the filter or pump has been replaced or not. Thanks for the heads up.

[John in CT]

check the link below here for how too. For the side marker light you need the dealer bulb, or try BMA mail order parts, excellent service. The autoparts stores have a side marker bulb which fits but is too powerful, it melts the housing.

http://www.bmaparts.com/

http://www.bmwe34.net/e34main/maintenance/electrical/Headlamp.htm

Welcome to E34 land,

John
1995 525i 5 speed

[Kalevera]

IF you have someone else do the pan gasket, be sure that they use the paper gasket and not the (original) cork one.

$400 is on the high side for the job, but not totally out of reason as it usually takes 3.5 hours.

What kind of mileage does the car have? With care, the 535/5 is virtually indestructable.

[Venus4NU]

The car has 180,000 miles on it. It drives like a new car. Far better than teenage daughters KIA with only 75,000 miles and our 17 year old sons Taurus with 45,000. My husband drives a Jag XJ6 and thinks the BMW drives a bit nicer for a daily driver.

The mechanic said he believes the 535i is the best car BMW has made (maybe he says that to all his customers) and says the engine is indestructable with proper maintenace. I hope he is correct. He went over the car with a fine tooth comb and documented EVERY little thing he could see. He even mentioned the wiper blades, however, it is raining today and I used them and they are just fine. The only major things were the water pump and oil pan gasket. I was really hoping we could do the oil gasket.

[BillionPa]

the mechanic may very well be right about it being the best car BMW ever made, although i would think he meant all the E34s, and the M30 engine is indeed a tank. as for chattering wiper blades, that only happens when there is light misting, rather than rain.

rain-x is the greatest invention of all time.

[mattyb]

welcome, its seems u have found something very special. all the best and the sooner u start doing stuff yourself with the help of the board the better. dont let the badge scare you away from trying to do the opil pan gasket. if you want to keep this car along time and enjoy it you need to learn how it goes together and comes apart. its all been done before somewhere here and ussually with pics and the story available by searching