newbie first post

[timandbim]

hi everyone

please allow me to introduce my new girlfriend. she is an '89 525i automatic that i bought for very little last week from a young fellow who told me that "it makes a good second car." she lives in montreal, has a new motor (runs great), and needs some bodywork in the front quarters only.

no troubles, i love driving it - here's where i'm at...

-the haynes manual i found seems pretty vague, it covers 3's and 5's from '82 to '92. i figure there's a better book somewhere...

-the stereo was replaced at some point. i would guess the sensor display panel to its right was disconnected at the same time and probably still works (everything else does). i'm going to install the stereo from my old beast ('83 dodge b150 custom 4spd, what a machine she still is!) and i figure i might as well have a go at reconnecting the panel while i'm there... i guess i'm mostly afraid that i'll reconnect the security system by mistake.

-she is all-black with tinted rear windows and tan interior. she doesn't have a name.

anyways, thanks for being here everyone and especially nut ed for letting me slip through security. shout out to h2snow waaaay up in the great white north. HOW'S IT GOIN' EH?

[repenttokyo]

whereabouts in montreal?

[Ross]

Hello and welcome. The Bentley manual is the superior book, shop around they can be had for ~$40.
The display along side the radio is the on board computer(OBC), frequently the light behind the display is all that is wrong with them. Shine a flashlight at it at different angles you may find it's actually working. A search for OBC light ought to give you the info you seek.

[Macv]

Welcomes. Nice girlfriend you have there. Awfully expensive to upkeep, though what girl isn't. At least this one won't tell you you're bad in bed. ;)

+1 for the Bentley manual. The Haynes is extremely vague and won't help you for crap.

[632 Regal]

Welcome!

heres a couple links for you, first is the Bently: http://www.bimmer.info/bimmerbooks/

2nd is the real search link here: http://www.bimmernut.com/wwwboard/e34/si.html
might want to bookmark that

Heres my home page link here, book mark it, its better lol:http://www.bimmer.info/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=10&page=1&sort=lastpost&order=&pp=60&daysprune=-1

Enjoy!

[timandbim]

st henri ... yourself?

[timandbim]

nice! looks like i just need to change the bulb... although the thermometer crapped out at -37 celsius... only in montreal... thanks for the tip!

[timandbim]

...never really had that problem before anyway :)

[BMWCCA1]

Parts film is probably still incorrect on that bulb for the OBC. -37° may indicate your ambient-air-temperature sensor is unplugged at the front panel under the bumper. Or smashed from that needed bodywork you mentioned.

BTW, these are what the right bulbs look like. The wrong ones have a flat base.
http://www.bmwe34.net/E34main/Maintenance/Electrical/Data/OBCbulb6.jpg
(From: http://www.bmwe34.net/E34main/Maintenance/Electrical/panel_lights.htm)

[bones]

look really closely at your obc display while you press the buttons,could be the three 1.2 watt bulbs are simply burned out.another method is turn your ign to acc position and push the turn signal lever straight in and hold there until it displays program 1.then press the temp function on your obc,if the display in your cluster gives the temp reading than your obc is hooked up and you simply have a display issue.get a factory owners book to find out everything these cars are capable of,they are amazing cars for there age.att!!! read and understand how to unlock your car if the battery goes dead and have a spare key hidden in the event you get locked out.the door locks on these cars are bulletproof,locksmith proof,theft proof and owner proof without a key. bones

[timandbim]

Need tires...
Thanks all for the very helpful information... I think I ought to wait for my Bentley manual to arrive before I go tearing into the dash, although I'd really like to get the installed stereo out and put mine in and amazon estimates 4-6 weeks (if anyone knows a bookstore in Montreal I haven't ordered it yet) ... I wasn't sure what to take off to get at the centre panel to start with...
Anyway, I'm starting to see what I've been missing, this one feels like a new car... awesome!
I have to get tires... I have two sets of 15" rims on which there are 5 snow tires (2 almost new Nokian 94h, the rest are scrap) and 3 Dunlop Sport4000s that would be ok maybe for next summer (I don't drive much) if there were 4 of them. I think I will try to match the Nokians for winter and buy a new set for summer... any opinions on the Bridgestone G009? I do mostly short highway trips and I don't need a high-performance vehicle (and I don't have gobs of cash), but I don't want to totally short-change the car's capabilities either. There's a set of Goodyear Allegras on craigslist but I'm not too sure about those. Any opinions would be appreciated... thanks again!

[repenttokyo]

st henri ... yourself?

i'm in ndg.