Help: Touring problems that need fixing

[flipwils]

I have a bunch of odds and ends that I need to take care of on my Touring and I need some assistance/advice. The car is a 1992 525i Touring that has been converted to a 535i Touring (manual trans, 3.5 liter with Alpina cam, limited slip rear end).

1) I put in the Hella smoked euro ellipsoids with a HID kit and they work great. I purchased standard H1 bulbs for the highbeams, but what am I missing here? I purchased all the OEM euro ellipsoid rear light caps, wires, etc but I can't figure out how to wire the H1 bulb in. It has one spade connector on the back, but the BMW cap that mounts to the back of the light assembly (and over the back of the bulb) has two wires. These are definitely H1 bulbs but shouldn't a normal bulb have two terminals on the back, one for the hot wire and one for the ground?

2) Passenger front door lock doesn't work (motor/actuator is bad). How difficult is this to replace?

3) Rear hatch buttons (glass and tail gate) stopped working shortly after I got the car. I'm told there is a switch that needs replacing that will bring life back to these items. Can someone tell me what it is (BMW part # would help) and how difficult it is to replace?

4) Possibly related to #3. The rear wiper works, but doesn't always return to the resting position below the windshield. Sometimes it just stops, pointing straight up on the back window.

5) Sunroof doesn't work (no surprise on an e34 Touring, right?). How hard is this to troubleshoot? One panel will move up like it wants to start going, but that's as far as it goes.

6) Fan speed #1 on the rotory control knob on the dash doesn't work. Only speeds 2-4.

7) I've noticed that I'm getting some water in the back behind the storage compartments in the rear of the wagon. I had a paper towel roll in there for oil checks and stuff and when I went to get it one day after a hard rain, the entire paper towel roll was soaked. I couldn't see the immediate source of the water.


I think that's about it. Sorry for all the questions. Here are a couple of pictures of the car.

http://e12m535i.com/E34_Touring/images/converted/DSC02425_smaller.JPG
http://e12m535i.com/E34_Touring/images/converted/DSC02427_smaller.JPG

[leicesterboy15]

I have a touring as well and have seen this on aonther site, it may help with the tailgate problems if thats what the issue is:

http://www.bmwe34.net/e34main/maintenance/E34Touring/Harness.htm

As for the others I don't know, sorry! I can't think where the water would come from, maybe the rear lights have been removed and not re-seated properely? Other than that I would check the seals around the rear window, there are a lot of seals and moving bits around there and they don't look like the most robust things in the world. I had a slight leak dripping on the middle of the boot floor when it rained heavily. When I checked the seal around the window from the inside I saw it had split and folded inwards, I have repaired it and all is ok now.

[Ross]

As for the water in back, have a look at the the wiring harness, which is likely the root of your other troubles, where it bends by the hinge for the hatch. If it's out of place it can prevent the weatherstrip from sealing.
If not there the sunroof is the next most likely culprit.

[attack eagle]

IIRC one wire goes on the bulb's spade terminal and the other goes on the metal that it is seated against.

[Elekta]

you might need pigtails to adapt from US to Euro lights. Check www.euromcars.com to see if they have any.

sunroof: press and hold button in center for 15 seconds and get it to reset. Then clean out the four drain lines to stop the leaks. The front two are metal and clean with old wire cable or weed wacker trim line. The rears are rubber and have to be really careful cleaning them not to damage them. Do you have the rubber inserts in your roof rails? That's the first line of defense for leaks. Once you get it open, it has to be lubricated.

rear hatch: check wiring harness for breaks first, before changing out switches. solder breaks and use heat shrink wrap as they are constantly being hit by the glass hatch hinges. chances are good that the wiper issue is harness related too.

fan speed is a sword/lkm issue check archives