I just bought a 95 740iL - overheated - advice?

[Elenar]

Hi.

I just bought a 95 740iL. It has done 153000 miles. I drove from Essex to Liverpool, when I got there, the guy told me it had no record of previous services. I had to buy it, since I already drove there.

After only 30 miles, the power steering reservoir was empty. I don't know how full it was originally. I used an oild close to the viscosity of Auto transmission fluid tokeep it going. After 220 miles, I was back in London. It overheated 3 times in traffic. Luckily not into the red, but it got hot.

So, now, after 2 days I am worried. Did I buy a lemon? Could the incorrect p/s fluid have caused it or is it a cooling fan problem?

Also, the OBC Tv goes off after the engine has warmed up. The radio it controls as well as the other OBC functions still work via steering stalks and buttons. Is this problem related to the TV software or hardware and can I fix it?

The engine runs smoothly, which makes me think the Nikasil problem has been adressed.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. I love the car and it would be great if I could sort these things out...

[Teh Prof]

Try having the coolant overflow tank replaced, and it wouldn't be a bad idea to do a water pump, thermostat, and radiator hose replacement done too, with a full flush of the cooling system. If you do replace the water pump, make sure you get a metal impeller pump, and try to get the aluminum thermostat housing too.

[Elenar]

Thank you for the reply. Do you think the things you mentioned will cost a lot of money?

[nukeduster]

Its a 7 series.

[Teh Prof]

Originally Posted by Elenar

Thank you for the reply. Do you think the things you mentioned will cost a lot of money?

In terms of US$, I wouldn't expect to pay more than $500 to my local BMW guy for all of that. However, I don't know how it would be in the UK; when I lived there, I didn't have a car, being a poor grad student :-)