hello!new member in need of help!!!

[jeraldchrist]

Hello to all. I have been a member of another support group with much success and I am hoping that all you wonderful people can help this idiot out or i am never going to hear the end of it from my wife and father in law. Long story short, we needed to get my wife a new car found her a smoking deal on a 528. Being my first bimmer i feel in love and within a month sold my mercedes and got a 97 540i with 101k, good service records and good shape but a little neglected the last year(the previouse owners were in a mortgage crunch I got a smoking deal, I still feel a little guilty but they got out of trouble and got to keep their house). Anyway It needed a little attention, But ran and shifted smooth as silk until the other day I detailed it out.Clayed it, alot of rubbing compund with a polisher Which created a lot of dust. I may have got a little carried away when cleaning the motor and got something wet that shouldn't have. I drove it around the block for a mile or two when i was done with no problem. I parked it in the garage and the next day I started it and let it run for a few minutes to get the ac going.(I am in phoenix and it is that warm already) When I came back out to leave it was ideling extreamly ruff, almost chugging. The check engine light was blinking so I immediatly shut it off. After a few minutes and a few choice words I started it, It ran smoothly for about 30 seconds with the check engine light on solid, and then started chugging again and it started blinking again. I have had it parked for two days and when I started it this morning it chugs after 5 seconds and when I give it gas it would go to 5500 and seem like it was getting full power, But when I release the gas pedal it chugs at idle. The mpg gauge worked fine before and is not working all of a sudden. If nothing else can somebody tell me what the mpg gauge is linked to and I can start from there or is that the least of my concerns? I told my father in law that i got it wet and after calling me an idiot he told me to pull sensors and hit them with wd-40 to dry them, but i took a look before work this morning and this thing has got sensors for the sensors. I am obviously in over my head but what I lack in talent and skill I make up for in determination. Any advice would be apperciated. Thank you.

[winters97E39]

Originally Posted by jeraldchrist

Hello to all. I have been a member of another support group with much success and I am hoping that all you wonderful people can help this idiot out or i am never going to hear the end of it from my wife and father in law. Long story short, we needed to get my wife a new car found her a smoking deal on a 528. Being my first bimmer i feel in love and within a month sold my mercedes and got a 97 540i with 101k, good service records and good shape but a little neglected the last year(the previouse owners were in a mortgage crunch I got a smoking deal, I still feel a little guilty but they got out of trouble and got to keep their house). Anyway It needed a little attention, But ran and shifted smooth as silk until the other day I detailed it out.Clayed it, alot of rubbing compund with a polisher Which created a lot of dust. I may have got a little carried away when cleaning the motor and got something wet that shouldn't have. I drove it around the block for a mile or two when i was done with no problem. I parked it in the garage and the next day I started it and let it run for a few minutes to get the ac going.(I am in phoenix and it is that warm already) When I came back out to leave it was ideling extreamly ruff, almost chugging. The check engine light was blinking so I immediatly shut it off. After a few minutes and a few choice words I started it, It ran smoothly for about 30 seconds with the check engine light on solid, and then started chugging again and it started blinking again. I have had it parked for two days and when I started it this morning it chugs after 5 seconds and when I give it gas it would go to 5500 and seem like it was getting full power, But when I release the gas pedal it chugs at idle. The mpg gauge worked fine before and is not working all of a sudden. If nothing else can somebody tell me what the mpg gauge is linked to and I can start from there or is that the least of my concerns? I told my father in law that i got it wet and after calling me an idiot he told me to pull sensors and hit them with wd-40 to dry them, but i took a look before work this morning and this thing has got sensors for the sensors. I am obviously in over my head but what I lack in talent and skill I make up for in determination. Any advice would be apperciated. Thank you.

If it is still drivable, go get the codes read, that will give you/us an idea of where to start. If you are interested in really getting to know these cars, invest in a Bentley manual - you can find them on ebay and other places, will run you anywhere from $80 - $150 for a big fat 2 volume set of everything you would ever want to know about the e39.

[jeraldchrist]

I slept like a baby last night! Went down to checker (they are known as schucks or kragen depending on where you live. They usually piss me off more than they help but they just opened a new one around the corner and these guys know what they are doing)and for a 200 deposit they let me borrow a code reader. 2 and 3 were misfiring so I took a deep breath and started pulling covers. What a machine!!!! I can tell it was well planed from start to finish, not like the domestic brands where they look like they were making it up as they went along. I usually shy away from the electric stuff but this was great it is like those germans planned beyond final assembly to make it user friendly. Any way I pulled all coils and plugs( they all look new Bosch, score) and sure enough two of the four passanger side coil extensions were wet, i dried them and viola my ultimate driving machine is back!!! Further inspection revieled a worn coil cover gasket which I ordered from autohaus. Nothing hurt but my pride. Next project is one of the recline motors on the driver seat is out, fortunatly the privious owner was the same size as me so I don't ned to adjust it, but my wife is much shorter so it will need to be fixed, any advice? I usually pick up a chilton manual as soon as i buy a car and whan I looked up manuals for the E39 the only one i could find was the Bently for $120+. I thought they were off their rocker but that seems to be the going rate, and if it saves you an hour labor at the dealer you broke even. good investment. I also liked this code scanner that retails for $199, much more affordable than when I priced them Five years ago! Thanks for the advice Im hooked-I found an M5 in the auto trader.............

[winters97E39]

Yeah the bentley one is the one to get.. lots of great info in those books, worth every penny. Look around, you can probably find a used one for a little less. Nice work on the diagnosis! Glad that it wasn't something serious..

On the seat, check all the wiring underneath the seat, make sure something isn't loose or pulled out. Other than that, this is a good link for OEM parts:

RealOEM.com

[loveless4577]

Glad you were able to get your issues resolved.

[toml]

Tell your father in law " you are right sir, I must be an idiot, I married YOUR daughter!"
take a nice long drive.