Inadvertent BMW Owner

[teslaspark]

Hi all!
My lawyer decided to upgrade his 5 series to a 2003. I became the beneficiary of his 1991 525i that was in great condition. I have found the car to be a pleasant surprise from performance and quality perspectives. Read that the E34 is one of the "best" automobiles ever made which piqued my interest. I did not intend to become any sort of BMW enthusiast in this life, but fate may have a different plan. In what has become a great timing decision on my lawyers part, but much to my chagrin, this 21 year old BMW is now indefinitely parked after having "thrown" a Trans Program-See Owners Manual trouble message in the dash display and locked itself in limp home mode. I have found no joy in this dilemma. The Bentley service manual is sadly lacking in diagnostic clues for this problem other than a schematic, and evidently BMW dealerships have a secret, proprietary computer tool that is the only way to read any diagnostic codes from multiple onboard computers. So...I guess that's why I have found you wonderful people.

[Lord Vader]

Welcome to Bimmerwerkz.

Congrats on your new acquisition. You read right that the E34 is one of the best sedans BMW ever made. They are fantastic cars, but can be a little temperamental. But as you said, their 20+ years old at this point. Even through their age they show they are fantastic cars.

Your car is an OBD-I car and doesn't have the same code readability as OBDII. The procedure for getting the codes is called the Stomp Test. This link explains it in better detail:
Stomp Test Procedure - Bimmerfest - BMW Forums


Here is a link to a list of the codes:
Bimmerforums - The Ultimate BMW Forum - View Single Post - Check engine codes for an E34

[teslaspark]

Bowing to Lord Vader. Thanx for the info, but in the 1991 E34 as mine is, the stomp test does not work. You can not get codes to flash on the CEL. Bentley provides no joy in this regard, only a mention of code readers. I will have to ask Bavarian Auto or somebody if the Peake code reader works with this model. Would also like to know how to read the codes from the tranny computer, but I think that is proprietary to BMW dealerships who buy the secret computer tool. Why they can't just put a USB port on a car...I'll never know!

[Lord Vader]

Upon further reading I see no mention of 1991 under code reading. Is their a diagnostic port for a Peake scan tool? How much would the dealer charge to do it? I became friends with the dealer parts guy for a reason
Give this a read: -e34 F.A.Q. <READ HERE before posting questions> - - Bimmerforums - The Ultimate BMW Forum

It contains a ton of useful info for you. Anything else just ask.

[Daniel Katzman]

Agree with you.... i have same words to say about it.....

Originally Posted by Lord Vader

Welcome to Bimmerwerkz.

Congrats on your new acquisition. You read right that the E34 is one of the best sedans BMW ever made. They are fantastic cars, but can be a little temperamental. But as you said, their 20+ years old at this point. Even through their age they show they are fantastic cars.

Your car is an OBD-I car and doesn't have the same code readability as OBDII. The procedure for getting the codes is called the Stomp Test. This link explains it in better detail:
Stomp Test Procedure - Bimmerfest - BMW Forums


Here is a link to a list of the codes:
Bimmerforums - The Ultimate BMW Forum - View Single Post - Check engine codes for an E34

[brettski]

Welcome to the Werkz.

Ask your freindly lawyer if he ever had the Transmission fluid and filter replaced, it doesn't form part of the normal service routine from BMW.