[blalockbmw]

Hello everyone,
I just purchased a 1991 bmw 525i. It is a five speed car with 223000 miles on it. I would love to know if I need to be on the look out for certain problems at that kind of milage and would love any advice.
Thanks

 

[german-speed-demon]

First off, grats! Next, welcome, and third, as far as regular maintenence has been performed, filters, belts, ect, have fun with it! sure the rest of the crew will add all sorts of little particular stuff to look for but 5er's are not my area.

 

[blalockbmw]

Thanks. Yeah i love it and suposedly the motor has been rebuilt about 60,000 ago. The only problem I have found so far is a bump noise in the front when I hit bumps at low speeds. anothe is the tube that runs beside the airbox is cracked and needs replaced. what could that noise be?

 

[Kai]

Welcome. Check the bushings, they will give you problems more then likely. Also check your water pump. Basically just get it checked out really good to make sure there are no issues there, you will like the car, I loved my E34, 1991 as well. Get some pictures up for us!

 

[Kai]

The noise could be the end links.

 

[blalockbmw]

I will def. check it out. I think it needs struts to. I really want to lower it a little bit to make it look more agressive. What is the best way to go about doing that since i need new struts anyway?

 

[darkhorse737]

=)

CONGRATULATIONS on you buy

it will be wise to create your own history of the car.
Start by changing ALL fluids. that will give u a better knowledge of the car ;-) then go from there slowly...

:cheers

 

[pretty hate machine]

:needpics

 

[blalockbmw]

Ill show u mine if u show me urs miss machine. haha jk Ill get some up asap. I think it was a great buy its just the exhaust sucks and it has no cats. i need cats and a muffler asap. the guy i bought it from worked at an exhaust shop and frankensteined a bunch of stuff.

 

[pretty hate machine]

Ill show u mine if u show me urs miss machine.

its still stock. i JUST got it.

?Pretty Hate Machine?'s muh E30 Photo Album - MySpace Photos

 

[Torque]

Welcome.

 

[blalockbmw]

Love the three series miss machine. Ill have some pics of mine up later today.

 

[pretty hate machine]

Love the three series miss machine. Ill have some pics of mine up later today.

oke

 

[Bazza_09]

if only my space wasnt blocked at work lol

 

[pretty hate machine]

if only my space wasnt blocked at work lol

my bimmer is for sale. that didnt last long...

 

[DonJ]

Congrats on your BMW. I have a 1991 535i I bought last spring with 162K miles on it.
Last weekend I replaced the upper control arms (thrust arms). The bushings were bad which causes it to shudder when you brake. The ball joints were also bad (they'll make a clunking sound when you go over bumps) - so I replaced the entire arm on both sides. Took me about 4 hours, but I've never done that type of work. I think my lower control arms might need replacing too. I still get a litle bit of shudder when I brake. It's going in to the shop tomorrow to see if the rotors are warped or if the bushings are bad. This time I'll let the shop do the work.
Check the ball joints on the sway bar links (or stabilizer links) - mine need replacing but these look much easier to replace than control arms. One of the site sponsors (FCPGroton) has some good prices on control arms and swaybar links.

You might want to replace your fuel filter, especially if you do not know the history on it. Very easy to access and change out.

Do the hoses (radiator and vacuum) and belts all look good?
Spark plugs OK? If you change them - there's a lot of talk on these forums about not using platinum plugs - so do some research on the proper ones to use.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[Bazza_09]

How comes! Guess understandable if a e46 318 like mine! Gutless! What next?

 

[geek77]

It's amazing how people (those who GET IT) value old BMWs over all those cheap-materials/weak-engines/wrong-w.distribution/sold-by-millions/30%-chinese/FWD "transportation devices".

I mean, if you look carefully at the car industry in the last few years, you see a total degradation in all the aspects of the construction.

It's nothing but logical - it's the generation of cars built during the economic crisis. A dark place in the automobile history :emo

---------------

Everything is "super-high-tech";
Instead of leather they use some NASA-invented space materials that never age or wear out;
All the dials are acid-tripping blue and red;
The seats serve as hangers and tables and a bed and they turn 180 and they come out and they don't make toasts but OK;
The door handles are "hidden" so a car has 4 doors but looks kinda like a coupe;
All of them are multi-purpose omni-compatible good-for-all perfect-for-anywhere super-practical machines.

They disgust me.

What happened to the old values?

Quality
Reliability
Durability
Power
Control
Comfort
Class
Driving Pleasure

Oh hold on! That sounds familiar!

-------------------------

I like to wonder how many cows gave their lives for those ass-loving seats.
I love to see how BMW design is timeless and age-proof.
Every man stepping out of his BMW automatically transmits several clear ideas about himself.

I'm totally hooked on BMWs and I don't even have one yet.

When "normal" people hear about it - they go: "Maaan you could get a recent car with 1/3 of this mileage and all the modern gadgets, for this money". I'm sure you ALL heard this argument so many times...

Poor little things. If only they tried to understand some differences between FWD and RWD - they would automatically reduce their next car choice to BMW, M-Benz, and Lexus (here in Europe we don't have anything else).

--------------------

So I'm happy for you getting your BMW. I'm sure it will serve you as long as you wish. Enjoy.

Oh, and go for a drive tonight. Just for the pleasure.

 

[denyo77]

my bimmer is for sale. that didnt last long...

oh noes... why?

 

[BimmerE39]

I will def. check it out. I think it needs struts to. I really want to lower it a little bit to make it look more agressive. What is the best way to go about doing that since i need new struts anyway?

The E34 is a fairly basic car (at least by todays standards). There are plenty of parts on the market for it so finding upgraded OE replacement parts won't really be an issue. I would look at things like the serpentine belt, water pump, radiator, and definitely make sure that all the fluids are in good order. I try to change my oil every 3,000 miles with 5W30 syntheitc, change my transmission and diff fluid every 25-30,000 miles (or every 2 years), coolant every 2 years, and I absolutely make sure that my brake fluid is flushed every two years. As long as the motor has been compression checked and everything is looking good then IMO you really don't have to worry about too much.

In terms of suspension upgrades I am a real fan of Bilstein products. Currently on my E39 I have Bilstein sport struts and shocks paired up with H&R lowering springs. Together they have worked very nicely and I have that lowered (raked) look and the car doesn't ride too bad either (relatively speaking). The Bilstein HD shocks and struts aren't too bad either but they tend to be more of an aftermarket replacement designed to work with standard factory springs and not lowering springs. Make sure that your shock mounts in the rear and your strut bearings in the front are replaced when you install new shocks and struts. You'll thank yourself later.

This is a package deal from Turner Motorsport in Amesbury, Massachusetts. it includes 2 Bilstein sport struts, 2 Bilstein sport shocks, and 4 H&R lowering springs. Definitely look into it.

Click HERE for Bilstein/H&R package