Morning,
so i have put a deposit on my first ever bmw, i have had VW golfs all of my driving life and never thought i would move away.
anyway my gti was written off and i went and bought a e39 523i.
it has 150,000 documented miles.
it is tired inside and out and i will refresh over time.
But what should i do engine wise first to get through the winter , this will be my daily driver.
Thanks guys
Ronan
I'd have thought get the basics right first: Oil, spark plus and filters. Then look at belts. Then cooling system. Check back thru history to see if these have been done recently.
i don't see anything about the cooling in the history, i think i will do the stage 1 cooling first.Originally Posted by Roberto
•Geba water pump with metal impeller
•Fan switch
•Thermostat & housing
•Sealing gaskets
•Expansion tank & cap
•1 Gallon Coolant
•Upper & lower radiator hoses
with a oil and filter service.
the service stamps have a stage 2 service done and every year a service 1.
Think I'd prefer the plastic impeller. Metal one less likely to fail, but if it does I'd not like metal "floating" around the engine.
i have read metal is the way to go....
i will do some more research.
Good choice on the 523i. I had a number of happy years with a pair of them and accumulated 150k miles between them. One went to a friend after me and the other is still with my brother.
I'd agree with the idea of giving the cooling system a good going over. However, if the thermostat seems to be behaving itself and there are no obvious signs of neglect, bulging radiator, noisy water pump, nasty looking coolant, cracks or leaks in hoses, etc. then, if you need to do things in stages, focus on a coolant fluid refresh and the other service items and come back to the rest later.
Other things that a car at that mileage will want watching for with be noisy wheel bearings (that can also contribute to vibrations, steering wobbles, etc. as well as noise) and bushes, ball joints, track control arms, wishbones, etc. There are a lot of these and they are wear and tear items and can have a significant impact on the quality of the experience.
As mine got older, the first one I had from 6 years old to 13, the more niggling small electrical issues became a bit of a bother. Nothing major, but in my case with this car it suffered things like the Light Control Module (LCM) issue where one headlight stayed on even when ignition was off and key removed, a failed electric boot release (the bit that whirrs and clicks when you squeeze the boot release on the lid, etc. Pixels dying on the dash is also fairly common but I didn't suffer that with any of mine. None of these were killer issues, all relatively cheap to repair, but they were niggling and caused a few days off the road, etc. At the time I had family commitments that meant I couldn't afford the downtime so it was the only reason I disposed of that car.
Welcome to the forum!
Great choice of carAny pictures of it?
I had a 523i and Ive since moved onto a 525i - definitely one of the weakest points is the cooling system, so its a good choice making that the first thing you do!
Welcome to the forum!
Great choice of car
I had a 523i and Ive since moved onto a 525i - definitely one of the weakest points is the cooling system, so its a good choice making that the first thing you do!
picking it up tomorrow night.
looking forward to the bmw world. my brother has a 528i.. i can use it as a parts cars now as it off the road with structure issues..
Looks straight and clean - best of luck with it!
needs a good bit of love.. its only done 500 miles since nct in april,
need to get a decent valet and machine polish.
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