SpidersWeb

Hey everyone, A few weeks ago my 535i (*cough* after owning it for 2-3 weeks**) left me calling for a tow truck on the Haywards Hill near Wellington. Money has been tight so I haven't had the oppurtunity to work on it, or send it to a mechanic, so was hoping for some opinnions on its likely condition, and what options I might have. Might pay to read backwards if you dont want to hear the story. First off this is what happened: Car wouldn't start, fine, jumper leads yey Drive to Porirua Car wouldn't start, fine , jumper leads yey Then it starts overheating*, which I kind of expected, because it was leaking a small amount of coolant out of the heater lines Drive to next location, and I have to disappear for 30 minutes, we can't turn the car off and its overheating*, so the Mrs drives it around the block for 30 minutes which keeps the temp at normal. I approach vehicle, she proclaims 'This thing is about to die and I'm not driving it', so I get in First off you put it in to D, and it'll roll back (if on a hill) before a few revs get in then it grips and goes forward Then the changes started getting more brutal, and slower. Also had to be careful on accel as it'd quickly change between 1st 2nd and back to 1st all the time. So I figure it needs a service and dont do it any favours by flooring it on to the motorway anywho about 10 minutes later I'm cruising around the 50k bends heading in to the hills, nice easy drive, in economy mode gliding away. Then I go to lightly accelerate out of a bend and 'oh hello' the revs go up and the car does nothing, as if I'd pushed the non-existant-clutch in, so lower the throttle until it grabs and try to keep going. 10 minutes later it gives up and can't move forward any more. Wont go backwards either. So on the back of a truck it went. Now its home, I checked the fluids. Coolant was low as expected, and the ATF is apparently gone, when I pulled the stick up I got a pile of gunk rather than fluid so I'm guessing things got a tad hot in there, I put in about 700mL of Dexron III that I had spare, and now reverse works, still no reading on the dipstick however. Now it just freely revs in D 3 2 or 1 and comes up TRANS PROGRAM (as you'd expect). So, questions, if I fill it up with ATF again what are my chances of going forward again? What if I change the filter and fill with ATF? If it turns out to be dead, can I use the transmission from a more common 520i, since they're both 4HP22, or does the 210hp M30 engine need stronger bits inside? Also is there any possible manual conversion processes that cost less than what I paid for the whole car (3K)? hmm perhaps a 540 wreck *ponders* * Overheating, not actually overheating, but rather a rise above the 1/2 mark but not exceeding 3/4 on the temp gauge. ** I take blame for it breaking, should have serviced the auto when I first felt the problems instead of being a 'she'll be right' cheapass prick.

My E34 provides hot air no matter what I set it to. Even if I turn off all the vents I still get hot feet at a bare minimum. On a hot day its windows down! I think I'll pay somebody to fix that one

Thanks heaps to everyone who replied. There is definately problems behind the intstrument cluster, as the TRIP and CC buttons do not work, and a couple of the illumination bulbs are out, not to mention the whole fuel gauage problem. So that will be my first port of call with that problem. On Saturday I got the central locking working, and on Sunday I blew the auto transmission with a touch of overheating just for fun. Clearly its going to be one of 'those' cars. I haven't investigated the auto yet, but I'll make another post, see if anybody has any ideas. Wont have it on jack stands until Saturday. So if anybody saw a black 535i getting towed over the haywards, that was mine its got half a tank of gas too Hope everyone else out there had a better weekend!

Hey everyone, This 535 I've picked up has a whole pile of problems, most of which I know what needs doing, except for a few that I could really use some advice. I've recently moved from doing up Mitsubishi Starions, which I knew inside out, and now the BMW I know nothing about, so any advice, tips, or anything you can add would be most appreciated Ok so there are three main problems that I dont know what to do with: First of all, the idle 'hunts' a little, the previous owner told me this was due to the big bore exhaust he had fitted. I love the sound but I'd prefer my BMW idled like a BMW should. Is this the case, or is there something more sinister at play? Any tips? Second, if I'm cruising along the motorway at 100 @ 2000rpm in Economy, and I start to gently accelerate the car starts surging a little, the harder I try to accelerate the more it does it until it down changes or I flick the Sport switch and make it down change. This problem seems to happen only at higher speeds, and only between 2000 and 3000rpm. Third, the fuel gauge is wack. We filled it to the top after I bought the car, and after paying for the fuel and having a little cry at the price of gas, I headed back home. When the gauge read half-a-tank, we refilled and sure enough the gauge was 100% accurate. Once we got the car back down here there was just under half a tank left. Then as the fuel level got a little lower (and I mean a little, as in <20km driving) the car started saying '1/4 tank' and after warming up would move to say just under 1/2 again. Then today it was like 'lol no gas' with fuel light on and definately on R. While cruising at 50KPH, it changed its mind and said 'quater of a tank' then a few seconds later went back to 'lol no gas'. I'm guessing this is the sender unit at fault, and I'm wondering if anybody has any advice or tips on what to do here? (The previous owner did say the fuel gauge was dodgy, and gave me a petrol can with the car) I'll be doing the alternator belt, brake pads, oil, oil filter, fuel filter, car stereo, OBC wiring, spark plugs, and fix the door locks before these problems, but would love any tips, advice or your own experiences! Thanks heaps

Cheers for that. There is nothing on the car to suggest its an 'ASE', and nothing stands out as irregular so far. So I'm going to go with 'standard 535i' for now. Thanks heaps for telling me what it stands for, was really scratching my head on that. It was a cheapie, and I love it, but needs a lot of TLC. I have a lot of learning to do yet. Got a Haynes manual, but will keep digging for more online goodies. First job is fixing the drivers door lock solenoid, then the shudder at low revs under load, and a new stereo, and .... list goes on.

Hey everyone, Just purchased my first BMW on Saturday. Its a 1989 535i and the owner told me its an 'ASE' with 280hp. Now I kind of sincerely doubt the 280hp bit, the 208hp figure for that engine seems a bit more realistic, and I doubt it'd have the '91 octane' sticker if that was the case. However still wondering what does ASE stand for? and does my car have it? My first guess was 'AC Schnitzer Edition' or something like that. When I google ASE I just get some mechanical training program, so if somebody could shine a little light on this it would be great Thanks, Jono