New here and loving the new wheels.

[Subritzky 3]

Hi, my name is Ethan, I have just purchased my first ever BMW and I am in love.
If anyone from Taranaki would like to cruise just say the word

So I have purchased a 2001 525i "AC Schnitzer" and for the life of me I can't find another one of these in the country on any marketing pages.

Would you lads consider this rare? and could there be any more performance in terms of power in this build?


 

[Eagle 1662]

Im sorry but it doesn't look like a ACS kit at all to me. It's likely someone has replaced your front and rear bumpers and added those AC emblems after it came out of the factory.

The side skirts are factory, ACS ones noticeably protrude with additional lines. It appears to have some sort of aftermarket replica M sport style front bumper. Rear bumper looks M sport with an extra cutout of the right hand side for the additional exhaust tips (has it even got a muffler connected to those?)

In terms of performance increase, the best thing you can do besides usual maintenance items is replace the vanos seals, this should give you a noticeable amount of low end torque back below 3000rpm.

[M3AN 4016]

It would be interesting to see what that exhaust system looked like underneath, it's certainly not stock BMW.

Nice car though and welcome! Glad you're enjoying it. ?

[Subritzky 3]

2 hours ago, Eagle said:

Im sorry but it doesn't look like a ACS kit at all to me. It's likely someone has replaced your front and rear bumpers and added those AC emblems after it came out of the factory.

The side skirts are factory, ACS ones noticeably protrude with additional lines. It appears to have some sort of aftermarket replica M sport style front bumper. Rear bumper looks M sport with an extra cutout of the right hand side for the additional exhaust tips (has it even got a muffler connected to those?)

In terms of performance increase, the best thing you can do besides usual maintenance items is replace the vanos seals, this should give you a noticeable amount of low end torque back below 3000rpm.

Funny you mention the Vanos seals etc, I've just noticed a sizeable amount of oil leaking, hard to see exactly where it is coming from but it is all catching on the underbody shield plastic and dripping to the road from there and it's bone dry on the drivers side but greasy as all hell on the passengers side.

Could vanos seals and hose be my first look? 

Bugger I thought something was fishy about it being Ac Schnitzer.
The second exhaust comes off of the first one lol, I noticed the front of the car had an alloy section I'm not too car savy but  think it was the crossmember.
 

Edited September 21, 2019 by Subritzky

[M3AN 4016]

7 minutes ago, Subritzky said:

The second exhaust comes off of the first one lol...
 

Many do actually, that's nothing to be particularly concerned about. Any branding on the muffler or exhaust tips?

[Eagle 1662]

41 minutes ago, Subritzky said:

Funny you mention the Vanos seals etc, I've just noticed a sizeable amount of oil leaking, hard to see exactly where it is coming from but it is all catching on the underbody shield plastic and dripping to the road from there and it's bone dry on the drivers side but greasy as all hell on the passengers side.

Could vanos seals and hose be my first look? 

Bugger I thought something was fishy about it being Ac Schnitzer.
The second exhaust comes off of the first one lol, I noticed the front of the car had an alloy section I'm not too car savy but  think it was the crossmember.
 

These engines leak from everywhere like most '90+ BMW designs. The passenger side has most of the plumbing - hoses, gaskets etc, lots of things to leak on that side. Oil filter housing gasket usually creates the biggest leak, then you got vanos lines, crankcase vent hoses, power steering hoses which drip from above, things like the sump gasket, crankshaft seal, dipstick o-ring are usually leaking somewhat at this age unless someone has replaced them.

Best bet is the take off the cover off, go under the car and de grease\clean the entire area. Check back after some driving to get an idea of what leaking (which will probably be many things as most people don't bother to fix them) 

The entire subframe\suspension is alloy on these cars

[Subritzky 3]

39 minutes ago, M3AN said:

Many do actually, that's nothing to be particularly concerned about. Any branding on the muffler or exhaust tips?

There is hiop engraved in the top side of the tips.


 

 

4 minutes ago, Eagle said:

These engines leak from everywhere like most '90+ BMW designs. The passenger side has most of the plumbing - hoses, gaskets etc, lots of things to leak on that side. Oil filter housing gasket usually creates the biggest leak, then you got vanos lines, crankcase vent hoses, power steering hoses which drip from above, things like the sump gasket, crankshaft seal, dipstick o-ring are usually leaking somewhat at this age unless someone has replaced them.

Best bet is the take off the cover off, go under the car and de grease\clean the entire area. Check back after some driving to get an idea of what leaking (which will probably be many things as most people don't bother to fix them) 

The entire subframe\suspension is alloy on these cars

Ok thanks a bunch I have no license at the moment awaiting another 2 months for a suspension to uplift so that is a plus side, gives me time to diagnose and repair before I'm back on the road. I will investigate this further cheers

[Eagle 1662]

Yeah these cars are in the cheap to buy pricey to get up to scratch category. They are the best in their class for the period imo, but most are just worn out money sinks with the min WOF work done unless owned by true enthusiasts with money . Ordering parts overseas when applicable (FCP euro etc) and doing your own repairs goes along way, otherwise you'd going need a bit of cash if you plan on keeping it long term. The cooling system and transmission quite critical to keep in good working order as you don't usually get much if any warning when they start to fail, they can lead to big bills.

There is plenty of info on the net about all the common issues and good repair guides for someone unfamiliar with these.

[Subritzky 3]

just discovered theres oil very obviously coming from the filter cap and the tacho is on the 2nd to last bar for an oil change.
Definitely doing all this work myself because I'm not one for paying 600+ on a service lol

[qube 3570]

Oil filter housing gasket is a cheap easy fix and rocker cover gasket might be worth doing if you see it leaking. 

The service indicator is probably meaningless. Do an oil change and keep a record of it somewhere. Every 10k kms should be fine. Use some good quality 5w-30 fully synthetic oil!

[zero 1162]

By filter cap, are you referring to the power steering cap as these are very common to leak. A new oring or cap will fix that problem.

 

Like qube says oil filter housing gasket and rocker cover gasket are common leak points.

I do my oil changes every 20k kms, but everyone is different.

[325_driver 422]

4 hours ago, zero said:

I do my oil changes every 20k kms, but everyone is different.

? tread carefully hahahah - you living on da edge g

i've just been reading some heated threads on that topic lol

I would love to wait 20,000km, but i can see the colour of my oil as it leaks out of my intake haha, and its starting to look a bit too dark for my liking (changed 7,000km ago) 

I dont have a dip stick, just an oil leak to help me gauge oil condition 

Edited September 23, 2019 by 325_driver

[zero 1162]

Yea, BMW says 24,000 kms but that is just too long for me.

My "good" beemer will be getting much more regular oil changes.

[Subritzky 3]

Well i bought a new oil filter catridge and started to relpace noticed the 16 year old who owned it before me didnt put the copper washer on hence the leak, all is well now and she's happy as.