Just got the PPI back on "my" car.

[m3 bavaria]

Here's what the shop told me:


Work Performed - Over all condtion of car is ok. rated 7 ot of 10.00
p/s lines has a leak. rear main has slow oil leak. alternator belt is cracked
right front lower control arm boot is torn, right front foglight lens has mositure
recommend drive shaft flex joint. A/c condensor is leaking. and srs light is on
there is slight smoke on startup . recomend heavy weight using heavy weight oil

What if any of this should concern me or make me reconsider the purchase?

Oh, and compression was at 220 for the m60b30.

[BBatt98]

Sounds like all relatively easy fixes to me? :dunno Not sure on a rear main seal.

[m3 bavaria]

Sounds like all relatively easy fixes to me? :dunno Not sure on a rear main seal.

The A/C compressor is my biggest concern as I'm in Texas.

[FCPEuro]

Hello -

I find it interesting they consider the car a 7 out of 10. It should be taken into consideration that the car has been at the dealer for a while, this may explain some of the issues.

Cracked belts can be replaced relatively easily, that would not scare me off. On the PS hose, I would negotiate that out of the price of the car. This happens on these cars at that age.

Things that might raise Red flags for me would be the leaking A/C condensor. What kind of leak? Also, the smoke on start up. It would be good to know the reason for smoking? Because it was parked for long? Bad PCV, or it's gaskets? Why the recommendation for heavier oil? Loose valves? Though I do know the M60 engine to typically suffer valve issues.

EDIT: Came in to edit this. I also noticed the suggestion on the Flex joint. Does that mean the drive shaft is vibrating at the moment at speed? I would be interested to know why the SRS light is on. Was the wheel removed with the battery connected and if so, why? Was work done on the cluster?

It all depends on your plans for the car and what you are willing to tolerate.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Michael

[BoldUlysses]

The rear main seal issue is troubling. You'll leak all over your driveway until you decide to drop the tranny and fix the thing.

An M60B30 with those issues? Walk.

Unless you have a sound B40 lined up to drop in.

-Matt

[m3 bavaria]

The rear main seal issue is troubling. You'll leak all over your driveway until you decide to drop the tranny and fix the thing.

An M60B30 with those issues? Walk.

Unless you have a sound B40 lined up to drop in.

-Matt

Other than a garage mess, assuming I pay attention to the oil level, this isn't the end of the world, correct?

[camaroguy]

A slow leaking rear main will not necessarily drip on a driveway. I just did the 6 speed swap in my b40 and the rear main was leaking. I never had drips under the car, and the bottom of the car was one of the cleanest overal that I had ever seen.

That said...getting to a rear main IS a pain in the ***.

[BoldUlysses]

If by "the end of the world" you mean your engine self-destructing if the seal isn't replaced immediately, no. But replacement is a big job and the car would have to be very special otherwise for me to consider buying one with that particular known issue (among others). YMMV.

-Matt

[m3 bavaria]

If by "the end of the world" you mean your engine self-destructing if the seal isn't replaced immediately, no. But replacement is a big job and the car would have to be very special otherwise for me to consider buying one with that particular known issue (among others). YMMV.

-Matt

Well, it's one of a few tourings that I've found that I'm interested in buying. Also, I'm lining up a b40/6 swap, but I'm also a bit overwhelmed by the complexity of sourcing all of the individual parts. I could always find a 540i/6 donor car, but then we're talking about significant cost. Thus, I was planning on driving it for 6 months to a year just to see where I'm at with it.

[camaroguy]

If by "the end of the world" you mean your engine self-destructing if the seal isn't replaced immediately, no. But replacement is a big job and the car would have to be very special otherwise for me to consider buying one with that particular known issue (among others). YMMV.

-Matt


3 of 3 M60's I have owned an 2 of 2 m30's I have owned have all had slow leaking rear main seals by ~150k miles or so...Seems like its bound to happen to any of these cars eventually...

[attack eagle]

would not buy.

not unless the price was low and i had a b40 ready to go in, and was ready to take care of all the other issues immediately to the tune of a grand or so.

[DrJomamachubby]

Rear main leak is usually due to crud on the seal face and not that the seal is disintegrating. If it's slow you can live with it or run a cleaner like AutoRX, MMO or a diesel rated oil.

[T444E]

FWIW the seller reposted it on CL 3 days ago,

[DrJomamachubby]

What price is the seller asking?

[sfgearhead]

A/C condensor is different than compressor. I forget which is which, but A/C leaks at 15 years should not be a surprise. Might be worth replacing all the o-rings in the system to be safe. But figure out if the condenser is in front of the radiator, or in the car. Neither is fun to get to.

Expect to pay $2k just to fix the A/C and other misc issues to make it a daily driver.

Oh, and don't buy it until they fix the SRS light. If it needs an airbag that's $600 parts alone, and a dealer needs to reset.

How much rust doesn't it have?

Good luck,
Ian

[barry8108]

I had a rear seal leak on my 540, a drop a day. Put some leak sealer in the oil, and it never leaked again. That was last summer, and it made it through the worst of winter this year. So it's not a deal breaker, but easy way to get them to lower the price..

[AHenry014]

i bet the rear main isnt a rear main. from my experience, and also a friends, a leaking "rear main" is usually valve cover gaskets. drips down the bellhousing and down to where a rear main would look to be leaking. other than that it sounds like every used e34 out there. if the mileage is decent and the price is right, id go for it. but north of 3g's id walk most likely.

[Layne]

A/C condensor is different than compressor. I forget which is which

Oh, and don't buy it until they fix the SRS light. If it needs an airbag that's $600 parts alone, and a dealer needs to reset.

The condensor is out in front of the radiator. It's very expensive new. I'm confused by the "leaking" status. It would only leak for a day if it got a hole in it. If it's a slow leak (maybe they found it with some dye) it would be more likely the o-rings than the condensor itself.

Used airbags are common and cheap. I have 2 of them. Definitely a haggling point though.

[357]

My sentiments are pretty similar to everyone else's, it seems:

The problems listed certainly wouldn't keep me from purchasing the car, but you should certainly start seriously weighing repair costs vs how much you think you can talk the guy down.

I have a 530iT myself, and that list of problems is pretty minor for one of these cars. Mine had a few more than that, and I never felt unhappy with my purchase.

The "leaky rear main seal" could also be a leaky transmission input seal. Mine was leaking a bit when I pulled it out a year ago.

[m3 bavaria]

Here's the specialist's explanation for the oil:

For the blowing smoke part bmw recommends using a 10w-40 oil. It should solve the issue. Because with the miles on this I usually see
Worn valve seals. Using a Castrol high milesage oil usually cures this issue before going towards a pcv. If this car does land in texas I don’t see
Any issues with the cold weather so it would be great in this climate condtion.

I'm paying right at $3k for the car, which seems cheap to me, so I still think I'm getting a decent deal. Plus, as many have mentioned before, it's a 15 year old car. Only so long until these things happen...


A/C condensor is different than compressor. I forget which is which, but A/C leaks at 15 years should not be a surprise. Might be worth replacing all the o-rings in the system to be safe. But figure out if the condenser is in front of the radiator, or in the car. Neither is fun to get to.

Expect to pay $2k just to fix the A/C and other misc issues to make it a daily driver.

Oh, and don't buy it until they fix the SRS light. If it needs an airbag that's $600 parts alone, and a dealer needs to reset.

How much rust doesn't it have?

Good luck,
Ian

No rust Ian.

[T444E]

FWIW I run 15w-50 Mobil1 in my 540 and the only leak I have is from the valve covers :dunno 12x,xxx miles

I'd try some Rotella T in it and see what happens.

[ShapeShifter]

I got a new Behr condenser with O rings from BMAauto. IIRC, it was under $170 and only took 2 hours or so to install. Quite easy, no big deal.
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l143/Smokiemon968/BMW%20Touring/722747dd.jpg


I would use high retail pricing and labor at $125/hr. to negotiate pricing down on all "issues".
Other than the RMS, its all easy stuff that could be done over a weekend. The SRS could be fixed for $50 or so. Maybe even free.

[m60b30530i]

Is it common for the rear main seals to leak on the M60's, Its common for my 5.0 damn thing drips after long trips :( but its allot easier to change then on a M60.

If the car had a B40 in it I would say its worth to do all that work to it but a b30 eh unless you are considering a swap.

Too bad you don't live close to me I would sell you my e34 for $3500 nothing leaks on it :)

But if its clean go for it, post some pics

[m3 bavaria]

Pat, this is a bit embarassing, but a few days ago, the throttle linkage on my old Rover was broken. I managed to diagnos the problem, fix it, and get it rolling all on my own. I was stupidly proud of myself, so now I'm getting excited about the prospects of becoming an E34 specialist mechanic.

[HE53]

I don't think that PPI sounds all that bad.. Any car with miles on it could have any of those issues if not more. Most of those things could be fixed by a DIY'er for less than 600 bucks.

When you swap the motor for the proper motor, you replace the center bearing, and you put a new rear main seal in that block, and you're good to go.

Don't worry about a little smoke on start up if you're going to swap the motor...

[HE53]

I don't think that PPI sounds all that bad.. Any car with miles on it could have any of those issues if not more. Most of those things could be fixed by a DIY'er for less than 600 bucks.

When you swap the motor for the proper motor, you replace the center bearing, and you put a new rear main seal in that block, and you're good to go.

Don't worry about a little smoke on start up if you're going to swap the motor...

[BavarianFanatic]

Wow this is a tough crowd. Based on that PPI this car is a cream puff. As mentioned a couple posts up, the condenser is easy. It's an R134a car so gas is cheap. Condenser leaks are usually pretty obvious because you'll see oil seepage at the point of the leak. I'd bet $10 it's not the condenser, but an o-ring.

Regarding the leaking rear main, it's probably NOT the rear main. They definitely do leak eventually, but I've never seen one leak to the point that it became a concern or did anything beyond put a thin coating on the trans bellhousing. It's more likely to be the valve covers as mentioned.

The smoke on start-up is probably due to dry valve stem seals from sitting so long. I noticed leaves on the trees in the pics when I was looking at it, so the car has been sitting all winter. Once it's back on the road and routinely used the seals will likely soften up and swell again and the burn will work itself out.

The SRS light could be a multitude of things, but it's probably nothing. Have it reset and see if it returns. If it doesn't then you're OK. Even if there is an issue, the parts are everywhere and not expensive.

Based on your posts thus far, it doesn't sound like you're going to be taking this to your local dealer for repairs. Paying full dealer rates for all of these issues could run into some big dollars. But none are a deal killer in my book. Hell, most of these little things will probably work themselves out as the car is driven again.

[BavarianFanatic]

Wow this is a tough crowd. Based on that PPI this car is a cream puff. As mentioned a couple posts up, the condenser is easy. It's an R134a car so gas is cheap. Condenser leaks are usually pretty obvious because you'll see oil seepage at the point of the leak. I'd bet $10 it's not the condenser, but an o-ring.

Regarding the leaking rear main, it's probably NOT the rear main. They definitely do leak eventually, but I've never seen one leak to the point that it became a concern or did anything beyond put a thin coating on the trans bellhousing. It's more likely to be the valve covers as mentioned.

The smoke on start-up is probably due to dry valve stem seals from sitting so long. I noticed leaves on the trees in the pics when I was looking at it, so the car has been sitting all winter. Once it's back on the road and routinely used the seals will likely soften up and swell again and the burn will work itself out.

The SRS light could be a multitude of things, but it's probably nothing. Have it reset and see if it returns. If it doesn't then you're OK. Even if there is an issue, the parts are everywhere and not expensive.

Based on your posts thus far, it doesn't sound like you're going to be taking this to your local dealer for repairs. Paying full dealer rates for all of these issues could run into some big dollars. But none are a deal killer in my book. Hell, most of these little things will probably work themselves out as the car is driven again.

[AquilaBMW]

I got a new Behr condenser with O rings from BMAauto. IIRC, it was under $170 and only took 2 hours or so to install. Quite easy, no big deal.


Pat - If you don't mind me asking, how did you drain your A/C system a and then replenish it after replacing the condenser? This is another project I need to do... :rolleyes


Here's the specialist's explanation for the oil:

For the blowing smoke part bmw recommends using a 10w-40 oil. It should solve the issue. Because with the miles on this I usually see
Worn valve seals. Using a Castrol high milesage oil usually cures this issue before going towards a pcv. If this car does land in texas I don’t see
Any issues with the cold weather so it would be great in this climate condtion.

I'm paying right at $3k for the car, which seems cheap to me, so I still think I'm getting a decent deal. Plus, as many have mentioned before, it's a 15 year old car. Only so long until these things happen...

No rust Ian.

At $3K - Go pick it up already. The explanation makes perfect sense to me.

[m3 bavaria]

I'm going to buy the car. It's only 3k, so even if it explodes, it's not like I have a lot into it. I figure I'll spend another $1-$3k in maintenance the first year, but the saving between this and buying another new Rover will more than make up for it.

Now for the important question:

- Orient Blue
- Monaco Blue
- Avus Blue

I'm leaning towards Orient Blue right now...

[jac1d]

My rule of thumb is assume you'll spend $1K-$2K immediately to bring all the regular wear items up to par, and probably that again over the course of the year - assuming the car was relatively well taken care of over its life.

The PPI in my sig has approximate mileages where various items tend to wear out, based on the collective wisdom of the forums and the Internet at large when I compiled the list. On our cars the list has been correct within a few thousand miles on most items, I have to admit.

-Jeff

[BavarianFanatic]

Orient.

What color is the interior? In the pics it kind of looks gray. But it's more common for Oxford's to be parchment.