New 1990 535i owner.

[Guelphguy]

First time BMW Owner, hit a 200lb deer with my GTP and always wanted to see what the whole BMW thing was....
So picked up this 1990 535i, 170,000kms (canada), car was never driven in winter...good shape.

http://img83.exs.cx/img83/7655/100_1770.jpg
http://img83.exs.cx/img83/2368/100_1769.jpg

Anyway, I knew it had a few issues I needed to work out, it was a private sale and the car has sat for awhile with little use.
I have it booked in at a specialty BMW mechanic next week just to bring a lot of things up to speed:
1) have a vibration at idle/under accel/load, that I think is coil/MASS/motor mount related.
2) Coolant flush-t-stat
3) Tanny/Diff flush
4) Oil change
5) Got an oil leak - front right of motor - dripping onto front crossmember
-
lastly the one that bugs me is every morning after driving the car for about 10 min, I get a whiff of coolant for about 5-10min then it seems to go away. I think it is a pinhole leak in the heater-core.
Now I am expecting it to cost about $800 for the other work and I suppose that the heater core will be another $800....pi$$ me off!!

Now I know that people never recommend this stuff....BUT, since I am getting a flush and fill next week with BMW coolant getting put in...would there be much hard in trying a little..not full bottle of coolant stop leak to see if I can even go another year before having to change that heater core??
The other crazy thing..is there no access to the rad? Did not see a rad cap!!! lol.....

Let me know what you think...

[Mr Project]

Congrats! Nice car, welcome to the bf.c M30 club. :D :D :D

Well, you can try the stop leak, but honestly it might be better to live with the leak for now rather than to gum up your cooling system with that crap. Up to you, though, and a small amount shouldn't hurt too bad.

The heater core is a pain mostly because the 'normal' way is to pull the whole dash out. There is a faster way, that experienced people can do in about 3 hours, apparently.

The radiator cap is on the coolant overflow tank, mounted to the firewall. That is where you check/add coolant, rather than directly to the radiator.

If you haven't already, here is a great site with invaluable E34 info:

http://www.bmwe34.net

[bähnstormer]

535ia or 535im?

[Hypr5]

Everybody tells me that unless your are 100% positive that the tranny and diff have been maintained and serviced in the past, you shouldnt do a flush / refill at such high mileage.

Maybe I am wrong, but this is always what I've been told.
check those service records :)

[jimmyz2]

If it(or anything) is dark brown flush it, is what ma Mama told me.Beautiful and clean car.

[shragon]

clean start! welcome to bf.c!

[Cereal Killa]

Great car to start off at bf.c

[JAlfredPrufrock]

You left out the pertinent information... auto or manual? :D

[liquidtiger720]

keep it nice!

[Guelphguy]

It is an automatic...sorry wife would not drive it otherwise!! :shifty last time I tried to teach her standard on my taurus SHO we almost ended up divorced!!! lol
Yeah, I must admit, I never buy a car like this...I am a bit of a backyard mechanic that worked as a service advisor for 8 years, so I do know how to look after a car but leave the complicated work to the pro's. I bought this one because it looked so clean but I have a vibration at idle/heavy acceleration that I need to look after and kinda pi$$ed about the heater core, as I was not looking to have to spend $2000 on a car I just bought...(by them time I am done all the servicing/fluids/etc)
I saw that looked like the rad cap near the back firewall, does it actually circulate coolant through there or only draw on it while low? If it only draws on it when low, then that would be useless to try and put the additive in there?
I have it booked in for the vibration issue next week and a local recommended German auto shop that knows these cars..I am guessing that it is electronic (MAF sensor, coil) or even perhaps a motor/tranny mount...the heater core I am hoping to not have to deal with at the moment, however knowing the history of head gaskets I want to get the coolant flush done. It was a private sale and the guy had it maintained by his neighbor that owns a shop, so there are not alot of records unfortunately...
When I looked at the tranny fluid, it looked earthy brown and thin...I think i had better change it..I read a lot about this "lifetime" fluid but I dunno, I am a big believer in new fluids everywhere!!! Preferably all synthetic!

[Mr Project]

You'll love it, it's an easy car to work on for a backyard mechanic.... I would know. :)

Personally I'd give it a tune-up yourself before spending the money to have a vibration checked out....they tend to idle pretty rough anyway, and it can be really rough if it's out of tune. Air, oil, and fuel filters, valve adjustment, and spark plugs will cost you less than $50-$80 and maybe 3 hours of your time, and might just make a big difference at idle.

Check these guys out for parts, they are great: http://www.bmaparts.com

The coolant does 'circulate' through the expansion tank a little but it's not much circulation. If you did want to add the additive, you'd be better off doing it elsewhere, as you suspect.

[SC David]

Looks very nice. You even have the rear headrests as far as I can see :)

[SehrSchnell]

Nice ride man, looks like a great foundation to swallow some bucks and add some mods.... :D

[stuntride]

car looks awsum, welcome to the club!

[kendogg]

It is an automatic...sorry wife would not drive it otherwise!! :shifty last time I tried to teach her standard on my taurus SHO we almost ended up divorced!!! lol
Yeah, I must admit, I never buy a car like this...I am a bit of a backyard mechanic that worked as a service advisor for 8 years, so I do know how to look after a car but leave the complicated work to the pro's. I bought this one because it looked so clean but I have a vibration at idle/heavy acceleration that I need to look after and kinda pi$$ed about the heater core, as I was not looking to have to spend $2000 on a car I just bought...(by them time I am done all the servicing/fluids/etc)
I saw that looked like the rad cap near the back firewall, does it actually circulate coolant through there or only draw on it while low? If it only draws on it when low, then that would be useless to try and put the additive in there?
I have it booked in for the vibration issue next week and a local recommended German auto shop that knows these cars..I am guessing that it is electronic (MAF sensor, coil) or even perhaps a motor/tranny mount...the heater core I am hoping to not have to deal with at the moment, however knowing the history of head gaskets I want to get the coolant flush done. It was a private sale and the guy had it maintained by his neighbor that owns a shop, so there are not alot of records unfortunately...
When I looked at the tranny fluid, it looked earthy brown and thin...I think i had better change it..I read a lot about this "lifetime" fluid but I dunno, I am a big believer in new fluids everywhere!!! Preferably all synthetic!


I definitely agree with the other guys, do a good tune-up yourself, as it is definitely time, make sure you do a good vavlve adjustment, etc. As far as changing fluids, I don't disagree with you about new fluids being great except in the trans, as it is a medium-high mileage automatic. Unless you have proof that the auto trans fluid has been replaced, I wouldn't touch it, as there is a chance that the new fluid could do a lil cleaning, and actually clean out some deposits that could be holding things together inside the trans. But, do the tune-up, make sure you've got good gas in there, and then take it to the dealer if your still having the misfire problem. Good luck, looks like a great car.!! (BTW - if you wanna have some fun with the car, and get more power, without the wife knowing - chip it. Thats probably the best bang for your buck, for power, especially in the 535.)

[drew900]

I got a 90 535 that had a heater core leak in it and I put some stop leak in. It fixed the leak but ever since the air comming out of the a/c has smelt a little funky. It smelt a little bad sometimes before that because the previous owner had smoked, but the smell changed a little after the stop leak. I'm gonna replace it my self over christmas because over the summer when it happened I didn't have time to tear the car apart and fix it. I used bar's stop leak. It was in a clear bottle and had a silver metalic color.

[Guelphguy]

How did you put the stop leak into the system??? Is the only way in through the overflow tank??

[drew900]

Yes, through the overflow tank is how I did it and the only way I know how to do it. When you first put it in it will bring the coolent level up some, but once you drive around and let it circulate through they system, the level goes back to normal. When I did it I got most of the bottle in but not all of it before it was too full to put anymore in.