Hi everyone, I'm new to this group and currently a law student at UT Austin. I was initiated to Bimmers through a junker of a Z3 earlier this year. It was a mess, but I had so much fun wrenching on it and driving it that I decided to sell it and get a '99 540i wagon a couple weeks ago. It's got 150k miles and it's definitely a project, but I snagged it for $1800.
The good:
- No tears in the leather, headliner, or carpet
- New timing chain guides
- Car has been in Texas its whole life
- Steptronic shifter
Known problems so far:
- Had been sitting for a year and a half
- Suspension air bags were cracked and the hoses were missing those impossible-to-find black plastic clips
- Radio acted funky, worked when I first looked at it and bought it, but hasn't since then
- Seat and steering wheel adjusters are not working
- Rear window regulators on both sides not working
- A/C compressor seems seized
- Hood and trunk shocks were shot
- One of the headlight assemblies is damaged and will need to be replaced to pass inspection
- Wheels had oxidation, tires are a bit aged
- Clear coat peeling a bit and other cosmetic blemishes
Since purchasing it I have replaced:
- Hood shocks
- Fuel filter w/ fuel pressure regulator
- Fuel pump
- Spark plugs
- Suspension air bags (FYI, Arnott's bags come with a tougher but fully functional black clip replacement, and at about $150 per side they're not too much more than other airbags out there.)
After replacing all of that and putting some fresh fuel in, it started up and I was able to drive it around for a bit. But now it looks like my radiator is leaking, so I'll be replacing that and the associated hoses within the next week or so. And obviously there's a lot of cosmetic work to be done. I'm sure I'll have some questions for y'all as I'm working on things. Thanks for looking!
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Nice score! Looks pretty clean and straight for how little you paid for it.
Here's my 2000 540it, but after a full facelift. 194k miles.
1995 525i 5-speed - Thread
Thanks! Your car is gorgeous. How much mileage can we expect to get out of these? From what I've seen so far, it seems like the engine just takes some regular but serious maintenance. (Valley pan gasket, timing chain guides, etc.)
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Thanks! Well my car is at 194k miles, and aside from the usual engine stuff (chain guides/valley pan) I've had to replace the cooling system, the driveshaft, and most of the suspension bushings. All pretty easy to do if you're handy with a wrench. With good maintenance these cars can reach 300k easily. Most people just don't care to put in the work and dump them around 200k though.
1995 525i 5-speed - Thread
Nice find! I love a white wagon. I had to settle for silver myself with more miles (fewer obvious problems). Didn't get it for as nice of a price though!
Thanks for the support, everyone! I fixed the seat and steering wheel adjustment this morning. Luckily the wiring plug had just separated from the control unit because its housing broke. I'm glad it wasn't any motors or some issue with the wiring itself. I secured the wiring to the control unit with some thin velcro straps I had on hand. Everything works like it should now. It's always nice to find a solution that's cheaper and easier than you were expecting.
I also removed the headlight assemblies and discovered what had been a well established wasp nest. This car was definitely sitting for a while.
Last edited by lawsedge; 08-25-2017 at 09:52 PM.
I hate that switch problem! Had the same thing happen.
Dude! You stole that wagon! Pretty clean for 1800, congrats!
Set the controls for the heart of the sun
Nice ride. I have an extra set of M5 mirrors if you're interested. They are manual fold and currently painted black (fresh paint). LMK
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Nice. Congrats! Local guy near you in Georgetown.
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Ed
________________________________________________
-2002 540iT Sport-
Previous Bimmers. - 2000 540iA Sport | 2000 540i6 Sport | 2000 M5 | 2000 740i customized | 2000 323Ci | [Bikes 2012 f800GS | 2014 R1200GS]
Current Stable - 2011 VW Touareg TDi | 2016 Mazda 3 Hatch | 2019 Ram 2500 6.4L Hemi 4x4 Big Horn Off-Road
Keep on modding and fixing!..
Don't remove the hornet's nest! You'll never get your radio to work if you do.
Hellofa deal on a running 540t. You're already on course to having a pristine sled.
Your question on miles: in my opinion, it's more a question of time. The plastic connectors to everything like on the z3 is wanting to be dead at this point, 13 years later. The engines are worthy of caring for and based on a number of pics of the internals when disassembled, they are also very well built.. Keep her happy, she'll keep you happy. Just don't even look at a plastic piece under the hood if you don't have to. That would likely be what breaks it, your gaze.
Start on your cooling system. Electric fans over a stock fan clutch design perhaps? Get all your water drain holes blown out and clear.
Remove the rear door cards and check that the black foam liner in the door is securely glued down on all borders.
Best of luck, welcome, have fun.
I'm serious about the hornet's nest. BMW engineering is so far above and beyond our mortal understanding. You could start a war man, leave it. Unless you're allergic, then just get an oem replacement filled with ladybugs.
Hi,
Glad to see you'll be saving this example ! Looks like a fairly extensive project but not overly demanding in order to get back running well!
Alpine White FTW!
Any plans for the car once it's all mechanically sound?
Mine is currently 'battle damaged' but is going into surgery and will emerge even better than you see in the pic above
Cheers, Dennis!
Just had some radio issues myself after trying to install an aftermarket. Reinstalled my factory head unit and it acted up. Would shut off on it's own after 20 mins, stayed on when I turned ignition off and when I started the car it wouldn't turn on. 10 amp fuse #58 in the cargo area over batt is where part of the issue is. Was blown, I replaced that but have some other issues now. (Display won't turn on automatically)... Maybe a long batt disconnect might do the trick. Anyway, Try the 10amp first.
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Ed
________________________________________________
-2002 540iT Sport-
Previous Bimmers. - 2000 540iA Sport | 2000 540i6 Sport | 2000 M5 | 2000 740i customized | 2000 323Ci | [Bikes 2012 f800GS | 2014 R1200GS]
Current Stable - 2011 VW Touareg TDi | 2016 Mazda 3 Hatch | 2019 Ram 2500 6.4L Hemi 4x4 Big Horn Off-Road
Keep on modding and fixing!..
Thanks, Rossagge. I think I've gone through all the fuses, but I'll double check that one in the back. My radio comes on and I can change stations, but the volume dial doesn't seem to do anything. It also switches over to the tape deck, but doesn't make any sound. I've ordered an aftermarket unit, so we'll see if that's any different.
By the way, we'll have to meet up sometime. I live close to Avery Ranch, so Georgetown isn't too long of a trip for me.
Rossagge, I think I looked at most of the fuses already, but I'll double check. My symptoms are that the radio turns on, switches stations, and can run the tape deck. But it never makes any sound or indication that the volume is going up or down. Are there normally any number that comes up as you turn the volume dial? I've got an aftermarket radio on its way, we'll see if that makes a difference. We should meet up sometime. I'm close to Avery Ranch, so Georgetown isn't a hard trip at all.
Dennis, I love your car! Excited to see its latest incarnation. I agree that the white looks good on these cars. I especially like how you replaced your black trim to make it straight white.
Plattus1000, you are so right about looking at plastic pieces wrong. I've already broken a bunch of random pieces. Everything is so crispy. The hornet's nest has already been removed, but will remain well preserved for posterity. And I definitely appreciate all your other advice, thanks!
Last edited by lawsedge; 08-28-2017 at 12:31 AM.
That's what mine did at first as well.
Sounds good. Hit me up when you have time
Ed
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Last edited by Rossagge; 08-28-2017 at 01:07 AM.
Ed
________________________________________________
-2002 540iT Sport-
Previous Bimmers. - 2000 540iA Sport | 2000 540i6 Sport | 2000 M5 | 2000 740i customized | 2000 323Ci | [Bikes 2012 f800GS | 2014 R1200GS]
Current Stable - 2011 VW Touareg TDi | 2016 Mazda 3 Hatch | 2019 Ram 2500 6.4L Hemi 4x4 Big Horn Off-Road
Keep on modding and fixing!..
Looks like a steal you got on that car. Danny, you gotta show him what yours looked like when it was first purchased, that'll inspire him!
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Haha yeah. My wagon looked pretty much like a red version of OP's wagon. Same prefacelift everything, same tan interior. The only difference was that it had crappy replica M-Pars on it (that were horribly bent), and 174k miles. I also paid way more for mine due to the color.
I went from this:
To this:
All it took was some money and time. Since I did all these mods over the course of a year, it wasn't too bad financially.
1995 525i 5-speed - Thread
Danny, what a difference that time and money has made! I'm looking forward to when mine looks more like yours.
This car has come a long way in the last week, but I also had a disappointing non-fix yesterday.
Things I've fixed/upgraded:
- Headlight assemblies. I got a cheap pair of Halo lights off of Amazon. The low, high, and turn signal beams are working, but I'll need to find some guidance on how to hook up the Halo ring wiring to the parking lights. Any suggestions on where to look? The headlights are SPPC branded.
- Hood locks.
- Rear hatch glass shocks. I've got a suggestion as far as that goes: If neither the glass nor the hatch stay up on their own, replace the glass shocks first. They're cheaper and easier to fix. And in my case, the main hatch shocks are still in good enough shape that the hatch stays up now that the glass shocks are strong.
- All interior lights replaced with LEDs. This should reduce the power draw every time I open a door. The whiter hue and higher brightness lights up the cabin super well. This is the second set of LEDs I've bought from this Ebay seller, and I could be happier with them. Here's a link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/301506247470
- Both rear window regulators replaced. Pictures of the failures are below. The left side window had failed in such a way that a previous owner felt compelled to zip-tie a piece of wood inside the door panel to hold the window up.
- Drive belts replaced.
- Radiator, expansion tank, and various hoses replaced.
The disappointment:
After installing the radiator and getting the fan and everything else in place, I started filling the expansion tank with distilled water to flush the system. I got two gallons in when I heard dripping. A steady flow of water was coming down the front of the engine block. I spent the next 5 minutes slumped against the side of my garage, questioning why I like BMWs. Within about 20 minutes, most of the water I put in had come out. After collecting myself, I took the expansion tank, fan shroud, and fan out (again) to get a better view of where the leak was.
I'm pretty sure the leak is coming from the water pump. From what I was able to read online, the valley pan and intake manifold cooling pipes leak down the back of the engine. And after taking the water pump pulley off today, it seems that it's leaking from where the water pump meets the engine block.
The good news is that a new water pump, thermostat, and other associated parts are on their way and if all goes well I won't have to worry about my cooling system for a little while. Hopefully by this time next week it'll all be up and running.
I'd be glad to hear any advice y'all might have regarding the leak or water pump replacement procedures. It seems like it will be easy enough to do, but I can use all the help I can get.
Happy labor day, everyone!
The interesting thing about the prefacelift tourings is that their wiring is a bit different from a prefacelift sedan. There's no easy place to tap in the angel eyes, whereas on the sedan you just tap into the parking lights. I ended up finding a source of switched power in the DME box and I ran that all the way down. Now my angel eyes work when the key is in the ignition, which is what I wanted.
If you want to be able to switch the angel eyes on and off you'll need to do some more advanced wiring with some relays (can't say exactly what you'll need to do, I know barely anything about wiring).
1995 525i 5-speed - Thread
No writeup on it, I just asked a few people and figured out a way to make it happen. Essentially what I did was use a multimeter and poke around the DME box to find a switched source of power to splice into. Once I had my power, I ran the power cable down the engine bay to the headlights. I used a cable organizer cover thing to make it look neater. For the grounds I just added them to the stock ground locations on both sides. I hid the cables really well, the only trace of that wiring is the little bit of blue wire you can see running across the radiator.
1995 525i 5-speed - Thread
Thanks for that explanation, Danny. I'll probably try to tackle that another time.
I took my water pump out and discovered this bolt behind it. It was only partially threaded, but I assume it should be tightened before I install the new pump. Can anyone confirm this? The third photo is approximately the depth it was when I took the old pump off. Thanks!
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