E32, 750iL, 1991

Hi;

I recently acquired a 7 series BMW, and I want to iron out a couple of hopefully small details, I would be happy to hear the insights of owners of other middle aged E32s.

  1. The 'D' for Drive indicator (LED) in the dashboard is intermittent, the other indicators (S, M, P, 3, 2, 1) are steady. I can cause the 'D' to appear by jigling the shift lever when it is missing.

  1. The front passenger side window makes a nasty sound when 2/3 the way up, more noticable when closing.

  2. The rear left window switch sticks in one of the positions, is it difficult to change the windows switches?

  1. The memory seat recall works, but I seem to be unable to reprogram the positions, I never get to the point where the 'memory' button gets illuminated. How can I troubleshoot further?

Jan Fure

Reply to
Jan Fure
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Replace microswitch on selector.

Grit in guide - clean guide and / or squirt some WD 40 down it.

Which switch? IIRC the tunnel ones are easier than the door ones (or was it the other way round).

RTFM or perhaps the LED is not working. Does the ignition have to be on to reprogram?

Reply to
R. Mark Clayton

SG: Welcome to the world of BMW ownership - the only car I've ever owned that needs more TLC than my 1970 Land Rover :-)

SG: Sounds like the microswitch in the selector mechanism.

SG: What kind of sound? My front passenger window was making a fairly loud snapping sound (as if something had been stressed and had finally given way). This turned into a situation where the back part of the window wouldn't go down but the front did. The winder mechanism connects to the window itself via two plastic sliders and one of those had broken. I swapped it with one from one of the rear windows (they're all the same) and it's now working okay again.

SG: If it's the door mounted switch then remove the door lining and the switch will pop out. Be careful when doing this as there are two small chromed metal clips attached to the switch body that you might need to fit to the new switch and they are easy to loose ... voice of experience ;-)

SG: Sorry, can't help here ... my 730 doesn't have memory (except that it knows where all the petrol stations are ;-))

HTH

Reply to
SteveG

Thanks for your answers Mark;

  1. I have ordered the Bentley manuals, so I might have some more questions about how to get to the microswitch.

  1. The window switch is on the center console, how can I remove it, pry it out with a screwdriver, or pull it straight up, possibly holding the center ridge of the switch with a pair of pliers?

  2. I Read The Fine Manual, and it says the ignition key needs to be in position 1 or 2. It seems like it is worth changing the switch whether that is the problem or not, as memory button 1 stays permanently deprerssed (physically, not electrically)

Jan

Reply to
Jan Fure

Thanks for the answers Steve;

  1. The sound is definetly like a snapping sound, and more distinct on closing the window compared to opening it.

  1. It is not a door switch, it is located on the center console.

Jan

Reply to
Jan Fure

SG: The symptoms sound the same as mine, but who knows? I would suggest removing the inner door panel and watching the mechanism to see what's happening. The panel is held in by a series of plastic press studs around the front, bottom and back edges plus two 8mm bolts which are hidden behind the wooden strips - these just pop out. Remove the door lock button and lift the panel upwards to release it fully. Took me about 10 minutes once I'd found the two bolts :-)

To get a better view simply unhook the door catch cable and the panel can be removed completely.

SG: Okay, sorry but no experience of removing those.

HTH

Reply to
SteveG

New report after 2 weeks of ownership:

I had thought the brake pressure warnings were the result of poor electrical connections, but the warnings went away only momentarily after cleaning the connectors. A replacement of the pressure switch has kept the brake pressure warnling from returning for 4 days.

I replaced the (somewhat black) oil immediatly with dino oil, and after

2 weeks/300 miles, replaced the dino oil with Mobil 1, 0W-40. There is some noticable grit/metal stuck in the filter, bot not a large amount. I don't know if the previous owner used synthetic oil, as there appears to be some sludge or varnish visible when the oil filler cap is off.

I have seen some comments about filling the oil filter cannister as part of the oil change, to avoid low oil pressure at first startup. On my 750iL, there is hardly any oil in the cannister when I replace the filter, does that mean the anti drainback valve is leaking? The oil pressure light took maybe 4-5 seconds to turn off after the oil change, versus one second or less after a normal start. Does it make sense to poor oil into the oil filter cannister after the filter change?

Any other maintenance which is recommended? The car did get regular service, but is not mint, it seems like the Service Indicator board has shot NiCad batteries, as shorting pins 7 and 19 did not reset the oil change interval, how big job is it to take out the instrument cluster?

Jan

Reply to
Jan Fure

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