Checklist when buying used BMW

"JamieB" wrote

BMWs don't generally respond well to tire rotations, as the camber setups are different front/rear. The front tires wear on the interior, the rears usually wear in the center (unless under-inflated).

Some tramlining and response to road crown is expected and normal.

FloydR

Hum? Interior - never seen tyres/tires fitted inside out.........

However Floyd I have just driven a 730d fitted with 20" wheels and "adaptive" suspension. This setup has Comfort and Sport settings but only for the dampers. On Sport the car is nice but can wander with a few bump bump on road cracks and unevenness, on Comport it floats and wallows like a boat and didn't seem to know what it wanted to do or where to go probably due to the thin tires and large wheels.

If one was prone to travel sickness then this setup is NOT one to be ordered as it turned a great car into a heap.

The stock 7 series set up is very good with 18" or 19" wheels but NOT the 20".

If you only use the car for say 20 miles a week and have another then the Sport setup is Ok but hey man for everyday driving is no better than an un sprung horse drawn buggy or wagon that the cowboy's use in the wild west films....

Sir Hugh of Bognor

The difference between men and boys is the price of their toys. Intelligence is not knowing the answer but knowing where and how to find it!

Hugh Gundersen snipped-for-privacy@h-gee.co.uk Bognor Regis, W.Sussex, England, UK

"Inside edge" better for you?

On second thought, it might be the outside edge wearing 1st - both of our BMWs have new tires that don't yet show wear.

FloydR

Thanks all, interesting topic.

Here's one I found at the Unix Nerd's BMW site that got me. He mentioned BMW clutches are harder than other cars, and he liked that. Then he said if they are too hard, something expensive to fix (broken 'ears') might be the case. I'm still leaning in the direction of a

Thanks again, Jamie

Mine is a '92 E34/M50 with a 5 speed (117.000 mi). The clutch is hydraulic and I can't say it's 'hard' by any means. However, if it were to get stiff I'd surely think something amiss. Never heard of or experienced any 2nd gear issues.

I've rotated my tires about every 10K or so and been getting decent mileage out of them except the factory tires (Uniroyal Ralley's) which went to about 20K (lot's of Autobahn driving might explain it). Second set were Pirelli P6's which took me to ~50K (still some Autobahn, but came to US removing that accelerated wear component), then GoodYear AquaTred 2's to around 116,000 and now GoodYear Assurance's.

I've done somewhat regular alignments too, including the thrust angle alignment which some shops do not/can not do so have been only to Goodyear (Gemini). The one I use here locally has been very good.

For other than tires/alignments and the little things I do myself, my car has only been to BMW dealerships for servicing. Some may squawk at that due to cost, but I think of my bud and his 325i (and his Volvo 740 & 244 before that) using a European car specialist for his servicing (who charged only about $5/hr less than BMW) and the nothing but troubles he had with all three. That's not always the case with local shops I'm sure. If I were a statistician I bet the volume of problems/issues/complaints would be higher against local shops vs. a dealership (at least in BMW's case). So I pay a bit more to get the odds in my favor and know they're using quality parts and I don't have to wonder if they shop did this or that.

In an earlier thread you mentioned the maintenance cost concern. My car actually cost me less than a buddy with an Oldsmobile Cutlass wagon for routine servicing. I think the true difference (and this is very prejudicial on my part) is typical owners of american badged cars buy them, fuel them, maybe change the oil now and again and that's about it. If they were to take them in for the recommended servicing they would probably be shocked at the expense. I realize you are intending on doing your own maintenance, but what I mentioned may help ease your apprehension.

Good luck finding your car!

Nate

Dumb suffixing my own note, but heh, I forgot to mention something...

Mine idles somewhat rough. Not bad at all and many would not think anything of it or even notice, but it's not silky smooth as you might expect and FWIW indicates about 600 RPM on the dash. I would have been very upset had this very fact not been mentioned in a late 1991 Car & Driver comparison of the 1992 525i, Saab 9000 Turbo (my other consideration) and several more I was reading before buying. My recollection is a sentence or two devoted to this anomaly for a BMW. Once up beyond idle even the slightest, it's smooth as silk all the way to the redline.

Although not absolutely positive, I'm fairly certain I read the idle issue disappeared in the 1993 M50 engine with VANOS variable valve timing.

Nate

It all depends which car you're looking at. Some of the E36s (and E46s) have had problems with the rear subframe mounting area with stress cracks appearing. I've not heard of it on other models. I believe some of the 2.0 engines can rattle from the timing chain area and it's not uncommon to get a lot of tappet or vanos noise from the vanos engines.

In general, if the engine starts and drives fine then all will be well. Gearbox failures tend to be catastrophic but not all that common.

In general though, and something which will be unfamiliar to you coming from volvos is the BMW suspension is or should be a lot tighter. There are a lot of ball joints or bushes particularly on the

Some mid-90's cars had poor cats fitted which break up and rattle eventually dissappearing or clogging the exhausts. Fuel tanks can be susceptable to rusting.

It's common for the airbag/SRS light to come on so some dodgey sellers might cover that up.

Many thanks again for the replies.

At this point I think the two cars I am looking at would be the mid-1990's E34 525i or the E32 730/735i (I don't recognize this model from memory - so I might lean toward a 740)

Thanks, Jamie

As a preface, 'Exx' ("Entwicklungsnummer" or 'project number') is a bodyshell/chassis designator; 'Mxx ...' ('Motor') is an engine designator. Alll older E numbers are distinct. M numbers with the same first two digits are very similar to one another. The succeeding numbers and letters signify increasing refinements.

I'm not quite sure why you have an anomalous 'disconnect' here. If you want an inline six, you should not eliminate the E34 535i.

If you are including the two V8s (the '-30' and '-40' in 730 and 740), you should also include the E34 530i and the E34 'hot rod' first year

If you are in the US, I am pretty certain you will not find an E32

-- C.R. Krieger (Been there; done that)

Hi, Thanks for the details regarding the models. I wasn't aware of much of what you mentioned. About the models I am looking for, I am still trying to learn the variants of the body styles and combinations. Yes, if I find a 535i I will definitely consider it.

In a nutshell, before coming to this forum, the ONLY thing I could tell you I knew about BMW is they made: 318, 325, 525, Z3, Z4, M3. That's all I knew. So when I am looking at what's out there I see the

I'm still getting over information overload on the E and M things. It's a lot to remember for a newbie - even with the charts I have.

Thanks again, jamie