m-keith
02-25-2004, 04:14 PM
I ran across a 92 525 auto that has been sitting for a year. The owner claims that it was running when parked, it has about 170K, & he's willing to let it go for $500. However, no effort was made to "mothball" the car before it was parked. To check this car out, my plan is to bring a fresh battery & the tools necessary to remove the spark plugs. I plan to remove the plugs, pour a little oil down each plug hole, disable the fuel & ignition, install my battery, & crank the motor over until it builds oil pressure. Then I plan to enable fuel & ignition, & try to run the car. I want to drive it just enough to verify that it runs & drives as well as to get it up to operating temp in order to perform a compression test. If I buy it, I'll trailer it home, & go through it properly.
What is the easiest way to disable fuel & ignition, & is spark plug access difficult? In the few under-hood pics of 525's I've seen, I can't see the plug wires. I presume they're hidden by that plastic cover.
Since this is my first post, I guess a little background/into is in order. I'm a long-time car nut, I've done some SCCA club racing, & I'd consider myself an advanced DIY'er. I've never owned a BMW, but I've always liked 'em. I probably won't own this car either (yet). I'm actually helping out my brother-in-law. He blew the motor in his Honda & needs something to get him by until the end of this year when he plans to buy a truck. Being the family car nut, such tasks usually come my way. I'm more into Alfa Romeos myself; I guess they satisfy my masochistic streak. :D I'm also into VW's although I don't own one at the moment. My race car was an '85 Golf
OTOH, if my bro-in-law passes on it, I may buy it myself, or, when he gets his truck, I might buy it from him. It'd be nice to have a 3rd car, & I figure it's hard to go wrong at $500. Even if it turns out to be a complete POS, I could still part it out.
I tried a couple of archive searches but didn't come up with much in the way of pre-purchase inspections. If this subject has already been discussed at length, I'll gladly accept some good search terms for the archives in order to avoid repetition. Thanks in advance for any input.
What is the easiest way to disable fuel & ignition, & is spark plug access difficult? In the few under-hood pics of 525's I've seen, I can't see the plug wires. I presume they're hidden by that plastic cover.
Since this is my first post, I guess a little background/into is in order. I'm a long-time car nut, I've done some SCCA club racing, & I'd consider myself an advanced DIY'er. I've never owned a BMW, but I've always liked 'em. I probably won't own this car either (yet). I'm actually helping out my brother-in-law. He blew the motor in his Honda & needs something to get him by until the end of this year when he plans to buy a truck. Being the family car nut, such tasks usually come my way. I'm more into Alfa Romeos myself; I guess they satisfy my masochistic streak. :D I'm also into VW's although I don't own one at the moment. My race car was an '85 Golf
OTOH, if my bro-in-law passes on it, I may buy it myself, or, when he gets his truck, I might buy it from him. It'd be nice to have a 3rd car, & I figure it's hard to go wrong at $500. Even if it turns out to be a complete POS, I could still part it out.
I tried a couple of archive searches but didn't come up with much in the way of pre-purchase inspections. If this subject has already been discussed at length, I'll gladly accept some good search terms for the archives in order to avoid repetition. Thanks in advance for any input.