new car, new problems

[steve0suprem0]

okey dokey. i just picked the 525 up on saturday, and i love her to death. best car i've ever owned (my previous favorite car was a 16v scirocco).

now the problems...
it didn't come with a manual. i'll stop by the stealership tomorrow and try to pick one up.

passenger door handle isn't connected to the linkage. gotta open that from the inside. i assume there's just something disconnected. how hard is removing the door cards? also locking from this door locks the rest, but locking from anywhere else and this door ignores it. i tried the lock sync thing, didn't work, so i'll worry about that after i get the handle connected.

weather stripping needs to be glued down. only on the rear doors.

right license plate light is out, and changing the bulb doesn't fix it. read about following the wiring and finding a short, so i'll do that tonight.

any further suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
all in all, i still love the car. just beautiful. i get these little bugs fixed, and i'll be happy as a pig in sh*t.

[saj3n]

I was looking for a PDF version of the manual online, wasn't able to find the owners manual, but did find other manuals which may prove useful:

http://hosting.data.bg/bmw/BMW/E-Books/

Have you checked the fuses for the license plate light? Somtimes, even with a blown fuse, it may work and operate only one light. I've had this happen before.

[Fetch]

edit: nevermind, didn't read correctly. Sounds like a wire short in the passenger's door

[steve0suprem0]

Have you checked the fuses for the license plate light? Somtimes, even with a blown fuse, it may work and operate only one light. I've had this happen before.

reeeealllly. i hadn't checked, but only because i figured if the fuse was out, they'd both be out. i will check that as soon as school's out.

[gmannino]

Just take apart the door panel and reattach the door handle to the lever cable. The license plate lights are either bulbs are out or blown fuse, sounds like a bunch of minors problems.
Good luck with our new e34, most people love them.

[mgictch2]

Get a bently asap . Just bought the red 525 that was posted on the board yesrterday . Came with a bentley manual , i am no pro mechanic but it makes a major difference .

[aston_jag_tech]

Bentley Manual is ok. I bought one and was sort of unimpressed. It does give some good mech info and tech specs. But the wiring diagrams are, well, just lines. Barely any info on the circuits. Ill buy a manual from the dealer and post it some day.

[steve0suprem0]

wasn't a bulb or a fuse... so that's probably the biggest problem i've got.
that and the passenger side door...

i had a bentley for the scirocco, and i'll order one as soon as i move, which will hopefully be soon. i've gotta sleep in the car in my neighborhood. when i'm home.

[steve0suprem0]

okay, i did a bit of research. the rattle at high speed didn't turn out to be the wipers. but now i have oem ones. woo. (don't think that was ever a complaint in this thread, but...)

got a bentley, fixed my passenger side door handle problem. my dumbass forgot to connect the inner handle linkage. gotta fix that after school. retard.

but here's my biggest problem:
i tried to trace the source of my license plate light being out. followed thru the trunk, along the arm of the trunk, dead end not far after that. i thought "oh well, i'll figure it out tomorrow." got to the girlfriend's house and discovered that now BOTH license plate lights are out, along with my right tail light, and the amber parking light up front on the right.

WHAT THE HELL DID I DO??????? i didn't actually mess with anything. just jiggled some wires. none of my fuses up front are blown. i understand there's some under the seat - could it be under there? is it this LKM thing i've not looked into yet? i'll search on that at lunch, gotta get to class. but this sweet ride that i thought was gonna be so rad has turned into the bane of my existence.

YAAAAAAARGH!

[NovceGuru]

my dumbass forgot to connect the inner handle linkage. gotta fix that after school. retard.



Hahaha I did this about a month ago, I didn't tell anybody though :(

The wires the follow the tubular hinge can get pinched, I haven't read this entire post incase somebody already suggested that.

NovceGuru

[steve0suprem0]

oh yeah, i forgot to mention - also my dash and instrument lights are out and when i lock the doors, there's this awful grinding sound coming from the trunk. WTF???

where does this pinching of wires occur exactly? i followed them and didn't see anything. the fabric holding the bundle together frayed but i didn't see any damage to the wires or insulation. this was in the trunk just before the bundle disappeared.

i'm at my wit's end with this freaking ten grand pile of crap.

[NovceGuru]

Did you actually ever check to see if the bulbs happened to be burned out? One of mine is still out and the wires "look" just fine, but I notice when I open the trunk, both come on, a few inches from it being shut, the right one goes out,

As for the grinding sound, I assume its the locking mechanism jammed up, maybe it needs lubed up. No clue about your dashlights, maybe you need to replace the cluster, or some components of the cluster.

HTH

NovceGuru

[Flamin'Cow]

i just picked the 525 up on saturday, and i love her to death


i still love the car. just beautiful. i get these little bugs fixed, and i'll be happy as a pig in sh*t.


i'm at my wit's end with this freaking ten grand pile of crap.

LOL - the downward spiral.....

[632 Regal]

check the wiring at the trunk hinge, saw lots of posts with frayed wires in that area.

[Paul in NZ]

you buy a 11 year old car and expect it to be perfect?The wires are on the LH trunk hinge hidden behing a plastic sheath.The sheath is slightly too long and bends the wires and some eventually break and this can cause shorts.This may be the reason for the license plate lights and the noises coming from the trunk.check it out and post back.Dont expect too much help if you make posts like

i'm at my wit's end with this freaking ten grand pile of crap