Concerned with parts under the hood...

Hey all, Im so glad I found this forum, its great! Just today I fixed my twisted passenger seat thats been bugging me for awhile...

Some info about me; Im 18 and just got my license about 8 months ago.
My mom bought a 535i back in '91 and has been driving it for about 11 years, she didnt feel she had to buy a new car for so many years because the 535i never gave her any major problems and was very reliable. Now we have a larger family so she drives an SUV. lol, she is still very attached to the 535 so instead of selling it she gave to me ;) she told me my car should last another 150k, lol I wouldnt have to buy a car for a verrrryyy long time lol. ok im rambling....

a couple days ago I was putting washer fluid in the tank and decided to look around the engine bay and 1)i find this loose cable that seems to come out from where you put the coolant, doesnt lead to anything, just dangles(pic attached, i drew a red line on the cable)
2)around the drivers side headlight there are 2 tubes that look like they are supposed to connect, are they?(pic attached)
are these things normal?? or should i take the car to the mechanic.
btw, the car drives great and im not getting any warning messages.
thanks!!

Hey You New At This Bimmer Thing Too,i Also Have A 91 And Im Tring To Get Some Info But I Think Were The Only Two Here. Im Charlieby The Way You Have Anything Done To Your Car Or Ya Just Going To Leaveit Stock

Congrats on the car. I've had my 91 535 for 11+ years too. My favorite of all the BMWs we have or had....
The first thing you mentioned isn't a cable at all, it is the overflow tube from the coolant resivoir. Just leave it as is...
the second is teh cooling duct for the alternator. Just hook the two pieces back togetehr. It's not uncommon for the duct pipe to become brittle and crap out.. I have seen many w/o it over the years. Well, take good care of that car and stay up to date on the board. You will find many great people here that will gladly lend a hand. Welcome!

Nope I havnt done anything to my car...yet. lol
So far from what I read on the forums the EAT chip looks like a good item to get for my car, and then after that probably clear corners, 17'' tires and slightly darker tinted windows. That probably all im gonna do.
Here is a pic of my car
http://img28.exs.cx/img28/7350/5i.jpg

in the 1st pic the "cable" is really the overflow tube for the cooling system, it directs any coolent that should blow past the cap in a safe/clean direction.
the 2nd pic is of the alternator cooling duct, they always break like that it's very common, get a new one, tape old one back together or ignore it, all are ok options

Thanks for the welcome JeremyT!
Im very glad that its nothing too serious, will be fixing first thing tommorow..

were ya thinking of getting your chip at Ive been looking around and Ive found a few places that have them I my self am thinking Bavauto chip sound good cause they take care of installing it for ya the only bad part is that your out of a car for a couple days what do you think

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Originally Posted by charlie's E-34

were ya thinking of getting your chip at Ive been looking around and Ive found a few places that have them I my self am thinking Bavauto chip sound good cause they take care of installing it for ya the only bad part is that your out of a car for a couple days what do you think

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I havnt been looking for chips too much, I was reading some posts about the EAT chip and it sounded good, dont know anything about the bavauto chip though. Ill look around the net to see where I can buy the EAT chip.

Yeah, the alternator cooling duct was a <$10 part ($3.50 if I'm remembering correctly) - even from the dealer. It just pops right on.

I can't really understand why an alternator would need it's own 'cold-air intake' - I've seen much larger alternators in much hotter environments without even a shroud over the cooling fan - but BMW did it for a reason, I'm assuming. There's probably a good reason to have it working correctly. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JLD

Hey all, Im so glad I found this forum, its great! Just today I fixed my twisted passenger seat thats been bugging me for awhile...

Some info about me; Im 18 and just got my license about 8 months ago.
My mom bought a 535i back in '91 and has been driving it for about 11 years, she didnt feel she had to buy a new car for so many years because the 535i never gave her any major problems and was very reliable. Now we have a larger family so she drives an SUV. lol, she is still very attached to the 535 so instead of selling it she gave to me ;) she told me my car should last another 150k, lol I wouldnt have to buy a car for a verrrryyy long time lol. ok im rambling....

a couple days ago I was putting washer fluid in the tank and decided to look around the engine bay and 1)i find this loose cable that seems to come out from where you put the coolant, doesnt lead to anything, just dangles(pic attached, i drew a red line on the cable)
2)around the drivers side headlight there are 2 tubes that look like they are supposed to connect, are they?(pic attached)
are these things normal?? or should i take the car to the mechanic.
btw, the car drives great and im not getting any warning messages.
thanks!!

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The two tubes - YES, they go together.