Well, M5 lasted a week. Time to hit the wrenches. Need help guys RE Harmonic balancer

[MarkD]

Dmitry,

you are letting that dealer off far too easily. Have you even driven 1000 km's on the car yet? This problem is not what you expect in the first week, or even the first year!

The dealer probably bought that car for $10 to $12 K and then painted it so he has a lot of profit in there... get him to pay the whole bill.

But now I'm thinking you don't have a warranty or you would not be asking here.

And Markus Glarner is over an hour away. What will it cost to tow the car there? Even Autotrend can do the job. They work on lots of M-cars. When I had mine checked out there he had another 1993 M5 on the hoist beside mine.

Mark

[BigD]

Mark,

Yeah, I've put almost a click on it already. Did a lot of driving last week and this weekend. This problem can happen any time, again - not a new car.

By the way, about the profit, Will knows this guy and he met him at an auction after we closed the deal. He was griping about it because he sold the M5 for less than what he paid for it and was hoping to make money on mine. Will believes him and so do I. The prices on E34 M5's dropped drammatically once the new 5 came out (being 2 gen's old and all). I saw this car on Trader a year ago for 26k, which is when he must have bought it.

Well, I don't know if I have a warranty, but even if I did I'd still be asking. No used car dealer warrants their cars 100% (ie anything happens bring it back I'll fix it), except maybe for some manufacturers (ie GM selling used GM cars), or at least I've never seen anyone offering that. I heard back from the guy and he says he can give me the warranty (engine/trans only). Waiting to hear the details. I'm still sure it's limited to 3 figure repairs, but hopefully that'll be enough. I'll probably have to pay for the tow though (if I go through any dickhead it'll probably be more than the repair :-( ).

Mapquest says Markus is 120 km away from me, a little over an hour. I meant I'd go to him if it was something more serious. My friend who works at Chuck's has a Euro spec M3, and if he knows this engine well, I'll let him do it. He takes cash.

Dmitry

Dmitry,

you are letting that dealer off far too easily. Have you even driven 1000 km's on the car yet? This problem is not what you expect in the first week, or even the first year!

The dealer probably bought that car for $10 to $12 K and then painted it so he has a lot of profit in there... get him to pay the whole bill.

But now I'm thinking you don't have a warranty or you would not be asking here.

And Markus Glarner is over an hour away. What will it cost to tow the car there? Even Autotrend can do the job. They work on lots of M-cars. When I had mine checked out there he had another 1993 M5 on the hoist beside mine.

Mark

[Unregistered]

Dmitry,

Take a look at your ETK, you will see what I'm talking about. Group # 11......Harmonic balancer assembly

Jr

[BigD]

I'm at my University right now (100km from home), could you do a snapshot for me?

Well, it's looking better and better. My friend who was doing all the non-DIY work for me on the 535, also says he'll fix the S38 no problem. AND, my friend who did the valves, has offered to trailer the car for me to the mechanic.

Bottoms up for Good Samaritans!
Dmitry

Dmitry,

Take a look at your ETK, you will see what I'm talking about. Group # 11......Harmonic balancer assembly

Jr

[MarkD]

I'm at my University right now (100km from home), could you do a snapshot for me?

Well, it's looking better and better. My friend who was doing all the non-DIY work for me on the 535, also says he'll fix the S38 no problem. AND, my friend who did the valves, has offered to trailer the car for me to the mechanic.

Bottoms up for Good Samaritans!
Dmitry

Dmitry,
How is your friend going to "fix the S38 no problem" ? Is he giving you a free S38 crank that he just happens to have lying around and performing the labour for free? Don't be surprised if the crank's keyway is worn. The early Dinan chip has a rev. limiter that is set to 7500 rpm, too high for that motor! Over-reving will cause the HB to vibrate, destroy the keyway and come free. Call up the dealer and get him to fix this. You may be surprised what it will cost to fix.

Mark

[BigD]

I never said for free. He does good work and charges good rates, and takes cash. The revs never went that high, like I said I didn't even hit redline. If my friend says it will be hard to fix, then I will wait until I get the warranty coverage from the dealer. Otherwise I'll probably just pay for it myself. I'm not going to try to guess anything anymore.

Dmitry,
How is your friend going to "fix the S38 no problem" ? Is he giving you a free S38 crank that he just happens to have lying around and performing the labour for free? Don't be surprised if the crank's keyway is worn. The early Dinan chip has a rev. limiter that is set to 7500 rpm, too high for that motor! Over-reving will cause the HB to vibrate, destroy the keyway and come free. Call up the dealer and get him to fix this. You may be surprised what it will cost to fix.

Mark

[MarkD]

I never said for free. He does good work and charges good rates, and takes cash. The revs never went that high, like I said I didn't even hit redline. If my friend says it will be hard to fix, then I will wait until I get the warranty coverage from the dealer. Otherwise I'll probably just pay for it myself. I'm not going to try to guess anything anymore.

There's nothing to guess at. Anyway, I talked to my friend who has the BMW garage I checked out my M5 at, and mentioned a car with a loose harmonic balancer. His first two questions were:

1) Is it blue car?
2) was it owned by some student from Kingston (with a foreign name )


Mark

[BigD]

Yep, I'll see what my friend says when he pulls it off. See what the damage is and take it from there...

I don't know if he is a student from Kingston but he does have a foreign name. Why what else did he say?

There's nothing to guess at. Anyway, I talked to my friend who has the BMW garage I checked out my M5 at, and mentioned a car with a loose harmonic balancer. His first two questions were:

1) Is it blue car?
2) was it owned by some student from Kingston (with a foreign name )


Mark

[MarkD]

Yep, I'll see what my friend says when he pulls it off. See what the damage is and take it from there...

I don't know if he is a student from Kingston but he does have a foreign name. Why what else did he say?

Dmitry,

call me at the number shown on my website. I'll be going out around 1:40 or so.

Mark

[gordon]

Dimitry... unless you bought it "as is" (gulp, tell me you didn't)... the dealer has to cover it for at least the first 30 days... don't let anyone put a wrench to it until you talk to him....after someone else touches it it will be too late.
I was always told that whatever you pay for an "M" you should have in reserve to pay for engine work.....???