Just bought a 520i, funky smell from heater and some peace of mind needed!

[BigSister]

Hello everyone,

First let me say I know nothing, zero, diddly squat about cars. I needed a car, went to a 2nd hand dealer and foolishly believed what they said. Hence my problem...

I bought a 1992 520i 19 days ago. 18 days ago it broke down The car overheated while travelling on the highway, max temp in the red and white smoke coming from the engine when I stopped. Some helpful fellow from the service station then tried to top up the water levels and it boiled and erupted within seconds.

After getting towed about 60 km back to Prague and various arguments with the car dealer about who should pay for the repairs I got the car back yesterday and the heat problems seem OK. They replaced the cooling system (whatever that means, they showed me the things right at the front of the engine. Some water pump and the big fan)

I drove 150 km last night and the heat needle was normally at 11 o clock (I was driving quite slowly, maybe 100 km/h). Is that normal? I read on the forums that the gauge should show 12 o clock at all times? But it is quite cold here, last night was 8 degrees c.

The problem I noticed last night was a funky smell (A enginey oily smell). When the heater is off or when blowing cold air it is not present. But when I crank up the heat it is impossible to miss. Does that sound like a serious problem?

Also does anyone have any basic (and I ,mean real basic) BMV maintence tips. I`m not even sure how to check the oil or what pressure the tyres should be.

Many thanks for reading my somewhat long post and I hope someone can help.

[Boom n Zoom]

Ok, so it overheated.

To let you know, the smell is from the engine having roasted itself. The smell will dissapate in time, but I wouldn't like to put a timescale on it.

One other thing you could do it see if there is someone who could change the cabin filter as this may well have become 'soaked' in the odor and there for the smell will pervade the car everytime.

When you picked the car up did they say anything other than that they had replaced the waterpump?

Any cylinder head work at all?

If not find a Mechanic/radiator/cooling sytem specialist that you feel comfortable with talking to and ask them to pressure test the cooling system and to perform a compressing test to see if there is still a problem.

Not to alarm you but the head may well have warped, possibly even cracked and this need's to be covered under the warrenty from the dealer get it done really soon and if there is a problem still you are within your rights to get it repaired properly or have your money refunded.

The last is a little drastic for sure but if it comes to the crunch no-one here wants anyones first experieance of a BMV to be a bad one.

The oil dipstick is on the righthand side facing the back of the car (from the front) probably a red handle.
Remove it when the engine is cold and see A) what colour it is. and B) if it is at the top notch or line on the bottom 25cms of the dipstick.

The colour is importaint here let us know about that once you have done it.

As for tyre pressures there will be a black and silver sticker on the drivers door frame ('B' pillar where the seatbelt is but on the painted part down low ) this will give you different tyre sizes and pressures. To determine what tyres you have look at the tyres and you will see somewhere around the outside something like 205/60 R15. Take note of this and crosscheck it against what is written on the tyre placard (sticker) and that will give you the correct pressures to set them to.

Sorry for the even longer winded reply there will be more people along to help out I am sure.

Cheers!

[BigSister]

Thanks for the reply, I`m grateful you took the time.

The car overheated over 2 weeks ago and I only got it back yesterday. So do you think the smell is still lingering from then?

The big problem I had with the service people was that they speak a completely different language! I don`t mean the technical car talk, I mean I am English but live in the Czech Republic. I speak Czech but when it comes to specialist language like naming parts of cars I`m a bit lost

They did say that the cooling system on the car was completely knackered and basically not working at all. They said they will replace it but it is possible that there would be additional damage to the engine. When I picked up the car yesterday they said that everything seemed fine during their testing and the engine was OK. So I think they did check the head gasget (sp?) as well as the other likely problems that could be there after a serious overheat.

It was a specialist BMW service so I hope they would know what they needed to do to make sure everything was OK.

And I ended up paying for the towing and the repairs, consumer laws here seem to be crap to say the least. But I`m lucky to have a friend that is a lawyer so I hope to get back what I spent.

I am taking the day off from work tomorrow to clean and check the basics on the car. I`m sure I will be posting more then, first thing will probubly be how to open the bonnet

[SharkmanBMW]

the smell could be the heater core on it's way out...

[Dave M]

the smell could be the heater core on it's way out...

Second that, keep it in mind. Just in case you don't know, its the unit that dissipates heat from your cooling system to transfer to your cabin (heat vents). If its toast, you'll be be losing coolant and may have a wet carpet

I hope the cylinder head hasn't taken a beating. If I were you, I'd take the time and spend the $$ for a second professional opinion on the state of your engine. Just let them know you had a serious overheat and you'd like to know whether the head gasket and or the cylinder head are damaged. If you leave it too long, you may have an even harder time recovering your investment.

Oh, by the way, welcome aboard and, I bought one with a toasted head myself

[632 Regal]

Cool! Too bad you have to pay for the good stuff

http://www.bigsister.net/en/freestream.php

[BigSister]

Thanks for the replies guys, I will ask some friends for a honest mechanic recomendation and get a 2nd opinion. Meanwhile I will have fun tomorrow pottering around the car and trying to figure out whats what.

Cool! Too bad you have to pay for the good stuff

http://www.bigsister.net/en/freestream.php

Seems like someone takes an interest in members profiles. That stream you posted is being broadcast live from 2 floors below where I am sat right now

PM me if you want a free membership. Same goes to anyone else who has helped me out on this thread

[632 Regal]

I forsee your PM box to be clogged in no time LOL

[clhorton]

Yeah I agree that sounds like the heater core. I remember I got a funky smell before I had to change mine. That was fun.

Thanks for the replies guys, I will ask some friends for a honest mechanic recomendation and get a 2nd opinion. Meanwhile I will have fun tomorrow pottering around the car and trying to figure out whats what.



Seems like someone takes an interest in members profiles. That stream you posted is being broadcast live from 2 floors below where I am sat right now

PM me if you want a free membership. Same goes to anyone else who has helped me out on this thread

[Ross]

Third that.
Don't wait for wet carpet as that lovely smell will linger forever once the rug gets soaked.
Before you invest in a heater core (might just be a hose or o-ring too) make sure you haven't a blown head gasket.
Give that chubby girl a spanking for me.