I am back with an E34!!!

[Bruno]

I just picked up a 1992 525i Touring M50 non vanos.
Mileage: 186600 miles still with self leveling that seems to work.
Black on black, engine seems to run smoothly, there is no rust on the car, needs some TLC on the interior.

The problem is that the car overheats, the shop changed the thermostat, fan clutch and radiator by the look of it, they thought it was a headgasket so they wanted to dump the car. There is also a problem with the door locks and there is a massive battery drain.

I am pretty excited to get back into the community with something else than an E24.

I think I am going to try the bleed the cooling circuit and then see if there is something obvious before doing the headgasket.

[Paul in NZ]

looks nice!Hope you solve the overheating easily!perhaps it needs the little hole drilled in the thermostat to aid bleeding.

[attack eagle]

Lock problems could be the bad gate harness if you have something other than the one funky door syndrome (lock motor)

Wonder if they ever changed the w. pump?

Looking forward to seeing the results of a leakdown test.

[Booster]

I wonder if a good old Prestone radiator flush wouldn't clean her out right ??
Cheers,vinny

[Bruno]

I wonder if a good old Prestone radiator flush wouldn't clean her out right ??
Cheers,vinny

I am so amazed with this car, every single bolt looks new... You have to love Texas cars, I am sure that they rarely see much rain or snow over there heheh.

I need to wait for the battery to charge before I play around more with the cooling circuit.

I am sooo excited, more projects.

[525i winter driver]

welcome to the e34 club, there's this amazing website you should know about .

my overheat was the pump... po had replaced the radiator, pipes, thermo, fan, and motor(!) but not the pump... engine ran smooth air came out cold in the vents even at high engine temperature.

[Bruno]

welcome to the e34 club, there's this amazing website you should know about .

my overheat was the pump... po had replaced the radiator, pipes, thermo, fan, and motor(!) but not the pump... engine ran smooth air came out cold in the vents even at high engine temperature.

Looks like the fan clutch, rad, hoses, thermostat and pump is new. I had to fill up the rad with another 4 liters of distilled water...
Could be that they didn't know how to fill up and bleed the M50 engine, they can be tricky sometimes, not all shops know how to do it.

As for the locks locking and unlocking non stop, I think it is due to someone hacking into the harness to install then partialy remove the remote starter...
ARG, I hate electrical grimlins.

[genphreak]

Looks like the fan clutch, rad, hoses, thermostat and pump is new. I had to fill up the rad with another 4 liters of distilled water...
Could be that they didn't know how to fill up and bleed the M50 engine, they can be tricky sometimes, not all shops know how to do it.

As for the locks locking and unlocking non stop, I think it is due to someone hacking into the harness to install then partialy remove the remote starter...
ARG, I hate electrical grimlins.

Yes, but that's why they are so cheap!

Sounds like your close to being on top of em tho Bruno. Welcome home, btw!

[NielsGalan]

Welcome back, Bruno.

I just went through overheating hell, only to find that my problem was the simplest, stupidest of them all. I had a bad hose, that's all. Mind you, it was the one hose that you can't see or inspect without tearing everything apart (at least on my engine). It was the smal v-shaped hose running from the coolant pump to the thermostat. At first, all hoses looked ok, so I eliminated them from being the problem. So after a new thermostat and an all-nighter replacing the coolant pump and still no cure, I found this one pos hose to be bad. And at the end of the hose that isn't visible.

I don't know the layout of your engine or if you've checked this, but I thought I'd just throw it in there. After all, I've had so much joy from your website that it would be an honor to be able to give some back.

[Jr ///M5]

That's a lucky E34 indeed Bruno, to have you for an owner. Glad to see you back in the graces and pitfalls of the E34, it's been a long time.

We missed you...

JR