525e woes

Greetings all,

This is my first post here (hopefully I'd be regular enough
soon), and I'd like to share my experiences with a 1986
[1]525e (South African spec).

If anyone here has information on these cars, I'd be gratefull
if you'd share it :-). I've already got the bentley manual,
and have found the resources on the net which detail the
resetting of the service indicator lights (which, btw, dont
seem to work on my car - any more pointers in this regard would
help).

1. Anyway, my first problem with the car was sudden switching
off (for no reason) with the symptoms being that the engine
gradually lost revs (no matter waht motions were made on the
accelerator pedal) until it died. This happened fairly
frequently, and happened independent of engine temperature,
engine load, car speed or engine speed. Luckily it turned out
to be a faulty fuel pump relay.

2. The second seems more serious: the automatic gearbox
tends to downshift *very* frequently after the car has
been driven hard; at normal driving it behaves, but *after*
hard driving (full throttle up a hill, for example), the
car will downshift when you revert back to "normal" driving
(i.e. after the hill is over and down the other side). I've
been told that the bands in the box need replacing. To be
more completely clear, after full throttle up a hill,
taking your foot off the accelerator pedal down the other
side causes the car to downshift. This does not happen
if you climb the hill at half-throttle (and 1/3 the speed:-).


3. The car has developed a miss, which only occurs after
hard driving (No! I dont drive my car hard all the time :-).
The miss is more frequent between 500rpm to 2100rpm, and
initially only occurs after hard driving when you accelerate
from stop at full throttle, but tends to worsen if you
continue pushing the car hard. As the revs rise, it smoothens
out a little (less missing).

Anyway, thats all for now. Once I figure out the answers
(if, that is, you ladies and gentlemen dont give me the
answers first :-), I'll post them here for the benefit of
other 525e owners.

ps. I'm also interested in finding parts cheap for this
car in South Africa. The places that I've found are
waaaaaaay too expensive, and their attitude is "hey, its
a rare car you know, if you dont like it, tough, you wont
fund it anywhere else".

I've actually been able to buy some parts brand-new at the
agents at less than half what the scrapyards wanted!

NOTES:
[1]. 528e, in certain markets.

cheers,
goose,
peer driving pressure :-)

> This is my first post here (hopefully I'd be regular enough
> soon), and I'd like to share my experiences with a 1986
> [1]525e (South African spec).

Nice car, I have an 87 :-)

> 2. The second seems more serious: the automatic gearbox
> tends to downshift *very* frequently after the car has
> been driven hard; at normal driving it behaves, but *after*
> hard driving (full throttle up a hill, for example), the
> car will downshift when you revert back to "normal" driving
> (i.e. after the hill is over and down the other side). I've
> been told that the bands in the box need replacing. To be
> more completely clear, after full throttle up a hill,
> taking your foot off the accelerator pedal down the other
> side causes the car to downshift. This does not happen
> if you climb the hill at half-throttle (and 1/3 the speed:-).

With anything like this I'd try a fluid and filter screen replacement
first. You've nothing to lose!

> 3. The car has developed a miss, which only occurs after
> hard driving (No! I dont drive my car hard all the time :-).
> The miss is more frequent between 500rpm to 2100rpm, and
> initially only occurs after hard driving when you accelerate
> from stop at full throttle, but tends to worsen if you
> continue pushing the car hard. As the revs rise, it smoothens
> out a little (less missing).

Check all the wiring connectors in the engine bay are clean. Don't
forget the connections to the alternator (I know it sounds unrelated but
trust me on this one!). Also worth checking the rotor arm and
distributor cap, Motronic engine don't like them to be worn.

Lastly be sure you don't have a vacuum leak, it may only be a problem
when the hoses are warm and more flexible.

--
Who needs a life when you've got Unix? :-)
Email: , John G.Burns B.Eng, Bonny Scotland
Web : http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk - The Ultimate BMW Homepage!
Need Sun or HP Unix kit? http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/unix.html

John Burns > wrote in message >...
> > This is my first post here (hopefully I'd be regular enough
> > soon), and I'd like to share my experiences with a 1986
> > [1]525e (South African spec).
>
> Nice car, I have an 87 :-)

Very nice :-).

<snipped gearbox strangeness>

>
> With anything like this I'd try a fluid and filter screen replacement
> first. You've nothing to lose!

I intend to, in the coming weekend.

>
> > 3. The car has developed a miss, which only occurs after
> > hard driving (No! I dont drive my car hard all the time :-).
> > The miss is more frequent between 500rpm to 2100rpm, and
> > initially only occurs after hard driving when you accelerate
> > from stop at full throttle, but tends to worsen if you
> > continue pushing the car hard. As the revs rise, it smoothens
> > out a little (less missing).
>
> Check all the wiring connectors in the engine bay are clean. Don't
> forget the connections to the alternator (I know it sounds unrelated but
> trust me on this one!). Also worth checking the rotor arm and
> distributor cap, Motronic engine don't like them to be worn.

Good advice. My list of "checks" included all those, albeit in
a different order. The problem seemed to be the plugs (second on my
list). The first four seemed fine when I took them out, but #5 and #6
were a little odd. The plug seemed to be burning well, but the
actual bits of the plug that stick out the engine (traditionally
white in colour) were burnt (very brown, no longer white).

Obviously I put the wrong plugs in when I last changed them (about
8000km ago), but shouldn't all deteriorate at the same time, and
shouldn't the plugs not get burnt on the outside?

Anyone know whether plugs are rated for heat tolerance?

>
> Lastly be sure you don't have a vacuum leak, it may only be a problem
> when the hoses are warm and more flexible.

Actually, there *is* a leak somewhere, not too sure where though,
as I've found that a leak /anywhere/ in this engine causes the
engine to misfire and/or switch off. Pulling out the dipstick
or removing the oil cap while the engine is running causes it
to misfire and eventually switch off. Is this normal in this car?


thanks in advance,
goose

> Anyone know whether plugs are rated for heat tolerance?

Yes, it's part of the number coding. At least on Bosch plugs. Don't know
the details.

> Actually, there *is* a leak somewhere, not too sure where though,
> as I've found that a leak /anywhere/ in this engine causes the
> engine to misfire and/or switch off. Pulling out the dipstick
> or removing the oil cap while the engine is running causes it
> to misfire and eventually switch off. Is this normal in this car?

Yes. Best ideal is to strip out all the intake tubing, good excuse to
clean the engine :-)

--
Who needs a life when you've got Unix? :-)
Email: , John G.Burns B.Eng, Bonny Scotland
Web : http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk - The Ultimate BMW Homepage!
Need Sun or HP Unix kit? http://www.unixnerd.demon.co.uk/unix.html

"goose" > wrote in message
om...
> Actually, there *is* a leak somewhere, not too sure where though,
> as I've found that a leak /anywhere/ in this engine causes the
> engine to misfire and/or switch off. Pulling out the dipstick
> or removing the oil cap while the engine is running causes it
> to misfire and eventually switch off. Is this normal in this car?


Actually yes it is normal behavior. If it doesn't, you know you have a
leaky oil cap. :-)

The dipstick needs to seal well also.

Not sure if the eta works the same, but I had a leak in the hose running
from the fuel regulator at the front of the motor to the "back" of the
intake manifold -- that is, to a fitting on the exhaust side of the motor.

-Russ.