Are 97 528's reliable?

"Dave Plowman (News)" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> Jeff Strickland > wrote:
> > I don't know about your 5 Series, but I have a 3 Series with the same
> > motor, and it has been almost completely trouble free in over 100,000
> > miles (California). I bought my car with about the same miles as your
> > car, and before long the plastic radiator tank broke on a narrow
> > mountain road with no pull outs. I limped my car to the top of the hill
> > after stopping several times to let it cool off. From the failure point
> > to the top of the hill was only about 5 miles, and three stops. From the
> > top of the hill, I switched the motor off and coasted to the bottom,
> > about 7 miles, where I was able to get a tow truck to take me home.
>
> With pretty well any car these days if it runs low on coolant for whatever
> reason it's best to just stop. Aluminium heads - and or blocks - really
> don't take kindly to being cooked. The cost of a tow off a motorway -
> dunno what the US equivalent is - is likely to be less than the repair
> costs if you limp on. Cast iron donks could stand all sorts of abuse, but
> those days are gone.
>

Agreed, but when the road is narrow, winding and dark, and there is no place
to put the car so it will not get hit or the tow truck that comes to get it
will not get hit, driving to the first wide spot is the only option. My
mistake was in waiting for the motor to cool, then going the next 2 miles to
the top of the hill so I could coast to the bottom. The red warning light
only came on as I crested the hill. It was on for perhaps 30 seconds, I am
sure this must be about 31 seconds too long.

You're right, the tow would have cost much less than the repairs. But I was
so much younger then, I'm older that that now.