"Frenchlicker" (frenchlicker)
09/11/2015 at 08:25 • Filed to: BMW | 0 | 8 |
(Picture not of actual car)
When it comes to BMW’s that is. I am looking to replace a car that blew the head gasket and as I was going down the road I saw a car lot that had a beautiful old BMW sitting on it. Since I am not very savvy when it comes to them I had to do some googling. I’m not absolutely sure but I believe it is an E32. Now is the part where I need help, what specific problems should I look for when I go to look at it.
Schaefft
> Frenchlicker
09/11/2015 at 09:35 | 0 |
It is! Typical problems: Everything that comes with a 25 year old car. Is it a l6, V8 or V12? Manual or automatic?
LeadfootYT
> Frenchlicker
09/11/2015 at 09:50 | 1 |
Some top tips from someone who’s world is surrounded by BMW-related things.
—No V8s. I don’t care how good they sound.
—No V12s, particularly the pre-2001 V12. At the time the earlier V12 was designed, the software did not exist to operate fuel injection on a V12. So naturally, BMW took two straight-sixes and threw them together, complete with their own engine management, their own cooling, their own sensors, and more. If you get a V12, you are buying a car with two engines, and therefore two sets of sensors, components, and maintenance items to replace.
—Manuals are incredibly robust, but in particular, the Getrag 265 that they used throughout the ‘80s and well into the ‘90s.
—E32 was the first use of some kind of CAN Bus system. Plus side is, you can generally fix the system by blowing in the control module. Downside is, if that doesn’t fix it...
—The M30 engine is wonderful. The M30 was the straight-six used in one form or another from the ‘70s into the ‘90s. The E32 735i has this engine. This is a good engine.
—BMWs from the ‘90s and earlier are incredibly easy to work on. BMWs from the late ‘90s into the mid 2000s are also easy to work on, but if you know how to work on a BMW from 1981, you can work on a BMW from 1992.
DrScientist
> Frenchlicker
09/11/2015 at 10:09 | 0 |
my somewhat educated guess is that the particular car in the photo is a six cylinder e32. we had 735i’s and iL’s, and 750iL’s here in the sates. guessing youre in france? or canada? not sure what engine options you had there, but i’m guessing a few more options.
my guess comes only from the kidney grills.
while at some angles the e32 can be mistaken for the e34 5 series, the e34 had body colored metal around the grills.
also, the six cylinder versions had the narrow kidney grills. when they moved to 8 cylinders (i think only 1 or 2 years for the e32) they changed to a wider kidney grill. the wide kidneys were always used on the 750s.
david mentions above that the v8s are no good. and i’ve read that there were some years where the nikasil cylinder liners had problems. but i’ve also read that any v8 that is still running today will have had the issue corrected, or never had an issue at all.
DrScientist
> LeadfootYT
09/11/2015 at 10:10 | 0 |
besides the nikasil cylinder issue, is there anything else about the v8s that should be concerning? i have had an e38 v8 on my list for a few years now.
Frenchlicker
> LeadfootYT
09/11/2015 at 14:07 | 0 |
The engine thing is what really concerned me to be honest. When I checked Wikipedia it said it had a V12 and something in me automatically told me to avoid it, but I would have never guessed the V8 would be a bad choice.
Frenchlicker
> Schaefft
09/11/2015 at 14:09 | 0 |
I will be finding out tomorrow the details. I just wanted to be able to arm myself before even giving it a second thought.
Frenchlicker
> DrScientist
09/11/2015 at 14:10 | 0 |
It would be nice if there is background I for with the car, but it being on a lot I'm not holding out too much hope.
LeadfootYT
> DrScientist
09/12/2015 at 12:18 | 1 |
Nikasil doesn’t affect E38s, unless you’re in Europe and buying an early car. However, I’d go for the early V8 over the later V8 in any case—in addition to leaking oil from every imaginable (and unimaginable) gap, the M62 in the E38 and E39 is also infamous for the fact that its timing chain tensioners and guides are made out of plastic. This means that when they go, the heads becomes a maintenance item. There’s a reason you see so many E38 740s on Craigslist for $1100 that “need engine work”. It’s because the guides weren’t done (or didn’t give enough warning) and the engine jumped timing.
I own an E39 530 as a daily. The 530 is priced similarly to the 540 in the used market, but there’s a reason I chose the 5-speed straight-six over the six-speed V8. Two people I know have owned 540s—the first was $15,000 into a $5,000 car after a year, and the second (who had a gorgeous BMW Individual car) just decided to part it out when the guides went.