New to BMW

[Waynester]

Hi chaps..

I pick up my '97 523i SE tomorrow, silver, FSH, auto/Tip, 82,000 miles & spotless.

Decided to sell my old Mondeo & get something a bit... comfier.

Anything in particular to look at with these cars?

Thx.

[Waynester]

[dcb]

Waynester said:

82,000 miles & spotless.

..

Anything in particular to look at with these cars?

I think you got the cart before the horse.

Shouldn't you be checking the car out before you
buy it, not after ?

Given the age of the chariot, why not invest a few
quid in a local independent and get them to give
it the once over and find out what's wrong with
it now that you've bought it ?

[stone-islandV8]

With the 6 cyl engines between '96 and '98 theres the possible issue over nikasil lined engines which were problematic however theres a good chance that the engine may well have been sorted by BMW and, if not, keep an eye on oil level and avoid short stop-start journeys without the engine getting warm.

On the E39s theres loads of electrics so check everything works. The pixels on the dash display have a habit of 'dropping' over time.

Might be worth getting the auto box checked over and get the box's oil changed with a new filter.

Hope that helps.

[miniman]

15 pages of things - some obvious, some not - that you might not know your E39 does:

http://www.bmwland.co.uk/talker/viewtopic.php?t=42...

[Waynester]

I've only left a deposit on this car, going to view this afternoon, and if all checks out then was going to have it.

Just wanted to be aware of all the facts so i (kinda) knew what i was talking about.

This 'Nikasil' thing is a little disconcerting! I have done an HPI check so have the engine number. I might give the BMW dealership a call & see if they can shed any light on the engine.

Thanks for the advice.

[stone-islandV8]

Call BMW HO at Bracknell and they'll be able to tell you. Also, if you do a search on nikasil on a forum like e36coupe.com or bmwland.com there will be photos to show the two types.

Its not a massive problem and its not just BMs that used nikasil either and had issues.

I've had a 520 which had nikasil block and I changed the engine, then went to a 535....love the E39.

[Waynester]

Yep, just called BMW UK, who stated the full main dealer S/H is full & complete. Last serviced Dec '07.

They also showed just 1 recall for the boot something or other....
No engine work but assured it was mainly done as precaution on some cars, and that if the car is ok today then there should be no issues anymore.

Here's hoping all goes ok later.

Thanks everyone for the advice, good to know these things.