1994 BMW 5 Series 525i SE estate from UK and Ireland - Comments

The guy I brought the car from was absolutely useless, didn't want to know about problems with the car even when it was under warranty.

Let's start with the transmission, automatic gearbox was cream crackered when I brought the car, I couldn't tell on the test drive as I didn't take it very far. The car insisted doing 60 mph in second gear, this sounded dreadful.

Then, the air conditioning was coming out hot in the middle of summer, it was basically bloody useless.

Then the double sunroof packed in 1 year after I brought the car, just after the warranty ran out. The guy at the garage didn't want to know, of course. I went to my BMW garage and they told me it would cost £1200 to fix, so I have disconnected the motor.

Apart from those problems, the car is great. The guy at the garage fixed the air conditioning and the transmission, I knew he didn't want to, but I just kept arguing with him.

The leather seats are total luxury.

Full electrics, loads of speakers dotted around, great sound.

I had a bit of trouble finding the button for the total closure, but I got there in the end.

I know what you mean about that total closure button, very tempremental!

I am seeking advice rather than placing a comment. In Jan 2003 my car, a 525iSE, had an oil service at BMW garage and within six months the dash is flashing low oil warning message. The car has done only 82000 miles, it's an L reg and has a full BMW service history. Since the service, in Jan 2003, only 5000 miles has been clocked in the car. My question is should the car be running low in oil so soon after an oil service? I am pretty sure there are no leaks.

Secondly, when I first start the car there is a ticking noise, from the engine, which lasts for few seconds than it ceases. I was told this could mean the tappits needs adjusting. Again my question is for a car of such quality should the parts be mal-functioning so soon as the car has only done 82000 miles?

Feedback would be appreciated.

James.

BMW's although great cars, around 85-90,000 miles start having little problems. of course even little problems can cost a lot with these cars though. at that age of a BMW it is good to go and get a full tune up, and have all of the hoses checked and any leaks checked, as they are tell tail signs of problems to come. after doing a few routine replacements on BMW's with that many miles the car should run great up to about 140-160,000 miles where the same things could happen again. it is all in how you drive the car, where you drive it, and how fast you add the miles. as for James with the oil leak, first of all, the oil of a bmw should be changed every 3-4,000 miles because of how hot the engines run, and especially if you have a lead foot. if you have a leak, a common problem with oil leaks in BMW's is that the gaskets grow old and fall apart creating leaks, and crap in your oil. check your gaskets and flush the oil compartment several times with clean oil straining it every time in case of any clumps. hope this helps.

I bought my 525i SE Touring '94 in 1998. It had 78,000 miles on it. Initially, I had problems with leaking coolant that the dealer could not identify. After replacing the head gasket (which didn't solve the problem) we decided to use a tin of rad weld despite such a treatment not being recommended by BMW. The problem was solved and I'm still running the car in 2004 with 162,000 miles on it. This vehicle cost over £33k new and the secret has been to attend to problems regularly to avoid foibles getting out of control. Replaced entire exhaust system at about 130,000 miles incl. cat converter. Replaced all hydraulic lines at about 120,000 miles. I would budget about £1,000 a year to keep this baby trouble free. That's a lot cheaper than a year's leasing costs!