Some will remember about 3mths ago wanting a large diesel estate I bought a 2002 BMW 525D Tourer unseen from 200mls away. Only 2 owners, 112k recorded with history and short MOT/VED.
Soon after I reported on a post purchase service, the unfortunate need for a replacement set of alloys as some of the originals were buckled, new tyres and a general clean up plus a few small trim bits replaced like broken cupholders and a mirror glass.
I bought it with a short MOT which was due a couple of weeks ago and that coupled with 3mths and 3k mls experience means it's well into the post purchase shakedown.
Decided to MOT it as-was apart from checking the lights which revealed an easily sorted odd dip beam pattern from a faulty no-brand H7 bulb. I left the airbag light which was present from collection and declared by the seller, this was a fail obviously as was handbrake imbalance. Advisorys were a slightly weeping front damper, excess play in the propshaft front rubber joint, slight blow on exhaust flexys and a missing exhaust bracket (the root cause of the flexy blow).
Otherwise the very complex multi-jointed suspension, brakes, emissions & body condition were spot on though I'd already replaced all the front/rear anti-roll bar droplinks as they were advisorys last year.
Took it home for a couple of days to sort the airbag light with the help of a laptop based error code program and improve the handbrake. As I'd already stripped and copaslipped the brakes front & rear the handbrake was a simple case of getting both sides jacked up at the back and adjusting for an even effort left/right. The airbag light was a bit more involved and needed the driver's airbag unit and steering wheel removing twice before some high resistance connections were sorted and the light finally stayed off (on this car you have to manually clear the codes and turn the light off each time a repair is made). I also fabricated the missing exhaust support bracket and a pass was issued.
Immediately after the MOT I replaced the propshaft rubber front coupling and at the same time replaced the prop centre bearing plus regreased the rear UJ. While I was under there I Waxoyled the totally rust free floorpan. I also changed the gearbox and differential oils using OE spec long-life fluids.
An ECU scan while sorting the airbag lamp showed up some minor historical error codes but two rescans since clearing them all down only show a glowplug to replace sometime.
Body wise it was pretty straight from the start but I'd mentioned previously there were 3 panels that needed smart repairs. In the end I bought the spray silver and other materials from Halfords and to date have completed 2 of the panels and the repairs are not visible.
So at the end of this first few months settling in time the car runs very well, hasn't thrown up any disasters and the "in my own time" to-do list is minimal.
Very pleased... despite the £1,083 spent on items to get to this point. It has to be said £711 of that was on wheels and tyres so the service/repair bits have actually been quite reasonable.
Still doesn't make corners like the Alfa though Runfer!
Last edited by: Fenlander on Mon 11 Aug 14 at 20:10
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It'll come back to you, have patience.
;-)
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The main issue is the stability control is very aggressive and just won't let the back end get out of shape... is your Mercedes the same??
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Seems to hit the right balance between allowing a modicum of hooliganism tempered by the right amount of "don't be silly". Quite hard to provoke the back end though. Huge sticky tyres and sports suspension work pretty well. Front end turn in very sharp too. Love it. Can only imagine what one with a proper engine would be like. Not that it ever feels underpowered anywhere with a speed limit and the chance of oncoming traffic. Did I mention I love it?
;-)
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>>>hit the right balance between allowing a modicum of hooliganism tempered by the right amount of "don't be silly
Hmm the Alfa system was set up like that and would allow the car to feel as if there was no stability control until it said that's plenty of leeway, now I'll sort things for you.
This old 525 definitely wags the naughty finger too early.
Having said that now all the mechanical bits are sorted it is a supremely roomy & refined cruiser suiting A-roads and motorways... a real living room on wheels... so perhaps they biased the system to suit most buyers.
Perhaps the Sport models have a different balance.
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That's a lot of stuff for a 10 year old lowish mileage 'quality' motor.
Substantially more, in fact, than my 12 year old Megane and 20 year old Landcruiser.
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It's a fair point however...
In my experience heavy, complex quality cars car need quite a bit of work to keep them A1.
Also I do loads of stuff most drivers would not bother with as I have a very unusual way of keeping an old car to the standard of a 2yr old one by replacing stuff and dealing with issues way before they become a real problem.
Edit: Haven't really explained that well but I know what I mean.
Last edited by: Fenlander on Tue 12 Aug 14 at 14:49
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>>Edit: Haven't really explained that well but I know what I mean.
You've got car-OCD?
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Yes if you like.
I actually enjoy the work and carefully sourced parts are very cheap compared to those putting into garages so the value for money is huge.
A better way of explaining might be...
If a certain component has a 100k life and I'm planning on running the car from 80k-110k I will probably change that component at the start knowing I would have needed to change sometime and I'd rather the benefit of having it perfect for all the time I use the car.
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BMW 5-Series E39 - 525D Tourer -MOT time and 3mth / 3k mls shakedown. - Runfer D'Hills
