abelhands

I have a 95 525i. Mostly been happy with it, despite the cracking of the seats all the time, the smell of the gas all the time, not great acceleration, and rust issues with the old metal. The other day i was coming back from a NJ suburban mall heading back to NYC via the NJ turnpike headed toward the George Washington bridge. As I was sitting in some traffic, as you always do up there, the thermostat immediately shot up to the RED side. Then the bell rang, "coolant temp" then "check engine". I was with my wife, who is 2.5 months pregnant, and my three year old daughter in the backseat. I just got this car checked out too. Had a full service check and a friend, who is a mechanic, and very familiar with this vintage bmw said it was great. I always fill it with premium 93 fuel. I always changed oil every 3,000 miles and did all maintaining that i had to do throughout the past four years of ownership.

i got stuck on the GW bridge, opened the hood, tons of smoke. I poured some room temp. water on the coolant cap. it got the smoke to go away after some time. being on the NJ turnpike, AAA cannot come save you or tow you away, you have to use the NJ turnpike people and they were going to take me off the highway somewhere in middle of nowhere New Jersey....no thank you. not with my wife and 3 yr old.

So i decided to drive another 30 ft. got to the teller at the gw bridge. made it over the bridge, with the thermostat red, car smoking, check engine light and coolant temp. on. i managed to get to the NY side, drove right off of the west side highway and got off on riverside drive.

I called AAA and about 2 hours later had a tow from the bronx back to manhattan.

i know any car could have had this issue, but i'm seriously just at wits end with this car. i've had a bunch of issues with it from replacing the rear springs and struts, (800 bucks later) to other minor things that have just seemed to add up.

i know lexus, infiniti, and acura might not be as fun to drive as bmw. but i really think it's worth going to a lexus or infiniti to not have to deal with the day to day reliability issues. i think it's worth the sacrifice for fun sporty driving appeal.

any ideas how expensive a repair could be to get it back to road worthy? I don't drive all that much as i'm a student, so i wish i could get one more year out of the car, but i need it to be dead reliable when i have my daughter with me, or if i'm trying to go to an important appointment or job.

thanks, love the forum.

Ice350

iTrader: (1)

You're asking us about a BMW issue?
Seriously, you didn't think you would have issues with a 1995 BMW?
ANyone who buys a German car out of warranty should have cash set aside for repairs and maintenance. Serious cash. I think everyone knows this.

bmoore

Corrected your statement. Even for Lexus, maintenance is everything. Yes, they can run forever, but only if you maintain them. A BMW is the same way. If you buy a car that's had bad things done to it over the past DECADE AND A HALF, there's a good chance there's not good things in your future.

OP -- it sounds like you should be buying less for the "prestige" of a 15 year old car and more for something reliable for your family.

whit3b0y

RA40

iTrader: (6)

Dump the BMW or put a 1UZ motor and driveline from the 98+ LS400 into it. Then your motor problems will be far less.

sdls

an old LS400 will not be the solution to your problems.

RA40

iTrader: (6)

+1. At this stage, even the 98+ are the better choices among the 400's. Look at all the maintenance posts on the forum. The 430's are the more appropriate options since these can be easily found and bought from first owners. Pre '97...unless the stray well cared for with lower miles comes along by a first owner...no.