Question: 1995 BMW 525i. My BMW
is always giving off white smoke. I noticed it does not overheat or
anything like that. The outside temperature is 38 deg F. All the
other cars are running fine. Sometimes I smell coolant inside the
car but have been unable to find a wet spot in the car. Help.
Answer: White smoke when first started is normal. If white
smoke continues you have an internal coolant leak, i.e., cracked
head/blown head gasket. Black smoke is caused by a rich fuel
condition. Blue smoke is caused by oil consumption. The smell of
coolant inside your car is caused by a leaking heater core.
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Question: 1998 BMW 525 mileage: 90000. The service
indicator lights in the instrument cluster are not working either
are the lights for the odometer, gear selector and oil change
indicator.
Answer:
The
problem you have described may require that you replace the
instrument
motherboard.
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Question: 1990 BMW
525i mileage: 140000. My BMW 525i has started to pop
out of first gear occasionally. What do you think is
wrong?
Answer: The reason your
transmission pops out of first
gear is probably because of a worn synchromesh in the
transmission. To replace it, requires disassembling the
transmission.
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Question:
1995 BMW 525i mileage: 87,000. After the car has warmed up I
get a hesitation and shudder on initial acceleration from a dead
stop (almost like it's flooding). It does not do this when the car
is cold AND interestingly it goes away for about 5 minutes if I
turn the car off and back on again. BMW service techs
have put it on the computer and all checks out fine. It
sounds to me like some sensor is reading wrong once the computer
kicks in. Does this sound reasonable? If so, what
sensor is likely faulty given that the computer says all is fine
when it obviously is not? I can't afford to replace every
sensor on the car to fix this.
Answer: Without seeing you car
and driving it, we are guessing that you may have a bad power train
control
module.
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Question: 1999
BMW 525i mileage: 97,000. I recently purchased what appeared
to be an exceptionally well maintained 525i, which at the time of
purchase had identified what appeared to be a wheel balancing
problem. As it turns out this did not rectify either a mild
shudder, which is evident throughout the vehicle, or a speed
dependant vibration, which is both, transmitted through the
steering wheel and the seat of your pants. Subsequently, the
entire suspension system and drive train has been checked on
several occasions, and the BMW mechanics have replaced the drive
shaft, which had no impact, followed by the left rear axle, which
appears to have removed the general vibration, which was evident at
all, speeds. What remains is a persistent vibration which
comes in at 55 mph, becomes more violent as you approach 60 mph,
and then tapers off, but remains at a lesser degree of
severity. The BMW mechanics appear to have no solution,
and are unwilling to replace either the tires or the wheels.
For my money, the problem is either one or two slightly buckled
rims (two rims are well scuffed), or out of round tires, or a
combination of both. I have no way of confirming this by way
of a conventional balancing machine, most of which do not exceed 30
mph. Basically, my question is, where do I go from
here? Any assistance would be most
appreciated.
Answer: I recommend new wheels and
tires should help the problem. If two wheels are showing scuffs,
they could have been hit very hard and are truly destroyed. It
doesn't take much to unbalance a wheel.
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