BMW 535i Help!

[Ecor]

I have just bought a 89 Bmw535i, and I need some help as the car has two problems. One is that the manual gear lever is loose, and the other is that the car does some ticking noise, wich I thin , might be related with timing chain.

Any help would be apreciated.

Thanks.

[4-Door Flunky]

Hi, Ecor. Your description of the 'ticking' noise is just too vague for me to be helpful. dYou might tell us under what conditions you hear, i.e. during the first start of the morning, during accelleration, braking, etc.
I doubt your timing chain would make any noises at all, because the moment something went wrong with it, it would instantly shred and you'd have some major valve damage. It's travelling at thousands of rounds per minute, remember.
I haven't played with the gear lever, but you might try to crawl under the car and look for a simple loose bolt or missing nut on the shift mount, or remove the center console on the inside to see if you can find something there. Next time I crawl under my car, I'll take a look and try to get some better information...although you could always consult a Bentley Manual, if you have a$44.95
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books
, or click here for a Haynes Manual if you only have $6.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...398771-4977637
If that's all that's wrong with your car, I wouldn't worry too much!
Flunky

[Ecor]

The ticking noise bothers me only when the car is cold, after 10 km it's barely noticeble, today I also had a "new" problem. When I first started the car it stalled, and when i started driving it was suffering from misfire, after a few minutes it also disapeared. I think i'm needin' new spark plugs.

[4-Door Flunky]

I suspect that you've got a bad plug wire. The wires have high voltage running through them, and whenever one has gotten a little of the insulation rubbed off, the spark will jump through the opening.
Leave the car running and open the hood...and do this at night. If you can hear the ticking, you should be able to see the spark jumping from the wire to the block or other grounded part of car. It'll be pretty obvious.
That'll probably solve your whole problem...but it's always a good idea to have your car running well, which means replacing the cap and ignition rotor (about $64 if you buy the parts off of eBay) and then spark plug wires when you can afford them.
If you don't have any cash at the moment, you can always wrap a piece of electrical tape around the worn part of the wire.
Good luck!
Flunky