1991 525i I might be purchasing, need your advice.

[BlazerLT]

Got a potential purchase I might be undertaking.

1991 525i but I have a couple questions.

Is it normal to not have a completely smooth idle? It is not missing per say, but it is not completely smooth.

Also, two lights were illuminated on the dash,

One was an E and the other was an R.

Any idea what they are for?

also, he wants US$6800 for it with beautiful 19 inch gunmetal wheels with all new tires. Looks amazingly hot. 133,000 miles and by the looks of it, it was taken care of. No rust and a dark matallic gray that I love.

Your thoughts are greatly appreciated about the problems and the prospects.

They also have a 1993 325i Racing Dynamic edition in dark green and M3 wheels, they want US$7100 for it with similar miles.

[ShadeTreeBill]

I own an 89 525i and have resolved several layers of "idle" problems with my car. The final result after replacing idle control valve, air mass meter, TPS, and fixing several vacuum leaks is the best idle I have ever had with the car: almost perfect, but not quite smooth. Just what you describe, it's not missing.

I think it should be pretty smooth, but idle problems seem to be quite common in these cars. Perhaps one of the other more "qualified" forum members could shed some additional light on the subject.

We paid US$7300 for the 89 some six years ago. We drove it about five years before having to really start to feed it parts.... I have spent about $2000 in the last 18 months on parts I have installed myself. The stuff above plus plug wires, front and rear brake rotors and pads, timing belt, timing belt tensioner, o2 sensor, a new head (timing belt broke, ouch!), belts, serviced the tranny, speedometer transmitter, etc.

Add to that the $800 I paid a shop for a radiator and water pump, and the $1500 I spent on the suspension a few years back, and you can see that it starts to add up. However, it's a $30,000 car, so what the hey....

The E and R lights you mention do not seem familiar. My 89 may be different. My car has a "light" in the lower right area of the display cluster that shows the transmission selection for the auto tranny, P, R, N, D, 3,2, and 1....

If the body is really nice, and the car checks out and runs well, is sounds like a decent deal. The 325 sounds interesting too... no doubt its a little quicker and more fun to drive....

Good Luck!

[BlazerLT]

They are both in practically mint shape.

Looks like the 525i has had some painting done on it so I think I will Carfax it.