Whats up guys. I'm about to pick up a 1997 528i, any thing to look out for? What do you guys think, im getting it for a pretty decent price. Just wondering if you guys had any experience with these cars.

TIA

 

Well it's a first year car. Which isn't usually the best bmw year to buy. That being said the bugs have probably been worked out via a dealer.

It's a verry nice car though.
The first thing I remember is that the plastic impellar of the water pump and the plastic bits of the radiator tend to break after 80 or 90 k miles. Those are good things to check.

Another thing is bmw used gm transmitions in a bunch of their cars at the time, but insisted on using "lifetime" fluid. Some go out well before 100k. The manual is fine though.

Also you may have some money to spend on steering bits if regular maintinence hasn't been kept up.
Window regulartors may go out, but the same is true of my 2.2 cl. They are a slight pain to fix, but after you do it once it can be done fairly quickly.

Can't think of much else, though i'm shure there is some bmw faq with every problem ever hanging around on the interwebs. The bmw 6 cyl itself is a verry reliable peice.

 

The GM RWD transmissions are a hit or miss regarding reliability. The 4L60Es are questionable to this day, the 5L40Es have had mixed reports.

Either way, the correct fluid for the GM units would be a quality Dexron-III(H)/Mercon or Dexron-VI fluid. When you pick up the car, first thing you'd want to do is drop the pan, change the filter, and refill with fresh Amsoil ATF or Mobil 1 ATF in the unit. The important part is to change the filter and drop the pan, changing all of the fluid is not what you're after.

Also change out the rear differential with Amsoil, Redline, or Mobil 1 75w90.

The engine oil should be changed per the Service Interval Indicator. I would run a 15w40 diesel oil in the summer and 5w40 in the colder months. Use Auto-RX if the engine looks somewhat gunky.

Do drain/fill the cooling system. Motorcraft Premium Gold or Zerex G-05 are the only coolants you want to use. Purge the system with clear water until discharge is clear before refilling.

That's all I have to say...

 

Check out the radiator and water pump. I had to replace them at 50K miles on my 2000 540i. I'm not sure how reliable they are on the I6 models though. www.bimmerforums.com is your friend.

 

thanks for the input guys