528i in France

General conversations about BMW E28s and the people who own them.
1st 5er
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Joined: Jun 13, 2008 12:15 AM
Location: Cypress
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Re: 528i in France

Post by 1st 5er »

:wave:

Subscribed for moar pictars.
Ordnator
Posts: 550
Joined: Aug 31, 2015 7:34 PM
Location: Halifax NS

Re: 528i in France

Post by Ordnator »

Image

Notice the lack of 528i emblem and antenna. Anyone know where I can get a third brake light?
[/quote]

Hi, third brake light was not a Euro option but can still be obtained used from the USA / Canada via e-bay.

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/images/thumb_6h7.png

This one is available on e-bay and contains the holder (item 1), lamp (item 2), printed circuit board (pig tail) (item 8) and a pearl beige cap (item 3).

https://www.google.ca/aclk?sa=l&ai=DChc ... hd6BAgBEEg

The fixing bracket sheet metal screws x 2 (item 5 -07.11.9.904.176) and body nuts x 2 (item 6 - 07.12.9.904.144) look to still be available from the main dealer.

I have retrofitted third brake lights to my three EURO UK 525e using US sourced used parts and main dealer fixings.

The lamp is useless without the holder.

The lamp and holder are useless without the lamp wiring pigtail.

I linked up my third brake lamp to my rear brake lamps without any issues.

I did not have a check control system to complicate this upgrade.

Best regrds,

Mick
Mdreamer
Posts: 526
Joined: Feb 12, 2006 12:00 PM
Location: Atlanta, Georgia

Re: 528i in France

Post by Mdreamer »

I'm looking forward to seeing more pictures of your progress. For what it's worth, I like the 14 inch Mahles!
Engineer666
Posts: 14
Joined: Nov 09, 2022 2:40 PM
Location: France

Re: 528i in France

Post by Engineer666 »

Quick update:

Even though I already put a few hundred miles on it and it was mostly okay, I decided on a whim to add an additive to the fuel… some Wynn’s injector cleaner, I forgot the name.
Well, it started by « cleaning » the fuel tank and stir up 40 years of sh** or whatever was in there. So now the car runs really rough, idles even worse and has lost most power. The fuel consumption gauge shows that the car is probably starving of fuel as the filter is probably clogged.

I guess now is the time to have a pro look at it: fuel line, idle tuning, check vacuum,lines, etc… it’s for the better, I guess. I’ll have him, look at the exhaust leak as well and hopefully it won’t cost too much. Fingers crossed, I need the car for the holidays…

Car is currently in an underground car park so I can’t really do all that work myself unfortunately.

Image
Aldo525
Posts: 276
Joined: Mar 24, 2021 3:04 PM
Location: CHILE

Re: 528i in France

Post by Aldo525 »

Looks sad in that corner....

Don't forget to check the injectors, maybe they are clogged by the bad gasoline. And, for some experts, check the AFM (Air Flow Meter).

When I bought my 525i (same engine, same L Jet injection, same everything except you have 2,8 liters) the engine runs very poorly, but after a methodical check and replace critical components today runs very well.

If you have any doubt ask me any time.
1st 5er
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Re: 528i in France

Post by 1st 5er »

Got a full tank of gas?
I doubt fuel cleaner would make that kind of impact in the fuel tank.
~ 1/3 tank of gas or less sure would with a failed in-tank pump.
Engineer666
Posts: 14
Joined: Nov 09, 2022 2:40 PM
Location: France

Re: 528i in France

Post by Engineer666 »

Sad update…

I’ve had the car at a local vintage/sport car shop for the last couple of weeks. I barely made it there on 4 cylinders.

After replacing spark plug lines, distributor cap, fuel filter, a few vacuum lines and most importantly a busted fuel regulator, the mechanic got it back and running. It now idles much better and revs normally.

Here’s the kicker: the cylinder compressions are really bad. That engine has lived a too long and too hard of a life and is in need of a full rebuilt.
From cylinder n°1 to 6, in bars (psi):

7.5 (108)
6.2 (90)
5 (72)
7 (101)
5 (72)
6.5 (94)

From what I gathered, pressures of a new engine should be around 9.3 to 10b (130 to 140 psi). So we are far from it. The engine chugs and mostly dies when the oil dipstick is removed…

So now, I have a decision to make: get rid of this car and try to cut my losses, have the engine rebuild (at around 6000€) but then I’ll have to restore the whole car… or find a new engine.

So yeah, this sucks but any advice is welcome.
Aldo525
Posts: 276
Joined: Mar 24, 2021 3:04 PM
Location: CHILE

Re: 528i in France

Post by Aldo525 »

Engineer666 wrote: Dec 28, 2022 10:13 AM Sad update…

I’ve had the car at a local vintage/sport car shop for the last couple of weeks. I barely made it there on 4 cylinders.

After replacing spark plug lines, distributor cap, fuel filter, a few vacuum lines and most importantly a busted fuel regulator, the mechanic got it back and running. It now idles much better and revs normally.

Here’s the kicker: the cylinder compressions are really bad. That engine has lived a too long and too hard of a life and is in need of a full rebuilt.
From cylinder n°1 to 6, in bars (psi):

7.5 (108)
6.2 (90)
5 (72)
7 (101)
5 (72)
6.5 (94)

From what I gathered, pressures of a new engine should be around 9.3 to 10b (130 to 140 psi). So we are far from it. The engine chugs and mostly dies when the oil dipstick is removed…

So now, I have a decision to make: get rid of this car and try to cut my losses, have the engine rebuild (at around 6000€) but then I’ll have to restore the whole car… or find a new engine.

So yeah, this sucks but any advice is welcome.

Hi Lionel,

Not good news but I believe you need to run that engine a little bit more time. When the engines are sttoped for a long time the rings sticks to the piston so may be you have to use some "oil flush" like Liqui Moly, run a hundred kilometers and see what happen.

See this video, that guy (M539 restoration) had a similar problem....see minute 0,52 and 24,50.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0tyVQ1 ... storations
Galahad
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Joined: Sep 06, 2016 9:08 PM
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Re: 528i in France

Post by Galahad »

Engineer666 wrote: Dec 28, 2022 10:13 AM ...The engine chugs and mostly dies when the oil dipstick is removed…

So now, I have a decision to make: get rid of this car and try to cut my losses, have the engine rebuild (at around 6000€) but then I’ll have to restore the whole car… or find a new engine.
Dying when you remove the dipstick is a good thing, it means you don't have major vacuum leaks. I agree you should wait a bit and see if the compression improves, my first m20 burned a lot of oil before I drove a thousand miles and then did an oil change.

If the engine does not improve I'd suggest finding another one in good condition, changing them isn't hard. I don't know how common they are in France though.
Engineer666
Posts: 14
Joined: Nov 09, 2022 2:40 PM
Location: France

Re: 528i in France

Post by Engineer666 »

Aldo525 wrote: Dec 28, 2022 10:43 AM Not good news but I believe you need to run that engine a little bit more time. When the engines are sttoped for a long time the rings sticks to the piston so may be you have to use some "oil flush" like Liqui Moly, run a hundred kilometers and see what happen.

See this video, that guy (M539 restoration) had a similar problem....see minute 0,52 and 24,50.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0tyVQ1 ... storations
Hello, thanks for the input.
I’ve already driven around 600 miles since I got it. Even if a few of the 18 cylinders rings were stuck, they would have budge by now. I doubt it would show such a low pressure evenly on all cylinders. It is a 185000 miles stock engine.
Aldo525
Posts: 276
Joined: Mar 24, 2021 3:04 PM
Location: CHILE

Re: 528i in France

Post by Aldo525 »

Engineer666 wrote: Dec 28, 2022 11:33 AM
Aldo525 wrote: Dec 28, 2022 10:43 AM Not good news but I believe you need to run that engine a little bit more time. When the engines are sttoped for a long time the rings sticks to the piston so may be you have to use some "oil flush" like Liqui Moly, run a hundred kilometers and see what happen.

See this video, that guy (M539 restoration) had a similar problem....see minute 0,52 and 24,50.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0tyVQ1 ... storations
Hello, thanks for the input.
I’ve already driven around 600 miles since I got it. Even if a few of the 18 cylinders rings were stuck, they would have budge by now. I doubt it would show such a low pressure evenly on all cylinders. It is a 185000 miles stock engine.
And do you perform or your mechanic a valves adjustment???....maybe they are not opening and close properly. 300.000 km is not a lot for those engines. Also check or renew valve stems (if you see some blue smoke on exhaust this could be a reason for low compression) and finally (mechanics knows very well this but....) full throttle when cranking for every cylinder, this way a good amount of air is incoming the chamber to measure properly the compression.

My 525i has maybe more kilometers (odometer fail many years before my purchase) but compression is quite well (and the life of my engine maybe was the worse, no oil changes, no maintenance, no nothing, but the engine remains)
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