BMW E34 1992 test drive

Honest John Back Room » Technical matters
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Sat 6 Aug 2005 16:15
BMW E34 1992 test drive - norwittyoramusingname
I test drove a 1992 BMW 525 today.

Broadly the car looked really good but as I have been driving a manual diesel for the last two years I was left with a few questions.

- White came out of the exhaust at start up and while the car was cold and when stopped after only being run for a short time, the car flashed a warning of low coolant. Once I had taken it for a test drive the steam had disappeared and there was no coolant warning when the car stopped. I am assuming this is just condensation and the car not having enough time to circulate the coolant as I think it had been stood for some time.

- The autobox was broadly smooth although you could tell where some of the changes were. In sport mode on kick down it also sometimes felt a little hesitant. Is this to be expected?

- The steering was accurate and there didn't seem to be any play, although when stationary and going from lock to lock, there was an odd noise at some points. (A mate says that has happened on his car for the last 2 years with out any problems so I might just be being over picky)

Can anybody with any experience of these cars (or similar) tell me if these are all to be expected or are these signs of expensive failures?
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