E39 Touring - a couple of questions

the merchant

Well I've recently bought my first BMW - It's a '02 525d Touring. Stunning car with great power and spec. Just a couple of questions for the beemer experts....

1. Front discs. The guy who sold the car to me had just had these changed the day before I looked at it, but now a few weeks later there's a bit of a shudder when I hit the brakes at motorway speeds (never at slower speeds). My question is about the discs on the e39, are they known for warping? If so is there a particular brand I should choose when replacing them? It's an automatic btw.

2. Rear Wash/Wipe. This hasn't worked since I got the car. I've checked all the fuses relating to this but they're all fine. I'm assuming that if the motor was gone that the washer would still operate??? Also the motor is not stopped in the "home" position - it's inthe "1 o'clock" position. Again, are these a known problem?

Any help on these issues, or indeed any general advice about this car would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers guys,

Merchant.

Seth Brundle

Congrats on the new buy!
I have come across incidents of warped discs before but its not that common.
As for the rear wash/wipe, I would suspect the wiring to it, possibly at the join from the main body onto the tailgate. Can you hear the washer pump at all (at front of car)?

the merchant

kbannon wrote: »

Congrats on the new buy!
I have come across incidents of warped discs before but its not that common.
As for the rear wash/wipe, I would suspect the wiring to it, possibly at the join from the main body onto the tailgate. Can you hear the washer pump at all (at front of car)?

Thanks for the response...

There's not as much as a click. Also if the pump is at the washer bottle, wouldn't that also rule out the wiring to boot lid?

SouperComputer

1. Front discs. The guy who sold the car to me had just had these changed the day before I looked at it, but now a few weeks later there's a bit of a shudder when I hit the brakes at motorway speeds (never at slower speeds). My question is about the discs on the e39, are they known for warping? If so is there a particular brand I should choose when replacing them? It's an automatic btw

Thats a pretty common complaint, although its rarely the discs, its usually the suspension control arms/bushings.

Can be spendy if you go with a garage, not too bad if you DIY it.

the merchant

SouperComputer wrote: »

Thats a pretty common complaint, although its rarely the discs, its usually the suspension control arms/bushings.

Can be spendy if you go with a garage, not too bad if you DIY it.

You might be on to something. The discs were brand new when I bought the car so I'd be surprised if they were buckled already...

the merchant

Rear wash wipe
Bought a motor from ebay (€100) and installed it last Saturday. The washer worked but not the wiper. There is a bearing on the spindle that goes through the glass which was kind of siezed. I tried to free it out with WD-40 etc but no joy. Bought a new spindle from Joe Duffy's today for €45 and bingo, all sorted. I reckon the dodgy spindle bearing caused the old motor to burn out.


Steering Wobble
I upped the front tyre pressure to 34psi (from 30) and the issue has disappeared. No suspension bits or brake discs required.

Thanks for the advice anyway.