E34 Left me stranded on the road...

CLIK92

CLIK92

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Mercedes CLK320
So picked up the BMW (95' 525i, bought 2 days ago) after an oil change at the dealer and attempted to take it to autozone to get a new battery, but before we could get there the car quit on the side of the road. There was smoke coming from the car, not black but a greyish smoke (there was also an indication of high temp. in the dashboard with a "COOLANT TEMP +"). The clutch pedal was not stiff like it was when we bought it, it was basically too smooth and too easily presssed down. This was just a brisk 10 minute drive with a few hills, traffic we drove it home Saturday 1 hr with hills, hwys, traffic and the car was flawless (besides having to jumpstarting it to get it home) I need help guys, I love this tank but I need help finding out the problem.
 
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Have you had it towed home, then?

Edit: Also, this is not a common problem in the E34 525i. It's got some rather nasty gotchas, but first you need to check to see what your coolant, oil and clutch fluid look like.
 
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The car was towed to a friend's shop to get it looked at. But...

Let me give a rundown of the history, we bought the car 2 days ago and the only trouble we had that day was getting a jumpstart for the battery so we could drive it home. The clutch is basically new replaced 40k ago according to the owner that I bought it from. So my father and I took it to the dealer to get an oil change, left it overnight and picked it up today. Drove through some traffic (maybe half a miles worth of traffic), and a few hills where the smoke began. All about 10 minutes of driving then I told my father to pull over the BMW (he knows how to drive stick, I don't yet), and the car wouldn't move when my dad shifted gears.

So all I know right now is that it needs a battery. As for the smoke and the clutch pedal, I don't know what is wrong, and I'm hoping it won't be a HUGE problem. The car was cheap, so I don't expect perfection.
 
Smoke from under the hood, or coming from the exhaust? Is there a coolant temperature gauge on the dash, what did it read? It sounds like you could possibly have two separate issues.
 
Why not take it back to the dealer? Maybe they fucked something up during the oil change.
 
I guess we will find out from this shop if the dealer did indeed fuck something up during the oil change. I mean I trust the guys at the dealership, but the car did run smoothly and gracefully when we drove it Saturday. Smoke from under the hood on the drivers side.The coolant gauge was 3/4, next to the red. What could the 2 separate issues be?
 
Well there's no reason an overheated car can't get into gear. A hydraulic clutch system is completely separate from the engine, the car doesn't even need to be running for the clutch to release on every car I've worked on, although I have never dealt with a BMW clutch.

First things first, do what Spectre said and examine the coolant, oil, and hydraulic clutch system for contaminants. Pop the bleeder on the clutch slave and see if it will gravity bleed (at least it will be flushed then), top it off with coolant, and watch for leaks. If the clutch wont bleed, its more than likely a failed master or rubber hose. Also make sure there's no coolant in the oil.

The dealer would have to seriously mess up to cause the overheating and to not go in gear.
 
That is a weird combination...if it overheated badly you may have blown the head gasket (and warped the head). I'm not sure, but on some European cars the clutch fluid is actually the same as the brake fluid - same reservoir. But then if that had been the case, you would have had no brakes too.

And I really don't see how any mechanic (at a dealer or not) can screw up an oil change to cause these problems.
 
So, what happened with this?

Also: A common hydraulic supply for clutch and brake??? This is only slightly less of a bad idea than Citro?n and their 'brakes and suspension sharing hydraulic fluid' concept.
 
Sharing the hydraulic fluid is more common than you would hope; That Ford Fusion I owned shared its brake fluid with the clutch.
 
Spectre said:
This is only slightly less of a bad idea than Citro?n and their 'brakes and suspension sharing hydraulic fluid' concept.
Click to expand...

Don't forget the power steering, and on the DS the semiautomatic gearbox as well. :lol:

The brakes on a Citro?n (until the turn of the century, anyways) aren't muscle operated. The pedal is just a valve releasing pressurized fluid from the accumulator. The system works like a charm and has done so since 1956, btw. :)
 
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Perc said:
Don't forget the power steering, and on the DS the semiautomatic gearbox as well. :lol:

The brakes on a Citro?n (until the turn of the century, anyways) aren't muscle operated. The pedal is just a valve releasing pressurized fluid from the accumulator. The system works like a charm and has done so since 1956, btw. :)
Click to expand...

Doesn't work real well when the suspension is leaking (which was reportedly common in models sold here pre-Mercedes Law) and you go to brake.
 
Seriously, it has never been a problem. The brake system is the last component to go, so you'll notice something is wrong long before you can't stop the car anymore. And it's not like a normal vacuum booster system is perfect either. In fact, I think i'll sell my V70 and get something with mechanical brakes. Can't trust those hydraulics.

Bean counters finally forced them to move to normal vacuum brake and power steering components around the turn of the century. Their existing customer base wasn't exactly happy, but they managed to bring in a lot of new customers.

Aaaand I'm done derailing an E34 thread. Sorry. :p
 
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