strange feeling, 1st time BMW owner and 1st time posting in a forum...just bought a '91 850i yesterday...white on tan, auto. with 48k...one owner Cali. car who moved to Fl. this past Feb. ...battery had been changed prior to buying ,radio code was on. I may have misunderstood some previous posts but what would be the estimated miles needed to be driven for the transmission to re-learn the driving patterns if someone defaulted the memory back to factory settings? I am asking this because I am feeling a inconsistency in the shift pattern mainly in the lower gears while in traffic...I am planning to have the fluids changed as per no such thing as lifetime thread and I am close to 50k....other then this I love the car..windows do go up by themselves after 90..Thanks for the help.

congrats

48k miles? wow... sounds like a steal. can't wait for pics

Hi and happy 8-ing:)

The adaptive circuits for the motor and transmission should have a baseline setup in place in only a few miles.

Change the fluid and see if it improves. BTW the early 850 has a regular fluid change schedule and uses a readily available Dexron fluid. The 840 and late 850s are the ones with the spendy lifetime fluid.

Did the PO change one or both batteries? Changing just one causes problems.

Thanks to you both for your replies...will finally have a day off tomorrow to go through the car from top to bottom....Thanks Terry for the info. about my early year..have been getting all sorts of layman's "expert" advise from coworkers...will go on a hunt to find the 2nd battery..Thanks again ...Ray.

One battery on each side of the trunk in the same position behind the first side panel.

There is a fuse panel in front of the left side battery. quite a bit of the car is powered from there and the rest is powered from the front panel under the hood on the drivers side firewall.

Have fun:)

Good Day All: I bought a Blue 1991 850i a few weeks ago in Japan (left hand drive of course). 74,000km and in truly mint condition inside and out. Cost was very reasonable even after shipping to Vancouver BC, Canada. Last week I installed Khumo tires: 235 on the front and 275 on the rear, 40 R17. The car came with 17" BMW rims (not sure if this was stock) and 265 tires on the rear. Couldn't get 265 Khumo's so bought 275. They are the same height profile. The car finished inspection last Friday and I may get it licensed tomorrow, May 22nd. Of course the radio is Japan frequencies and the CD changer doesn't work, but that was no surprise. Purrs like a kitten otherwise (so far). Any suggestions on after market radios? I am thinking of the JVC KD-NX5000 with GPS navigation. Any thoughts? What tire pressure do most people run at? I am set presently to 29psi front and 30psi rear. Is a gas additive for cleaning injectors / combustion chamber recommended? Does anyone know a reasonable place to buy an English owners manual or a photocopy of one? All I can find on line is used manuals for $230. Well, glad to join this group. I look forward to chatting. Ian poyntz@telus.net

Have a look at wuffer.net
Tom is a great source of info and experience. Tell him Arminder sent you.

I would certainly agree....head off to www.wuffer.net (http://www.wuffer.net) and spend some time looking around as well as downloading whatever you need from the Great Downloads page. Also consider contacting me directly concerning the upcoming E31 specific WrenchFest in June. I can also supply domestic OEM radio head units.

Thanks guys

I have visited the wuffer.net and it is a great resource. I will be joining real soon since I live in BC. Thanks for the advice. Ian poyntz@telus.net

I have my car on the road now after passing inspection. When I went to drive away the batteries were dead. I may have to replace them. Does anyone have any suggestions on a particular battery to use?

Thanks, Ian poyntz@telus.net

Interstate MTP 91 or 93 (higher capacity/larger)

Thanks for the fuse and batt. locations Terry..all looks great....only flaws I could find were small amount of seeping from left side of rear diff. ,slight sound of vacum leak when first started then goes quite, pass. side window makes a small cracking sound when lowered and the infamous forward/reverse seat jams to both seats...had windows tinted and body PDRed to remove old parking lot war wounds...found a company that did not use a drill..did not want to mess with original paint....front lower bumper cover has kissed to many curbs so I want to replace it..does anyone know if I can replace it with a CSI one1?...seems the original setup for the '91 gets supersceaded by '93 and newer style...Wuffer site is great..the wheels on the red 8 on the opening page are perfect..what type of wheels and where can I find some!?....Thanks to all...Ray.

You seem to be having way too much fun :)

The CSI front spoiler bolts and clips right on. It is recommended to do both ends with the CSI spoilers for aerodynamic reasons.

Gault BMW http://www.gaultautosportbmw.com/index.cfm?action=parts

Discounts 8 series parts pretty deeply and will probably beat whatever your local dealer will do.

They have also painted sets to the BMW color code so all you have to do is put the parts on.

....just a quick Thanks for the Gault link....will check prices.....Ray.