Just got a new car, problems, please help (1990 BMW 750il V12)

[JimmyPlague]

I'm new here and Google seems to always redirect me to this forum for bmw questions,

a few days ago i bought a 1990 BMW 750il with a v12 engine. i paid 200.00 for it. the car starts right up and shifts and runs fine. but theirs a few problems and i don't know where to start or what to do. the biggest issue on hand is white smoke from my exhaust. when you start the car it smoke a little bit, but when you rev the engine. lots of smoke comes out, whats causing the white smoke? how do i stop it? i was told it was an O2 sensor or a mass airflow sensor went bad. but im not a BMW expert.

the transmission was rebuild and also the torque converter as well, the little message screen on the bottom of the speedometers reads one of two things, TRANS PROGRAM or CHECK CONTROL, the little light saying inspection is also on as well as the SRS light flashes. the car runs just fine though so i dont understand whats going on.

another things is my electronics seem to be bugged, my window switches don't work for the driver side and instead activate the sunroof, for the passenger side when you roll one window up, the other goes down, (vice versa) it makes no sense. and my door locks will lock all the doors, but wont unlock the driver side door, i have to open the back door to manually open the driver door. is there an electrical gremlin? or what?

lastly, my hood wont open. the lever doesn't do anything. i don't wanna break the hood or bend it.

again, im new here i dont konw how posting works or if this will enven work so please excuse my ignorance here. ANY HELP WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECAITED. I NEED SOMEWHERE TO START. THANK YOU SO MUCH. -JIMMY

[shogun]

white "smoke" could be just moisture in the exhaust system. In winter you will have it everyday a lot. Drive the car a longer distance so that the exhaust gets hot and dries out the exhaust from inside. In case you have coolant 'consumption'. then you will have to check other things, but first try to drive a longer distance.

Trans progr/ check control: do a stomp test
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1122405
tell us what you find.

another things is my electronics seem to be bugged, my window switches don't work for the driver side and instead activate the sunroof, for the passenger side when you roll one window up, the other goes down, (vice versa) it makes no sense. and my door locks will lock all the doors, but wont unlock the driver side door, i have to open the back door to manually open the driver door. is there an electrical gremlin? or what?

there you will get another expert info later from someone.
But maybe you start checking for broken wire looms, start with the driver side front door, see pics here

http://www.7-forum.com/forum/24/repa...me-114388.html

my hood wont open

Maybe the bowden cable is broken. Make a hook from a wire coat hanger and try to get thru the small space between hood and front grill and try to pull the lever. Here some pics how it looks and where you have to try
http://www.bilder-speicher.de/120324...latch-e32.html

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1463888


Or pull the front grill out (it will break) besides the headlight driver side and there you find the lock, the lower pin is for emergency opening
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...ckrelease.jpg/

visit my website to see if there are fixes which you need to repair your car, also use the search function in this forum.

[JimmyPlague]

white "smoke" could be just moisture in the exhaust system. In winter you will have it everyday a lot. Drive the car a longer distance so that the exhaust gets hot and dries out the exhaust from inside. In case you have coolant 'consumption'. then you will have to check other things, but first try to drive a longer distance.

Trans progr/ check control: do a stomp test
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1122405
tell us what you find.


there you will get another expert info later from someone.
But maybe you start checking for broken wire looms, start with the driver side front door, see pics here

http://www.7-forum.com/forum/24/repa...me-114388.html



Maybe the bowden cable is broken. Make a hook from a wire coat hanger and try to get thru the small space between hood and front grill and try to pull the lever. Here some pics how it looks and where you have to try
http://www.bilder-speicher.de/120324...latch-e32.html

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1463888


Or pull the front grill out (it will break) besides the headlight driver side and there you find the lock, the lower pin is for emergency opening
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images...ckrelease.jpg/

visit my website to see if there are fixes which you need to repair your car, also use the search function in this forum.

i tried the stomp test, its didnt blink or do anything at all. just told me my coolant was low.

[JimmyPlague]

i tried the stomp test thing, it didnt blink or do anything, just told me my coolant was low. :/

[bartelbe]

I 'am going too start with the easy checks first so please don't take offence, The hood opens from the windshield up there are two shocks that when you pull the latch it should shoot the front of the hood forward and up and then once it is in the fully open position the shock will hold it there so the hood doesnt hit you in the head when working in there, I have seen that when these shock go bad the hood wont really do anything just make one initial click and you half to pull the hood forwards then you can lift the hood from the windshield up check this first maybe have someone pull the latch as you pull the hood towards the front of the car if still wont open then something else is wrong. My 750il steams pretty good until it is all warmed up even when it is 60-70 degrees out. The srs light flashing could just need to be reset "Safety Restriant System SRS" not a big deal mines been flashing since I bought it you will need a peaske tool to reset and or read any stored codes for the srs system. The inspection light will also need to be reset also not a big deal wont effect performance. Now for the trans program / check control, perform a stomp test see if any codes are stored. My 750il threw the same but after the stomp test there was no codes my ended up being a miss fire happening on #6 cylinder from bad arch transfer between the disturbtor prong for #6 cylinder and the rotor which would not have been a problem on 1-5 but since #6 has the cylinder id sensor on it it threw the car into "limp mode" with the trans program message which locked the car into 3rd gear and limited my rpm. Yours maybe something else causing the problem, Are you sure that your car is running on both banks 1-6 and 7-12 cylinders. These engines will run on one side of the engine since they are basically 2 six cylinder engines that share a crankshaft. each side has its own ecu,sensors,fuel pump etc. You can try the touch method very quickly reach down and touch the exhaust manifold if you can touch it then that side is not running if you cant then you get the point. So verify that the engine is running on both banks and also if any fault codes popes up in the stomp test and notify us on your results. The door lock issue sounds about right mine does the same I am about 99% sure that mine is the actuator for the driver side lock since it wants to go down it is just to weak to pull it down or up. The window issue could be a couple of things does the windows work with the switch's at the door? or is it the same at both the door and the central console switch? What happen when you try to open the sunroof using the overhead switch?

- - - Updated - - -

i tried the stomp test thing, it didnt blink or do anything, just told me my coolant was low. :/

You did'nt do it right then make sure your doing full stomps tripping the kick down button under the throttle pedal, 5 stomps is for one side 6 stomps is for the other side. the check engine light should start blinking. you can search this forum for the exact procedure and how to read the blinking. If the display message on the dash say LOW COOLANT then your engine coolant is low.

[mattburnett87]

im kinda curious as to where you bought the car. i test drove a 90 v12 about 2 months back and as soon as i gave it full throttle to make sure all was ok it started pouring out smoke. and i mean i 1/4 mile trail of thick white smoke. that car also had some other issues which is what told me not to get it. it sat in the lot for a few more weeks and dissapeared about 3-4 weeks ago.