New to the board in Abu Dhabi

[msdunkel]

Greetings all and great resource here!

I am currently in Abu Dhabi and have a 2 year posting. I was looking for a car and in my price range and all I seemed to find were late model econoboxes with a lot of mileage, or old plain janers with a lot of miles AND a lot of dings AND no maintenance history. For anybody who has been to the UAE, you'll know it's something of a throw away society. The locals buy stuff new, don't maintain it at all, then just buy something new again next year. Not the way I'd do things, but I guess they've got the money for it so what the heck.

Anyway, I was just about to close the deal on an '08 Audi A3 with about 80,000 km when I found this beautiful 2000 M5 for sale in Dubai with 143,000 km. The owner had 3 years of maintenance records (3rd owner), not a single door ding, good clutch, brand new tires, and the interior was very good. He'd replaced all the engine seals last year, had the car repainted (yes, I know that screams ACCIDENT, but I swear she tracks straight and smooth), and replaced every component of the air conditioning. Long story short (and yes, it's a very long story, anybody who has lived here will agree that this place is king of caveat emptor) I purchased the car for the same as that A3 was going for. I had the opportunity to purchase a brand new E46 (Interlagos Blue, all options including SMG and competition) when I lived in Germany and was in automotive nirvana, I've missed that car a lot and I just couldn't pass up on this M5.

I won't compare it to my M3 since that would be quite unfair, however I would say that I'm extremely happy with the car. I'm something of a pessimist and just keep waiting for it to break down on my way to work (I've only owned it a couple days). So far I've had a false tire pressure light, a couple false low oil lights when I shut down, and a radiator temperature gauge that pegged past the red when in fact there was nothing wrong (turned the car off/on and it was back to normal). The car gives off heavy black smoke like an '89 Volvo diesel whenever I step on it, and it looks like on high RPM downshifts just a touch of white/blue smoke puffs out the back. Based on what I've read on this board neither is too big a deal. I also thank you for the tip on the Lubro-Moly Synthoil Race Tech GT1 10W-60, I ordered from Amazon and their shipping is quite reasonable.

So anyway, great to be here and I hope I'm not back in 3 days with a post on how this and that is broke and my car is dead in a ditch somewhere .

[2strokecoldsmoke]

Welcome!
The first rule of new ownerships is:
PICTURES!!
We all want to see your ride!

[msdunkel]

Sorry, my stuff from the US hasn't showed up yet so no camera yet.

I took the car to the auto repair district in Mussafah (wow, what an experience) and they wanted to see the smoke. It appears the car only smokes black under load, revving the engine in neutral did nothing but produce a little white smoke. Due to their limited English and my complete lack of Arabic, Indian, Pashtu, etc, etc I couldn't get this point across to them and just left. Considering the dealer wanted about $500 for a frigging PPI I am absolutely dead set against going there and will probably just let this problem go until something really bad happens. Does anybody know if the excess fuel is going to foul my spark plugs? It only smokes black when I really step on it, normal acceleration produces no visible smoke at all.

I also washed it today and after the wash I had 4 new lights on, I think two lights were ABS and stability control, with the other two lights being general warning type lights. After 10 minutes I restarted the car and they were gone so I didn't get to look them up in my owner's manual.

I've owned the car a week, and in that time I've had a false tire pressure warning light, 2 false oil low notifications upon engine shutdown, 2 instances of my radiator temperature gauge pegging all the way past full hot, and now all the sensors in the wheel areas objecting to their bath. Anybody else with a '00 car with these electrical gremlins?

Thanks!

[M5 London]

Welcome and congratulations.

You own the Best Saloon car ever made !

Unfortunately it seems to be running very rich, black smoke.....the puff of white/blue smoke is obviously a bit off oil getting burned off. Richness can be caused by several factors, like bad 02 sensors, bad Thermostat etc

First things first, learn how to check the oil level as per the manual (not trying to be funny, as its not a normal procedure). Some examples of this car drink A LOT LOT LOT of oil, and your low oil level warning could be genuine. Some M5s can consume 1 Litre of oil (about a quart) in about 400 miles or so. How does your oil temp sensor behave ? It shares data from the same sensor as oil level.

Second get yourself a peake code reader, and read all the fault codes. Then tell us all here, and we will help point you in the right direction. So hopefully you can take it to a mechanic and tell him what is wrong, how to fix it and also supply him with the correct parts, and not be scammed either.

The water temp gauage abnormalities coudl be caused by a bad double temp sensor which sits on top of the T Stat.

Good Luck and enjoy !!

[msdunkel]

Originally Posted by M5 London

Welcome and congratulations.

You own the Best Saloon car ever made !

Unfortunately it seems to be running very rich, black smoke.....the puff of white/blue smoke is obviously a bit off oil getting burned off. Richness can be caused by several factors, like bad 02 sensors, bad Thermostat etc

First things first, learn how to check the oil level as per the manual (not trying to be funny, as its not a normal procedure). Some examples of this car drink A LOT LOT LOT of oil, and your low oil level warning could be genuine. Some M5s can consume 1 Litre of oil (about a quart) in about 400 miles or so. How does your oil temp sensor behave ? It shares data from the same sensor as oil level.

Second get yourself a peake code reader, and read all the fault codes. Then tell us all here, and we will help point you in the right direction. So hopefully you can take it to a mechanic and tell him what is wrong, how to fix it and also supply him with the correct parts, and not be scammed either.

The water temp gauage abnormalities coudl be caused by a bad double temp sensor which sits on top of the T Stat.

Good Luck and enjoy !!

Thank you for the reply, I can't lie, even with the minor issues and only having owned her a week I'm already in love. After my research on the black smoke, your diagnosis is what I also thought on the smoke. I don't mind it running a little bit rich as long as that doesn't cause any problems other than a little poorer gas mileage, one NICE thing about the UAE is gas is $1.72/gallon full service for 95 octane .

I did check the oil per the manual and my level was appropriate, albeit just about the minimum recommended level. I went ahead and put a quart of synthetic 10w60 in anyway and haven't gotten the warning since now that I'm at the maximum recommended level. I certainly hope she doesn't drink a liter per week but at least I know that isn't out of the realm of possibilities. Hell, for spending just $11,000 that would be great if a $60/month oil habit was the worst of my problems .

I have had no issues with the oil temperature, it's been hanging out below the 50% temperature area while driving it, very comfortable. The temp gauge usually is 50% or lower, only when it malfunctions does it go way up high. We'll see how she behaves when it's 125F outside.

I've read about the peake code reader, am I going to get codes if I'm not getting an error message (you know, in the place that keeps flashing "speed limit" to me?)? Right now I'm not getting any messages other than those I already mentioned and the friendly warning that I need to slow down when I pass a speed camera.

[Gustav]

Welcome, I was just in Abu DHabi actually


Checlked out this BTW

[2strokecoldsmoke]

Originally Posted by msdunkel

I've read about the peake code reader, am I going to get codes if I'm not getting an error message (you know, in the place that keeps flashing "speed limit" to me?)? Right now I'm not getting any messages other than those I already mentioned and the friendly warning that I need to slow down when I pass a speed camera.

That 'speed limit' message you are seeing is programmed into the On Board Computer (OBC), which is accessed in the main menu of your nav screen. Someone has turned on the speed limit reminder. You can easily turn it off or set it to a different speed via the OBC. Check your manual or ask here if you can't figure it out. I imagine that it is rather annoying to have that going off all the time.

Your tire pressure warning is most likely due to the tire pressure warning system not being properly calibrated. The system uses the ABS sensors to measure the relative speed of each wheel. If a tire goes low or flat, it will turn at a different rate as the other tires. In order to function, it has to 'learn' the correct relative speeds of the tires on the car. For instance, if you put different tires on , there will be slight differences in the speeds, so the system has to be recalibrated. Again, the procedure is in the manual, and it is also listed in various places here on the board (just do a search). I don't recall the exact procedure, but after making sure that all tires are at correct pressure, you hold down the button just to the right of the steering wheel until something flashes, then drive around for 10 minutes. Once the system is calibrated, the warning message should go away.

Like M5 London said, the oil consumption is just the way it is on some of these motors. However, myself and a number of other board members have found that spirited, hard driving can reduce the oil consumption. The theory is that some M5s were never driven very hard, and the rings never seated properly. My car went from burning a quart every 700-900 miles to half a quart every 3500-4000 miles. I don't abuse my car, but it gets driven the way it was designed to.
No scientific evidence to back this up, but that's what some of us have observed.

[Kevin The Clean 1]

Originally Posted by Gustav

Welcome, I was just in Abu DHabi actually


Checlked out this BTW

[alquazi]

Originally Posted by msdunkel

Greetings all and great resource here!

I am currently in Abu Dhabi and have a 2 year posting. I was looking for a car and in my price range and all I seemed to find were late model econoboxes with a lot of mileage, or old plain janers with a lot of miles AND a lot of dings AND no maintenance history. For anybody who has been to the UAE, you'll know it's something of a throw away society. The locals buy stuff new, don't maintain it at all, then just buy something new again next year. Not the way I'd do things, but I guess they've got the money for it so what the heck.

Anyway, I was just about to close the deal on an '08 Audi A3 with about 80,000 km when I found this beautiful 2000 M5 for sale in Dubai with 143,000 km. The owner had 3 years of maintenance records (3rd owner), not a single door ding, good clutch, brand new tires, and the interior was very good. He'd replaced all the engine seals last year, had the car repainted (yes, I know that screams ACCIDENT, but I swear she tracks straight and smooth), and replaced every component of the air conditioning. Long story short (and yes, it's a very long story, anybody who has lived here will agree that this place is king of caveat emptor) I purchased the car for the same as that A3 was going for. I had the opportunity to purchase a brand new E46 (Interlagos Blue, all options including SMG and competition) when I lived in Germany and was in automotive nirvana, I've missed that car a lot and I just couldn't pass up on this M5.

I won't compare it to my M3 since that would be quite unfair, however I would say that I'm extremely happy with the car. I'm something of a pessimist and just keep waiting for it to break down on my way to work (I've only owned it a couple days). So far I've had a false tire pressure light, a couple false low oil lights when I shut down, and a radiator temperature gauge that pegged past the red when in fact there was nothing wrong (turned the car off/on and it was back to normal). The car gives off heavy black smoke like an '89 Volvo diesel whenever I step on it, and it looks like on high RPM downshifts just a touch of white/blue smoke puffs out the back. Based on what I've read on this board neither is too big a deal. I also thank you for the tip on the Lubro-Moly Synthoil Race Tech GT1 10W-60, I ordered from Amazon and their shipping is quite reasonable.

So anyway, great to be here and I hope I'm not back in 3 days with a post on how this and that is broke and my car is dead in a ditch somewhere .

What a stupid arrogant statement. If you have lived here long enough you would know that is not true, and if you haven't been here long enough then how can you that? Yes some people have money and don't take care of their stuff, but most people are not that way. Besides, if that was the case, why didn't you get a newer car.
Anyways, I would look up BMWCLUBUAE.COM, the local club for our cars, and if you need to get your car checked I'd take it to Das Autoworks in Dubai, our local M specialist, or X Service center, another BMW shop. Also if you want low priced TWS check in the local forum.
Remember, you don't have to say stupid $#!t to be cool.

Originally Posted by Gustav

Welcome, I was just in Abu DHabi actually

You should have let us know Gustav. we would have showed you our local Beasts

[blackxs]

I dont think he was referring to everyone but, Abu Dhabi - especailly the royalty there or the other wealthy men, have a notorious history of buying extremely expensive and rare supercars and beating on them. They floor their cars around when cold, drive recklessly in traffic, they just dont care for proper maintence. Not everyone, surely, but I have seen my fair share of videos from the region to know some of your elite do not care so much about these cars.