Just got my bmw

Hi all just got my new bmw 740i and i love it, the best car i have ever drove, its the e38 m60 on a 95, and it has done 230k miles but feels like its done 25, the engine is so quiet the gear change is so smooth, and hell do is move, and i have not even used the sport button yet. The only thing that worries me is the mpg, i can help putting my foot down and listening to the sound of that engine, just need to find a tunnel..Anyway a few questions, does anyone know id it has an alpine stereo in, also it has an M powered badge on the back what does that mean? is it an m power or has someone just stuck a badge on, i dont know..

Edited by Fenderuk

ok didnt think it was an m power, its fast enough anyway.. Anything else i should know about the car though, everything seems to run and work, well apart from the airbag light stays on, and when i got the car it had a new radiator fitted so i replace the thermostat and housing. Everything seems fine though, and is it more economical to use the cruise control or not?

Fenderuk wrote: ok didnt think it was an m power, its fast enough anyway.. Anything else i should know about the car though, everything seems to run and work, well apart from the airbag light stays on, and when i got the car it had a new radiator fitted so i replace the thermostat and housing. Everything seems fine though, and is it more economical to use the cruise control or not?

They sure are!

I'd get that seen to.

I dont think it really makes much difference, maybe just a bit better.  On really long drives when its in cruise control I go to manual and put it in 5th and then come up to a round a bout and forget

I still have no luck on finding out what the switch does, i have also just realised that when i fill the petrol tank up by half full it leaks, so jacking it up this weekend and am going to repair it with petrol patch, fingers crossed it will work..As a new tank from bmw is £591+Vat..Petrol patch is about £5.99..Try that first..

The airbag light is usually one of the following...

The front seat connectors which are under the plastic covers. These are for the seat-belt pre-tensioners and if they are disconnected when the battery is connected then the airbag light comes on...

The other common problem is the front seat occupancy detector. This sits inside the seat and tells the airbag module if someone is in the front seat or not. This was implimented to keep repair costs in the event of an accident, as if no one was in the seat, no need for an airbag! This also has a connector under the seat, so check that too...

Best thing is to also get a diagnostic check to tell you exactly what it is. If it is the occupancy detector, you will probably have to replace it...which is a PIG of a job! Best thing to do is get the sensor disabled by the dealers so that the airbag fires irrespective of whether anyone is in the front seat or not...as these cars have lost sooo much value now, any accident is usually a write off anyway

BB 

Hi thanks for all your help on the problems, everything seems to be in good order not, went for an mot and it failed but not on much, so not an expensive fix. Although the petrol smell seems to be confusing, i tried the car without the petrol cap in for a while and did a run to cornwall, which was about a 500 mile trip, and for a few days after no smell..But as i had to have the car mot'd had to put the cap back on it, and guess what the smell has come back..So im wondering if there is an overspill pipe or something, that maybe under pressure may leak a little? But when i undo the cap there is no sign of pressure? Im stuck on this one..

I had this exact same problem on my old 320I. That was the seal that connected the filler tube to the actual tank...seems that it had perished. Everytime I filled the car up past the half way mark it would vommiit petrol out the bottom. Took the mechanic a while to find that and a while for me to realize that I was throwing money on the road for 3 weeks!!!

The thing that was leaking on my car was in the same place that number 18 is on this diagram of an E38 fuel tank... Hope it helps you...

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=GF82&mospi d=47517&btnr=16_0193&hg=16&fg=05

Cheers

BB

...obviously making sure there isn't petrol leaking about first!!!

If the leak is ocuring around the tank...have a look here...

http://www.bimmerboard.com/forums/posts/311555

Cheers
BB

It is a rather interesting choice of words isnt it