New BMW owner on a lark

[John in VA]

Welcome!
All service items you mentioned would be good to perform. And brakes are nice to have!
The plastic cooling system is something that requires attention. Expansion tank, upper & lower hoses, temp & level sensors, auto tranny coolant temp sensor, fan blade - all will be something to consider especially without service records. Get the dealer-provided expansion tank - this is not the place to save a few $$. Then there is the "Should I change A/T fluid?" conundrum.

Bimmerforums & Bimmerfest both have good E39 forums:
http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/fo...996-2003-(E39)
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=103

[BradleyinDC]

All service items you mentioned would be good to perform. And brakes are nice to have!
The plastic cooling system is something that requires attention. Expansion tank, upper & lower hoses, temp & level sensors, auto tranny coolant temp sensor, fan blade - all will be something to consider especially without service records. Get the dealer-provided expansion tank - this is not the place to save a few $$. Then there is the "Should I change A/T fluid?" conundrum.

Bimmerforums & Bimmerfest both have good E39 forums:
http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/fo...996-2003-(E39)
http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=103

Thanks, John!
When rummaging through the car (I finally picked it up--looks good on the outside but will require attention), I found a receipt for brakes from May of 2013 so that helps. I'll add the rest to the (bottom of the) list. And yeah, already planning on changing the transmission fluid.

[JamesAustin]

As far as I know, any service performed at an authorized BMW dealership is recorded in BMW North America's database. This may even be true of service performed at authorized independent shops. It's worth asking a dealer to check BMW's service records for you; this may or may not tell you very much depending on where the car was serviced but every little bit helps. (Also, as far as I know, a dealer can get a lot more info out of BMW NA than you can get by just calling them and asking.)

Any good shop should be willing to do a used-car inspection and write up a report on everything they find. You want a BMW-authorized shop (or a BMW dealer) so they'll know about particular issues with BMWs. Usually people do this with a car they're thinking of buying; even if you already own the car this is money well spent. My dealer called this a "turnover inspection" and it was very thorough. Even if this gives you some unpleasant surprises, this is a better place to get them than somewhere at night by the side of the road.

Heck, if you plan to go to the DIY event in Annapolis this Saturday, maybe you could schedule such an inspection for the same day. We'll all help the mechanic...

[JamesAustin]

Carbon blasting cleans deposit build-up from intake valves, but that's only an issue with direct-injected engines. I don't think your 2000 528i has direct injection, so you probably won't need to carbon-blast.

[BradleyinDC]

Good to know about the direct injection! Thanks!

[BradleyinDC]

BMW Silver Spring was more helpful (301-890-3000)
They replaced a low beam halogen, fog and brake light 2003
But anything else has been purged already

[BradleyinDC]

Great idea, about the BWM dealer, thanks! I should have thought of that!

Yes, I do plan on going to the DIY event in Annapolis on Saturday--hopefully with the BMW if I can get it running by then! I didn't own the car soon enough to register in time, but yeah, I plan on lurking at least.

[JamesAustin]

At the risk of sounding like an animal in a commercial, have you checked the CARFAX? I found a fair amount of information in mine.

As for Saturday's DIY, people HAVE been known to cancel at the last minute, or just not show up... Get there on time with what you need for a quick job or two and they may be able to accommodate you... Stranger things have probably happened...

As for the carbon blasting, I suppose with 200,000 miles you might have more carbon buildup than a couple of cans of [insert favorite thing to pour in gas tanks] would take care of, but it's the direct-injected engines that need this regularly. I found a site that says BMW recommends "Walnut shell blasting" every 30,000 miles for direct-injected 135i/335i/535i engines.