e39 523i chaos

[e30kev]

hi folks,
3 weeks ago my brother in law bought a '99 e39 523i auto and is having a few problems.
Its intermittently going into safe mode and sometimes stalling, traction control light coming on randomly and staying on killing power big time, engine management light also coming on intermittently and to make things worse the check control panel is completely unreadable due to the common pixel problem on the instrument cluster.

my advice to him was to return this turd to the car sales garage he bought it from and tell them to either fix it or give him his money back, is this fair or would he have had to notice all these problems when buying/test driving etc for them to give a $hit

he's had some diagnostics done and the following faults were detected if this sheds any light

code 1: plausibility, signal, engine throttle sensor, potentiometer (obdII:p0120; euIII:p0120)

code 2: engine throttle output stage shutoff after diagn error

code 3: signal, pedal travel sensor (in thr) pot. 1 (obdII:p1542;euIII:p0220)

code 4: plausibility, signal, pedal travel sensor (in thr.) pot. 1/2 (obdII:1542; euIII:p0220)

code 5: plausibility, system, engine throttle (obdII:p0601;euIII:p0601)

code 6: signal, throttle sensor, pot.1/2, short circuit (obdII:p0120; euIII:p0120

any help would be greatly appreciated,

cheers, Kev

[e30kev]

According to the garage the throttle body is knackered (well the sensor is)

[capri_rob]

As he bought it from a garage I would say that they have a responsibility to put the faults right - especially as they are affecting the drivability of the car.

As I understand it garages and traders cannot sell stuff "sold as seen" and have to offer some sort of basic warranty.

Take the turd back, give them the opportunity to sort it ( make sure you give them a comprehensive list of the faults and tell them that you want a diagnosis and fix for each one ) and if they refuse threaten them with trading standards.

[e30kev]

As he bought it from a garage I would say that they have a responsibility to put the faults right - especially as they are affecting the drivability of the car.

As I understand it garages and traders cannot sell stuff "sold as seen" and have to offer some sort of basic warranty.

Take the turd back, give them the opportunity to sort it ( make sure you give them a comprehensive list of the faults and tell them that you want a diagnosis and fix for each one ) and if they refuse threaten them with trading standards.

cheers for the reply mate, I'll pass this on and try my best to convince them to not spend any more on the car until they return it to the garage they bought it from.
I have my doubts though they keep banging on about how good a deal they got on it and cant see past the morcels and tat that its got, but they are baulking at the repair cost of over £500 for a new one fitted and they've already spent £200 on diagnostics at two different places
I would have stayed well clear as its been lowered and looks like it has aftermarket angel eyes

[capri_rob]

If it was a private sale he wouldnt have a leg to stand on but as he bought it from a dealer he should be covered under the sale of goods act.

When I bought my E36 touring it developed cooling system issues within a few days and the dealer had to fix it - the bill was almost £500 for a new genuine Rad, water pump and a few other incidentals which almost certainly wiped out any profit they made on the car.

[pacerpete]

There is no such thing as a good deal on an old E39 !

[Barx325i]

never 'buy' anything after '91

[Andyboy]

This is the trouble with old shit like this. E39's are lovely cars, but when they go wrong..............

To anyone who has the room, buy a decent E34 now and stash it away!