bmw 540i
 

just bought one on a 94L off ebay for £1200.the car is an auto and in derby,i am wanting to get it back to sheffield but the brakes are dodgy.i am going to tow it on a dolly,do i need to disconnect the prop to tow it if the engine is running? he says the brakes work fine for about the first ten minutes then the pedal gradually gets worse,any ideas.this problem has only happened recently.
cheers in advance

I really would advise professional recovery, or rent yourself a trailer.

You'll need something pretty hefty to tow it.

Why would the engine be running?
Just put it in neutral and it'll be fine on the dolly, don't forget to leave the ignition lock off!! ie, the key in!

Shouldn't tow an auto ;)

You can tow most auto's safely for a few miles at speeds lower than 30mph.


It's a bit hit and miss though, towed a Safrane Auto about 10 miles at very low speed. Caused £2500 damage to the box.

Lee

Ouch... 10 times what the car was worth!! ;) :D

Cheers,
Grant

He paid £18k for it a year old.

We were towing it because the 2.5TD engine had lunched itself.

Total repair cost was nearer £7000. :eek:

The car was just over 3 years old at the time and was the top model jobby. I think at the time it was worth around £9k.

My workmate spent the £7k on it and a few months later the diesel pump died and cost him another £1500. Next service he had all the discs and pads replaced which sethim back onother £1000.

He sold it a year later for £3500. :eek:

Lee

OMG.. Thats some harsh depreciation, and some ridiculous servicing/repair costs for a Renault!! :eek:

Cheers,
Grant

Definitely either remove the prop, or get a full lift. If the auto gearbox on a 540 gets stroppy you won't get change out of £3000 to have it properly rebuilt.

(I've got a 96 N E34 540i Touring by the way).