Expert: Don Berlan - 9/8/2006

Question
Hi,
i just bought a 1988 BMW 735iL for a really cheap price. it has 271,000 miles on it. i know it is  a lot of miles. it is good and running. i want to maximize the use of it and make sure i get less problems than what you can typically get with a car with 270K miles. can you tell me what are the most important things to look at and check to make sure it is properly maintained......thanks a lot

Answer
Having a 7 is sweet,I have 2.The thing that I would check is to make sure the timing chain plastic slides are in good shape and not worn out.I have one that the tensioner slides wore out and the cars timing chain jumped which in turn caused the valves to hit the pistons..needless to say a new motor had to be installed