whiskychaser

'Sportfederung' means sports suspension. Your document shows 312 393 is good for both standard and sport suspension. The top mount 34990 only mentions the sport - the oddity I mentioned above. The difference between sport and standard suspension at the front is probably only the thickness of the roll bar and/or springs.

So to sum up, you have Sachs 312 393 inserts (BMW 1138667) and will have equivalent to Sachs 805 828 mounts (BMW 1139437). Measure the pin in your pic - it should be 16mm diameter and 65mm long to match the mount. Oddly, the Sachs catalogue describes the parts as 'standard' and 'sport' respectively. But it does not include sport inserts or standard mounts. FWIW, you can download it in pdf here: https://aftermarket.zf.com/go/en/sachs/catalogs/pdf-catalogs/

A few points to bear in mind when you get round to changing the inserts: Slacken the nut on top of the insert about half a turn while the car is still on its wheels. If you don't, you may find later that the nut spins the shaft and you can't take it off. Or make friends with someone who owns a rattle gun. There is, of course, a special tool to remove the threaded collar which holds the insert in the strut. If you can't get one or have not found another new friend, you can get away with stilsons. FWIW, mine are 24" and made by Toolzone. This may sound counter intuitive but don't have them too tight - they can crush the collar onto the strut giving you the impression it is really tight when it is not. But you can't get stilsons on the collar with the spring on. If you have got a big vice, put the leg in that. If you haven't, mount the leg back on the car minus the spring to undo it. You may find that the strut contains some oil. It isn't needed for gas inserts but a PO may have left it in to give you a nice surprise and welcome you to the joys of BMW ownership. So keep it upright if you can

Well, you have got them upside down but the main thing is that they fit 31331134096 is a single part mount and was fitted up to 7/90. My 2/92 car left the factory with them but that is pretty much an exception. It looks like the 31331139437 but the pin is 14mm and the nut is usually 19mm.

Just to confuse you, there are 3 types of top mount on the 525i depending on year of production. What I think you should have is part number 31331139437 which was fitted 8/90 to 9/92. It is a one piece mount with a bearing ID of 16mm. If you remove the rubber cap, the nut on the top of the shock is usually 22mm. The new mounts you have appear to be for 9/92 onwards and the bearing ID on those is 14mm. So assuming you have got the correct inserts, just try and put your new mounts on them. My guess is they it will not fit.

Looks like a good example but this from the MOT history does not bode well: Nearside Front Vehicle structure has excessive corrosion which adversely affects braking or steering sill (6.1.A.1)

Good article and a very good point. Unless someone who is asymptomatic believes they may have had the virus and has an antibody test, they are never going to know. Unfortunately, those tests are still a way off

You are very welcome. Good to hear you got it sorted. Thanks @Keliuss for the kind words too

Instead of tear arsing between lights and roundabouts and slamming on your brakes, my guess is that you are reading the road and driving at a fairly constant speed. To the inexperienced, driving smoothly may appear to be driving slowly. But it is not. As Jackie Stewart said 'Good driving for me is smooth driving'. And he was no slouch. The problem arises because idiots fail to recognize good driving when they see it. The same sort of idiots overtake in fog then suddenly hit the brakes because they can't see anymore

Yes, the handbrake has a simple switch to ground. That is what makes the circuit to put the light on so is perfectly normal. The other brake light warns of a fault with the braking system such as low brake fluid. Not suggesting that the BMW garage does not know what they are doing. I'd just be concerned at driving the car for any distance with the voltage so high. If I had to guess, I'd say there is a problem with the rotor. The exciter voltage does not seem to be getting through it and back to the regulator. Hence the light does not come on. Either way, if it does turn out to be the alternator, charge your battery up before fitting. If the battery is flat, there is a chance the nice new alternator could be damaged.

Something is very wrong. Did a bit of a search and it seems you should have a 14.1v regulator. No way should it reach 16.7v. It sounds like the regulator may be faulty. With regard to the cluster, have you tried the instrument self test? With the ignition off, push down the right hand cluster button. Turn the ignition on and release the button. The speedo usually goes to 80mph and the tacho to 3500rpm. Be fairly quick about releasing the button. Hold it too long and you may change the cluster language. No disrespect to said garage but maybe try a local auto-electricians? They may even come out to the car.

Grounding pin 12 of the OBD port is just the same as grounding the same wire at the alternator. IIRC, you tried that and the light did not come on? Perhaps there was not enough voltage at the time? The diagram above is the same one I posted in my first reply. That file also gives you the location of the components - in the case of the diode V9501, it is supposed to be on the left hand side of the engine compartment below X20. The location of X20 is shown on page 7100-0-01. It might be worth testing the diodes to see if they block voltage in the reverse direction as mentioned above. But if the bulb lights, they are probably fine. The alternator is responsible for grounding the wire at D+. When it starts charging, it will change that terminal to a positive and the light will go out (The diodes are there to stop that voltage going in the wrong direction). I realise that the alternator was checked but it does not appear to be switching correctly

The simple solution would appear to be to T into the tank's mains feed and connect to the pipe going to the loo. Then blank off the outlet from the tank. Of course, the mains to the tank needs to be off and the tank empty

Diodes are just like one way valves. They conduct the voltage in the direction of the arrow but not the other way round. So when you put your meter on them, they give continuity one way but if you reverse the position of the probes, you get a very high ohms reading No, it does not matter which way the bulb is fitted. If the diagram is correct, the ignition warning light, ABS and handbrake lights all get their live from pin 7. So you would expect to find continuity between pin 7 and one side of each bulb holder

Diodes only let voltage pass in the direction of the arrow. So if you put the meter on one way round, you will get continuity. But if you swap the probes round, you should get a reading that is so high it is almost infinity. There is a slight complication in that to test them, they should be out of the circuit. That is fine for the one in the unloader relay as you can take it out. Not sure about the one on the nearside inner wing as I have not seen one. But if the wire is disconnected from the alternator, you should be able to test in the same way. Can't say I am 100% certain about pin 7 because it is a while since I worked on a cluster. But I think I would remember if the diagram were wrong. That pin supplies most of the bulbs in the cluster. So you could pick another one from the diagram and check for a common live. In your test, did you bridge from the warning light socket via the bulb to pin 7? And if so, the live side or the negative side? The ignition warning light should be on when you turn on the ignition. When you start the car and it is charging, the alternator turns the light off.