Hi,

I just posted about a seized ignition cylinder on my 82 240d; it seems it's a common problem that would have been an easy fix had I known beforehand. I'm just wondering if there are any other common problems these cars will have. I've read about the alternator, which has been replaced on mine. Anything else particular to his car, that I would want to pay attention to in order to prevent? That is, besides regular maintenance. Mine's a manual trans with 214K miles.

Thanks for any wisdom.

 

Stuff made of Rubber.
Oil Cooler Hoses leaking. Changing them sometimes results in stripping the threads on the Aluminum Oil Cooler Nipple/s. (If your 240D happens to have the same sized Nipples as my 84 300D there is a repair for the stripped nipples.)

Transmission Cooler Hoses if you have an Automatic Transmission.

The Rubber Boots on the Rear CV Axles splitting and allowing the CV Joing Oil to leak out.

Engine and Transmission Mounts. On my US model if the Driverside Motor Mount collaspes the Power Steering Belt will sometimes cut into one of the Oil Cooler Hoses.

The Front Suspension Control Arms are mounted on Rubber; when they rot out you will get uneven tire wear.

Check the Drive Shaft Flex Discs; if they need replacement the made in China ones do
not hold up well.

Other Stuff:
The Injectors on these Cars have often never been pulled and even checked let alone rebuilt. The should be at least checked ever 100,000 miles.

About the same with the Valve Adjustment. After the Car is past the Warranty people do not want to pay to have them adjusted or believe they have Hydraulic Valve Lifters and do not need adjusting.

The Battery and Chassie Ground stap contact areas are often never cleaned. This can be the source of Alternator issues as the Voltage Regulator Controls the Field Current through the Ground.

If your Climate Control is not manual they are often in varing degrees of functioning.

Power Window Switches and Window Regulator Problems. The Rear Window Regulators on mine are made of a thin what we call Pot Metal; the Metal like a Carburator is made of. They get bent and twisted with use.
Inside of the Power Window Switches are 8 contact points per Switch that get oxidized, Burned or the Switches get full junk inside to the point they do not work. They can be carefully taken a part and cleaned.
Vacuum Problems.
Mostly due to leaks in the system.
Things like the Door locks not working, the Enging will not shut off, and Climate Control issues were certain vents will work or not work.
This can also take out your Trunk Lock. If you do not have the key (I do not) to open the trunk if the Vacuum to it fails you will have a problem.

Automatic Transmission problems.
The transmission uses Vacuum. This site will explain better than me:
http://www.continentalimports.com/ser_ic20242.html