BMW 1989-1995 525i Service Manual page 7

Please read these warnings and cautions
before proceeding with maintenance and repair work.
WARNING-
• Some repairs may be beyond your capability. If you lack the
skills, tools and equ ipment, or a suitable workplace for any proce-
dure described in this manual, we suggest you leave such repairs
to an authorized BMW dealer service department, or other quali-
fied shop .
• Do not re-use any fasteners that are wom or deformed in normal
use. Many fastene rs are designed to be used only once and
become unreliable and may fail when used a seco nd time. Th is
includes, but is not limited to, nuts, bolts, washers, self-lock ing
nuts or bolts. circlips and cotter pins . Always replace these faste n-
ers with new parts.
• Never work under a lifted car unless it is solidly supported on
stands designed for the purpose. Do not support a car on cinder
blocks , hollow tiles or other props that may crumble under contin-
uous load. Never work under a car that is supported solely by a
jack.
Never work under the ca r while the engine is running.
• If you are going to work under a car on the ground , make sure
that the ground is level. Block the wheels to keep the car from roil-
ing. Disconnect the battery negative
H
terminal (Ground strap) to
prevent others from starting the car while you are under it.
• Never run the engine unless the work area is well ventilated.
Carbon monoxide kills.
• Finger rings, bracelets and other jewelry shou ld be removed so
that they cannot cause electrical shorts . get caught in running
machinery, or be crushed by heavy parts.
• lie long hair behind your head . Do not wear a necktie, a scarf,
loose cloth ing, or a necklace when you work near machine tools or
running engines. If your hair, clothing, or jewelry were to get
caugh t in the mach inery, severe injury could result .
• Do not attempt to work on your car if you do not feel well . You
increase the danger of injury to yourself and others if you are tired,
upset or have taken med ication or any othe r substance that ma y
keep you from being fully alert.
• Illuminate your work area adequately but safe ly. Use a portable
safety light for working inside or under the car. Make sure the bulb
is enclosed by a wire cage. The hot filament of an accidentally bro-
ken bulb can ignite spilled fuel or oil.
• Catch draining fuel, oil, or brake fluid in suitable conta iners. Do
not use food or beverage containe rs that might mislead someone
into drinking from them. Store flammable fluids away from fire haz -
ards. Wipe up spills at once, but do not store the oily rags , which
can ignite and burn spontaneously.
• Always observe good workshop practices. Wear gogg les when
you operate mach ine tools or work with battery acid . Gloves or
other protective cloth ing should be worn whenever the job requires
working with harmful substances.
• Greases, lubricants and other automotive chemicals conta in
toxic substances, many of which are absorbed directly through the
skin. Read manufacturer's instructions and warn ings carefully.
Use hand and eye protection. Avoid direct skin contact.
• Friction mate rials such as brake or clutch discs rnay contain
asbestos fibers . Do not create dust by grinding, sanding , or by
cleaning with comp ressed air. Avoid breathing asbestos fibers and
asbestos dust. Breathing asbestos can cause serious diseas es
such as asbest osis or cancer, and may result in death.
• Disconnect the battery negative (-) terminal (Ground strap)
whenever you work on the fuel system or the electrical system. Do
not smoke or work near heaters or other fire hazards . Keep an
approved fire extinguisher handy.
• Balleries give off explosive hydrogen gas during charging .
Keep sparks, lighted matches and open flam e away from the top
of the battery. lf hydrogen gas escaping from the cap vents is
ignited, it will ignite gas trapped in the cells and cause the battery
to explode.
• Connect and disconnect battery cables , jum per cables or a bat-
tery charger only with the ignition switched off, to prevent sparks.
Do not disconnect the battery while the engine is runni ng.
• Do not quick-charqe the battery (for boost starting) for longer
than one minute. Wait at least one minute before boosting the bat-
tery a second time.
• Do not allow battery charging voltage to exceed 16.5 volts. If the
battery beg ins producing gas or boiling violently, reduce the charg-
ing rate. Boosting a sulfated battery at a high cha rging rate can
ca use an exp losion.
• The air-cond itioning system is filled with chemical refrigerant,
wh ich is hazardous. The AlC system shou ld be serv iced only by
trained techn icians using approved refrigerant recovery/recycling
equipme nt. trained in related safety precautions, and familiar with
regulations governing the discharging and disposal of automotive
chem ical refrigerants.
• Do not expose any part of the AlC system to high temperatures
such as open flame . Excessive heat will increase system pressu re
and may cause the system to burst.
• Some aerosol tire inflators are highly flammable. Be extreme ly
cautious when repairing a tire that may have been inflated using
an aerosol tire inflator. Keep sparks, open flame or other sources
of ignition away from the tire repai r area. Inflate and deflate the tire
at least four times befo re breaking the bead from the rim. Com-
pletely remove the tire from the rim before attempting any repair.
• Some cars covere d by this manual are equipped with a supple-
mental restraint system (SRS), that automatically deploys an
airbag in the event of a frontal impact. The airbag is inflated by an
explosive device. Handled improperly or without adequate safe-
guards, it can be accidently activated and ca use serious injury.
• On cars equ ipped with anti-lock brakes (ABS), the ABS modu lar
assembly is capable of "selt-pressurinq" up to 2 10 bar (3045 psi).
Serious
injury
may result if the unit is not properly dep ressurized
before servicing the system.
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