# 1988 BMW 535 stumbles

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/1988-bmw-535-stumbles/131262>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** 535, bmw\
**Created:** [December 22, 2018, 4:10pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1988-bmw-535-stumbles/131262 "2018-12-22T16:10:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Angus45](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@Angus45](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Angus45)\
**Post date:** [December 22, 2018, 4:10pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/1988-bmw-535-stumbles/131262/1 "2018-12-22T16:10:47Z")

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Hi Ray,

How are you doing? Car stumbles above 1800rpm right after starter replacement. Prior to that there is no issue whatsoever. The old starter dies in a violent way the last crank was terrible. Suspect timing is out by a tooth as a result of the violent start which may be due to loose timing chain tensioner, has 200k miles. Could not use a timing light to verify because the timing mark on the lower timing chain cover is in a bad spot, car owners manual says no timing light is needed I guess they don’t expect folks to use it. Any idea? Thanks so much for your help.

Angus