In reply to golfduke :
Oh, I'm not trying to pick on your car here! I'm thrilled with the purchase and I'd be more than happy to buy you a beer or whatever the equivalent is for someone with a surplus of beer is when I'm back out that way.
I'm convinced that cars mostly just hate altitude. I noticed in Nebraska the car likes to rock as it warms up. If it weren't for red lights it would go totally undetected. When I changed the air filter I gave the MAF a few squirts of cleaner and that seems to have pissed it off more. Now it will cut out some of the time at startup but still warms up to running smoothly. There's a clip missing on the air intake that's pre-MAF but I'm still hoping tightening that up might help. I'll keep going through the checklist of items I like to replace on new to me cars and see if any basic time up-ing helps before I start to really think much about it. I imagine there's just an old vacuum line or something similar and it's more of an issue here without that heavy, humid air you guys enjoy. Or maybe the computer just needs to learn.
I know on the M5 the MAFs are blamed for everything right up to paint that's not glossy enough...but every time I've chased a problem it's ended up being something else. I'd get a Peak code reader and the car might give you some hints. On the M5, there's a "secret menu" that displays diagnostic info on the center screen.
Uneven idle on cold starts - VANOS general crudiness can do this. That's a maintenance item on the long timeframe. Note that the 99-00 version of the 540i engine is specifically known to have cold idle and stalling problems due to VANOS problems, but no mention of that for '03.
https://www.beisansystems.com/procedures/m62tu_vanos_procedure.htm
About the alarm - apparently the hood sensor is temperamental. Mine used to false until I unplugged that.
FYI, might be worth trying this on the 540i to see if you can access the diagnosis info.
https://www.m5board.com/attachments/e39-m5-secret-menu-pdf.328482/
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Thanks for the tips. I'm embarrassed to admit that I haven't even hooked up the scanner to this car. Nothing's on the dash and my reader doesn't seem to play well with the new iPhone (as a previous android user I had no idea the switch would be this confusing). It's on the to-do list.
What I didn't really expect to be on the to-do list was building a shed. But when you find a deal on a returned-shed-kit you buy it? This needed to happen eventually, I was just planning to have a bit more time to play with the new car.
The van continues to be the most practical vehicle/hotel room I've ever owned dragging home a poorly packed shed (not including lumber for the foundation but it may have fit)
Which becomes surprisingly large when slapped together. Next time, I'll take a day off work. This was a longer process than I wanted it to be.
That, a work trip, and a cold out of the way, it's back to the BMW. Plugs came out without any drama and look good? I don't know how to read plus and I don't know how old these are but nothing is obviously wrong so I'm calling it a win.
Ditto fuel filter. It was original to the car so probably worth doing. Waiting on a hose clamp to finish that job but that should conclude the routine maintenance I hoped to do. Next up, some cosmetic items including one very large OEM replica rear bumper. I understand that these are big, but off the car and in the cardboard it just seems comically large.
With this painted and installed maybe I'll actually have some real photos of the car in this thread...
NICE!
I'm so happy the car is getting actually properly sorted, haha.
At some point, someone who owned this car was super big into glue. I found some when doing the seat twist repair (not in a location where it successfully did anything) and it sure seems like it's what was holding the shift knob on. No matter, the whole assembly was being replaced and I thought I'd probably replace the knob anyway. This just accelerated the decision to put a zhp knob on. Bummed to lose the light-up feature but holy E36 M3 are f10 knobs expensive.
E60 shifter, ZHP knob, a couple new bushings (I'll deal with the rest if/when the clutch needs doing), and the clutch delay valve delete all sorted out. It's a significant improvement. Because the old boot and knob were connected, I was forced to cut the leather boot and zip-tie it back onto the shifter. It looks fine, I think, and should hold up, but maybe I'll do a proper replacement someday.
This interior has seen some sun or heat or something
But things are looking up. Wood trim will likely get swapped/wrapped eventually.
At some point, maybe with my head out the sunroof trying to rip the shift knob off I realized that I can swap roof rack bars without the key. This allowed me to finally answer what I'm sure is a common question in the US - do thule bars fit on Nordrive feet? Yes. Will it make a difference in noise or mpg? Almost certainly not. At least not with ski & bike racks up there. But I had the bars so it was worth a go.
Old
New (used). Faster. And with more downforce
This thread is such a throwback for me, I've owned like a dozen 540i/6's in the past. I still see tons of them nowadays at my shop, they all need chain guides, haha
Nice and good to know!!! The nordrive setup was like... $300 cheaper than Thule/Yakima, so... haha.
In reply to dannyzabolotny :
If chain guides are all I need I'll be psyched. I expect it to be a similar experience to the Volvos I've owned - always running but also always needing something fixed
In reply to golfduke :
The roof rack is a big bonus! But, the spare tire well is already drilled for a hitch, and I already own the rack... All I'm saying is if you see a key stamped N135 I'll happily pay for your time and shipping to get it out here so I can pull the rack for summers.
Which are a pretty short season.. Snow on the front range this weekend so maybe I'll get some work done. I didn't expect steering feel to be on par with my Mini or Miata, both running a lot of camber and pretty stiff tires, but I think there's room for improvement. Feels like a lot of slop in the rack itself, which is supposedly adjustable (ish). Anyone with experience on that one? I need to yank on individual components but the wheels themselves don't exhibit any play.
I'll get out the real camera and take photos eventually, but here's something. I'm wondering if the pain match on the hood could be improved. It's not going to be and does not need to be a concourse car, but if I'm bringing the bumper in anyway....
docwyte
PowerDork
5/21/22 10:19 a.m.
I worked on the corrado yesterday due to the weather
Just checked for an N135 and no dice :/
I did find this though...?
https://www.etrailer.com/Accessories-and-Parts/Thule/THKEYN135.html
etrailer is usually pretty awesome, perhaps it's worth the $10?
Either way, it's looking great! I do know that the E39 540 is more steering box than it is rack, but I agree. Steering felt pretty vauge, but I just didn't care enough to dig any further than ensuring alignment and bushings were all good.
In reply to golfduke :
Thanks for doing a check on those keys, I might just pay shipping from Mick's garage for the right set. I think the THULE "n" keys actually are different. They have some van parts I could use anyway.
Yes, steering box! My mistake. Feels like you can't read more than 10 sentences into an e39 540/m5 review without the steering box coming up. I know the car had a semi-recent alignment but maybe taking it to the local indy that specializes in BMW is worthwhile. I don't believe these have adjustable camber up front, which is what I feel like I'm missing, so maybe that would be a waste. The easy solution is to shut up and just drive the car, but if we all did that there wouldn't be any fun threads for me to read on here.
Regardless, spent some more time getting acquainted with the underside of the car (it is clean). Made a very minor adjustment on the box, which for the record did not require the engine to be lifted, just a lot of fiddling. I don't think this made any difference at all, but I didn't have the courage to really tighten things up. All other bushings look pretty darn good aside from sway bar bushes and maybe a rear strut top mount which I think is allowing minor play with the suspension at full droop.
Poly bushings on the thrust arms?
Power steering fluid seems fine enough
I've spent time in e36s, e34s, 390s, but no other e39 540s. Maybe if I yell about not making minor adjustments while speeding on the autobahn I'll decide the steering is exactly as it should be on these cars.
Not much in the way of updates here. I *thought* I found my steering vagueness. I finally wisened up and stuck my cell camera under the car to record while moving the wheel. The center link seemed to have some play, so I fired up the parts cannon... with the parts I could get, which is why left and right tie rod ends don't match. I thought Lemforder and Febi would be identical, not quite but whatever
I'll get a real alignment next week, but driving around the block with a lousy string-alignment didn't produce the results I was hoping for. Maybe I'll let it go, maybe an m5 steering box is in my future. That's an entirely different can of worms.
Otherwise I'm still slowly working through all the bad plastics, the windshield cowling was a nice one to get done but most exciting might be the 3rd cupholder. I don't need 24 cupholders in my car, but the storage cubby was pretty useless and the new cupholder fits a cell phone. Or my coffee. $33 well spent
Old vs new
In use
Getting there
I know the M5 steering box is different/better, but before dropping that kind of money on one I would make sure to go over everything else twice and making sure its ok. I had a 540i and the steering was not bad.
Are all front suspension bushings ok?
I know I should be upset about the steering in the M5, but I've never found it objectionable. It's no Miata or classic Mini but not much is. The bushings on the thrust arms, however, have a lifespan of about 10k miles.
E39 cupholders are 1) terrible and 2) always broken. We picked up one of these cool little self-unfolding units that hides behind the sliding door when it's not deployed (not my picture). It's remarkably entertaining to use because it's damped so unfolding it seems like an event. Not sure how it would work on a cellphone, though.
Man, that car is so purdy. Glad it's still treating you well!
Keith Tanner said:
I know I should be upset about the steering in the M5, but I've never found it objectionable. It's no Miata or classic Mini but not much is. The bushings on the thrust arms, however, have a lifespan of about 10k miles.
E39 cupholders are 1) terrible and 2) always broken. We picked up one of these cool little self-unfolding units that hides behind the sliding door when it's not deployed (not my picture). It's remarkably entertaining to use because it's damped so unfolding it seems like an event. Not sure how it would work on a cellphone, though.
Man, I am jealous of that cup holder! I saw a few come up for sale second hand but could never justify the cost. There's a surprising amount of space below the original cubby there, this feels like a cost effective solution to make some of that usable. Would be nice to have a euro armrest as well but those seem to go for big money too.
I suspect steering is where it needs to be now. I'm guess I'm fortunate in that I don't have a mechanic I normally go to, because I don't normally have to go to a mechanic. However, I brought the car to a place that specializes in bmws and minis for an alignment and I'm pretty sure they know their stuff. I'm happy with where they were able to get it and even happier to receive a "we couldn't find anything wrong with it" call. I didn't ask them to, but nice to know. I've only driven the car 10 miles home from the shop but I *think* I'm happy with where we're at now. To Keith's point it's not a mini or a Miata, but it's also not running a bunch of camber and r888rs so I wouldn't expect as much.
In golfduke's neck of the woods for a minute, but I should be able to get some miles on the car soon and sort out what I'm doing with that rear bumper. I wanted to be sure I could get alignment in spec before spending on paint, but I'm still not sure how much I want to invest there. Vinyl wrapping the whole thing is still tempting. As is giving laying paint myself a shot, but even materials are expensive just for a bumper.
mikeonabikesmith said:
Keith Tanner said:
I know I should be upset about the steering in the M5, but I've never found it objectionable. It's no Miata or classic Mini but not much is. The bushings on the thrust arms, however, have a lifespan of about 10k miles.
E39 cupholders are 1) terrible and 2) always broken. We picked up one of these cool little self-unfolding units that hides behind the sliding door when it's not deployed (not my picture). It's remarkably entertaining to use because it's damped so unfolding it seems like an event. Not sure how it would work on a cellphone, though.
Man, I am jealous of that cup holder! I saw a few come up for sale second hand but could never justify the cost. There's a surprising amount of space below the original cubby there, this feels like a cost effective solution to make some of that usable. Would be nice to have a euro armrest as well but those seem to go for big money too.
I suspect steering is where it needs to be now. I'm guess I'm fortunate in that I don't have a mechanic I normally go to, because I don't normally have to go to a mechanic. However, I brought the car to a place that specializes in bmws and minis for an alignment and I'm pretty sure they know their stuff. I'm happy with where they were able to get it and even happier to receive a "we couldn't find anything wrong with it" call. I didn't ask them to, but nice to know. I've only driven the car 10 miles home from the shop but I *think* I'm happy with where we're at now. To Keith's point it's not a mini or a Miata, but it's also not running a bunch of camber and r888rs so I wouldn't expect as much.
In golfduke's neck of the woods for a minute, but I should be able to get some miles on the car soon and sort out what I'm doing with that rear bumper. I wanted to be sure I could get alignment in spec before spending on paint, but I'm still not sure how much I want to invest there. Vinyl wrapping the whole thing is still tempting. As is giving laying paint myself a shot, but even materials are expensive just for a bumper.
Come by the brewery if you find yourself in S NH!
In reply to golfduke :
I'd like to have stopped by but this trip filled up fast.
I spent more nights away from home than in CO this month and haven't driven the car much. I did pick up some nearly new mounted snows that seemed like a cost-effective option at $350, even needing spacers. The 245/45/18s are a size up from what I'd like, but I don't think some bonus ground clearance will hurt in the winter. They definitely fill out the arches, but only rub slightly at ~full lock. I think I'll be able to push out the fender liners, or just let them self clearance (golfdukes fender liner repair deserves its own thread, crafty AF). I'm confident enough to order a second set of spacers at least
In test fitting, though, I realized what I had thought might be some rear strut mount play was very much some everything play. I don't know how I bodged this diagnosis so badly in the first place, but I sure wish I hadn't just paid for a professional alignment. In any case, a small amount of play turned into a large amount of play or I got way stronger at wiggling wheels. Either way, upper links, integral links, wheel carrier ball joint, and sway bar links are all new now. If it's worth doing it's worth overdoing.... Sort of a fiddly job but easy enough. The car really is remarkably rust free
This disaster was sort of masked by caked-on grease but dang, how did I miss this (these). The alignment shop also did, calling to say "we couldn't find anything wrong" when they finished up. Not sure that if that makes me feel better or worse. In any case, I'll do my best home alignment and maybe leave it at that, at least until I really need new tires. Hopefully, this solves my steering complaints once and for all, or for at least a few miles.
mikeonabikesmith said:
I think I'll be able to push out the fender liners, or just let them self clearance (golfdukes fender liner repair deserves its own thread, crafty AF).
haha. Well it started off as an 'oh crap I really REALLY REALLY need to close that access hole up because it's throwing road grime everywhere' emergency fix... but it held so well that I honestly forgot about it and never bothered to fix it any further, haha. Tote bins are USEFUL!
Bit of a departure from what I'm used to for a headlight project. What came on the car was.. bad. I think the LED halos may have been brighter than the low beams. So when a used set of OE lights popped up for $60 I grabbed them thinking I could just use those ballasts and bulbs - turns out they're not the same mounting interface. One thing led to another and I find myself with new adjusters, lenses, projectors, and bulbs. Holy E36 M3 though, even with one headlight installed the improvement is unreal. I used to drive a lot of new Toyotas/Lexuses for work and this is on par or above many of those. Or I just (definitely) haven't aimed them appropriately.
There are plenty of write ups for putting evo xr 2.0 bi-xenons in e39s but many of the solutions to make them fit are suspect. Without modification, the projectors sit far back from the chrome surround, like this
My solution was to pick up some aluminum sleeves from Ace to place over the OE dowels to bring the lens closer to the housing.
This was sort of an expensive solution but after first trying to thread the dowels I became frustrated with the in-between size of the material and was ready to move on. I also installed "caps" on the "old" high beams. I was on the fence about these but I think I like them... not too loud and I think they work with on a white car. The old headlight on the left looks OK in the photo, but the plastic lense is pretty bad, maybe some more polishing could have brought it all the way back.
The BMW decided to thank me with a bad starter. At least I think the starter was bad. When I went to check electrical connections the plastics all disintegrated to the point where I would not have felt OK continuing to use it. Advance auto came through with a bosch stamped started for $150 in stock a few miles away. It was polite of the car to at least break in the driveway, and after a push into the garage with help from SWMBO it was back to working the same evening.
Great progress.
The projectors look great, not so sure about the Hella on the high beams ... I guess the new projectors are bi-xenon and you dont need the factory high beams anymore?
Slippery said:
Great progress.
The projectors look great, not so sure about the Hella on the high beams ... I guess the new projectors are bi-xenon and you dont need the factory high beams anymore?
Exactly the case. A guy in Ukraine is making these little inserts, just a HPDE cutout and vinyl. I felt good about sending some money that way and was honestly a bit surprised when they arrived. What ultimately prompted me to go with them was trying to aim the old high beam and new xenon in the same place. The actual headlight housing allows for a good amount of adjustment but I found getting both old/new high beams to point the same way was difficult. I suppose the alternative to covering the original high beam would be to simply de-power it since running lights don't seem necessary with the led halos
Low beam
High beam (the lenses are fine, it just rains here every now and again)
A supposedly low mileage m5 steering box has arrived. M5s used servotronic or variable assist steering while the 540s sold in the US did not. Supposedly I can program and wire up the correct module to get this operating but the servotronic unit attached is broken anyway. I'll keep an eye out for e38s in the pick n pulls around here to grab a compatible servotronic unit but should be OK to run as-is for now.
I've got a bit of a heart procedure coming up that will keep me from my regularly scheduled trail running and biking which generally kills most of my time. Scheming on what maintenance I can get ahead of, cooling system looks OK to me but perhaps worthwhile. What else?
Some combination of worn front rotors, some pulling when braking, and being a sucker for a sale net me a box of Hawk parts. The blank rotors in the front and drilled in the rear was really giving me OCD....
Install was relatively smooth and I kept thinking about how little trouble the car has given me, especially with bolts that just come out when asked. I must have jinxed it. Thought I would bleed the front while I had everything in the air - all good from the passenger side but the driver had a gunked-up nipple. No problem, pulled it out and cleaned it up. But I'm still getting half air/half fluid when using a vacuum bleeder, no matter how much I bleed. With the nipple removed the caliper seems very happy to gravity bleed. Brake pedal feels OK and the pulling when braking is resolved but the brakes will sometimes seize up after a hard stop - not ideal for bedding in new rotors. Appears that the front wheels sometimes spin freely, sometimes lock, and sometimes sit somewhere in-between. I would have thought a rotten piston may be an issue after being recessed back into the caliper, but it's odd that both front calipers are impacted. Especially with freshly lubricated pins and all. Scratching my head on this one.
Old
new
