E39’s-different flavours & a ST Fiesta
Discussion
stickylabels said:
Last year, things got 'a bit spendy' in B10 world what with a full set of arms, bushes & the Supersprint manifolds.
Now full disclosure, I didn't even attempt to fit any of that lot and the Alpina disappeared for over 2 months mainly due to the manifolds not exactly being plug & play like they are supposed to be.....
Fast forward to this 'summer', Ever since purchasing The B10 I could feel that the dampers were probably past their best. Two owners back, the chap had new springs fitted which would have helped but a spring can only do so much. I kept looking into dampers and the limited places that seems able to supply and then around a year ago Barry (BMR/ M5 wagon fame) posted up that fronts were NLA. Last year's plan was to freshen up all the flubbery bits underneath, (bushes, arms, sub frame bushings, track rods etc etc). My thinking was, give it a year and maybe Alpina will see sense and organise some new stock.
I looked into various options and then contacted Barry @BMR. He informed me that it wasn't just fronts that were NLA but the rears too..... :roll: He has put M5 dampers onto his own B10 as he feels that they are the closest to oe that you can get and for the B10 at least much closer in spec than B8's, Konis etc. In fact part numbers are apparently the same..... I decided to bite the bullet and asked him to organise a full set of M5 dampers to use with Alpina springs and genuine top mounts, bump stops, spring pads all round.
After a few weeks the kit arrived (see pic below). In an ideal world, only Alpina would do but, if the dampers are shot then a decision has to be made.
Time to get the spanners out!
Itll feel like a new car after all that Kenny. I know both my Jap import E39s were superb once adorned with all their new suspension tackle... Now full disclosure, I didn't even attempt to fit any of that lot and the Alpina disappeared for over 2 months mainly due to the manifolds not exactly being plug & play like they are supposed to be.....
Fast forward to this 'summer', Ever since purchasing The B10 I could feel that the dampers were probably past their best. Two owners back, the chap had new springs fitted which would have helped but a spring can only do so much. I kept looking into dampers and the limited places that seems able to supply and then around a year ago Barry (BMR/ M5 wagon fame) posted up that fronts were NLA. Last year's plan was to freshen up all the flubbery bits underneath, (bushes, arms, sub frame bushings, track rods etc etc). My thinking was, give it a year and maybe Alpina will see sense and organise some new stock.
I looked into various options and then contacted Barry @BMR. He informed me that it wasn't just fronts that were NLA but the rears too..... :roll: He has put M5 dampers onto his own B10 as he feels that they are the closest to oe that you can get and for the B10 at least much closer in spec than B8's, Konis etc. In fact part numbers are apparently the same..... I decided to bite the bullet and asked him to organise a full set of M5 dampers to use with Alpina springs and genuine top mounts, bump stops, spring pads all round.
After a few weeks the kit arrived (see pic below). In an ideal world, only Alpina would do but, if the dampers are shot then a decision has to be made.
Time to get the spanners out!
Hope so fella!!
Strip down time which is a faff & a half;
Boot trim out
Back seat;
Rear shelf, rear speakers, C pillar trims; the rear shelf has somewhat bleached, it should be dark green! Fabric paint on the way.
Removed the speaker grills and rear vents which were minging (technical term), scrubbed with BH surfex and rinsed.
Strip down time which is a faff & a half;
Boot trim out
Back seat;
Rear shelf, rear speakers, C pillar trims; the rear shelf has somewhat bleached, it should be dark green! Fabric paint on the way.
Removed the speaker grills and rear vents which were minging (technical term), scrubbed with BH surfex and rinsed.
stickylabels said:
Hope so fella!!
Strip down time which is a faff & a half;
Boot trim out
Back seat;
Rear shelf, rear speakers, C pillar trims; the rear shelf has somewhat bleached, it should be dark green! Fabric paint on the way.
Removed the speaker grills and rear vents which were minging (technical term), scrubbed with BH surfex and rinsed.
Yup; the saloons are more faffy when it comes to rear suspension - however I got it down to 10mins removal after having 3 of them Strip down time which is a faff & a half;
Boot trim out
Back seat;
Rear shelf, rear speakers, C pillar trims; the rear shelf has somewhat bleached, it should be dark green! Fabric paint on the way.
Removed the speaker grills and rear vents which were minging (technical term), scrubbed with BH surfex and rinsed.
Amazing what crap you find back there too!
BH Surfex takes the award for making it shiny! Literally sprayed on, agitate with a brush and rinse off. Helps they made them properly mind!
Onto the fronts and bloody hell did the offside 21mm nylon nut that holds the strut all together put up a fight....
In the end, I refitted the entire strut back onto the car, bolted everything up and then tried again. I drilled a hole in an old jack handle and got the longest breaker bar I could find. Doing my best chest expander impression with the jack handle going one way and the breaker bar the other, it finally moved 1/4 turn..... Removed everything (again), spring compressed, and the nut came off by hand - you couldn't make it up! Did the same for the nearside. The front left damper made the rears look good, I could compress it with 2 fingers and it would just remain there, fubar'd :roll:
Ultimately, if Alpina had announced that new stock would have been available over the next few months I would have waited, having now seen the condition of all the dampers once removed I am glad I have bitten the bullet and gone ahead as very clearly safety could have been affected. I still need to get everything else buttoned back up before a proper road test can be conducted but a 5 minute round the block @ 20mph demonstrated a smooth and comfortable ride quality. Time will tell!
I still need to Surfex the front inner arches and treat but I had had enough by this point and stuck it back in the garage out of the way!
Onto the fronts and bloody hell did the offside 21mm nylon nut that holds the strut all together put up a fight....
In the end, I refitted the entire strut back onto the car, bolted everything up and then tried again. I drilled a hole in an old jack handle and got the longest breaker bar I could find. Doing my best chest expander impression with the jack handle going one way and the breaker bar the other, it finally moved 1/4 turn..... Removed everything (again), spring compressed, and the nut came off by hand - you couldn't make it up! Did the same for the nearside. The front left damper made the rears look good, I could compress it with 2 fingers and it would just remain there, fubar'd :roll:
Ultimately, if Alpina had announced that new stock would have been available over the next few months I would have waited, having now seen the condition of all the dampers once removed I am glad I have bitten the bullet and gone ahead as very clearly safety could have been affected. I still need to get everything else buttoned back up before a proper road test can be conducted but a 5 minute round the block @ 20mph demonstrated a smooth and comfortable ride quality. Time will tell!
I still need to Surfex the front inner arches and treat but I had had enough by this point and stuck it back in the garage out of the way!
Had to get a bit caveman Dan!
BH Dynax UC into all the inner arch areas and above subframe brake lines and other nooks and crannies. Will allow to settle for a few days before refitting the plastic arches.
Meanwhile, the faded grey/lilac parcel shelf has received some dark green textile paint and is coming back to life. As you can see, there is still a little grey showing through but one more light coat should complete. I don't want to go too far and have it looking like a snooker table, a little patina will help match the rest of the interior.
BH Dynax UC into all the inner arch areas and above subframe brake lines and other nooks and crannies. Will allow to settle for a few days before refitting the plastic arches.
Meanwhile, the faded grey/lilac parcel shelf has received some dark green textile paint and is coming back to life. As you can see, there is still a little grey showing through but one more light coat should complete. I don't want to go too far and have it looking like a snooker table, a little patina will help match the rest of the interior.
stickylabels said:
Had to get a bit caveman Dan!
BH Dynax UC into all the inner arch areas and above subframe brake lines and other nooks and crannies. Will allow to settle for a few days before refitting the plastic arches.
Meanwhile, the faded grey/lilac parcel shelf has received some dark green textile paint and is coming back to life. As you can see, there is still a little grey showing through but one more light coat should complete. I don't want to go too far and have it looking like a snooker table, a little patina will help match the rest of the interior.
Sometimes that's what's needed KennyBH Dynax UC into all the inner arch areas and above subframe brake lines and other nooks and crannies. Will allow to settle for a few days before refitting the plastic arches.
Meanwhile, the faded grey/lilac parcel shelf has received some dark green textile paint and is coming back to life. As you can see, there is still a little grey showing through but one more light coat should complete. I don't want to go too far and have it looking like a snooker table, a little patina will help match the rest of the interior.
Parcel shelf looks miles better; the one in my Jap iport 540i was purple through sun fading! I tried to restore it back to anthracite/black with textile paint but it went crispy weirdly... It was a standard one as the rear blind was fubar; so I removed that and sold it on with the switch pack for someone else to fix & retrofit
I do wonder at times if I should have kept faith in that 540i and sent it off to get a manual box installed... Hindsight and all that
The reviews of the water based dye I bought said the fabric stayed soft to the touch which is why I went with it. Still a gamble though! I even thought about black boot polish or similar but really wanted to keep the OE dark green. First tub that arrived was advertised as 'dark green', it was more like luminous green so glad I tried it on the garage wall first!
Yes, a manual conversion on a 540i seems to really wake them up and I do wonder what the B10 would be like with a Spanish 'box. They offered it in the 3 series with more or less the same motor and look at the values of those!
Cheers
Yes, a manual conversion on a 540i seems to really wake them up and I do wonder what the B10 would be like with a Spanish 'box. They offered it in the 3 series with more or less the same motor and look at the values of those!
Cheers
stickylabels said:
The reviews of the water based dye I bought said the fabric stayed soft to the touch which is why I went with it. Still a gamble though! I even thought about black boot polish or similar but really wanted to keep the OE dark green. First tub that arrived was advertised as 'dark green', it was more like luminous green so glad I tried it on the garage wall first!
Yes, a manual conversion on a 540i seems to really wake them up and I do wonder what the B10 would be like with a Spanish 'box. They offered it in the 3 series with more or less the same motor and look at the values of those!
Cheers
Yeah; it was textile paint I used and it seemed to go on well; but the 2nd coat went crispy. Probably something I did / didn't follow the destructions probably... But TBH unless you're an avid 'box of Kleenex' on the parcel shelf kinda person; you're not really going to notice Yes, a manual conversion on a 540i seems to really wake them up and I do wonder what the B10 would be like with a Spanish 'box. They offered it in the 3 series with more or less the same motor and look at the values of those!
Cheers
Re the box swap - Agree; it would have made it more desirable in a sense, but I was concerned re it's damaging of the value of the car with it being a nigh on fresh Jap import...
I contacted Barry at BMR and the costs were into the thousands just for the parts alone; labour on top; it would have been a big hit (that and I wanted the upper front timing case gaskets doing, and whilst they're being done, might as well future proof it and get the chains & guides done etc)...
And that's why I sold it as a c£5k bill was quickly putting me off (that and missing the modern interior of the previous F01 etc)
Gearbox change done properly not cheap, but fixing the Alpina ones can be ££'s too...
Anyhoo, suspension thoughts;
Due to the condition of the original dampers, a genuine comparison isn't realistic so I can only give my thoughts on what I think it should feel like from articles read and experience in other vehicles that are properly damped. All the arms/bushings completed last year did good job of masking the worn dampers, but....
At slow speeds it is slightly firmer over drain covers and the like, once the pace increases it tracks arrow straight both under power and braking. Any lumps in the road are dealt with a single check. There is no secondary movement, no shimmy or wobble. There is a particularly testing piece of nsl country road that is reasonably surfaced but constantly undulating close to me. 3 weeks ago I had to back off (this was really the beginning of project dampers) from only a sensible & legal speed as the B10 was struggling to cope. To be fair, most cars struggle along that section, the TVR Cerbera used to try and take off and it's only been a Porsche Cayman & Fiesta ST that have dealt with it fully. Yesterday, the B10 went along the same stretch in both directions 20mph quicker with what felt like plenty in reserve. Turn in on tighter bends is far more responsive, the car instantly settling and even the steering (which as we all know isn't the best), more accurate with little in the way of correction needed.
In conclusion, slightly firmer but still plush, safer and better controlled. Worth the cost? Yup!
Anyhoo, suspension thoughts;
Due to the condition of the original dampers, a genuine comparison isn't realistic so I can only give my thoughts on what I think it should feel like from articles read and experience in other vehicles that are properly damped. All the arms/bushings completed last year did good job of masking the worn dampers, but....
At slow speeds it is slightly firmer over drain covers and the like, once the pace increases it tracks arrow straight both under power and braking. Any lumps in the road are dealt with a single check. There is no secondary movement, no shimmy or wobble. There is a particularly testing piece of nsl country road that is reasonably surfaced but constantly undulating close to me. 3 weeks ago I had to back off (this was really the beginning of project dampers) from only a sensible & legal speed as the B10 was struggling to cope. To be fair, most cars struggle along that section, the TVR Cerbera used to try and take off and it's only been a Porsche Cayman & Fiesta ST that have dealt with it fully. Yesterday, the B10 went along the same stretch in both directions 20mph quicker with what felt like plenty in reserve. Turn in on tighter bends is far more responsive, the car instantly settling and even the steering (which as we all know isn't the best), more accurate with little in the way of correction needed.
In conclusion, slightly firmer but still plush, safer and better controlled. Worth the cost? Yup!
stickylabels said:
Gearbox change done properly not cheap, but fixing the Alpina ones can be ££'s too...
Anyhoo, suspension thoughts;
Due to the condition of the original dampers, a genuine comparison isn't realistic so I can only give my thoughts on what I think it should feel like from articles read and experience in other vehicles that are properly damped. All the arms/bushings completed last year did good job of masking the worn dampers, but....
At slow speeds it is slightly firmer over drain covers and the like, once the pace increases it tracks arrow straight both under power and braking. Any lumps in the road are dealt with a single check. There is no secondary movement, no shimmy or wobble. There is a particularly testing piece of nsl country road that is reasonably surfaced but constantly undulating close to me. 3 weeks ago I had to back off (this was really the beginning of project dampers) from only a sensible & legal speed as the B10 was struggling to cope. To be fair, most cars struggle along that section, the TVR Cerbera used to try and take off and it's only been a Porsche Cayman & Fiesta ST that have dealt with it fully. Yesterday, the B10 went along the same stretch in both directions 20mph quicker with what felt like plenty in reserve. Turn in on tighter bends is far more responsive, the car instantly settling and even the steering (which as we all know isn't the best), more accurate with little in the way of correction needed.
In conclusion, slightly firmer but still plush, safer and better controlled. Worth the cost? Yup!
That's good to read KennyAnyhoo, suspension thoughts;
Due to the condition of the original dampers, a genuine comparison isn't realistic so I can only give my thoughts on what I think it should feel like from articles read and experience in other vehicles that are properly damped. All the arms/bushings completed last year did good job of masking the worn dampers, but....
At slow speeds it is slightly firmer over drain covers and the like, once the pace increases it tracks arrow straight both under power and braking. Any lumps in the road are dealt with a single check. There is no secondary movement, no shimmy or wobble. There is a particularly testing piece of nsl country road that is reasonably surfaced but constantly undulating close to me. 3 weeks ago I had to back off (this was really the beginning of project dampers) from only a sensible & legal speed as the B10 was struggling to cope. To be fair, most cars struggle along that section, the TVR Cerbera used to try and take off and it's only been a Porsche Cayman & Fiesta ST that have dealt with it fully. Yesterday, the B10 went along the same stretch in both directions 20mph quicker with what felt like plenty in reserve. Turn in on tighter bends is far more responsive, the car instantly settling and even the steering (which as we all know isn't the best), more accurate with little in the way of correction needed.
In conclusion, slightly firmer but still plush, safer and better controlled. Worth the cost? Yup!
In agreement re the suspension overhaul; having done that on both Jap import E39s and then my F31; decent arms do work well, but nothing beats fresh shocks and springs to put the icing on the cake etc
My Jap import touring handled brilliantly; but you could feel the back end wayward, more so on badly cambered roads.
The new shocks and Arnott bags sorted that really well; the rear M5 ARB completed it..
That ARB did the same on the Jap import 540i alongwith Eibach pro kit springs on Sachs sport spec shocks; firm enough to be good, but not to rattle your teeth etc
And exactly what's happened with my F31; the OEM M Sport harshness gone, the loose rear end gone. Still firm; but takes rough roads so much better now
Sounds like you've got a cracking car on your hands now
That was the 525i touring and the b10 both done and as you say, the drive is transformed. The new MAF I put on the touring continues to make a huge difference too. Might try and squeeze in a coolant/water pump change before dragging the ‘van back to the Highlands.
Got the benefit of getting that CoC from BMW late last year. Into a Lez zone a couple of days back felt nicely twos up to the muppet brigade!
Got the benefit of getting that CoC from BMW late last year. Into a Lez zone a couple of days back felt nicely twos up to the muppet brigade!
stickylabels said:
That was the 525i touring and the b10 both done and as you say, the drive is transformed. The new MAF I put on the touring continues to make a huge difference too. Might try and squeeze in a coolant/water pump change before dragging the ‘van back to the Highlands.
Got the benefit of getting that CoC from BMW late last year. Into a Lez zone a couple of days back felt nicely twos up to the muppet brigade!
It's very noticeable isn't it Got the benefit of getting that CoC from BMW late last year. Into a Lez zone a couple of days back felt nicely twos up to the muppet brigade!
Glad you've got them all done & dustedWater pump on the M54 is easy; Meyle one is spot on; used them on all mine, never any issues and metal impeller too. Comma G48 coolant and away you go
If you do the stat; go with Walher also; that's OEM - BMWmotormec sell what you need
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff