E61 V8 Bearding

[ATM]

Owen Snell said:

I've got an interior light issue.

The interior lights come on as normal when I get in the car, but then they stay on while driving. Using the push button on the front light turns them all off. Exiting and locking the car leaves the lights on for quite a while - just checked now and still on after 15 minutes.

Any ideas?

Small glass boot open?

[ATM]

Owen Snell said:

ATM said:

Small glass boot open?

I do use the glass tailgate and it's a consistent problem.

I read somewhere that the switch on the glass tailgate latch can go bad.

Mine is bad. So it won't open on demand. It will however open itself without demand. I know it is open as the interior lights stay illuminated. It stays in the down position obviously.

[ATM]

Owen Snell said:

ATM said:

Mine is bad. So it won't open on demand. It will however open itself without demand. I know it is open as the interior lights stay illuminated. It stays in the down position obviously.

Back at home and checking it over, the tailgate wasn't properly latched. Will have to see if it does this again, of if it was just me being an idiot and not shutting it properly.

I have switched my idrive to only lock and unlock driver door because it seemed to unlatch when I was about to drive off but doors still unlocked. So if only driver door unlocked it doesn't do this. Otherwise I had to stop and get out to latch it.

[ATM]

I found another E61 V8 out in the wild today.

M9 GDV - anyone on here?

[ATM]

2006
550i SE
117000 miles

£4000

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/275944288404

[ATM]

Owen Snell said:

ATM said:

2006
550i SE
117000 miles

£4000

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/275944288404

Looks nice in green. Seems very cheap, but Cat D. Surely £4,000 is close to breaking money?

I'm in two minds about mine at the moment. I've had a company car come available in the business that I can use, so it doesn't make sense to keep the 550i, but I'm still using it because it's a nice car to run around in. Maybe I'll just keep running it for a while, I do enjoy it.

I like mine too but dont drive it much as I have a lot of cars and a Van. This is really my only 4 seater. I think if it was 600 - 700 tax that would make it a sell. My total road tax bill is already ridiculous.

Mine has brand new coils and plugs, basically brand new discs and pads all round, all new front suspension arms and recent Bilstein suspension kit. So it drives well if it is not misfiring. I now have a rotten boot lid and some wiring gremlins in the boot lid also. That and the occasional misfire are my only 2 niggles. If I keep it then they will need sorting.

[ATM]

Owen Snell said:

I just looked at the PCV vales on mine and found that one of the branches of the hoses that run from the centre out to each bank was split. I didn't know until I removed the pipe. It idles more smoothly now fixed. Maybe worth a look for your misfire?

Already replaced with genuine BMW part last year and the valves too. My fault code reader says misifre on cyl 2. I have swapped the new coils between 1 and 2 and the fault stays with 2.

[ATM]

ATM said:

New breather hose has arrived

Maybe it was not genuine. Cant really remember.

[ATM]

ATM said:

My fault code reader says misifre on cyl 2. I have swapped the new coils between 1 and 2 and the fault stays with 2.

I suppose the new plug could be faulty. That would be seriously unlucky but maybe I should test it.

[ATM]

ATM said:

So my car had another juddering fit at the traffic lights today and I had to turn it off and on.

Given up on this and dropped the car off with my local BMW specialist. They did say they are busy for a couple of week so I will have to wait.

I managed to drive the car without any juddering fits by left foot braking and keeping my right on the throttle slightly to make sure the revs didn't drop at idle. It only starts its juddering fit when trying to idle, the revs start hunting and then it can go into limp.

[ATM]

ATM said:

ATM said:

So my car had another juddering fit at the traffic lights today and I had to turn it off and on.

Given up on this and dropped the car off with my local BMW specialist. They did say they are busy for a couple of week so I will have to wait.

I managed to drive the car without any juddering fits by left foot braking and keeping my right on the throttle slightly to make sure the revs didn't drop at idle. It only starts its juddering fit when trying to idle, the revs start hunting and then it can go into limp.

Went and asked how its going at the garage. It seems they have changed all the plugs and coils - even though I had already done this myself very very recently - and they mentioned an air mass sensor so I presume the MAF. I have never changed this so it could well have been a problem. The car has been there for 6 weeks and in this time the MOT has lapsed so this is also to do. Hopefully I will get some more news soon.

[ATM]

Patrick Bateman said:

Could it be issues with the valvetronic intermediate levers?

My 745i was a pain in the ass, some details here-

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

No idea

Starts fine from Cold. Also runs fine when warm until you let it idle and if the revs drop it starts having a fit. So if you never let the revs drop it seems fine - left foot braking and keeping the throttle pressed slightly when stopping and stationary.

So I gave up and took it to the garage. Never had any work done by them before. Just use them for MOT.

[ATM]

[ATM]

[ATM]

ATM said:

Patrick Bateman said:

Could it be issues with the valvetronic intermediate levers?

My 745i was a pain in the ass, some details here-

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

No idea

Starts fine from Cold. Also runs fine when warm until you let it idle and if the revs drop it starts having a fit. So if you never let the revs drop it seems fine - left foot braking and keeping the throttle pressed slightly when stopping and stationary.

So I gave up and took it to the garage. Never had any work done by them before. Just use them for MOT.

So the garage I tried has basically given up. I now have the car back with no MOT as it had lapsed - they had the car for 9 weeks. I got them to do an MOT test before I collected it so I can see what needs doing. I think they are being very kind to me here because it failed last year on a blow from the back box which has not yet been looked at and therefore I presume still blowing.

The Suspension arm bolt I can look at. Simple hopefully. I fitted all new arms in the Summer so maybe I didn't tighten one of the bolts enough and it has come loose.

The rear number plate lights are a bit of a problem. They are all rusted up as my boot lid also appears to be rusting in this area. I checked with a volt meter and I am not getting enough volts to light the blubs. I suspect the standard issue of wires failing in the boot hinge. I will try and get some pics.

[ATM]

[ATM]

Got stuck into the tailgate wiring repair. First job is to open the glass hatch which is difficult if the release isn't working. Then I started removing as much trim as possible. You'd be surprised how much all this weighs. The spoiler is the heaviest item as its sold metal, well probably a slight exaggeration but you get the idea. I won't go on too much about all of this as it seems well documented online already.

Specifically with my car I have problems with -

FM Radio
Glass hatch release
Reverse light - right
Number plate lights - both
Possibly also the rear demister too - not certain

So - long story short - you basically have to get to the individual wires around the hinge to look for broken wires. I did this on both sided but didn't find any. I ran out of time and it started getting dark so I called it a day. I knew I would need some time to cobble the boot back together enough to leave it outside in the rain which will obviously be coming soom enough. That basically meant refitting the spoiler only. I've not yet got up into the roof behind the rear speakers but I'll do that next.

I was beginning to give up hope but decided to just try the lights and see if anything had changed. At first there was nothing but then hope returned when I jiggled the right set of cables and my right side red light - not sure if that's a fog light - illuminated. Then when I closed the boot and hatch I found the glass hatch release is now working.

So with my new found enthusiasm I thought I'd buy some stuff. There are specific e61 tailgate wiring repair kits available. But I was surprised to find around 1000 different options ranging in price from 22 to 135 quid - they are different left and right so you need 2. In the end I got frustrated by too much choice and decided to buy Febi Bilstein and hopefully assuming the pics are accurate their better option which all the little wiring plugs for the diversity antenna already attached and in place. I bought both left and right as i may as well change everything. Some of the videos I saw were a bit fiddly. I don't like fiddly. I also paid a bit more to find a seller who claims I'll receive these before Christmas. Although that's probably a moot point if my MOT guy is shut. So progress has been made but not much.

[ATM]

I had to remove the bolts holding the glass hatch to the spring loaded hinge to get to the wiring channels. Both sides. There Is quite a lot of adjustment with these so I hope I can get the hatch back in an ok looking position when all is done.

I took the diversity antenna apart and found some corrosion inside it. Not decided yet what to do about that.



So I have cut away the rubber grommet here and cut the loom a few inches proud of the boot. I'll then crimp on the new section and push this inside the boot.



Speakers removed and loom pulled through on this side.



Both sides pulled through.



Not sure you can see just how much trim and crap there is attached to the bootlid. I'm not sure I'll be able to get all this back on as some of the clips disintegrated.



This is one of the repair kits. This is for driver side as you can see it has some plugs already attached for the diversity antenna.

[ATM]

bobiwine said:

Either my diversity antenna or boot wiring on right side is on the way out. Remote locking only opens if key is held pretty much next to the fin, new key fob battery hasn’t worked. Burying my head in the sand about it for now. Lights all working ok and looks like someone’s been into the wiring before on the right looking at the plastic grommets so I’m hoping it’s just the diversity antenna. Had left hinge side sorted couple years ago, demister wiring had snapped as well as washer hosepipe.

If you could find someone willing to swap diversity antenna you could identify if that's the fault. There is a plug on the left side but I think that's just FM ariel.

I see a few on ebay for sale from Latvia and other places in Europe. I'd probably buy one from a dryer country if I was shopping for a replacement. Although any sensible seller should be willing to pop open and check for corrosion.

I'm contemplating sealing up the black box around mine much better - if it works properly when all reassembled - which is probably unlikely.

[ATM]

So I'm still working through mine. Did about 4 hours today. Easily up to 8 or more so far.

Only got about 6 wires connected on lower left and all on upper left. I have 3 remaining on lower left and all 3 are white with brown stripe. So I'll be guessing what to do with them.

I started on the right side but ran out of day light. Upper first then I could be brave and see if central locking and maybe FM works. Again I have 3 on upper right which are the same - brown.

Buying wiring with some plugs already attached didn't really save me much time. But the black box which houses the diversity antenna is quite snug so adding some extra wiring crimps might have made the space too tight.

Once I have most connected up I can try and reconnect the battery and see what happens. Then maybe even try ignition and stuff.

Still have to feed wash wipe pipe back through too. Can't decide if I should tape wash wipe to wiring or leave it loose. Can't decide if loose gives stuff the ability to move around and if that's good or bad.

I'm starting to regret starting this now as it's gone on for far too long. Maybe I should have just bodged the dodgy wires rather than change everything. Oh well. The FM ariel was clearly snapped. It's a big thick stiff wire and doesn't seem to have any give so will obviously stress quicker than the others.

If it is all perfectly working I'll be happy. If its not I'll be double annoyed. And I know expecting perfection is always a bad idea. So I'm just working away now assuming it will be a rubbish outcome. Need some extra positivity.

I did dream about driving round the block. Obviously I would never do that as the car has no MOT. In my dream the car ran fine and didn't misfire once.

Also I noticed there is a mileage discrepancy on my MOTs. 123k on latest and 124k on last years.

Ok enough rambling from Me....