BMW E39 Touring - not a shed!
Discussion
JakeT said:
I believe the Cold weather stuff is to prevent moisture building in the oil on shorter journeys and then freezing, ruining the CCV system.
Yeah, there is a cold weather CCV system (personally I don't think we need it in the UK, more for cold states in the US) which have insulated pipes (standard system only has one insulated pipe) and then the cold weather dipstick tube. The oil drain from the CCV system routes back to the dipstick tube and then into the sump, allowing reuse of the oil. The standard system appears overly engineered for no gain. There is a double wall where the return oil drains down the outside of the main hole where the dipstick goes. This is extremely narrow, so blocks up and causes oil to backup to the CCV system and causes all sorts of problems. The single wall fixes all of this. The price has come down considerably (used to be £150 or something, but is now £56.04 delivered, from Cotswold BMW on the M3 Cutters site).
Tubes side by side
Angle grinder to open it up so you can see the double wall
The whole point of this fix was to heavily reduce oil consumption, which was terrible when I got the car. Now much, much better.
Some other random pics...
Lower rad hose. Once you pull out the temperature sensor, it rarely reseals, so a new one of those was required too
Clutch pedal cover had split on the corner, £2.92
Showing the bowing that knackered BMW radiators show. If you look underneath the car, and yours looks like this, get it changed. Euro Car Parts, genuine rad and expansion vessel was £125.99 with a discount code. Seemed okay to me.
Showing the potential difference in "Vavona" wood trim. I picked up a used full set to make a good lot from two.
Sun damage to the right hand piece of trim. Much nicer without said damage
Much better
BenWRXSEi said:
Looks lovely!
I'll add some love for the wheels - the best to have on an SE in my opinion. I had a set on my old one. It's great to see the results of all the work I should have put into mine while I had it
In reality it spent most of its time looking like this:
I spend £300 on a remap (it was a 525d) and smoked around in it (literally) for a couple of years and 40k miles. It's still going somewhere I believe, though!
What colour leather is that? Looks interesting. That does look like it was a good car. What made you move it on?I'll add some love for the wheels - the best to have on an SE in my opinion. I had a set on my old one. It's great to see the results of all the work I should have put into mine while I had it
In reality it spent most of its time looking like this:
I spend £300 on a remap (it was a 525d) and smoked around in it (literally) for a couple of years and 40k miles. It's still going somewhere I believe, though!
80quattro said:
I bought a nice spec facelift 530i SE earlier this year. Similarly to the OP, I've been doing some jobs on it to bring it up to a good standard. Its in for rear main seal and possible clutch whilst the box is out this week.
Its not as fun to drive as my previous E28 M535i, but feels so modern and smooth for a 15 year old car. So far so good, I'm enjoying it. Watching this thread with interest.
Ah, I had rear main seal, pilot bearing, clutch, flywheel, release bearing and random bits changed on my old M3. Might as well make the most of the access. How much did you pay for a 530i LCI, if you don't mind me asking?Its not as fun to drive as my previous E28 M535i, but feels so modern and smooth for a 15 year old car. So far so good, I'm enjoying it. Watching this thread with interest.
MJ85 said:
What colour leather is that? Looks interesting. That does look like it was a good car. What made you move it on?
Ah yes, I'd forgotten about the leather. It was a sort of caramel brown interior I got from a pre-facelift 540 sport a friend was breaking. It was a good car in fairness, and I still sort of miss it. I moved it on for a few reasons - partly because my 'fun second' car went from an MR2 to a Westfield which meant I was driving the daily more often, and also because a collection of not-too-bad-on-their-own things started to need attention all at once (fuel pump, tyres, MOT, tax, service was due, suspension was clonking etc). If had been a 530d sport I probably would have stuck with it but at the time it wasn't worth throwing the money at an SE when I was hankering after a more involving daily.
It's still the first car I ever drove on track though
BenWRXSEi said:
MJ85 said:
What colour leather is that? Looks interesting. That does look like it was a good car. What made you move it on?
Ah yes, I'd forgotten about the leather. It was a sort of caramel brown interior I got from a pre-facelift 540 sport a friend was breaking. It was a good car in fairness, and I still sort of miss it. I moved it on for a few reasons - partly because my 'fun second' car went from an MR2 to a Westfield which meant I was driving the daily more often, and also because a collection of not-too-bad-on-their-own things started to need attention all at once (fuel pump, tyres, MOT, tax, service was due, suspension was clonking etc). If had been a 530d sport I probably would have stuck with it but at the time it wasn't worth throwing the money at an SE when I was hankering after a more involving daily.
It's still the first car I ever drove on track though
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxCufWScNKA
MJ85 said:
80quattro said:
I bought a nice spec facelift 530i SE earlier this year. Similarly to the OP, I've been doing some jobs on it to bring it up to a good standard. Its in for rear main seal and possible clutch whilst the box is out this week.
Its not as fun to drive as my previous E28 M535i, but feels so modern and smooth for a 15 year old car. So far so good, I'm enjoying it. Watching this thread with interest.
Ah, I had rear main seal, pilot bearing, clutch, flywheel, release bearing and random bits changed on my old M3. Might as well make the most of the access. How much did you pay for a 530i LCI, if you don't mind me asking?Its not as fun to drive as my previous E28 M535i, but feels so modern and smooth for a 15 year old car. So far so good, I'm enjoying it. Watching this thread with interest.
I bought a cracking e39 last year for £600. Japanese import so rust free. Unfortunately just a saloon. My cousin has it now. I took the BBS wheels off and still have them in storage. Before and After pics.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
ATM said:
I bought a cracking e39 last year for £600. Japanese import so rust free. Unfortunately just a saloon. My cousin has it now. I took the BBS wheels off and still have them in storage. Before and After pics.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
I think you should try and find someone to swap your BBS wheels for a nice set of staggered style 32's http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
especially as BBS wheels look for more attractive on a car than in storage...ATM said:
I took the BBS wheels off and still have them in storage. Before and After pics.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Those BBS do look good! I've been keeping my eye out for some those, they are in my top 3 E39 OEM wheels that I wouldn't mind for my bargain BMW. I must be daft to spend more on a set of wheels than I did for the whole car!http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
aka_kerrly said:
ATM said:
I took the BBS wheels off and still have them in storage. Before and After pics.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Those BBS do look good! I've been keeping my eye out for some those, they are in my top 3 E39 OEM wheels that I wouldn't mind for my bargain BMW. I must be daft to spend more on a set of wheels than I did for the whole car!http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
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