The 'Oh crap, I won it' E39 530i

[d_a_n1979]

lufbramatt said:

Hardest part of doing the bushes is 1) getting the car high enough and supported safely, and 2) the tool needs a lot of turns to get the bushes in/out, and they are in there tight...I was pretty wrecked afterwards. although I have got skinny cyclist arms so Dan probably didn't have that issue! haha

It is knackering pal; as you need to do it by hand and not a windy gun etc and it is a lot of winding

Plus for me, the ramps don't go high enough (I'm 6ft 4), so you're bending over in all sorts of weird ways whilst winding them out & in

Plus my shoulders aren't great at the best of times; so doing the subframe bushes killed mine

[swampy442]

Im 6ft 5 and work on planes so Im used to be in unusual positions lol.

Gearbox top done, took 3 attempts and 2 litres of fluid but its done

[B'stard Child]

swampy442 said:

Im 6ft 5 and work on planes so Im used to be in unusual positions lol.

Gearbox top done, took 3 attempts and 2 litres of fluid but its done

Wow that was low.............

[pits]

swampy442 said:

Its a tough one because, whilst its all running sweetly I dont want to disturb anything. But its had new rad, new belts, new tensioners, the Vanos doesn't leak neither does the oil filter. Granted the cam cover is leaking, Ill google what the CCV is/does and Ill check the DISA out.

Vanos system don't leak, they fail over time and the O rings need replacing, it is also the oil filter housing that leaks, its way down the engine block, I get the whole not wanting to disturb things but these are all things that will fail sooner rather than later. As mentioned, if power steering pot is leaking, get a new pot it is a serviceable item, but I would do a fluid change with the old pot on first, syringe and fluid is a good way to do it.

Haven't had chance to go looking for the stalk yet, I have been balls deep in my Defender

[swampy442]

pits said:

Vanos system don't leak, they fail over time and the O rings need replacing, it is also the oil filter housing that leaks, its way down the engine block, I get the whole not wanting to disturb things but these are all things that will fail sooner rather than later. As mentioned, if power steering pot is leaking, get a new pot it is a serviceable item, but I would do a fluid change with the old pot on first, syringe and fluid is a good way to do it.

Haven't had chance to go looking for the stalk yet, I have been balls deep in my Defender

No rush, thank you. The power steering res isnt leaking the hose attached to it is

[hi court]

I admire your dedication, and indeed top marks to buying stuff unseen on ebay. Ive done it a couple of times 10 years ago with stuff under a grand and have been pleasently surprised.

Looks a tidy example, I too had an e39 tourer 2.8 auto, it was a horrible colour with worse colour interior. It developed a fault with the auto box, I tried to change the oil but it didn't improve so I sold it spares or repairs.. only had 100k on it aswell.

Bit of a shame really, love the look of the e39 and wanted one for a long time but mine has really left a bitter taste behind. My e34 was a much better steer IMHO.

[sparkythecat]

I ran one of these for over 6 years albeit in cloth seat balloon tyre SE spec.
I loved it and still look wistfully whenever i see one.

[hman]

It’s a £3000 car - the fact you paid £1898 just means you’ll be paying £1102 in bits to get it right.

Prepare for radiator failure, fan blade explosion, cam cover splitting, oil breathers collapsing, seat belt pretensioner dying, air con pipes leaking, abs module packing in, and get the rusty sills sorted before the jacking points collapse.

I did the same as you several years ago with a 525i msport e39, paid £1600 and got shot of it 6 months later (just covering my outgoings on it) because when it worked it was great but it was only a matter of time before something else was going to stop working.

Good luck

[d_a_n1979]

hman said:

Prepare for radiator failure, fan blade explosion, cam cover splitting, oil breathers collapsing, seat belt pretensioner dying, air con pipes leaking, abs module packing in, and get the rusty sills sorted before the jacking points collapse.

I've owned x3 E39 530i's since 2012, not one of them has had any of that... It doesn't happen to them all... Probably only to E39s that have been run on a shoestring/non-existent budget, which there are quite a few of them out there... Anyone does their due diligence wouldn't touch them with a barge pole

The rocker covers can crack; but it's rare, unless the previous owner has tightened it down too much; the fans only fail if again the viscous clutch hasn't been changed and again, it's rare they seize and then let go... Rads tend to fail a lot less compared to the header tanks, stats and hoses going first, but yes, they can go and can hairline crack at the top hose connection and it's hard to see unless you really look for it when it's up to temp, or it finally fails and leaks out...

CCVs can fail; usually because a cheap stty eBay special has been fitted or the car isn't used much; ideally they're taken for an Italian tune up weekly to get the car up to temps etc. The Meyle CCV kit from C3BMW is the right way to do this

[swampy442]

Once again thanks for all the kind words and input As I appeared on the Pistonheads Facebook page this weekend I felt galvanised to doing more bits.

Front thrust/track control arms changed. Haynes manual 2 spanners out of 5. Only issue I had was because like a lot of suspension bits on the car the arms appear to be original, so in trying to remove the ball joints I pulled the steel bush out of the aluminium hub.
No big deal, some freeze spray and a bit of heat, pressed back in no worries.
And guess what, the car is much nicer to drive, just need to sort the rear sub frame bushes out.






Also as a complete bonus, fixed the ABS warning! Created a workaround for the broken wire, light out, happy days. My thoughts of an ABS module repair are a can thats kicked down the road for now.

Edited by swampy442 on Monday 22 March 18:26

[swampy442]

hman said:

It’s a £3000 car - the fact you paid £1898 just means you’ll be paying £1102 in bits to get it right.

Prepare for radiator failure, fan blade explosion, cam cover splitting, oil breathers collapsing, seat belt pretensioner dying, air con pipes leaking, abs module packing in, and get the rusty sills sorted before the jacking points collapse.

I did the same as you several years ago with a 525i msport e39, paid £1600 and got shot of it 6 months later (just covering my outgoings on it) because when it worked it was great but it was only a matter of time before something else was going to stop working.

Good luck

Thanks for the comment. I said in an earlier post, the rad, belts and tensioner (well the top one) have been replaced. The A/C work fine for now, the breather system looks in good shape, the ABS problem I had has been cured. The rust on the sills is nowhere near the jacking points, which are solid, in fact despite being caked in Somerset's finest crap the underside is very clean.

[swampy442]

I had to make an essential trip to Wolverhampton today, So gave big 5 a run out, drives so much better now those front arms are done!

2 observations - the heating issue is still there, still full hot regardless of selection. Bit of probing on me weekly error code trawl shows the unit in the car appears to be operating correctly (selected temps match the buttons pressed, sending signals to the valve) so I have 2 options, the pipework to the valve is wrong/ the valve is wrong. Unless anyone has another place to look?

Second, fuel economy. Yes its an old school auto 3 litre, but the average for a 200 and a bit round trip was 23. It does need a good service but is that normal?

Other than that, still my daily commuter, exhaust still makes a really annoying rattling noise, Im very happy with it

[JeremyH5]

I only ever got 25mpg out of my two 528i saloons. Not had a 530i so not sure if that’s useful or not

[d_a_n1979]

swampy442 said:

I had to make an essential trip to Wolverhampton today, So gave big 5 a run out, drives so much better now those front arms are done!

2 observations - the heating issue is still there, still full hot regardless of selection. Bit of probing on me weekly error code trawl shows the unit in the car appears to be operating correctly (selected temps match the buttons pressed, sending signals to the valve) so I have 2 options, the pipework to the valve is wrong/ the valve is wrong. Unless anyone has another place to look?

Second, fuel economy. Yes its an old school auto 3 litre, but the average for a 200 and a bit round trip was 23. It does need a good service but is that normal?

Other than that, still my daily commuter, exhaust still makes a really annoying rattling noise, Im very happy with it

Did you say it's an eBay special valve you've fitted? If so, bin it and get the Febi or a known working/used OEM one. As said; I tried to eBay ones, both ste, both got binned...

As for MPG; I've never really paid that much attention; on a long motorway run I'll get 34-36; around town I'm lucky to see more than 18; on a mixed run, around 25 is good... So you're not far off really

[tobinen]

My 3.0i is returning around 25 MPG though I haven't finished the first tank yet. My 2.5i does about 28 MPG overall but it did average 32 MPG on my Spanish trip in 2019. I expect the 3.0i can do more-or-less the same.

[swampy442]

d_a_n1979 said:

Did you say it's an eBay special valve you've fitted?

It was, and you did tell me. Buy cheap buy twice and all that. I just cant believe it doesn't work out of the box, at least for a short time. Was there any set up you had to do (set heater to X degrees, plug in valve etc)

[d_a_n1979]

swampy442 said:

d_a_n1979 said:

Did you say it's an eBay special valve you've fitted?

It was, and you did tell me. Buy cheap buy twice and all that. I just cant believe it doesn't work out of the box, at least for a short time. Was there any set up you had to do (set heater to X degrees, plug in valve etc)

Nope; remove (when cold as less coolant will be lost then); bin the crappy one, fit new Febi (or known OEM working one) and top up coolant with 100ml or so, start car and let it come up to temp... Check all heater settings

[swampy442]

d_a_n1979 said:

Nope; remove (when cold as less coolant will be lost then); bin the crappy one, fit new Febi (or known OEM working one) and top up coolant with 100ml or so, start car and let it come up to temp... Check all heater settings

Thats fair enough, ill look for a quality valve.

How hard is it to find a front exhaust section for this car? Answer is quite lol. Its driving me insane with the rattle, you cant hear a thing in the car, outside its like a constant ringing.

[Max M4X WW]

swampy442 said:

d_a_n1979 said:

Nope; remove (when cold as less coolant will be lost then); bin the crappy one, fit new Febi (or known OEM working one) and top up coolant with 100ml or so, start car and let it come up to temp... Check all heater settings

Thats fair enough, ill look for a quality valve.

How hard is it to find a front exhaust section for this car? Answer is quite lol. Its driving me insane with the rattle, you cant hear a thing in the car, outside its like a constant ringing.

Speak to https://www.facebook.com/Rotripltd/

Serial breakers of E39's.

[swampy442]

Max M4X WW said:

Speak to https://www.facebook.com/Rotripltd/

Serial breakers of E39's.

Good tip, thanks