New to me BMW E65 730D - 2006 - Le Mans Blue 'individual'

[d_a_n1979]

d_a_n1979 said:

New tyres all round and new front upper arms fitted; lovely No more clunking. However, the tracking is slightly off still, so will get that sorted later this week

I'm dropping the car off at an alloy wheel refurbishers local to me tomorrow morning Will have a look at their colour selection (powder coaters not wet spray); so will decide tomorrow. But think I'm going to go for an anthracite or gun-metal

Ended up going with platinum silver I felt that gun-metal or anthracite would distract too much from the contrast of the shiny alloys but also hide the features of the alloy wheel

Will get pics up once I've got the car back on Friday

[d_a_n1979]

Collected the car this morning; alloys fully refurbed and powdercoated. Finish is Platinum Silver



New centre caps; Richbrook stainless steel valves & an 82mm Mtec stud conversion fitted with 5mm hubcentric shims upfront and 12mm hubcentric spacers on the rears. Gives the alloys a much better stance IMO

Edited by d_a_n1979 on Saturday 8th September 11:15

[gf15]

d_a_n1979 said:

I'm dropping the car off at an alloy wheel refurbishers local to me tomorrow morning Will have a look at their colour selection (powder coaters not wet spray); so will decide tomorrow. But think I'm going to go for an anthracite or gun-metal

Glad you went for something more original looking, it really suits the car.
If i was browsing through the adverts and saw it with:

Silver wheels: I am interested
Anthracite or gun-metal: skip to next advert

[danb1979]

Yeah; don't get me wrong. Some of the colours they had were lovely... But with the already factory tinted windows (not usually my cuppa) and shadow line trim, the car, on dark wheels, would have looked too 'big pimpin' I reckon haha

The pictures don't do the colour of the wheels justice either, they're really fresh/bright in natural light and looks very well finished indeed

[d_a_n1979]

Car finally fixed

The electrical airbag/SRS system fault turned out to be a module in the boot, connected to the battery that'd been damaged previously (along time ago, not recent) and it'd started to fall apart due to it being so tightly cable tied together etc

It meant that the whole positive battery terminal cabling needed to be replaced (not cheap) after quite a few hours of wiring checks, sensor checks and passenger seat removal/interior trim removal and battery / boot area trim removal (also not cheap)!

All in it had to be an original part from BMW (again, not cheap) and then the auto diagnostics guys at ADS in Preston fitted it all for me

All in, just under £600...

It does mean no more warning lights and bongs, no worrying about driving it around and something going worse and a full, very clean bill of health

Otherwise, they were very impressed with the car, it's cleanliness (I have issues) and how good a condition it's in overall

Edited by d_a_n1979 on Saturday 11th August 15:47

[d_a_n1979]

It’s first full proper wash & wax; used Poorboys Black Hole as that’s what I used on my previous black E39 530i and it’s come up well on the Le Mans Blue paintwork

[Maty]

I helped my father in law buy a LWB 750 of the same year as yours. It still makes me giggle how well it picks and goes for something so big!

Lovely car to drive.

The cd changer is stuck in though. Anyone any idea how to get it out? Apparently the polish hard dance music that is in it isn’t to my 69 year old FiL’s tastes for some reason.

[d_a_n1979]

Maty said:

I helped my father in law buy a LWB 750 of the same year as yours. It still makes me giggle how well it picks and goes for something so big!

Lovely car to drive.

The cd changer is stuck in though. Anyone any idea how to get it out? Apparently the polish hard dance music that is in it isn’t to my 69 year old FiL’s tastes for some reason.

Aye; this really hunkers down and goes when you want it to; more so in Sport mode. It's a great drive though and TBH I'm glad I went for the Sport version as the suspension is more to my taste (firmer); I did test drive a few other non-Spot 730Ds and a 750i and they were a bit too soft for my liking

Re the CD changer; think I saw over on bimmerforums.com that you can access it by removing the glove box panels and there's a release to it; or that allows you to remove the whole thing etc

TBH I use a Bluetooth to FM adapter and play music via my iPod touch; just makes life easier (shame it didn't have an AUX in really)

[d_a_n1979]

Just to give a brief update

I've still got a slight clunk on the front but only at low speeds; so either drop links or top mounts. Will get it up on my pals ramps as soon as I can and have a look around and see what else needs replacing

Will do a brake overhaul at the same time; I've gone for Mtec C hook discs all round with EBC Yellowstuff pads up front and just standard EBC pads for the rear along with HEL braided brake lines all round too. Some Motul DOT 5.1 fluid will finish it off nicely

After that's all done I'm going to look into getting it a Stage 1 remap; a bit more power and better economy and that'll be it fettled

Winter alloys are in the garage (managed to buy 4 individual Style 93 alloys for less than £200) all in fairly good nick with no kerning; but they'll get flatted off and resprayed in Rover Metallic Silver and will look to get 4 new winter tyres fitted thereafter

Will update with pics ASAP

[TheAngryDog]

Looks really nice. The colour and wheels really suit it. Looks like a really nice place to spend several hours wafting across the country.

Do you have mtec spacers fitted?

[d_a_n1979]

It is; a very comfy waft, even on the 20" alloys!

Yes; I was running 15mm rears and 12mm fronts; but heavy undulations in the roads and motorways just made the rear tyres catch a touch, so have just gone with 5mm hubcentric shims all round now. Will probably put the 12mm spacers back on the rears next time I take the wheels off (when I do the brake overhaul at my pals garage)

Bimecc spacers via Mteconline are very good and I'd highly recommend them; but the ones that Precision sell via eBay are very good too

[TheAngryDog]

Wide spacers I'm not too keen on, I don't really want to go more than 12mm all round. I was looking at actual mtec ones but the price seems too cheap - £25 a pair. I'll look at Bimmec but I know they're quite dear. Precision don't seem to do 12mm ones.

[d_a_n1979]

TheAngryDog said:

Wide spacers I'm not too keen on, I don't really want to go more than 12mm all round. I was looking at actual mtec ones but the price seems too cheap - £25 a pair. I'll look at Bimmec but I know they're quite dear. Precision don't seem to do 12mm ones.

15mm is not that much really; I'd never go 20/25mm upwards though. That's just too much and really because people want to fit alloys that aren't designed for their car!

Precision 15mm ones here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-5-Series-E60-2003-2...

They do a 12mm spacer, but not listed, so might be worth contacting them to see if they have them in stock

I've got their 12mm and 15mm ones in the garage doing nothing if you wanted those; but you'll need longer bolts unless you do a stud conversion. £40 with delivery etc

Re Bimecc; 12mm ones here with bolts via Mteconline: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-X-12MM-BIMECC-BMW-HUB...

They do them in black as well.

Re your comment on price as well; just because they’re more expensive, doesn’t make them better necessarily. Know lots of folk that have had issues with Eibach spacers at c£100 a pair! Plenty of folk run the Mtec or Precision spacers with zero issues.

What is key is giving the hubs a thorough wire brushing/light sanding and clean off to ensure the surface is flat and the same with the back of the alloy too. Any tiny spec can cause all sorts of issues!

Edited by d_a_n1979 on Saturday 8th September 12:36

[alec.e]

The car looks amazing, love the colour and those wheels

gf15 said:

Silver wheels: I am interested
Anthracite or gun-metal: skip to next advert

Sorry, this comes accross as daft, plenty of poorly maintained cars with silver wheels. Mine are anthracite from factory!

[d_a_n1979]

alec.e said:

Sorry, this comes accross as daft, plenty of poorly maintained cars with silver wheels. Mine are anthracite from factory!

Thanks.

There are plenty of darker alloys out there too that haven’t been looked after, black ones especially.

Agree though; if a car had the wrong colour alloys, wouldn’t put me off if the car was the right spec. Can soon get them sorted and maybe a bit of £££ off with sensible haggling

[RS Grant]

These have aged well in my opinion. I remember them being launched and not being a fan... which was the same reaction I had to other Bangle designs (E65 7er, E63 6er and E60 5er in particular) but they have really grown on me over time. Yours is in a great colour combination and really suits the wheels, the silver looks very fresh/sharp on it too.

Is it on big miles? I assume they'll wear high mileage well and without any noticeable issues if maintained and looked after properly. My old man has run his E63 635d for the past ~75k miles to it's current ~105k mileage and apart from a few stone chips and a slight crack in a front indicator lense it still looks great.

[d_a_n1979]

RS Grant said:

These have aged well in my opinion. I remember them being launched and not being a fan... which was the same reaction I had to other Bangle designs (E65 7er, E63 6er and E60 5er in particular) but they have really grown on me over time. Yours is in a great colour combination and really suits the wheels, the silver looks very fresh/sharp on it too.

Is it on big miles? I assume they'll wear high mileage well and without any noticeable issues if maintained and looked after properly. My old man has run his E63 635d for the past ~75k miles to it's current ~105k mileage and apart from a few stone chips and a slight crack in a front indicator lense it still looks great.

It’s on just over 101k miles so fairly low really. It’s worn them very well indeed; it’s very clean underneath.

Front bumper, bonnet and wing mirrors are a bit pebble dashed, so they’ll get resprayed at some point, but in no rush. Might see the winter through before I do that unless I get chance beforehand

[vsonix]

That looks nice! And unusual to see E65 in colours other than black, white, silver or gumetal.

[d_a_n1979]

vsonix said:

That looks nice! And unusual to see E65 in colours other than black, white, silver or gumetal.

Apologies; just seen this

Thanks; yes! I'd had a real good look around, but as you said, all silver/gunmetal/black and didn't really want to go down that route. More so as they were predominately pre-facelift, or in that cross-over where they were facelift, but still had some old tech in them (ie. no integrated Bluetooth etc)

I did see one 750Li that was Aspensilber, I think, but it was LWB and the SWB is long enough!

I really didn't want to go back to a black car either; the 530i I sold was black and the paintwork did my nut in every time I washed/polished it. Just full of swirls that only a respray would have sorted and they'd be back in no time after that too! Just impossible to keep looking gleaming, IMO

There was and still is a very well spec'd 750i for sale in York via eBay; that was a serious consideration, but after reading all the horror stories re the valve stem oil seal rebuilds that it seems these engines WILL need at some point and at a c£3k bill, I decided against it. Plus it was black... So 2 negs against it!

Don't get me wrong; the LMB E65 I have no wasn't without it's issues (needed all 4 alloys refurbing and new rubber all round; needed all new suspension arms, front & rear. Needs brakes (that's up next along with drop links all round).

But it had been looked after and serviced very well and the interior is nigh on spotless, so was happy to buy a project at the right price. Plus it's a gorgeous colour

Edited by d_a_n1979 on Wednesday 3rd October 19:58

[d_a_n1979]

Front alloys off today and front brake calipers painted Hammerite satin silver; rear wheels will be off tomorrow during the brake overhaul, so will paint the rear calipers and brake disc hats satin black tomorrow, whilst the 7 is on the ramps (smaller discs/pads, so hiding their features)

Plus will be fitting 12mm black Bimecc spacers on the rears too.

Brake overhaul & other parts all laid out in the garage ready to be boxed and into the car tomorrow, before off to my pals to get it all fitted, items are as below:

Front Mtec 348mm C Hook discs with EBC Yellowstuff pads
Rear OEM discs (already fitted; 150miles before I bought the car, so they're as new) with OEM spec Mintex pads (to be fitted)
Red HEL braided brake lines all round
Motul Dot 5.1 brake fluid
Meyle brake pad wear sensors front & rear
Bimecc 12mm hubcentric spacers all round (silver front, black on rears)
Moog drop links all round

Will get pics up of it all tomorrow ?