BMW 630i E63 adventures

[fastbikes76]

Having had many many performance cars over the years , some at 500hp in Road trim, I had a clear out to buy a house nearly three years ago. After 3 boring years in a 3.0 Tdi Touareg when not in my van, the itch started returning. I’ve always had a massive love/hate for the E63 shape as one minute I think they are ugly as hell, then I see a decent one and think it’s actually not that bad.

Started browsing M6 variants but thought I really don’t need the agro of big repairs and bills, so then thought about the 650i , until I found the plethora of oil leaks and valve stem seals issues that plague the V8’s.. all very laborious and costly. Finally I asked myself what was it I really wanted. It was simple, just a nice comfortable decent looking car with a big’ish petrol engine, in grandad spec with slushbox and now only wanting to throw around 5k at a car that will sit around most the time. The 630i was the all rounder I was after. My days of swapping turbos and ripping out AWD gearboxes on the drive are over.. too old for that lark now !

Biggest issue was leg room, every article and forum said it’s basically a two seater. I have 10yo daughters who are car nuts too and would most definitely want to go out in the 630i rather than Touareg. I went and looked at one and it was dog rough.. 2008 with 90k for £5000, had even washed or hoovered it. It was only 6 miles away though and gave me the opportunity to look round one properly and see if it’s what I want in a car. I’m not a 7foot PH PBD so in my driving position there was an acceptable amount of room in the back for kids.. winner !

Next up was the search for the right car... found a lovely 58plate with 80k on eBay, turns out Stirling cars are still shill bidding and then relisting cars . Found a perfect car 80miles away at a dealer, advertised as mint inside and out with only one tiny scratch on rear arch... drive over and parked near it, before I had even opened my door I could see the key mark down the entire length of the car. Get out and it had been done down entire drivers side and 3 times back and forth across the boot lid. All wheels corroded and needing refurb, and a massive lip on discs even though brand spanking new pads were fitted. Happy feckin days ... back in my car and left in under a minute, salesman couldn’t work out why I was so pissed !??

Then found another lovely grey one another 40miles from last car so phone guy and said I’m already miles from home so can I pop passed his (another hour away). His car again was right colour and most the spec I wanted but cream leather. When I got there the car was beaut inside and out, however I realised there was no ways I could live with cream interior, no matter how much I tried to convince myself. I was dead honest with the guy and explained exactly that to him, he accepted and agreed he loved it but appreciated it was not for everyone.

270 miles later we returned home peed off and deflated. Got to about 10pm and having I cuppa I fired up the laptop.. hit good old PH classifieds and second car down , there she was ! Sport model, 2 previous owners, 2 keys, 57k genuine miles, FSH and all the options I wanted. I loved it, typical “ghetto spec” like all my cars, black black and more black. This did have a couple of little curve balls though, it was nearly 3k over budget , and not ALL black Brain went into overdrive and back on vin decoder to look at what options it had etc. Ran an HPI check, ran an MOT history check, nothing I could fault it on !

Emailed the garage Saturday night around 10:30pm with my mobile number asking a few more questions and asking for a viewing Sunday afternoon. Within 10minutes I had a reply stating car was still available and he could meet me there at 2pm. Drove there Sunday and despite being nice and sunny when we left, it chucked it down when we got 5 miles away , great ! Trying to view a black car in pooring rain was going to be interesting. The chap couldn’t me more helpful though, stood there with an umbrella and wiping one panel at a time so I can check paint, not ideal but it was very obvious the paint was immaculate. The night before I asked him not to start the car as I wanted to do a cold start, he said no problem, when I arrived they were all standing around the car and immediately I thought here we go. Turns out the 630i was blocking in another car they wanted to get out, but didn’t want to start and move it because I had asked for a cold start. I actually felt quite bad but that’s the level of service these guys gave me !

Next up was test drive, guy took me down some 30 residential roads, then through a local Asda with big horrible speed bumps to check for knocks or creaks, and finally a little blast down a DC on the way back. Out can the OBD scanner AFTER all the driving and no faults or codes stored , winner. It was everything I was after and more so after a feeble attempt at haggling given there was literally nothing wrong at all, a deal was done for £250 less than the £7999 price tag inc private plate and 6 months warranty up to the value of the car.

After paying we went back out to the car with him armed with a massive PDI style check list, I said don’t worry I’m happy with the car and it’s faultless, no he said, we must check every single switch and function to make sure everything works as it should and you are 100% happy. Baring in mind I had already parted with the money and he STILL wanted to make sure I was happy and there were no issues. Another 20 minutes later and we were done. AC ice cold, sat nav up today and worked, every switch dial or knob did what it should. Shook hands and off I went. Naturally with a used car the first stop was nearest garage . Touareg was low too after all the running around so filled both up..£200 thank you very much . Reset both trip meters and headed home, I drove the 630 and Mrs Fb in her Touareg. Mooched through town thinking it was reasonably nippy, hit the motorway on-ramp and thought I would give it some wellie, well it really surprised me ! For 260odd ponies it just pulled and pulled and pulled until I realised I was at licence losing speeds before I knew it.

Swapped halfway home so Mrs Fb could have a go... yeah looks like I’ve inherited a Derv Touareg The moment of truth was when we got home and compared OBC’s. 3.0TDI Touareg did 28.6mpg average one the way home which was some town, some ‘progress’ on motorway and a couple of traffic light Gp’s for a laugh. 3.0 petrol 630 did 28.2 mimicking the same trip!! Happy with that for sure

The car has a lovely spec list including wide screen nav, premium hifi with Logic 7 and factory DAB, FSH at BMW apart from 2, sport model with sports seats etc.

Full decode list below..

475 black-sapphire metallic
LCCH Leather "Dakota"/chateau

S1CA Selection of COP-relevant vehicles
S205 Automatic transmission
S2C BMW LA star spoke 218 w flat-runn. prop.
S302 Alarm system
S320 Deleted, model lettering
S403 Glass roof, electrical
S414 Parcel net, passenger side
S423 Floor mats velours
S428 Warning triangle and first aid kit
S441 Smoker package
S481 Sports seat
S508 Park Distance Control (PDC)
S540 Cruise control
S601 TV function
S609 Navigation system Professional
S612 BMW Assist
S620 Voice control
S633 Preparation, mobile phone, Business
S654 DAB tuner
S677 HiFi system Professional DSP (Logic 7)
S698 Area-Code 2 for DVD
S710 M leather steering wheel
S760 High gloss shadow line
S775 Headlining anthracite
S8SA Navigation access request,country-spec.
S8SP Control unit COP
S431 Interior mirror with automatic-dip
S434 Interior trim finishers
S459 Seat adjustment, electric, with memory
S502 Headlight cleaning system
S522 Xenon Light
S534 Automatic air conditioning

The condition is remarkable and came with 4 recently refurbished 19” wheels in graphite grey, 4 new run flat Bridgestone Potenza’s that are correct star rated for BMW, new pads all round and recent discs, original paint that has no blemishes a light polish wouldn’t cure, interior is unmarked and still smells like new leather, and a private plate which hides the age nicely. Overall I’m happy as can be with a sub 8k 14 year old car but still have a few things to get it to my standard. This thread will hopefully document my trials and tribulations as we move forwards

Previous Ghetto spec cars

Home brew Mitsubishi GTO which I twin turbo’d the stock NA engine and ran on 20% methanol daily. Ran 500hp and 11sec 1/4 in full road trim with ac nice an cold



Ghetto spec E60 530d daily dog.. 10k a year on school runs taking vermin to school alone !


Slightly less ghetto spec Touareg but equally used and abused !


Well finally I guess you can see the theme... here is some advert pics of the 630i













And the only photo I’ve actually been able to take in between rain showers

Edited by fastbikes76 on Wednesday 11th March 13:42

Edited by fastbikes76 on Friday 20th March 13:12

[fastbikes76]

Thales said:

Shame about the chav wheels. Lovely car otherwise.

Not my first choice of wheels, but then they are as new with new tyres all round so will be staying for now. Certainly wasn’t going to miss this car based on wheels alone

[fastbikes76]

ChapmanC said:

Awesome right up. Always loved the E63, that interior is gorgeous.

It is a place of heaven to sit and munch mikes away

[fastbikes76]

ChapmanC said:

Can imagine, my E61 feels the same. Might go for E63 when i dont need the diesel life!

My E60 was quite a nice place to be, this is certainly a step up though

d_a_n1979 said:

Lovely motor and a great write up.

Wheels aren't top my taste, but if you like them then great; least they'll be uber easy to clean & keep clean

I test drove a 650i and 630i; on bypass, motorway and windy country B roads and in all honesty, apart from the V8 growl, I'd have gone with the 630i... It handled better IMO and it liked to use the rev range

Alas I couldn't cope with only 2 doors as at 6ft4 and 21 stone, there is no way anyone would fit behind me in that car and the wife & I do share out the taxi duties if we're out & about with family etc

Keep the thread going, more pics needed

Thanks, I think for the little compromise on power and the vast reduction on known issues, the 630i is a cracking compromise. If I wanted a fast car I would have just bought one, this as you say is more that adequate.

There will be plenty of pics for sure, I’m an OCD kinda guy so like to clean all the places often forgotten.

First up was removing the factory floor mats that looked a little grubby. When scrubbing and washing them in Luke warm water the amount of filth brown scum that came out was disgusting!! Anyways we now have 4 lovely clean floor mats again that have lightened in colour by at least 15 shades of grim

Before...



And now pretty much dry

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cerb4.5lee said:

That 500bhp Mitsubishi GTO!

Enjoy the 630i.

It has a lovely silky smooth engine for sure and I used to have that engine in a 330i.

Yours looks a lovely example.

Missed this one, yeah the GTO was a beast. 172mph gps which was gear ratio limited rather than power, 0-60 down a smidge under 3.5 seconds .

The straight 6 in this is lovely. So so smooth and quite you can barely tell it’s running. Open the bonnet and all you can hear is the injectors ticking away quietly. Big change from loud shouty cars of my past haha

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paradigital said:

E63 has certainly been a "grower" in terms of looks, I think it actually looks quite good these days. Really like the interior colour!

Not sure why you'd "blank" out your numberplate though, given you can still read what it says.

They certainly do grow on you as they get older, The interior really sets it off for me. I wasn't actually looking for a red interior but the whole package of this car was just spot on.

Numberplate is just habit..it really isn't any big secret but just something Ive just done. Im no tin foil hat type though

Macron said:

Looks good!

What options did you want specifically? Not cream leather obvs!

First and above anything before I even thought about a car..factory Xenons. Standard halogen lights on cars should be illegal, the standard halogens on E60's were downright lethal as are halogens on Touaregs. Every car I buy must have factory xenons to start with.

Other spec of MUST have's were pano roof, black or poss Stratus Grey, black or red leather, sport model with sport seats, leccy memory seats, auto, logic 7 hifi, fsh, 2 keys and reasonable mileage.

The would be nice list was heated seats, folding mirrors and that's pretty much the only thing mine didn't have .

confucuis said:

Didn't realize these came in manual!

I was/am looking at possibly buying one of these but over here in Ireland, they all tend to be automatics!

mine is an auto, but yes you could get them in manual. In fact there was a lovely manual one I was going to look at until I saw it was manual. I don't want a big cruiser like this and then have to bugger around with those gear thingies

MikeM6 said:

That is a lovely looking thing. I haven't driven a 630i, but I have heard that the lighter engine makes them quite a sweet steer.

I think the E63 have aged really well.

Thanks ! They are a surprisingly light car for the size. Book specs mine at 1575 kerb with 90% fuel tank and 75kgs load. As you know, wings are plastic, bonnet and boot are aluminium, engine is Magnesium alloy, all suspension and subframes are Ali etc.

In terms of driving, I've not driven it since buying it. I did about 30 miles home before swapping with the wife who drove the rest of the way back, then its just sat outside my house looking pretty. I will probably take it for a drive on the weekend though.

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gf15 said:

Lovely car. I ran my 650 to over 200k miles with no real issues.
Drop me a PM if you want me to send you the brouchere pack.

If you want to buy the BMW fitted dog cover for the e63, check ebay...;)

Thanks ! Ive got all the full book packs and manuals that came with the car, is the brochure pack different from those ? If so, yes please I would love them. Was that meant to be car cover ? or dog cover for seats ?

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gf15 said:

If you search "bmw 6 series brouchere pack" on ebay, you should only get 1 result. This is what I have and am happy to post foc.
It is a dog cover for the rear seats on eBay, check sellers other items.
Cheers

Yes please kind sir, I would love the brochure pack and happily part with some beer tokens.

I will fire off a PM in a minute

[fastbikes76]

gf15 said:

Great, if you like them, chuck the beer tokens at children in need.
Enjoy the 6 series, it is a fantastic car and the design grows on you the more you wash it!

As per email, done

Mr Tidy said:

It's good you persevered OP - your 630i looks great, especially with that interior colour.

Assuming it has the N52 engine I'm on my 4th now and they are a great power-plant (two Coupes, an E91 325i and currently an E90 330i) but all with those "change gear yourself" thingies! Although a 630i may suit an Auto better.

Enjoy.

Yes it’s the N52 lump without the fandango HPFP and injectors. I love a good manual but needs to be in the right car, otherwise it’s grandad ‘box for me

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Did a couple of bits on the car today, the nice and clean floor mats are back in. Next up was checking I wasn’t suffering the usual blocked drains in scuttle panel. I noticed a few leaves when buying the car so knew it lived near trees at some point. Blocked drains on these fill up the wells and then dribbles into the car via wiring grommets.

Took first pollen filter housing off and a brief squirt of water showed drains were not blocked. Pulled out loads of debris and then jetted through with hose again. All sorted.

Popped round to drivers side and pulled off pollen housing. Again loads of debris but water running out from wheel well as expected. Then I thought let’s just pull the whole scuttle while I’m here and clean it... just as well I did ! In the drivers side was a nice pool of water sitting level with bonnet release cable grommit and more leaves etc. Managed to clear the lower drain too and about a litre of water rushed out on the floor ! Disaster averted , the car is dry and hadn’t suffered leaks... yet. This was prevention rather than cure!


Passenger side pollen housing


Debris under pax side filters but no water pools



Drivers side pollen filter


Debris and water trapped under housing


Which left it looking a bit like this


So that’s the drains all cleaned and free, both pollen filters are new as is the air filter which I peaked at while there. The FSH rallies up with everything I’ve found so far.

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njw1 said:

I couldn't stand these when they were new (or the e60 to be honest!) but they've really grown on me over the years, so much so that when the time comes to replace my e39 an e63 is high on the list. Yours looks lovely OP (even the wheels!), I'd be very proud of it. It's also interesting to hear of the real world performance of the 3.0, I thought it might have a felt a bit gutless in such a big car but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Thanks, the car truly is immaculate and the more I look round it, the harder is it to believe it’s 14 years old soon. I didn’t like this shape at first, but I kept seeing the odd one around and soon enough I grew a soft spot for them. The wheels aren’t too bad I don’t think, seen worse ones on cars ! The don’t look that great in the advert pics I must confess, certainly better in the flesh and with some bloody tyre gel on

mattman said:

Had the 645 cab version of this, lovely car. No cup holders can be a surprising pain in the arse.

Quite like those wheels myself, got to be better than the standard 19” elipsoid style. Looked great but prone to cracking with the run flats.

They really are a proper bargain these days, private plate and few people understand how old it actually is

Yeah , cup holders. So the first car I saw had the factory option one fitted in the front. Apart from the car being minging, one of the main reason I didn’t buy I was I genuinely believed someone had screwed a Halfords cup holder to the console. Little did I know that was a well sought after factory fit uke:



I have already sorted the cup holder issue. I will update with that tomorrow .

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cerb4.5lee said:

That is crazy then that the diesel engine is 225kg heavier than the petrol engine for sure. The E63 630i only weighs 1500kg.

Indeed, the petrol uses a magnesium alloy engine where as I bet the derv is cast iron block ?

My manual lists the E63 630i as 1575kgs kerb weight but that is with 90% full fuel tank so circa 60kgs fuel, and a 75kg load , I guess to simulate a driver. So on the road with no driver and a sniff of fuel it’s in the mid 1400’s which is remarkable for such a barge !!

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Now I knew the pollen filter drains were clear and I wasn’t going to fill up car with water, it was on to the next step.

Engine was grease and oil free, literally not a drop or drip anywhere apart from pas reservoir lid. Engine was just dusty and not quite my standard. Only one thing to do really...

People seem to lose their mind when they see an engine jetwashed.. I’ve probably done it to 100 engines now and yet to have an issue



Before


After


Before


After


And the final product, snow foamed and wiped down with autoglym Vinyl and rubber protector.



The more eagle eyed will notice 3 of the 6 front shock mounting bolts are a little rusty, I have new ones on order at BMW to sort that. Nothing else is rusted or corroded at all.

Everything still has its factory data stickers on showing Sept 2006 so I know it’s not had any front end parts replaced. This is the original radiator , no bent fins or debris in site

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swagmeister said:

Im stuck in the middle on one hand id be happy all original unchanged parts, whilst on the other nervous at all the 14 yr old parts.
I love when I buy a new 2nd hand car and see invoices for X Y and Z having been replaced - less for for me to replace going forward.,

I get what you are saying, all the maintenance stuff has been done on correct age/mileage, its stuff like all the slam panel, radiator and stuff which all still carries the correct date meaning its definitely not had any front end works

LFB531 said:

A brilliant massively under rated choice there OP.

I dabbled with a 650 for six months;

Loved it for 'special trips', did Le Mans with it and a couple of longer continental runs but for normal use, I just found it too big. Parking was a nightmare as I didn't want any car park dings and where I work, the roads are just too damn narrow

One of the nicest places to be sat and didn't miss a beat in my ownership. Still look longingly at them........

Very nice looking car yours They are big, longer than my Touareg but surprisingly they are shorter than the E60 5 series that they are based on ! This car doenst have a single ding or paint defect on it, something tells me that's going to be hard to keep up

Demelitia said:

I know washing the engine bay seems to have gone fine, but if you get chance, check the seal on the DME box, as well as inside the box itself with a torch to check for signs of water ingress.

Lovely car though, I’m surprised to see how close in weight it is to my 1 series with the same engine in.

Yup, they suffer blocked drains too, I've just cleared them all though and no sign of water in DME
For their size, weight is stupidly low. mid 1400's kerb in a coupe of this size (4.8 meters long !) with a big six cylinder engine and automatic 'box is just crazy. Handling is superb with the low weight and 50/50 weight distribution

marine boy said:

Great looking car, I've really warmed to the styling, in my eyes it's aged very well

I think a 630i is a bargain at the moment, would love to buy one later this year

Please keep updating and letting us know about your ownership experiences

What a contrast the before and after pictures are

The styling has grown on me massively too. Somethings just get better with age, I feel the outlandish lines and shape of the 6 series is one of them. My car at £7750 was really top whack for one of these. There are members on the FB page selling V8's for £4000 and some 630i's for that or less...bonkers really. That's not even fiesta money !

Will be keeping this updated, both good or bad as we go. I like to tinker so do little odds and ends to make it my own.

PurpleTurtle said:

Nice car for that outlay OP, I didn’t really like the looks at launch but it’s really grown on me.

Likewise..love the shape now.

Regards
Fb

[fastbikes76]

Remember I said I would update for both good and bad.... well things went a little south today.

Picture the scene, sunny afternoon and car minging so thought perfect time for a little scrub and attention. Halfway through washing it and then next thing Taylor Swifty comes blasting on full volume. Quick glance around thinking who the feck is that, sudden realisation it was my car. Open the door in a panic to turn the radio off , hells bells... volume eleventy three hundred blasting ol Tay Tay out. Bearing mind this car has the Proffesional system with Logic 7 surround sound with 2 sub and 14 speakers... I assure you it was somewhat loud and embarrassing!!

Frantically stab at the volume on/off button... nadda, try turn ignition on and off again.. nadda. Whip the boot open pronto and luckily the battery was right there with a full tool kit in site. Disconnected battery and waited for ears to stop ringing.. thank fk for that !!!

What was the issue... well in my attempt to clear all the usual blocked drain issues I cleared the ones above the rear tail light. Took boot all apart and discovered the clips had split when pushing them back in, so any water ran down into split clips right into all the strategically positioned hifi and amps pulled everything out and have it drying out in my very toasty airing cupboard. What was nice to see is how clean and unabused everything in the boot is. All the tools are there, new BMW battery , no rust or dents, happy days.

Hifi stuff in pax rear corner with nice puddle under it.


Hifi stuff out and boot dried


Can’t complain for 14 years old !!


This also gave me the perfect opportunity to address something that drove me mad . Rear lights had green in the bottom lip where you couldn’t usually clean... unless you have most the boot out and then it’s only 3 nuts to remove lamps too

Before


Not 100% but more acceptable


After all that pissing about the car had dried half washed in the sun.. brilliant Quick wipe over with Quick detailer and it’s ok, streaks and spots everywhere but reasonably well hidden. Threw some tyre snot on and though better grab some pics while it’s clean’ish for 5 minutes.












I really really can’t ever get bored of this interior, it is such a comfortable place to sit

[fastbikes76]

Thanks again for the kind words, that Chateau leather with Sapphire Metallic Black combo with shadowline trim is just my perfect setup.

Well the little water leak stereo drama is cured. £2.46 for new clips from BMW and I have refitted the little trim sans puddle in the amps Everything was dried out and refitted and now works as it should thankfully.

These cars have one mega downfall in my eyes.... cup holders, there aren’t any, unless you specced the factory Halfords type looking one. So a 4 seater GT cruiser type car has no where for a cuppa, but wait, it does come with a phone holder for a Nokia 3310

I’m a diy think out the box guy so thought there must be a better option than spending £150ish for a secondhand centre consol with the cup holder mounting, and a further £150-200 on a used actual clip in cup holder . I took the centre armrest out and had a gander in the kitchen while plotting what could I get to work in there ?

Turns out if you unclip the phone holder, tuck the wiring underneath the armrest and trim about 2mm of plastic off.... it holds not one, but two Costa coffees * other coffee brands are available

Remove this part from the armrest


Trim these little side bits off


Reassemble and chuck some anti slip matting in


And tada... holds two coffees nice and snug (did the upside down test before reassembling )



Looks nearly OEM if you poke yourself in the eye, and with armrest closed you wouldn’t know anything has been changed. For the purists it’s about £30 for a second hand 1980’s phone cradle but I think useful cup holders will do for now.

[fastbikes76]

Waynester said:

Excellent write up. I have owned my 630i Sport 2 years now and still love it. You don’t see many on the roads these days.

Thanks , yours looks lovely and is on the same wheels mine originally came with. I’ve not even used a full tank of juice in mine yet. Done around 200 miles so far of which 80ish we’re driving it home.

Maxus said:

Nice car OP, looks in great condition. That would be my leather colour choice as well. The 630i does make sense in these cars.

Re the wheels, I think they would look good in silver. 6's were available on a 5 spoke which isn't too dissimilar to your wheels. Do they have the correct profile tyres on them? They look to exaggerate the ride height.

Enjoy the car and keep up with the updates.

I love black leather and didn’t even realise they had this colour until I viewed this car, it absolutely sold me and in fact is the recommended colour combo in the BMW options book

The wheels definitely look worse in the pics as does the arch gap. Any friends who have seen pics have commented it wants lowering, then when they see the car they comment it’s no where near as jacked up as pics imply. It’s nice and firm yet comfortable enough as is, I wouldn’t want to ruin the factory ride with some springs . Tyres are correct size although I may go up a profile from the 275/35/19’s when they need replacing. They are brand new though so that could be a while

The other car I was hoping to buy was Stratus Grey with the 5 spoke wheels, brilliant combo but second hand they are north of £1000 . I will hang onto these for the interim .
This is the car I viewed that was keyed all down one side

[fastbikes76]

Being on lockdown has its perks I guess. None of my cars have ever been so clean

Yesterday the 630 got..

Wheels off and arches scrubbed
Snow foamed
2 bucket washed
Polished with autoglym Super resin
Waxed with autoglym Ultra HD wax
Glass polished and Rain-X’d
Tyre shine
Wheels polished and sealed
Interior hoovered and all switches cleaned with mini brush.

It’s the small details like all the little dirt around switches that make the difference for me





Next up was most interior rubbers were really fluffy with lint from cleaning clothes. I gentle brush with scrubbing brush and then hoover saw them looking better




Paint is looking decent now , could have done with a machine polish to remove swirls but I will get that done in a couple of months. For now it’s shiny enough








Then the bug got me and decided to clean the wife’s daily dog.. thing is minging and only gets truck washed by the Polish once every 6 months.





Pretty much the same treatment as the 630 apart from wheels off or sealant. Ol gal comes up alright



Used this on the Touareg and it’s bloody marvellous!!



Quick side by side


Just in time for 3 birds to st all over the 630 within a couple of hours

[fastbikes76]

cerb4.5lee said:

They've both come up lovely.

You are making me want to make a start on mine now!

They do come up ok with some elbow grease.. feel like a feckin orangutan now

When I bought this car I did have a brief scout underneath for oil leaks. My thinking was sellers often jetwash engines but never really do under the car . Engine was spotless and I could see it was naturally clean rather than a fresh wash off to hide anything. There was however a little damp patch on the under trays roughly where the gearbox sits. The ZF gearbox plastic sump across many many cars is known to warp and seep fluid. I expressed my concern at a potential gearbox sump leak and they were more than happy to replace the sump. I decided I would rather do the job myself as I now I would have used genuine ZF fluid and sump pan, rather than a £30 euro car parts sump and dingdong oils . They knocked a few quid off and both were happy.

Today I finished very early and though I would pull all the under trays and investigate.

Now I wasn’t on my knees in the pissing rain trying to view a car, I realised the leak is much further forward than I remembered, roughly where the sump plug is...


Was greeted with some generally oily misting over most things down below.



And this ! The sump was wet all down one side and wind had blown the vapour everywhere !


Quick clean up with brake cleaner and tightened sump bolts another 1/8th of a turn. It was only the drivers side that was wet.


Went for a 5 mile blast, came back and jacked up .. dammit. Wet again, but it wasn’t coming from the sump or gasket. It appeared to be coming from the actual bolts themselves .

Plan B, did this as a test. Fitted some fibre washers I used for water stuff at 5bar mains pressure. Fitted a fiber washer to each leaking bolt , torqued to 1 elbow click and back out for a drive..... viola, nice and bone dry.





Now I knew it wasn’t a porous or hairline cracked sump, or leaking gasket. I think it’s had a new sump gasket at some point which is another relatively common leak on these ... but I don’t think the morons used new sump bolts. They are single use as they come with some snot on the threads to stop oil seeping by and passing the bolt heads. The heads do not seal on the sump surface which is why once they have been removed, you have to replace.



So a full set of new genuine BMW bolts are on the way to me and I shall sort the leak properly now my test proved my theory. Gave me a good chance to scrub the underside though

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cerb4.5lee said:

I love your attention to detail. Quality!

I blame the virus ! Given me time I usually don’t have I suffer with OCD (genuine OCD not the ‘I like things a little tidy’ type) and all my cars are kept in very good order. I only buy ‘premium luxury’ cars that are around 10 year old and have 90-100k on them. Had a few newer cars but find the 10 year old 100k ones have always been the most reliable and maintenance free I’ve owned.

The 630 is an 06 plate but only has 58k on the clock it doesn’t want or need anything really , it’s just me doing my thing

Cost so far..
£6.45 6x front shock mount nuts
£28 OEM sump bolt kit
£6 rear cup holder
£5 bmw touch up stick

I can’t help but feel I want to do an oil and filter change as that’s what I usually do as soon as I buy a car, but it’s had 3 bmw services in the last 7k :shock: