I LOVE my 530i Sport but...(help please!)

[Facefirst]

Hello All,

I'm really pleased with my new car, a 2003 530iA Sport with 140k up it. It's got the diamond 18's and everything, and is simply the best car I have ever had for all-round use.

However...

It idles like a bag of st when cold (much worse when it's been raining). I have read the codes and it just reads misfire. It doesn't do it under load so probably isn't the coils - any ideas where to start? I'm nervous of chasing a problem through the whole engine and spending a fortune in the process.

The other issue I have is a pronounced 'bounce' from small bumps. I think a damper is shot, as the bushes seem new and there is no play elsewhere when I prybar stuff about on the ramp. Anyone know what they are like to change, how much they cost, and if there is anything else I should look at first?

Many thanks in advance.

FF

[TheEnd]

Have a look at the plugs, and see if oil has leak down ontop of them from the cam cover gasket.

I know a few people who have described similar misfires on the 3.0s

[Facefirst]

TheEnd said:

Have a look at the plugs, and see if oil has leak down ontop of them from the cam cover gasket.

I know a few people who have described similar misfires on the 3.0s

I'll do that first, thanks for the advice.

Quick Q though - would you expect to see oil from the exhaust whilst it was burnt off if this was the case? I don't seem to get any blue smoke and oil usage is pretty low compared to what I have read elsewhere.

Thanks again.

[TheEnd]

Nope, it can leak down over the tops of the plugs, and where the coil packs sit, but not into the cylinders.
If it leaks on the outside, it tends to drip onto the exhaust and give a smell of burning oil, but in the engine bay, and not from the exhaust.

Water does something similar too, and it'll stay in there on a hot engine a lot longer than you think.

[Facefirst]

TheEnd said:

Nope, it can leak down over the tops of the plugs, and where the coil packs sit, but not into the cylinders.
If it leaks on the outside, it tends to drip onto the exhaust and give a smell of burning oil, but in the engine bay, and not from the exhaust.

Water does something similar too, and it'll stay in there on a hot engine a lot longer than you think.

I'm thinking water could be a culprit as it is much worse after heavy rain. It clears up after a few minutes running but I'd like to get it sorted TBH.

Again, cheers for the help.

[bls1]

In my experience, bushes & ball-joints on the E39 can fail without being noticeable with a prybar. The usual suspects are : on the front, both ball-joints at outboard end and big fluid-filled rubber bush inboard. On the back, the ball-joint also called bush at the bottom of the hub assembly.

Having said that, at 140k, the dampers are likely to be well off the mark if never replaced before. My rears were basically useless, when removed from the car, at 100k.

[Fox-]

I think the condition of the dampers depends on the use the car has seen. I replaced mine at 160k miles and only because one of them had been peirced by a loose peice of trim rubbing against it for years, causing a leak.

The car handled brilliantly until the leak began, and once the dampers were replaced with new ones - didn't exactly feel a world different. I'm convinced its because the car led a relatively easy life - racking up its first 140k miles in just over 4 years.