The Joy of Running an Old Shed

[rich12]

Jimmy Recard said:

Fair enough. I think that mine is aesthetically worse than yours but intrinsically probably better. I can't find faults with anything mechanical or electrical on it (apart from this worn joint, but I'm not using it between now and it being repaired anyway)

Yeh, the rust didn't bother me one bit. It was just always the issues mechanically that made me sell.
MOT in 2 months and anything over a couple of hundred quid would've made me sell anyway so thought it was better to sell now for a little bit more than it owed me than selling as scrap.

Really bugging me how small the 530 is. Didn't really think about it this morning until I actually looked at it.

[rich12]

Question.
Is leaving the engine running on my driveway a good gauge of how it will/won't overheat etc when driving?

Obviously a new, cheap, moon mileage car that i've driven 5 miles in and i'll be driving 150 in the morning.
Do I leave it running for half an hour to make sure it doesn't overheat?

[Captain Answer]

rich12 said:

Question.
Is leaving the engine running on my driveway a good gauge of how it will/won't overheat etc when driving?

Obviously a new, cheap, moon mileage car that i've driven 5 miles in and i'll be driving 150 in the morning.
Do I leave it running for half an hour to make sure it doesn't overheat?

Yes, listen for it kicking the fan in and out and keep an eye on the thermostat (if it has one)

[anonymous-user]

rich12 said:

Question.
Is leaving the engine running on my driveway a good gauge of how it will/won't overheat etc when driving?

Obviously a new, cheap, moon mileage car that i've driven 5 miles in and i'll be driving 150 in the morning.
Do I leave it running for half an hour to make sure it doesn't overheat?

Ah, those first tentative few days with a new shed as you start to bond and get a feel for it and any potential issues.

[tomble22]

Joey Deacon said:

Ah, those first tentative few days with a new shed as you start to bond and get a feel for it and any potential issues.

Or instantly regret said purchase, I'm sure we've all been there a few times (I know I have!!)

[rich12]

Final question of the day.
The expansion tank doesn't have one of those things that bob up and down for some reason and no clear marking on the side to show where the level should be soo.. how the hell do I know how much coolant there should be?

[S54B32]

rich12 said:

Question.
Is leaving the engine running on my driveway a good gauge of how it will/won't overheat etc when driving?

Obviously a new, cheap, moon mileage car that i've driven 5 miles in and i'll be driving 150 in the morning.
Do I leave it running for half an hour to make sure it doesn't overheat?

Not really no. You aren't putting any load through it.

Just drive it tomorrow man. Those later E39s have electric radiator fans right? They take some effort to overheat anyway.

[S54B32]

rich12 said:

Final question of the day.
The expansion tank doesn't have one of those things that bob up and down for some reason and no clear marking on the side to show where the level should be soo.. how the hell do I know how much coolant there should be?

Is it on the side of the bottle?

If the float is missing then that's concerning. Perhaps the expansion tank has cracked and been replaced in the past.

[Toaster Pilot]

Not sure there’s any E39s left that will have their original cooling system components!

Just drive it man!

[rich12]

Fair enough.

You should all expect a very stern post from me as I sit on the side of the motorway tomorrow due to overheating

[Captain Answer]

rich12 said:

Final question of the day.
The expansion tank doesn't have one of those things that bob up and down for some reason and no clear marking on the side to show where the level should be soo.. how the hell do I know how much coolant there should be?

Shine a torch down inside and have a look.. little cross section photo shows where the float mech would sit here..

https://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/attachment.php?a...

[RoverP6B]

Toaster Pilot said:

Not sure there’s any E39s left that will have their original cooling system components!

Just drive it man!

Coolant header tanks on the V8s tend to fail catastrophically at about 225,000 miles... ask me how I know...

[Toaster Pilot]

RoverP6B said:

Coolant header tanks on the V8s tend to fail catastrophically at about 225,000 miles... ask me how I know...

Yeah it’s a big problem with BMWs of this vintage isn’t it - E46 is bad too I believe?

[rich12]

Captain Answer said:

Shine a torch down inside and have a look.. little cross section photo shows where the float mech would sit here..

https://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/attachment.php?a...

That's not the same as mine.
I'll grab a pic

Edited by rich12 on Thursday 6th August 16:36

[anonymous-user]

tomble22 said:

Joey Deacon said:

Ah, those first tentative few days with a new shed as you start to bond and get a feel for it and any potential issues.

Or instantly regret said purchase, I'm sure we've all been there a few times (I know I have!!)

True, with the last shed I purchased via eBay auction I thought "What have I done" as I drove away from the sellers house. I ended up spending nearly two months trying to love it, spending days cleaning it, touching in paint chips and replacing parts.

I threw in the towel and went back to the original shed and then had the fun and games of selling it and dealing with the sort of people outside of this thread who buy sheds.

Not fun.

Funny thing was I idly put the reg number into cartakeback to get an idea of what it was worth scrap value just out of interest. I then informed that an offer already existed for this car so the previous owner must have done exactly the same thing!

[aaron_2000]

Joey Deacon said:

tomble22 said:

Joey Deacon said:

Ah, those first tentative few days with a new shed as you start to bond and get a feel for it and any potential issues.

Or instantly regret said purchase, I'm sure we've all been there a few times (I know I have!!)

True, with the last shed I purchased via eBay auction I thought "What have I done" as I drove away from the sellers house. I ended up spending nearly two months trying to love it, spending days cleaning it, touching in paint chips and replacing parts.

I threw in the towel and went back to the original shed and then had the fun and games of selling it and dealing with the sort of people outside of this thread who buy sheds.

Not fun.

Funny thing was I idly put the reg number into cartakeback to get an idea of what it was worth scrap value just out of interest. I then informed that an offer already existed for this car so the previous owner must have done exactly the same thing!

I've been the same with my last few. I can't gel with anything I get to replace my S320, I just can't find anything I prefer.

[giblet]

I’ve been scarred for life by a E39 I bought from a fellow PH’er which turned out to be an absolute dog and a half. I didn’t even bother checking it out properly as I assumed he wouldn’t sell me a dog since he was also of this parish.

Not like it was thread budget either, ended up just offloading it to a Polish buyer who sent someone to collect it.

[HannsG]

I am really hankering after Mk4 GTi.

On my usual route walking the dog I see a immaculate one. Very fresh looking car

[Captain Answer]

rich12 said:

That's not the same as mine.
I'll grab a pic

Edited by rich12 on Thursday 6th August 16:36

Stick a post up in the BMW section here, its not terribly clear, looking at the other side it slopes up near cap, i'd probably just fill to the near top of the slope

[rich12]

Nice puddle of fuel under the car.
Wonderful.