2001 BMW 525iA Sport Touring (E39)

[tobinen]

Still haven't pulled out the old windscreen moulding as I have lost interest for now. Had another go last week but to no avail.

Now the air conditioning has stopped blowing cold altogether so I wonder if it's related to the noisy pulley/compressor.

[tobinen]

Sadly I have a crack developing at the top right corner of the windscreen (currently 6+ cm) so I will have to abandon the job and seek a replacement.

Undeterred, I decided to take on the headlamp adjusters. Plenty of information out there and YouTube videos, ao away we go.

The headlamp:



After a few goes in the oven at 100°C, no longer than 4 minutes each time, it came apart with a bit of encouragement



The top rubber was so perished it fell apart upon contact





All was going well until it came time to do up the outer adjuster screw. The gear part will no longer 'grab' the screw so I can't tighten it



So job on hold, and I am now scouring the interweb for a replacement.

[tobinen]

Using the strongest Araldite from Halfords I have attached the gear to the screw and I will leave it overnight. I am not hopeful but for £5.50 it's worth a go.

I suspect if it holds I won't be able to turn it to adjust afterwards.

I've also ordered some new headlamp seals from BMW for £17 delivered.

[d_a_n1979]

Brave DIY'ing there; I decided to buy all brand new headlamps for mine rather than trying to get them apart! I fix things with a 9lb sledgehammer, so not exactly delicate

[tobinen]

I may well end up with decent second hand units via the E39 FB groups! They seem to pop up fairly regularly

[d_a_n1979]

tobinen said:

I may well end up with decent second hand units via the E39 FB groups! They seem to pop up fairly regularly

Make sure that they work as they should with none broken adjusters... That’s another reason why I couldn’t be bothered going 2nd hand

[tobinen]

I'm not paying 33% of the car's worth on headlamps. No way! I'll break it before that happens

[d_a_n1979]

tobinen said:

I'm not paying 33% of the car's worth on headlamps. No way! I'll break it before that happens

Can fully understand that; different predicament for me though due to the overall condition and low mileage of my import. I want to keep things as mint as possible

[tobinen]

Well today I reassembled the one headlamp with the new adjusters. Seemed to be going well, though I've realised that with the araldite on the one adjuster screw it is now locked in place as I was a bit too liberal with it. Anyway, as I was taking the headlamp from the oven and clipping the lens back on, something snapped inside and is now loose. I am pretty sure I have managed to break one of the new adjusters, FFS.

Fortunately there is a FB seller with a pair of supposedly good headlamps though he is 100+ miles away. I am prepared to make the journey just for the sake of ease of fitment and I need the car on the road by next week as the CL goes into the bodyshop.

[tobinen]

The new-to-me headlamps are in and working and the lenses are much clearer. Good news at last. The only minor issue is that the harness plug for the headlamp motor doesn't click home despite looking exactly the correct size and having 4 pins the the same layout. I haven't checked it they work yet, nor have I tried to adjust the aim.

£120 for the pair plus £60 of fuel to Hove and back.

[tobinen]

I checked the brakes last night before ordering any parts, and as it turns out the front pads and discs aren't that bad, certainly the pads have plenty left on them. The rears however, are not so good. The discs are in poor condition and the pads won't have long to go before the rivets.

It's booked in for MoT on Wednesday and to investigate the broken air conditioning. I expect the windscreen crack may be a fail though it's not in the driver's field of vision.

Edited by tobinen on Friday 24th May 14:12

[Max M4X WW]

I did my fronts the other week, very easy. The rears I have been putting off as I bought the shoes as well and I have not done any shoes for years (or ever when inside a disc!)

[tobinen]

Yes, it's the shoes that put me off a bit, but as the handbrake works fine I hope they don't need touching

[tobinen]

I had a go at the rear pads and discs this afternoon.

Here's the boot of bits. All from ECP: parts and tools £91. Saw the jack on display and inquired on the price; £21, so I had that too (£28 on-line so I'm glad I didn't add it to my order)



As I am not allowed to carry out car work in the residents' car park, plus it's on a slight slope, I found a nearby industrial unit closed for the weekend



Caliper removed but the bd 16mm carrier bolts would not budge with my new socket set so I am trying mates to see if any of them have a cordless impact wrench



One of the old pads. I've put the new pads in for now just so it's useable and I'll revisit the discs shortly. Now that I am familiar with the layout I should be a lot faster next time

[tobinen]

£21 later I now have a 18" breaker bar and the carrier bolts came undone with some effort. DIscs replaced, job done.

MoT next week and check why the air con has packed up.

It's booked into Lovett for the air bag recall on 25 June

[tobinen]

MoT failure on handbrake inefficiency - FFS. Told the garage to sort it. Sigh.

[Triumph Man]

Reading with interest - especially the headlight adjusters! Mine are xenons so a little windy in case I bks it up and have to buy new headlights. Even S/H xenons are a pretty penny...

Sorry to hear about the handbrake - shouldn't be too bad a job, and if that was the only thing on the MoT that's not too bad going. E39 handbrakes aren't renowned for being great, and with yours being an auto it has probably lead a life of not being used much. I find if you get to 30 mph and pull the handbrake on so it starts to bite, and drive for 400 yds or so, this keeps the shoes "keyed". I think even the handbook alludes to this...

[tobinen]

Yes, good idea. I guess the old shoes haven't bedded in on the new discs. I'll let them do it. I've had enough DIY for the time being

They've topped up the refrigerant as it only had 50g left (they mentioned 700g is what it should have) but that doesn't explain the pulley noise or why it just stopped working. Breakdown of communication when I booked it in and told one person that it had the dye and gas 8 months ago - this information wasn't relayed and they didn't check the history. More diagnosis required

[helix402]

Do you adjust the shoes when the new discs were fitted?

[tobinen]

No, that would be too competent

The garage has adjusted the shoes so now I have a fresh MoT

Aircon nice and cold and I'm taking it back in three weeks for a leak inspection. Still none the wiser why it suddenly stopped

Bill today £170

Next jobs - sort the windscreen and a clean up