2002 E39 530i Touring - Japanese import

[fastbikes76]

Looking tops as always... I wish I had your enthusiasm as I hate dirty cars, but this time of year and black cars means no point doing them too often

[d_a_n1979]

fastbikes76 said:

Looking tops as always... I wish I had your enthusiasm as I hate dirty cars, but this time of year and black cars means no point doing them too often

Haha yeah; vowed never to own another black car again. Did my OCD nut in

The issue with silver is that it looks spotless when dirty; but this time of year, the road grime is like a grey/black film and it coats the rear of the car so much (sills and wheel arches too) that I generally just snowfoam it and rinse it

But it's a nice dry day here today; so both mine and the wife's Racing Jazz have been thoroughly cleaned and had Polar Seal applied

[d_a_n1979]

I'm doing naff all to the car currently bar a few bits here n there and giving it it's usually weekly wash (when the weather allows)

Today it's had:

- Removed both inner rear light clusters; dried them (touch of condensation in the light bar section); the seals look to be in superb condition, but noted both were very easy to undo the bolts; so nipped them up tighter when refitted and gave them a polish too

- Rear number plate plinth removed and refitted with the correct clips; rear humber plate refitted with new mounting tape

It's bloody cold out there with a really biting wind; can't feel my hands now

Plans are (was thinking of selling but decided against that as I've absolutely no idea what I'd replace it with currently, and nows not the time to be selling cars, even though I've had 4 very serious offers for it)!

- Replace the rear bags with all new Arnott ones (peace of mind/preventative maintenance fix as they're absolutely fine currently, but they are the original ones from factory)!
- Rear ARB to be upgraded to the OEM BMW E39 M5 rear ARB, along with poly-bush rubber all round on both ARBs
- I've a spare set of 17x8 Style 66s to get fully, professionally refurbed, gunmetal grey probably (or similar) and fit new summer tyres. I still 'might' go for another set of 18" alloys without a lip, so a concave style, but will decide at a later date
- Get Baris at Carphonics to replace the OEM 16:9 screen with a new one (current one has some light pixel issues) and also get him to swap the Jap BM53 amp out for a UK spec BM54 that's had the amp upgraded too
- Look to get a stainless back box sorted with a twin exit style; Schmiedmann have some good ones and they're made by the same factory that does the SuperSprint exhausts

Edited by d_a_n1979 on Saturday 30th January 16:40

[Uncle Meat]

That is fantastic, a truly brilliant example and I think my favourite shape of 5 series too.

Are your neighbours moving because they've drowned in your snowfoam?!

[d_a_n1979]

Uncle Meat said:

That is fantastic, a truly brilliant example and I think my favourite shape of 5 series too.

Are your neighbours moving because they've drowned in your snowfoam?!

Haha thank you It is a lovely car and I'm thoroughly enjoying the ownership.

Unfortunately the old boy next door died Jan 2020 and with the pandemic and lockdowns it's only just sold and swapped ownership

[alec.e]

Heard great things about that Polar Seal.
I still clean my cars the old fashioned way, two buckets and microfibre- can you dislodge enough dirt with the snowfoam to save a full wash? What kind of presure washer do you use? I tried my friends basic Kratcher it barely did anything...
Cheers

[supacool1]

d_a_n1979 said:

Gave it a good wash today; it needed it








This is the application stage of the Autoglym Polar Seal; you can see how it starts to bead with it just being applied then rinsed off.



It does a great job IMO; I re-coat it once every 4-5 washes usually...



I little goes a long way!

Hmmmmmm......Polar Seal you say......Thank you for the recommendation. This is exactly what I needed for my car wash needs!

[d_a_n1979]

alec.e said:

Heard great things about that Polar Seal.
I still clean my cars the old fashioned way, two buckets and microfibre- can you dislodge enough dirt with the snowfoam to save a full wash? What kind of presure washer do you use? I tried my friends basic Kratcher it barely did anything...
Cheers

Polar Seal is superb. But something you reapply every 4-6 washes I've found. Which is no hardship as its so easy to use etc...

I use a Nilfisk C120 pressure washer and it's been absolutely faultless. 10 years old now too and hasn't skipped a beat. Both my Dad and father in law have been though various Karcher washers, they both now have Nilfisk!

The snowfoam is brilliant. But it's an aid in part of the washing process. Great for lifting all the bedded on grime and dirt. Loosens it to be power washed off in readiness for the car to be hand washed. But works well as part of the contactless washes I do at this time of the year etc

It's certainly not a miracle cure for washing, but it does work really well IMO. Great for soaking the wheel arches and getting all the built up crap that's in the all the time too

[d_a_n1979]

supacool1 said:

d_a_n1979 said:

Gave it a good wash today; it needed it








This is the application stage of the Autoglym Polar Seal; you can see how it starts to bead with it just being applied then rinsed off.



It does a great job IMO; I re-coat it once every 4-5 washes usually...



I little goes a long way!

Hmmmmmm......Polar Seal you say......Thank you for the recommendation. This is exactly what I needed for my car wash needs!

Yup. I'm a big fan.

I'm not a detailer, nor do I pretend to be (I do have a DA a but don't trust myself with it)

The Polar Seal works superbly and after a full wash, it's so easy to apply, rinse off and the towel dry the car.

Works great too for contactless washes etc as it helps stopping the road grime taking a strong hold

[d_a_n1979]

Very little happening with the car currently; it's in a lull between winter and spring

I have got another set of Style 66s, 17x8s all round. So they're being dropped off to be refurbed and I think I'm going to go with BMW ferric grey or a lighter anthracite I think; powdercoat and lacquer

This is Ferric Grey:



New summer tyres to be ordered too; probably Goodyear F1s or Uniroyal RainSport 5s; quite like the sound & look of the Falken FK510s though as well; highly recommended by Sreten that has the M539 Restorations channel on YT

I'm also going to underseal the car as best as I can DIY; I'll be going for the Raptor kit available via Amazon and similar:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Raptor-Urethene-Resistant...

My pal who does the body work for me says his restoration pals all use it and find it to be a superb product; so the arches, sills and other areas will be sorted properly

[anonymous-user]

Fitted the falken fk510 to my car. Seems to be a reasonable tyre. Found it cheapest from demontweeks

[MDMA .]

I've just ordered a set of Goodyear Eagle F1 Supersports. Had Rainsports before and the problem I've found with them is the soft sidewall. Good in the rain but a bit squishy when pushing on in the dry.

[d_a_n1979]

MDMA . said:

I've just ordered a set of Goodyear Eagle F1 Supersports. Had Rainsports before and the problem I've found with them is the soft sidewall. Good in the rain but a bit squishy when pushing on in the dry.

That's what I'm after from the Uniroyals though.

The tourings are much firmer damped due to the rear SLS; so having a tyre with a slightly softer sidewall is perfect.

The Vredesteins were superb; but very stiff tyres and the ride felt crashy at times etc...

[MDMA .]

d_a_n1979 said:

MDMA . said:

I've just ordered a set of Goodyear Eagle F1 Supersports. Had Rainsports before and the problem I've found with them is the soft sidewall. Good in the rain but a bit squishy when pushing on in the dry.

That's what I'm after from the Uniroyals though.

The tourings are much firmer damped due to the rear SLS; so having a tyre with a slightly softer sidewall is perfect.

The Vredesteins were superb; but very stiff tyres and the ride felt crashy at times etc...

Will be perfect then. Have you checked the Nokian Powerproof? Get an excellent wet weather rating in the tyre tests.

[1979Andrew]

d_a_n1979 said:

Very little happening with the car currently; it's in a lull between winter and spring

I have got another set of Style 66s, 17x8s all round. So they're being dropped off to be refurbed and I think I'm going to go with BMW ferric grey or a lighter anthracite I think; powdercoat and lacquer

This is Ferric Grey:



New summer tyres to be ordered too; probably Goodyear F1s or Uniroyal RainSport 5s; quite like the sound & look of the Falken FK510s though as well; highly recommended by Sreten that has the M539 Restorations channel on YT

I'm also going to underseal the car as best as I can DIY; I'll be going for the Raptor kit available via Amazon and similar:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Raptor-Urethene-Resistant...

My pal who does the body work for me says his restoration pals all use it and find it to be a superb product; so the arches, sills and other areas will be sorted properly

The DINITROL 4941 / Car – 500ml Aerosol cans are really good as well. I managed to cover the four arches and suspension components plus the side sills on my t25 campervan with ease. No mess and the aerosols didn't block at all. It also provided a good level of sound dedening. Lovely car BTW.

Edited by 1979Andrew on Tuesday 16th February 17:33

Edited by 1979Andrew on Tuesday 16th February 17:34

[d_a_n1979]

1979Andrew said:

d_a_n1979 said:

Very little happening with the car currently; it's in a lull between winter and spring

I have got another set of Style 66s, 17x8s all round. So they're being dropped off to be refurbed and I think I'm going to go with BMW ferric grey or a lighter anthracite I think; powdercoat and lacquer

This is Ferric Grey:



New summer tyres to be ordered too; probably Goodyear F1s or Uniroyal RainSport 5s; quite like the sound & look of the Falken FK510s though as well; highly recommended by Sreten that has the M539 Restorations channel on YT

I'm also going to underseal the car as best as I can DIY; I'll be going for the Raptor kit available via Amazon and similar:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Raptor-Urethene-Resistant...

My pal who does the body work for me says his restoration pals all use it and find it to be a superb product; so the arches, sills and other areas will be sorted properly

The DINITROL 4941 / Car – 500ml Aerosol cans are really good as well. I managed to cover the four arches and suspension components plus the side sills on my t25 campervan with ease. No mess and the aerosols didn't block at all. It also provided a good level of sound dedening. Lovely car BTW.

Edited by 1979Andrew on Tuesday 16th February 17:33

Edited by 1979Andrew on Tuesday 16th February 17:34

Thank you

I've seen that; but also spoken to a few folk about it and they said it can get very expensive quickly with the aerosol cans; but I',m thinking 1-2 for each side arches and another for the sills etc; so shouldn't be too bad

The Raptor stuff gets rave reviews as it comes with the applicator spray etc

However; I've just seen Waxoyl do a clear'ish underseal; and not just black and that's of interest to me

More research needed!

[helix402]

If you want clear stuff I’d recommend Bilt Hamber .

[Gallons Per Mile]

What about ACF50?

[d_a_n1979]

Gallons Per Mile said:

What about ACF50?

From what I know re this stuff & read up about it before; it's a bit too thin and has a tendency to run off/ not last that long.

I'd rather go for something that has the longevity to last and last my ownership of the car etc; without the need to reapply

[beambeam1]

As you're already aware, my car had a recent application using 3M Body Schutz Coating. It's clear there are so many variances of products offering the same type of protection so I can understand why you might prefer a certain type ie. clear finish.

Liking the ferric grey idea, be interesting to see how that looks against the silver!