Show Me Your BMW!!!!!!!!!
Discussion
cerb4.5lee said:
Great to be back in a BMW(F82 M4). Number 8 for me(sadly they still don't know how to make a nice interior/but they do drive very nicely though for sure). 
Very nice Lee, I'd be tempted to do what I did on my non comp M3 and order the gloss black grilles/side gills/badges and exhaust tips. Wills2 said:
cerb4.5lee said:
Great to be back in a BMW(F82 M4). Number 8 for me(sadly they still don't know how to make a nice interior/but they do drive very nicely though for sure).
Very nice Lee, I'd be tempted to do what I did on my non comp M3 and order the gloss black grilles/side gills/badges and exhaust tips. 
I do have plans to change the front grills/side gills for sure, but I'm happy to leave the badges/exhaust tips though(I have a strange obsession for polishing chrome exhaust tips!).
Benjamonk said:
E63eeeeee... said:
Mine gave me a decent mix of pleasure and pain during my 20 months of ownership. Lovely to drive and be in, but ongoing fuelling problems, miserable dealer experience and too many leaks into the cabin. Do you know about the yellow grommet and the HPFP?
I do not!!? I'm expecting some pain with this engine and feel I did enough research to go in eyes open.Any info you can share would be appreciated though. Forewarned is forearmed and all that.
Took mine acrosss Dartmoor today. The 550i really is a lovely car to drive isn't it?
The yellow grommet is the cover for the hole where the steering column goes on LHD cars. The drain on the bulkhead runs past it, gets blocked behind the cover over the grommet, forms a pool pressing on the grommet, leaks past it under the passenger footwell carpet, and runs down to the rear footwell, which is where you first notice it. By the time you see it, it's several inches deep in the foam under the carpet. I hoovered more than 2 litres out of mine. Local indy sorted mine out - new gasket, cut a drain channel in the cover, stripped it out and dried it off for the weekend.
I first noticed the fuel pump problem when tickling the throttle following an old couple across a car park, got a red drivetrain fault, but it sorted itself out when I turned it off and back on. It then got gradually worse and started running rough and getting occasional faults. I started to suspect it was something to do with fuel because of where it happened. Eventually it just gave up. Fortunately I had the extended warranty (mine was approved used) and that started a process where it would break, the mobile tech would come out and say it's the fuel pump, it would get recovered to the dealer, they'd replace part of the fuel system other than the pump, apparently at random and taking weeks at a time. The HPFP is all over the internet as a weak point, and finally they were replaced and that sorted it. The pumps aren't cheap but apparently a fairly easy DIY. I also stopped using Tesco Super at that point and stuck to Shell V Power.
Final tip, buy your oil in bulk. Mine drank a litre every 1,800 miles or so.
Hope you enjoy it. I'd happily transplant the interior in preference to the interior of the 4 years newer E-Class I replaced it with. So comfortable for long drives and felt like a really special place to sit, plus all the performance you could sensibly need with almost no external clues. If they'd made an estate version I'd probably still have it.
E63eeeeee... said:
Definitely. It was the first car that made me feel like that I did in the period when you first pass your test and you just want to drive regardless of whether there was a reason or not. I spent the whole time I owned it commuting once or twice a week from Merseyside to Sheffield, so about 50% motorway and 50% across the Snake Pass, and it handled both parts of the journey incredibly well.
The yellow grommet is the cover for the hole where the steering column goes on LHD cars. The drain on the bulkhead runs past it, gets blocked behind the cover over the grommet, forms a pool pressing on the grommet, leaks past it under the passenger footwell carpet, and runs down to the rear footwell, which is where you first notice it. By the time you see it, it's several inches deep in the foam under the carpet. I hoovered more than 2 litres out of mine. Local indy sorted mine out - new gasket, cut a drain channel in the cover, stripped it out and dried it off for the weekend.
I first noticed the fuel pump problem when tickling the throttle following an old couple across a car park, got a red drivetrain fault, but it sorted itself out when I turned it off and back on. It then got gradually worse and started running rough and getting occasional faults. I started to suspect it was something to do with fuel because of where it happened. Eventually it just gave up. Fortunately I had the extended warranty (mine was approved used) and that started a process where it would break, the mobile tech would come out and say it's the fuel pump, it would get recovered to the dealer, they'd replace part of the fuel system other than the pump, apparently at random and taking weeks at a time. The HPFP is all over the internet as a weak point, and finally they were replaced and that sorted it. The pumps aren't cheap but apparently a fairly easy DIY. I also stopped using Tesco Super at that point and stuck to Shell V Power.
Final tip, buy your oil in bulk. Mine drank a litre every 1,800 miles or so.
Hope you enjoy it. I'd happily transplant the interior in preference to the interior of the 4 years newer E-Class I replaced it with. So comfortable for long drives and felt like a really special place to sit, plus all the performance you could sensibly need with almost no external clues. If they'd made an estate version I'd probably still have it.
Ah, yes I did know about the high pressure fuel pump issues but was too think to work out the acronym! I'd heard about water leaks but did not know about the yellow grommet - thanks so much for the advice. Good to know what to keep an eye on.The yellow grommet is the cover for the hole where the steering column goes on LHD cars. The drain on the bulkhead runs past it, gets blocked behind the cover over the grommet, forms a pool pressing on the grommet, leaks past it under the passenger footwell carpet, and runs down to the rear footwell, which is where you first notice it. By the time you see it, it's several inches deep in the foam under the carpet. I hoovered more than 2 litres out of mine. Local indy sorted mine out - new gasket, cut a drain channel in the cover, stripped it out and dried it off for the weekend.
I first noticed the fuel pump problem when tickling the throttle following an old couple across a car park, got a red drivetrain fault, but it sorted itself out when I turned it off and back on. It then got gradually worse and started running rough and getting occasional faults. I started to suspect it was something to do with fuel because of where it happened. Eventually it just gave up. Fortunately I had the extended warranty (mine was approved used) and that started a process where it would break, the mobile tech would come out and say it's the fuel pump, it would get recovered to the dealer, they'd replace part of the fuel system other than the pump, apparently at random and taking weeks at a time. The HPFP is all over the internet as a weak point, and finally they were replaced and that sorted it. The pumps aren't cheap but apparently a fairly easy DIY. I also stopped using Tesco Super at that point and stuck to Shell V Power.
Final tip, buy your oil in bulk. Mine drank a litre every 1,800 miles or so.
Hope you enjoy it. I'd happily transplant the interior in preference to the interior of the 4 years newer E-Class I replaced it with. So comfortable for long drives and felt like a really special place to sit, plus all the performance you could sensibly need with almost no external clues. If they'd made an estate version I'd probably still have it.
Mine is a pretty well cared for example 50k miles, full BMW service history and still under BMW extended warranty. I feel I've been as careful as I could be in choosing a 550i. It was that or a Petrol Maserati Ghibli S, sensible car purchases not really my style!
I know exactly what you mean though, I have been going out just for the sake of driving for the first time in a very long time!
Thanks again, Ben
HM-2 said:
graham22 said:
My first petrol BMW. After a E46 320d and two E90 330d.
One owner M240i with all the options I wanted.
Coral interior, definitely lifts an otherwise slightly austere cabin One owner M240i with all the options I wanted.
Here's my other BMW.
But those wheels are stunning RichardM5 said:
nomis36 said:
RichardM5 said:
Was that taken on the Isle of Mull?
As was this. 
That's the entrance to the grave yard near Dervaig isn't it?
1st picture is the little car park near the Eas Fors Waterfall.
Here's my old one on Mull - It'll be good to get back again later this year
Edited by Ranger 6 on Tuesday 20th April 14:53
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