My first BMW! :)

[MosesT]

Hey everyone! My name is Moses and I'm new to the forums and thought I'd share my very first BMW! :D It is a 2002 540i sport package, got this baby with a few problems, but fixer her up and now she's operational :) Only thing left to do are a few cosmetics, need to repaint the hood, rear bumper, and front bumper. Also plan on deleting the two scuba tanks/mufflers, but keeping the resonator and catalyst because I don't want it to be too loud. Here is a picture of her :) I'll post a few more better pictures later :)
http://i62.tinypic.com/9azhwn.jpg

[JimLev]

Welcome to the forum. Nice choice in getting a V8, 6 speed or auto?
Our "House of 8" just got a new resident.....inside joke.
Yup, dump the scuba tank and add a section of pipe with some nice tips.

[auaq]

Welcome to the forum. Nice choice in getting a V8, 6 speed or auto?
Our "House of 8" just got a new resident.....inside joke.
Yup, dump the scuba tank and add a section of pipe with some nice tips.

:shifty blah blah blah!

Welcome to BMW E39 Airline!

Take a seat as Jim prepares a drink for you while you enjoy the massaging chair in the E39 Lounge. A little bit of Jazz music is being played in the background shall keep your stress levels to minimum and forget about the worldly affairs and hopefully think nothing but your beloved partner - Ms. 2002 540i. We hope that you fly with us again in the near future.

Lord Auaq
(aka 'Lord 6' and 'House of 6')

[geargrinder]

You weirdo freaks are gonna scare the nice new people.

OP we are far more inneresed in pix of yer car than yer oil... Lets see the real goods...

[AnotherGeezer]

You weirdo freaks are gonna scare the nice new people.

Inevitable outcomes are inevitable. :)

[auaq]

Hmm .. just noticed newcomers are finding a lot of silver E39's lately .....

[AnotherGeezer]

That's because they made so many of them.

[Skwisgaar]

You weirdo freaks are gonna scare the nice new people.


Aye.

Welcome, OP.

[MosesT]

Haha, you guys! Don't worry, I've been around for a few months lurking and reading, so you guys wont scare me away that easy! :P It is an automatic.

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My whole family is into BMW's hehe, my dad has a 2014 X1, older bro has a 2008 M5, and my other older brother has a 2011 ActiveHybrid 7. :) N now I have a 2002 540i sports package hehe :D
Here are a few more pictures. :) I plan on powder coating the valve cover red since the current paint is starting to chip.. and yes, I know a lot of people are not very big fans of coloring the valve covers bright colors, but I like red. :D :P
http://i57.tinypic.com/33cvxcm.jpg

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Here are a few pictures of some of the cosmetic damage that I will be getting fixed, need to bondo, then going to have them painted. :)
http://i62.tinypic.com/9gees6.jpg
http://i57.tinypic.com/w7bng2.jpg

[JimLev]

You weirdo freaks are gonna scare the nice new people.


GG, surely you must be talking about that other person........LOL.

Umm....red valve covers, can we convince you to do them blue?

http://home.comcast.net/~jimlev/2014_88.JPG

[auaq]

Hmm ... Red valve covers does sound interesting.

[JimLev]

I did have red calipers for a short time, didn't take me long to do them blue.

[MosesT]

Hmm... Blue does look nice... lol I'm considering it now.. hehe I guess a blue valve color would look nice with blue brake calipers on a silver car... :) What do you guys think? Not too flashy, yet subtle? ;)

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GG, surely you must be talking about that other person........LOL.

Umm....red valve covers, can we convince you to do them blue?

http://home.comcast.net/~jimlev/2014_88.JPG


Do you have any more pictures from a few other angles? :)

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I was also thinking about super charging or turbo charging this baby, but after much searching and reading about it on the forums; it's just not worth the money or trouble since it will kill to stock tranny/engine.. even though the tranny was rebuilt two years ago... What are your guys thoughts/opinions?

[auaq]

You can supercharge it though as GearGrinder is running one and the fact that there are other E39 M62 owners running one. Turbocharging is complicated apparently for one major reason - space constraints. There were few attempts by a couple of enthusiasts but unfortunately it never got finished or that they just disappeared out of nowhere. So, in the end your best bet is to install a supercharger kit.

[geargrinder]

I got no issue w red powder. Its not for me cuz im so mellow and laid back ;) but go for it.

There was a dude (one of the ones trying to do a terbo build) who did a bunch of orange-mettalic-bronze powder on an M62, then he evaporated.

Blue? Thats kinda Jims thing. Maybe if you pick a different blue shade - actually a midnight blue could be amazing... His is multilayer special homebrew anyway so you'll prob not match him even if you try.


super charging or turbo charging this baby, but after much searching and reading about it on the forums; it's just not worth the money or trouble since it will kill to stock tranny/engine..

I think thats hooey unless you thrash and abuse the car in which case its not really the blowers fault. as mentioned turbo is a virtual impossibility. But the M62 is wicked strong (forged crank and rods) and theres been no known issues with supercharging them to reasonable figures. The biggest issue is watching the cooling system and cam chains but that goes for normal asspirated motors. And the 5HP24 can take some power... Prob dont want to run it at the strip every weekend w an auto but there have been a lot of auto blower M62 cars.

[auaq]

Yeah, I believe both the M60 and M62 have forged crank and forged rods. If, however, the rods aren't then they are most likely have a thicker rod beam, so in case of breaking your internals from high boost I think the rods would just bend and not break.

[RuskiE39]

You might as well just get the M sport bumpers from DDM and enjoy the nostalgia of fake M5 ownership like us lowly 530 owners! :rofl

Welcome! Sounds like your off to a good start with the car and putting money where it belongs above all else.

[bmdubya1198]

You might as well just get the M sport bumpers from DDM and enjoy the nostalgia of fake M5 ownership like us lowly 530 owners! :rofl

Welcome! Sounds like your off to a good start with the car and putting money where it belongs above all else.

I like that idea... it looks almost like the M5, but you're not paying for the gas. I've been considering doing that with my touring, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[b2ke]

I had a magnaflow 14816 muffler/tip replace the scuba tanks on my 540 after seeing a lot of people have done it. It sounded great when you step on the gas, I then got a resonator delete a year later. Way louder, maybe too loud for my area but I've been too lazy to put it back on. Any route you go it'll be hard to make that v8 sound bad though so you should be good!

[pizzaman09]

Welcome to the forum. :wave



Here are a few more pictures. :) I plan on powder coating the valve cover red since the current paint is starting to chip.. and yes, I know a lot of people are not very big fans of coloring the valve covers bright colors, but I like red. :D :P


There isn't anything wrong with red. There are a fair number of people in the e38 sub forum with red valve covers.

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I like that idea... it looks almost like the M5, but you're not paying for the gas. I've been considering doing that with my touring, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Trust me, M5 ownership is worth whatever you pay in gas.

[MosesT]

I'm a little new to all this terminology, but what does M60, M62, and 5HP24 stand for? I honestly don't want to change a lot of the body parts for after market, I like the original look and don't really want to put one or two M5 parts on the 540i, looks a little out of place in my opinion.. Also, geargrinder, would you be able to post a link to your thread where you installed your supercharger please?

[auaq]

M60 is a designated name or identification of different BMW engine families and was BMW's first ever DOHC V8 engine. Although BMW's first ever engine was actually an overhead valve though of really small displacement. M62 was then the successor of M60 engines although very similar in appearance but there are some significant changes or the added/new 'details' as one would say. The word '5HP24' is a designated name for the automatic transmission for the E39 and E38 V8 engines made by ZF transmission manufacturer. Go to wikipedia.org and you can learn all about BMW engines to get a broad understanding and an idea.

[MosesT]

Ohhhh, okay, and which engine do I have on mine? M60 or M62?
Here are a few more photos. The interior :)
http://i61.tinypic.com/20pwt8k.jpg
http://i61.tinypic.com/2rhrz3t.jpg

[geargrinder]

You have M62TU which means the later M62 with VANOS - variable valve timing

[auaq]

You have M62TU which means the later M62 with VANOS - variable valve timing

And is a 4.4litre displacement engine. Double Over Head 32 Valves. Which means 4 valves per cylinder. Which means 2 intake valves and 2 exhaust valves. Which also means intake valves are larger in diameter to exhaust valves. And is a single Vanos (Hint: the 'Tu' after M62 tells that this engine has Vanos) for the intake cam only. And is a 90 degree V8 engine. And is mated to a 5HP24 ZF automatic transmission. Which means the number '5' represents a 5 speed auto.

[Only1Balto]

Hello and welcome to the family! This site has TONS of information for our cars that is very well organized. Have fun!

[JimLev]

The tu in M62tu stands for technically updated.

[auaq]

The tu in M62tu stands for technically updated.
Ah, yes, I forgot adding that. :D

[RuskiE39]

And is a 4.4litre displacement engine. Double Over Head 32 Valves. Which means 4 valves per cylinder. Which means 2 intake valves and 2 exhaust valves. Which also means intake valves are larger in diameter to exhaust valves. And is a single Vanos (Hint: the 'Tu' after M62 tells that this engine has Vanos) for the intake cam only. And is a 90 degree V8 engine. And is mated to a 5HP24 ZF automatic transmission. Which means the number '5' represents a 5 speed auto.
Which means this guy has no life.

[Mannyf540]

Which means this guy has no life.

Wow a domestic fight with the house of 6.

[ModBargains]

Hello and Welcome

[philly98540]

Wow a domestic fight with the house of 6.

Both your guys quotes were great. Got a good laugh. Tks.

OP - welcome to the board. Car looks nice.

[MosesT]

Haha, you guys are funny :P Thanks! :)
So, as far as a supercharger goes, is it pretty much plug n play? No need to calibrate it or anything like that? What are the pros and cons of getting a used supercharger vs a brand new one other than the price differences? Does it really matter if I get a used one? There just isn't a whole lot of info on the forums of supercharged E39's that I could find...

[geargrinder]

The kits you will find stateside mostly will be Dinan or VF. Either is relatively troublefree as a plug and play kit if you have all the bits. ESS made a kit at some point but you never really see these at least stateside for the M62.

Used kits can be OK if you find a good one and know the deal. I lucked out w a great kit like new almost with all the parts and more... Otherwise:




Used kits turn up but rarely. You have to watch and be ready to pounce. Typical prices could be $3-4k but...
Lotta time they are missing parts and guy isnt really being clear about this. Typically a guy will strip the main stuff from the engine bay, claim its "complete" but a bunch of little or medium stuff may be missing. Ex: You need the stuff to relocate the SAP from right to left. Its easy to pull the blower and revert the car but not reverse that, so a lot of kits have the blower and mounts and ducting only and the guy hasn't pulled the SAP pump relo wiring or bracket or some hoses and checkvalves. Etc etc. If you find a VF kit for sale, can give you a decent rough list of the parts needed for an M62TU kit from VF but not dinan although they are very similar in concept and design.
Buying individual parts from the kit mfrs is difficult to expensive. The VF parts are appallingly price one-off if you need them. Factor that vs the previous. Some guys have fabbed or improved the missing parts but that gets to be a real project obviously.
Many/most used kits are missing the software / tune and the sellers try to downplay or softball that. Count on an extra $800+ if you have to buy the software outright. If hes giving you a DME you can reuse that but need to pay somebody to "virginize" it so it can resync w your DME. Still a few hundred maybe to do that from a DME specialist/ indy tuner. So be sure you add whatever costs you need for the tune to setup whatever is in a used kit you look at. Gotta have auto or manual tune to match your transmission so if you bought a manual kit youd need a different tune. TU and non-TU (aka VANOS ans non-VANOS) are completely different DME's so tune is completely incompatible.

[MosesT]

Ahhh, okay, gotcha.. Thanks! :) Whats the time for 0-60 on the supercharged E39?

[geargrinder]

Ahhh, okay, gotcha.. Thanks! :) Whats the time for 0-60 on the supercharged E39?

2.36315 seconds

[Sleepyhead97]

And is a 4.4litre displacement engine. Double Over Head 32 Valves. Which means 4 valves per cylinder. Which means 2 intake valves and 2 exhaust valves. Which also means intake valves are larger in diameter to exhaust valves. And is a single Vanos (Hint: the 'Tu' after M62 tells that this engine has Vanos) for the intake cam only. And is a 90 degree V8 engine. And is mated to a 5HP24 ZF automatic transmission. Which means the number '5' represents a 5 speed auto.
hahah

[bfp9]

Ahhh, okay, gotcha.. Thanks! :) Whats the time for 0-60 on the supercharged E39?

Still slower than an M5.

[geargrinder]

Still slower than a supercharged M5.

There I fixed that for you.

[philly98540]

There I fixed that for you.

Beat me to it. Thank you!

[MosesT]

Does this e39 have a "sports mode button" that you could turn on or off? My dad claims that when he drove the care the throttle is ore sensitive and the ride is a little more stiff than before? But I haven't turned on or off any sports mode to my knowledge..

[auaq]

I think the only E39 to have a 'sport mode' sort of is the M5.

[MosesT]

Ohh, okay. On the shifter, it has M/S D, I know the M is manual shifting, but what are the exact "spec" differences between the S (Sport mode) vs D (Drive mode)?

[auaq]

Ah, that's called the 'Steptronic' mode. Basically, it simply changes the timing of upshifts and downshifts. It just makes the car feel like a bit sporty and that's all. Nothing is changed in engine behaviour or throttle response. Just late upshifts and quicker downshift. Hence, the feel of 'Race Car!'

[MosesT]

Ahhh, okay, gotcha. Thanks! :)

[tmvE39E53Z32TT]

You picked a good platform to start your bimmer journey.



Trust me, M5 ownership is worth whatever you pay in gas.
True that.

[geargrinder]

Ah, that's called the 'Steptronic' mode. Basically, it simply changes the timing of upshifts and downshifts. It just makes the car feel like a bit sporty and that's all. Nothing is changed in engine behaviour or throttle response. Just late upshifts and quicker downshift. Hence, the feel of 'Race Car!'

Yeah but the car is faster and does drive better. When you slap the shifter over it goes into sport mode UNTIL you manually shift it once, then its in manual mode until you push it back to standard D. The sport mode on the 5HP24 auto tranny is very good actually. But it will suck more gas for sure.

If you havent been driving in Sport mode you want to try it. Its good, but if its too much / revving too high, you just go back to D.

Honestly fully manually Steptronic shifting the tranny is kinda useless though. The shifts are slower than Sport and you keep waiting for shifts that you asked for to kick in. Obv its helpful in rare circumstances like downhill engine braking or specific "pre-shift" passing situations but 9/10 the Sport auto will be faster than trying to pretend its a flappy paddle.

[BimmerBreaker]

Do E39s with the transmissions in sport mode also keep it down one gear from where it would normally be? In the newer auto BMW I occasionally drive, when I put the shifter in the S mode, it always stays down one gear from normal. Makes it very peppy and ready to leap at any moment... definitely sporty. Do E39s do this too?

[geargrinder]

Not exactly. Sometimes in sport at low low load its still in same gear it likes for D, but it will jump out of it quickly. I used to sometimes in traffic be running in S, want to preload a shorter gear so i would bang a step downshift, hold that until i was done, then have to do a quick S-D-S flip to get it back in auto Sport mode.

No need for that anymore though. Heh heh.

[Mannyf540]

Not exactly. Sometimes in sport at low low load its still in same gear it likes for D, but it will jump out of it quickly. I used to sometimes in traffic be running in S, want to preload a shorter gear so i would bang a step downshift, hold that until i was done, then have to do a quick S-D-S flip to get it back in auto Sport mode. No need for that anymore though. Heh heh.

Damn GG that's my routine when I get on it !! You got it down !!

[auaq]

No, I don't think so in my case as it always goes back to 1st gear when you are in 'S' mode but yes in 'D' mode you can either start in first gear or in second gear depending on engine load. If you come to a stop gradually and slowly rather than quickly you stop in second gear. If you slow down quickly say like a sudden red light, braking hard to a full stop then you are automatically downshifted to first gear. Also, there are situations when you are actually in second gear but you take off quickly like giving 50% throttle (just throwing out numbers or a scenario) it quickly downshifts back to first gear rather than trying to accelerate in second gear. This happens very quickly and that you hardly notice it all. I don't know if 5HP24 behaves the same way as the 5HP19 but I would think yet it does.

[MosesT]

So it's alright to shift in to S and out to D while you are driving? There wont be any negative side effects in doing that?

[Mannyf540]

So it's alright to shift in to S and out to D while you are driving? There wont be any negative side effects in doing that?

Absolutely no issue. I shift to S mode to get a quick downshift without having to use manual mode.

[MosesT]

I was finally able to swap out the old hood for a new clean hood today! :D
http://i59.tinypic.com/1zlvpts.jpg
http://i62.tinypic.com/4vqmie.jpg

Out with the old! Old hood is off, time to install the new one! :)
http://i62.tinypic.com/2w5n8nc.jpg

Looks nice and clean! Love it! Still need to install the grilles though..
http://i60.tinypic.com/rri54n.jpg

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I have a question though... So my E39 has the sports package ( M on steering wheel, sports suspension, etc) So, my question is, is there a difference between the bumpers between the regular non sports package E39 and the E39 with sports package? Because I was talking to the BMW dealership guy and he said I have all the sports package "stuff" on my E39 except for the sports package bumper? So I'm a little confused...

[freethrowdunk]

Can you part the Sea with it?

[MosesT]

Can you part the Sea with it?

Most definitely! lol

[freethrowdunk]

Most definitely! lol

:)

Welcome aboard!

[BlkzhpWoG]

Welcome. I have nearly the exact same car, except in sterling gray metallic. Your car does have all of the 'sport package' stuff that was offered for our model year. The bumpers are the same as non sports package cars. The M-sports package was only for '03 and is the only non-m to have M5 front/rear bumpers stock (the front is very slightly different between M5 and M-sport actually). I went with the BMW factory lip on mine, which I like a lot, and if you're going to be re-doing the bumper anyhow you could get it to look more molded in during that process. It's part #82629407929 for reference.

Also, I've found that our favorite mod to the car was installing some e38 sport contour seats with heat/lumber etc. It's a plug/play mod if you've already got heated seats. Again, welcome.

[geargrinder]

Yeah id kill your mom for a set of E38 sport seats in right color but they are hard to come by.

[MosesT]

Is it really worth it to upgrade the sway bar on the car? Or just stick with stock? Is performance really noticeable if you upgrade it?

[freethrowdunk]

Is it really worth it to upgrade the sway bar on the car? Or just stick with stock? Is performance really noticeable if you upgrade it?

Yes. No. Yes.

[auaq]

Yes. No. Yes.

What he said.

[MosesT]

Hmm.. okay.. what brand and thickness should I go for in the rear and front? I'm completely clueless and don't event know where to start... I've read a few people going with an E39 M5 sway bar? Or should I go with something els?

[auaq]

You can go for the M5 sway bars or any aftermarket ones such as I believe Eibachs.

[MosesT]

You can go for the M5 sway bars or any aftermarket ones such as I believe Eibachs.
The stock M5 sway bars?