2003 Bluewater Metallic 525iT

[BimmerBreaker]

A friend and forum member (Joe - thanks man!) shared a link to this car with me after I told him I was planning on building an E39 530iT sometime in the future. In the future...

I used to settle a lot on cars, but every "oh I got a good deal, I'll grow to love the color or this or that" purchase has ended up in regret (if my previous E39 M5 was Chiaretto instead of Jet Black, I'd probably still have it to this day). This car however was exactly what I wanted and in one of my favorite colors. I wasn't exactly ready to buy now - I wanted to build the 530iT in the future, because in the future I have money. But this car was literally exactly what I wanted so I pulled some strings and made it happen.
Walked away over $300 on the deal after driving 7 hours to get there too... that was hard. But the seller eventually accepted my offer so I was able to drive home in this 2003 525iT :)

2003 Bluewater Metallic 525iT, Gray interior
I believe these were the non-standard options:

S220A Self-levelling suspension
S227A Sport suspension+lowered+ride-height
S249A Multifunction f steering wheel
S417A Roller sun vizor, rear door
S464A Ski bag
S481A Sports seat
S494A Seat heating driver/passenger
S500A Headlight wipe/wash/Intensive cleaning
S508A Park Distance Control (PDC)
S521A Rain sensor
S522A Xenon Light
S710A M sports steering wheel, multifunction

http://i68.tinypic.com/256hjc7.jpg

It's very hard to capture the blue in bluewater. It usually just looks silver but its really quite an interesting color in person and in different lightings.

Will get some more pictures soon. Interior is in really nice shape, the seats were reupholstered very recently. Needs some odds and ends here and there, just some normal TLC, but I think it'll be brought back nicely
Hoping to keep this build thread somewhat updated, but I'm no Danny... ;)

[dannyzabolotny]

It was a fun trip indeed, and I’m glad we got the seller to budge on the price, even if we did it in a somewhat desperate way.

There’s nothing quite like getting a car in a color that you actually like. That’s why I’ve kept my Japan Red 540it around for as long as I have, because the color is just perfect. Plus the Bluewater should stay nice and clean-looking compared to your other black BMW’s.

I’m stoked to do some work on it as well, it’s a really nice car that was just a little neglected mechanically.

Here’s my picture spam from yesterday:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180907/921d88815d737b791d6fe1d40506fc9e.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180907/3b826be6d1d537bea869743913f639a5.jpg

Gotta get some interior pics too, it’s insanely clean inside.

[StephenVA]

Good deal!

[geargrinder]

Nice, G. I need something like that to keep the miles off the 540. Been thinkin about trying to find a beater touring for a winter/beater car...

[Jason5driver]

Wagon's Hooo!
LOL.
Awesomes !

[dannyzabolotny]

We did an extremely important modification today...

Before:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180908/a90b20de37d31b550995e40e0a67e1fa.jpg

After:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180908/67c5f6baa9ad782224b86edec902c3f8.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180908/e6e86fe46563d3d78792a6e98fec21bb.jpg

Looks way better. Can’t wait to do a full paint correction on the 525it with Graham, it’s gonna look amazing!

[Mannyf540]

It was a fun trip indeed, and I’m glad we got the seller to budge on the price, even if we did it in a somewhat desperate way.

There’s nothing quite like getting a car in a color that you actually like. That’s why I’ve kept my Japan Red 540it around for as long as I have, because the color is just perfect. Plus the Bluewater should stay nice and clean-looking compared to your other black BMW’s.

I’m stoked to do some work on it as well, it’s a really nice car that was just a little neglected mechanically.

Here’s my picture spam from yesterday:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180907/921d88815d737b791d6fe1d40506fc9e.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180907/3b826be6d1d537bea869743913f639a5.jpg

Gotta get some interior pics too, it’s insanely clean inside.
Looking good first pic you took really captures its unique qualities!

[amancuso]

Congratulations, Danny. I know what you mean about getting the right color. I don't settle anymore either! Oddly enough when I bought my 528i I was looking for silver as it made me nostalgic for the 540i I owned back in the day.

OG 540i:
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1853/30679689848_7ed07c3acf_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/NK4qVN)IMG_2955 (https://flic.kr/p/NK4qVN) by Al (https://www.flickr.com/photos/11734406@N00/), on Flickr
Current 528i:
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1864/42741195950_6abed2dd37_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/287TNty)%IUjHYKHRKSMQ2haKwG8OQ (https://flic.kr/p/287TNty) by Al (https://www.flickr.com/photos/11734406@N00/), on Flickr

[BimmerBreaker]

Lol this is actually my car just to clarify ;)

Today I started with an oil change, the oil change sticker said it was last done at 139,400 and its at 152,000 now! Seemed like it might have been serviced in between though, as the oil wasn't too bad coming out. Nice peace of mind though

Then got started on some fun stuff... swapped to amber sidemarkers - the OEM amber fronts, clear sides and red rears is a bit of a mess to my eyes! Euro amber tail lights are going in next week too :)
Plasti-dipped the body mouldings as well. Think it gives it a much more classic look. It also helps bring out the blue quite a lot I think. Front plate delete as well, as those are not needed in AZ. Danny gave me one from one of his parts cars

Before and afters

http://i66.tinypic.com/2a9v1as.jpg

http://i63.tinypic.com/2mxnuu.jpg

http://i65.tinypic.com/22esg2.jpg

http://i64.tinypic.com/20fvts4.jpg

http://i65.tinypic.com/d6ww6.jpg

Next week getting the A/C recharged (hopefully that's all it needs) and ceramic tint. Going with a lighter shade, maybe a 40% on all side windows - and if they let me, as clear as possible on the windshield

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

Looks like a real clean wagon, love it!

[computiNATEor]

Good buy, keep us updated as you make progress!

[amancuso]

Love it.

[dannyzabolotny]

Loving the front plate delete and black trims. It’s starting to look like a proper touring now!

[BimmerBreaker]

Thanks everyone :) Yeah its a lovely car, little nicer in pictures than in person (aren't they all?) but not in bad shape by any means


Nice, G. I need something like that to keep the miles off the 540. Been thinkin about trying to find a beater touring for a winter/beater car...
I think a 525i touring like mine makes a pretty good DD. Mind you I've had it less than a week but I've been around enough BMW's to know what to look for and these are pretty much exactly what you'd want in a daily - reliable, cheap (for a BMW anyways!) and practical.

About to head out to get the A/C looked at and recharged if thats what it needs (fingers crossed!). Appointment Wednesday for ceramic tint. Negotiating aggressively for euro amber headlights :rofl

Wanted to make a little list for myself of what I need done:
A/C fixed
Windows tinted
New tires
Front window regulators
CCV replaced
Rear subframe bushings

Some maybes would be trans fluid filter flush (why spend the money if I'm gonna engine swap anyways), swap sunroof mechanism as it doesn't seem to work 100%
Normally I'd do the cooling system pre-emptively but (knock on wood) it seems to be working pretty well right now, and some of the components were replaced just a few years ago.

[itsbrokeagain]

Does the aux fan work? I'm finding more and more of these E39s have one that went kaput and the AC doesn't work all too well without it

[BimmerBreaker]

Does the aux fan work? I'm finding more and more of these E39s have one that went kaput and the AC doesn't work all too well without it
It's kind of funny you said that... :)

Got the A/C charged yesterday, guy said it was a bit low, it'll blow freezing cold in any temperature now. Awesome. On the way back to the shop it went from freezing cold to slightly chilly to warm, then by the time we went back to the A/C shop after lunch it was just blowing hot air. Guy there jabs his fingers into the fan clutch, proclaims its broken and thats why the A/C isn't working and says $200 to fix it. I say ok and head back to the shop, get a good M54 fan clutch out of Danny's wagon (we took an extra with us on the trip) and slap it on. While the KTMP readout verified the car is running significantly cooler now, the A/C has not become any more reliable, it still fails after a few minutes of driving (usually it will be fine at idle forever basically but then after a few minutes of driving it fails).

We plug it into ISTA and it prompts us to do an electric fan test, we do and only the max speed on the aux fan on the car was working. Ok, so we swapped it for a part we took off Danny's 200K 540i. It was at least known to be working when removed, got it installed and did the ISTA test, it was working. Went on a short drive, A/C was colder than it ever was. Then after driving for a minute or two it gets warm again then hot...

And that is where the A/C saga concludes for now. Part 2 comes today...

[cnsorial]

Bad FSU? Sounds like an electrical problem


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BimmerBreaker]

FSU only controls blower motor speed as I understand it

We swapped the IHKA panel out as the IHKA is what controls the system for the most part, no relays or anything to speak of in these cars. So we are certainly narrowing it down. It's seeming to me like maybe the pressure switch, the replacement aux fan isn't working properly either (will do another ISTA test to see if its happy or not) so may just be that we replaced it with a bad fan.

Part of me wonders if, while hte part #"s do interchange from E39's, if some of the fan speeds on this aux fan failed. On the ISTA test the low speed didn't seem to trigger immediately or very happily. So it may just be a matter of needing an actual new aux fan... will go a little deeper down the diagnostic path before spending $$$ though

Think Danny has another aux fan he can bring me that we can test today too

[geargrinder]

M54 motor - Aux fan should be PWM driven so should be "infinite fan speeds", and swapping it seems to be same... so... I doubt its the Aux fan... plus while driving at highway speed the Aux fan (on facelift type DME's) gets disabled because it doesn't matter so.... The "fine at idle forever but fails while driving" bit seems like the clear tell-tale but I'm too stupid to figure out what it means. Derp.

Do you have INPA too Graham? If so, fire that up and look at the live values for the IHKA while you drive and force the failure. You may see that its going over pressure or something (also manually activating fan etc. to test is far easier in INPA than in the excessively-automated ISTA crap...) I assume there were no errors in the IHKA...

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

Hey GiGi, when you swap in an IHKA unit from another car, is there any coding needed?

[geargrinder]

Without paging through a trace file, I"m gonna say - theoretically yes practically no? Like there's probably some rare options you can code like rear-AC and/or fridge or whatever... Probably the Sedan / Touring coding is theoretically different? But even then I can't imagine what would be coded... unless maybe there's a hysteresis difference w/ the temperature sensors to account for the giant rear air pocket and allow for more air to flow to the rear...

[geargrinder]

Yeah OK curiosity dammit. Had a look. Basically exactly what I thought.

Yeah, some 'convenience options' like key-memory-climate, some country-based (aka F vs C), some rare options - auxilary heating, rear AC.... A few 'model' differences - aux water pump y/n (some "ROW" budget 520i for isntance probably doens't have that)...

Did just see an interesting couple options I might fiddle with - "increase engine idle when heavy consumers are activated" and "increase engine idel when voltage is low"... both of which are not turned on by default. Innerblasting.

[BimmerBreaker]

As a note, it no longer seems to be cooling at idle and as of this morning the aux fan didn't seem to run for the entire trip, even with A/C on. Yesterday may have been a fluke, or maybe the new (by new I mean known working 200K+ mile assembly) fan has suddenly stopped working.

Going to try the ISTA fan test again first - if it works from ISTA, I'll look into other components (system overfilled? pressure switch?) if the ISTA test won't make it run, I will attempt what you mentioned with INPA to see what the system is doing elsewhere. We have an INPA laptop, however our cables weren't working - I have a new cable arriving today to be able to code my euro tails (also - anyone know how to set the outers to run at the correct voltage? US outers run at a higher voltage than euros) so will be setting that stuff all up today

[Jason5driver]

Sounds like the classic symptom of a bad expansion valve.
Check if the A/C pump is running while you have no cold air.
When turned off, pressures equalize, function normally or even colder, then the valve closes or freezes blocking flow.
No inpa testing will show this up.
Is this the same as the heater valve ? #6:
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=DT43-USA-09-2000-E39-BMW-525i&diagId=64_0930

[BimmerBreaker]

Today we hooked up ISTA and no dice, aux fan test failed. Plugged in old one, it also failed. Fan didn't move at all, checked the fuse under glovebox the big 50a, it was good. We even drove all the way back to Danny's house to get a third aux fan that was working... plugged it in. Started the car with the fan on, A/C on, gave it a minute... fan didn't come on. Nothing

At a bit of a loss here. Tried to read the signal from the car at the aux fan harness with my multimeter, one seems to show a 12v, the other I can not get any reading from on my multimeter either in volts or %freq/duty cycle
ISTA is throwing an error for DME aux fan activation
I think my next course of action may be to check the harness connection and the wiring going to it? I'm wondering if the PWM wire is broken/frayed somewhere along the way. Maybe it was working intermittently because the wire would occasionally make contact and maybe it isn't working now because the connection completely gave way when stuff was moved around when we swapped the fans

I'm curious if anyone knows the proper way to test the harness (assuming I'm doing it wrong, with the negative on the ground and the positive on the positive I get 12v, with the positive on the other/PWM wire, with ISTA test activated, I get no reading in volts or frequency/duty cycle)
Or maybe a good point to start looking for wiring defects. Could it also be the DME? What is going on???


Sounds like the classic symptom of a bad expansion valve.
Check if the A/C pump is running while you have no cold air.
When turned off, pressures equalize, then system functions normally or even colder, then the valve closes or freezes blocking flow.
No inpa testing will show this up.
I would be inclined to believe that if the symptoms were still the same. However, now I no longer have any cold air in any circumstance (and no aux fan, at all)

Starting to suspect all the issues are/were fan related.

[BimmerBreaker]

I can only work off the clues you give me, and you do have several things going on.
Taking it to an A/C guy means you have no A/C charging equipment. And no gauge to put on now to see if the system has lost enough charge to lock out the compressor.
The A/C system will work with a bad pusher fan, just not well after a few minutes. It also won't come on when the A/C pump is not on.
Back to charge level.
The fact that the system worked when charged and then shut off, points to the expansion valve.
Now you could be chasing other problems. Your electrical circuits probably didn't fail between then and now.

Ok I mean that is fair and all, but doesn't explain why the aux fan won't turn on when ISTA commands it to turn on

[BimmerBreaker]

Tried to read the signal from the car at the aux fan harness with my multimeter, one seems to show a 12v, the other I can not get any reading from on my multimeter either in volts or %freq/duty cycle
I'm curious if anyone knows the proper way to test the harness (assuming I'm doing it wrong, with the negative on the ground and the positive on the positive I get 12v, with the positive on the other/PWM wire, with ISTA test activated, I get no reading in volts or frequency/duty cycle)

Talked to someone much more knowledgeable than I and he confirmed my testing method was correct. I should see something like 0v then 5v then 0v... on the PWM signal (because its, you know, pulse modulating). I believe how fast they occur (0v...........5v...........0v vs. 0v 5v 0v 5v 0v) determines how strong the signal is - faster pulse, faster fan.

I am getting nothing, even with the ISTA test, on my PWM wire
Going to dig a bit deeper and trace the PWM wire today with a continuity tester

[BimmerBreaker]

Yeah, sure. But you must jumper the pressure switch to complete the circuit, unless you have confirmed that the system is up to pressure.

No, I don't. That is not how it works. ISTA and INPA are BMW's diagnostic equipment. When they tell the aux fan to come on, it ignores all other checks in the system and forces the fan to run at a % duty cycle as indicated by ISTA. 24% then 76% then up to max speed for 30 seconds. One of the fans we plugged in functioned properly with this test then stopped functioning after driving it around. If your "theory" was correct then the fan wouldn't have worked under any circumstance.

When you turn the A/C switch on in the IHKA panel, it sends a message to the DME saying it wants the A/C on. The DME then checks for stored aux fan codes (which mine has - which is why my A/C is not working) and looks at the pressure switch. My pressure switch is fine, as confirmed by INPA, and also confirmed by the fact that it operated completely properly for extended periods of time on at least two occasions, and by the fact that the compressor momentarily comes on when the fan code is cleared until the fan code reappears and it immediately stops.

To clarify again, when ISTA commands the fan on, it ignores everything else in the system and just tries to run the fan. My aux fan is not coming on but it has run before with this test. When the aux fan works, the a/c works perfectly. My problem is with the aux fan. I observed it as an A/C fault because the A/C shuts off when there is a fan code stored in the DME

I will test the PWM signal with the harness connected before I go too crazy tracing it, read in another thread it needs to be connected to give a value. If the PWM is giving a signal, then my car is killing fans (or maybe just used 540i fans don't play nicely in the 525i)

[geargrinder]

I believe how fast they occur (0v...........5v...........0v vs. 0v 5v 0v 5v 0v) determines how strong the signal is - faster pulse, faster fan.

Yep you had it right all along.
Not really 'faster' pulse, but 'longer' pulse. Hence the pulse width modulation. The % of time that the signal is on per full cycle = "duty cycle %" in other words 5ns-on 5ns-off = 50% duty cycle, 7ns-on 3ns-off = 70%, etc. One of those things where a picture is worth 1000x thread posts.

http://www.nightsea.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/PWM-diagram-300x260.jpg
If you drive a PWM signal into some capacitance, it will smooth the pulses out and that begins to become voltage modulation, or, it can just be used directly to pulse a circuit on/off.



read in another thread it needs to be connected to give a value.

Hmmm. Yeah maybe. Maybe the DME does some diagnostic test on the output to be sure there's a fan there. If so you could also try to wire up a couple leads to a spare fan (firmly clamped to something so it doesn't fly away...)

But give it a try first, I wouldn't be surprised if the INPA/ISTA tests bypass the diagnosis thing and push a signal out the wire.

Inside those PWM fans is also a driver circuit - basically a big transistor - so the actual power isn't coming from the DME directly, the PWM signal is just a control signal. The PWM switches that transistor (prob some kind of MOSFET) on/off and its that fan on-board 'driver' that then supplies power to the motor (its that line that the monster fuse is on, not the PWM side). So... have you checked the connector to be sure there's good power and ground on it? The DME could be supplying PWM but if there's intermittent power being supplied, then of course it can't turn the fan on.

[BimmerBreaker]

Yep you had it right all along.
Not really 'faster' pulse, but 'longer' pulse. Hence the pulse width modulation. The % of time that the signal is on per full cycle = "duty cycle %" in other words 5ns-on 5ns-off = 50% duty cycle, 7ns-on 3ns-off = 70%, etc. One of those things where a picture is worth 1000x thread posts.

http://www.nightsea.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/PWM-diagram-300x260.jpg
If you drive a PWM signal into some capacitance, it will smooth the pulses out and that begins to become voltage modulation, or, it can just be used directly to pulse a circuit on/off.
That makes more sense, thanks for explaining that. None of my other cars (I've been in Z3/E36 land since selling the E39 M5 years ago...) have this sort of stuff...

Hmmm. Yeah maybe. Maybe the DME does some diagnostic test on the output to be sure there's a fan there. If so you could also try to wire up a couple leads to a spare fan (firmly clamped to something so it doesn't fly away...)

But give it a try first, I wouldn't be surprised if the INPA/ISTA tests bypass the diagnosis thing and push a signal out the wire.

Inside those PWM fans is also a driver circuit - basically a big transistor - so the actual power isn't coming from the DME directly, the PWM signal is just a control signal. The PWM switches that transistor (prob some kind of MOSFET) on/off and its that fan on-board 'driver' that then supplies power to the motor (its that line that the monster fuse is on, not the PWM side). So... have you checked the connector to be sure there's good power and ground on it? The DME could be supplying PWM but if there's intermittent power being supplied, then of course it can't turn the fan on.
Yes, I tested the ground and the main power wire and am seeing 12v. When on the same ground pin and checking the PWM wire in either volts or freq/duty cycle, I get no reading (with the harness unplugged) with the ISTA test trying to turn the fan on

And fans don't need to be strapped anywhere, they aren't powerful enough to blow around and move themselves. Have tested many a fan off the car like that (just resting against the front bumper) and never had an issue :)

To clarify again (maybe my other posts were too verbose lol) I did check the first replacement fan with the ISTA test and it was working before we fully installed it. When we installed it A/C worked perfectly for about a block then died. When we got back to the shop the fan would not come on with the ISTA test. I believe that was the last time the A/C worked.
That is partly why I am starting to suspect the PWM wire got caught/snagged somewhere, and maybe what was a bad connection/frayed wire before (causing intermittent A/C) totally let go after we removed the bumper and uninstalled the original fan.


Fans are all the same. Maybe you just have another bad fan.
As a test, I ran my A/C with the fan unplugged. Comes on and works perfectly.
Yes the fan has power all the time and the ISTA turns it on with a signal. You should see how much circuitry is under that motor cover. At turn on the fan does a reverse bump as a check at each turn on.
But you still have no A/C. The fan problem is a symptom, not the cause.
So you are telling me if you unplug your fan with the car off, then start the car, then turn the A/C on it, it works?
If it is unplugged at the startup, it will fail the DME startup test and throw the internal DME code. If you unplug it after the car is running the A/C should continue to work because it won't have stored the code during the startup test



I just made an interesting discovery as I was going to purchase an aux fan as I sort of felt it was going that way...
While many sites list the part #'s as interchanging, on RealOEM, it lists a fan 64548380780 for M52/M62 engines only. My car asks for 64546921946 or 64546921395 which lists compatibility with M52/M62/S62
Willing to bet I've got the M52/M62 specific fan on my car that doesn't play nicely with the 525i PWM system. It was a little weird during the low-speed mode on ISTA, I just figured it was an old fan, now I'm suspecting it was because those fans weren't designed the same as the later ones.
The correct part # for my car was a bit more $ too but hey that's life. Hopefully that is available tomorrow and we will see what happens with the correct fan.

Cool fact, my wagon was made in the last month possible for 525i wagons - 6/03

[BimmerBreaker]

Just for you I rechecked. It's easy because my fine ride wagon is missing the inlet plenum for the radiator and my wires are zip tied to the core support.
Unplug, turn on car and hit A/C. Came right on .
Interestingly enough, unplugging the pressure switch prompted the fan to run at max speed, both A/C on and off.

Well maybe things work differently in your neck of the woods. It's also 110 degrees here, so maybe where you live the car doesn't need the aux fan on anytime the a/c is on, but I think for me in this temperature it does - and if the aux fan doesn't come on and the car wants it to the a/c wont run. Maybe your car just isn't asking the aux fan to come on at that moment.

Also FWIW the times the A/C worked best have been the long drive back from San Diego (at night, cooler temps) and it only started to die when we got near Phoenix (90F+ even at night) and only under higher engine load (when accelerating to pass). It then worked the next day, which was cooler than usual here, until the car got up to full operating temp and it died. It then worked the next day, in the cold morning, on a long highway drive, until I got to the offramp to pull off, A/C died when I was waiting at the red light.
So you may be right that the A/C will run with the aux fan not working. My aux fan may have died at some point (it was working in San Diego, at least to some extent) and now the A/C is only working when its cool enough to not need the aux fan on...

[BimmerBreaker]

I went back and reread your thread, starting with the A/C. recharge.
Your problem went from being cold to warm, and now no fan.
I've asked, but not heard if your system is fully charged. (Still charged, checked by you)
I stand by my diagnosis of expansion valve at the first symptom of being cold and cutting out.
Then the problem was cold at idle, but warm moving. (Classic low charge)
Then only briefly in the morning (No charge)
Now the fan problem and testing.
I'm old, and a curmudgeon, and go with old school testing procedure's. But these cars (love and hate) with the electronic interface still have basic systems underneath.
Geargrinder is your man for all the electronic, electric diagram, coding, etc.
But we have to get down to one problem at a time. And I wont be happy till i know that a low pressure isn't interrupting your fan test.
Our here in the West the cooling fan does come on any time the A/C is on.
And the majority of used fans are bad.


I know you're busy and your personal car can't be looked at continually, but by now you have probably discovered that you have a bad compressor.
Check inside the lines for gray material coating the tubing. That is probably what was clogging the expansion valve. If you get lucky, flushing everything will clear it, saving tons of work.
For a circuit test on the fan, use your ISTA test to see if the fan signal comes thru for the high coolant turn on.
I have NO idea how to do a ISTA test, use INA, or any of the coding, laptop programming, etc. that these cars use.
And yet all my cars run, and work.
I also know I'm biting off a BIG one calling it, so we'll see what you report.

Interesting theories for sure man, I'm really digging that creativity
I advise you to channel those efforts and write a book, sell a bunch of copies and meet Oprah

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

Meeting Oprah’s a high thing in your bucket list???

[geargrinder]

Grahamalammadingdong:

Check this out. Sorry for the sh177y Scribd link but I don't have a link to the proper PDF and I hate signing up for their stupid trial and then getting 1000 spam emails a minute for the next 3 years.

Hit pages 14-15, then page 17.

https://www.scribd.com/doc/60087943/BMW-E39-Integrated-automatic-heating-and-air-conditioning

Some particular excerpts:


The engine control module signals the IHKA (Signal KOREL) when the idle increase hastaken place and the IHKA will then activate the compressor clutch, as long as all othercompressor requirements are satisfied. Compressor cut off conditions include:
•Evaporator temperature below 2C
•Coolant temperature > 117C - causes the compressor to run in a pulsed operation.
•Coolant temperature > 120C - the compressor clutch is deactivated until thetemperature drops below 117C.
•Full acceleration at low speeds - below 10 MPH with a full throttle input will causethe compressor to shut off for 10 seconds.

(Note that idle increase is a requirement as well as the list)


For ‘99 Model Year, E39 IHKA now receives a variable input from the refrigerant pressure“sensor”. The sensor is mounted in the receiver/dryer.Based on the refrigerant pressure, the pressure sensor input allows the IHKA module todetermine the “start up” torque of the A/C compressor. If the pressure is too low or highthe compressor will be deactivated. The IHKA also anticipates the necessary auxiliary fanspeed and passes this information on to the ECM via the K-bus. This change now removes the pressure sensor from the compressor activation circuit.

Taking that information, I would continue to use INPA and observe live data from the IHKA (pressure sensor, evap temp sensor, coolant temp, AC clutch activation) while you drive and it cuts in/out.

HTH... I'm off to watch some Oprah Porn (just when you thought there wasn't a type of weirdo porn you hadn't heard of...)

[BimmerBreaker]

Taking that information, I would continue to use INPA and observe live data from the IHKA (pressure sensor, evap temp sensor, coolant temp, AC clutch activation) while you drive and it cuts in/out.

No A/C at all anymore. Worked once with Dannys '00 540i fan for about a block. Suspect the DME sent a PWM signal the fan couldnt respond to and it shut off and shut off A/C with it

Suspecting earlier intermittent failure was the aux fan failing to respond to some speed modes.
Should have replacement fan later today. Fingers crossed

[BimmerBreaker]

Still waiting on the aux fan...

Installed these euro ambers while it is sitting. It made it look suuuuper base spec, but I'll be tinting the windows soon and getting my chrome trim wrapped in gloss black vinyl that I think will make it look a bit sportier. Can't help but think this color really needs M bumpers to look aggressive. It needs enough paintwork here and there that I can justify the bumpers... eventually

http://i63.tinypic.com/160ynab.jpg

Having trouble doing the coding though - can't find a lot of solid info. Have NCS Dummy and NCS Expert set up, anyone who has done this mod before have any assistance they can provide? It would be the same process as for those who installed clear euro touring lights
May be able to figure it out once the A/C is fixed, so I can more comfortably sit in the car while scrolling through the NCS options, but maybe someone has done it before and can offer some help...

[dannyzabolotny]

We made some major progress on this today! We got the new aux fan in from FCP Euro (who somehow got it to us faster than the local AutohausAZ!) and immediately plugged it in to test it. Initially, no luck, even when running the aux fan test in ISTA. So off we went, probing around the wiring harness, checking the fuse, checking voltages, etc. With the engine running, we saw good voltage on both sides of the fuse, so that was flowing correctly. Then we probed the aux fan harness again, and after wiggling it around a little bit we started getting voltage there. We then plugged in the new aux fan and it started working correctly. Awesome!

After that, we removed the bumper and replaced the aux fan on the car with the new aux fan. It took us less than an hour, we've gotten real good at ;)

We went on a short test drive and the AC now works consistently. No issues with the compressor, no weird noises or anything, just ice cold AC! We're guessing the wiring at the aux fan connector had either gotten pinched or bent in a way that made it unhappy, which is why it worked so intermittently before. We'll be keeping on eye on the aux fan the next few days, though we might just use one of my parts car aux fan connectors to replace the one on the wagon now, just for peace of mind.

With the AC fixed, we turned our attention to the front right window regulator, which was mostly dead. That needs to be working for the car to get tinted, as tint is an absolute requirement here in Arizona. Graham bought a Üro Premium window regulator, which is supposed to be an improved design (it also has an excellent warranty). Installing it was pretty straightforward, and we really took our time to make sure the cables were adequately lubricated before installing the new regulator. We also spent some time adjusting the window glass to sit perfectly so the window would go up and down smoothly without any hesitation. I took special care to make sure nothing was loose inside the door, because there's nothing worse than closing an E39 door and hearing something clunk around inside. I'm happy to report that the window regulator now works perfectly and the door still has that wonderful bank vault feel to it.

Tomorrow we'll be thoroughly washing the 525it, clay barring it, and then compounding/polishing it. It'll be a long day but I'm really looking forward to making this car look awesome.

[BimmerBreaker]

Last night a few blocks from home the A/C died after running some errands with my girlfriend... once I got parked at home the A/C started working again and fan was working

This morning had A/C at start. Drove about a block, no A/C and car was heating up very quickly, I assumed the fan was not working. Pulled over, pushed the harness together, no change, pushed the wiring in on the car-side harness and eventually heard the compressor click then the aux fan whirred to life

So snipped off the aux fan harness

http://i64.tinypic.com/mj8uig.jpg

New one soldered in and wrapped up...

http://i63.tinypic.com/2bw16q.jpg

Running solid now

Now to figure out NCSexpert... watched some videos online just can't seem to read the data off my car for the .trc file... gonna detail it this afternoon too

[BimmerBreaker]

Gave it a mild paint correction yesterday on some of the worst panels, gonna buff/polish the entire car when its a bit cooler outside over the winter. Wanted to address the worst parts today, the hood and some scuffing on the sides.

http://i65.tinypic.com/mwwn5x.jpg

Really loving this car right now :cool

edit:
Just got home from a 400+ mile roadtrip with my gf and dog, car did spendidly. Did eventually throw a check engine light for torque converter but whatever. I'll make sure the donor 530i has a good trans

http://i68.tinypic.com/2qdr53d.jpg

http://i66.tinypic.com/jug7fb.jpg

[BimmerBreaker]

Tint is on... not suuuure I love it but its a decent quality tint job at least. Much darker than I wanted, I also specified ceramic tint and I don't think it is (I didn't really pay ceramic pricing either to be fair). If I'm really unhappy with it next summer I'll get it redone... but it'll probably stay

http://i66.tinypic.com/aboyf4.jpg


Wanted to make a little list for myself of what I need done:
A/C fixed
Windows tinted
New tires
Front window regulators
CCV replaced
Rear subframe bushings

A/C and tint done. Subframe bushings ordered. Think the CCV might not be as much an issue as I thought, going to do the valve cover gasket today then monitor oil consumption from there.
Gonna order tires once I finalize what wheels I want. Tempted to run Style 42's but afraid they'll look too small on the touring, may end up just rocking the flower power wheels. I do like them quite a lot and think they look great on the touring

[geargrinder]

Yeah that's a little ghetto dark. Car looks super clean tho. I don't love the flowerpowers but if its a DD then they fine...

[BimmerBreaker]

Yeah that's a little ghetto dark. Car looks super clean tho. I don't love the flowerpowers but if its a DD then they fine...
That picture was taken on an overcast day, the tint isn't quite as dark as it looks in the picture there but it is a little darker than I wanted. It's 18% all around. The main reason I didn't want dark tint was to not sacrifice night visibility. I took it out last night just to test it and I had great visibility still, so I'm at least happy about that.

Yeah its a daily so think the flower power wheels might work. They are comfortable and look good on the touring so why not.

Next up, shadowlining the chrome trim. That should really set it off. Then I'll decide to keep the ambers or go euro clears... I'm a pretty diehard amber guy, but I think on this color the amber just looks "off" somehow. Need to see it with the shadowline trim before making final judgement.
I have a set of euro clear style headlights here though... hmm...

[computiNATEor]

I think Plasti Dip on the shiny window trim would clean up the car. The chrome look out of place, IMO.

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

Eeeeek! Plaplaplastidip?!? Screw the plastidrip, why that kiddycrap on the car, how about some commitment, scuff the trim, then use SEM high gloss trim paint, enjoy the car and not worry about the time the Plastidip starts to peel....

[dannyzabolotny]

I dig the tint. Makes me wish mine was darker... I'll probably redo it next year to be darker all around. The black vinyl wrap on the chrome trims should look real nice and should last a while, even in the heat. We did plastidip on the body-colored trims to see how it would hold up and it looks decent.

[computiNATEor]

Eeeeek! Plaplaplastidip?!? Screw the plastidrip, why that kiddycrap on the car, how about some commitment, scuff the trim, then use SEM high gloss trim paint, enjoy the car and not worry about the time the Plastidip starts to peel....

I know, I know. The door trims are already plasti-dipped, IIRC.

[geargrinder]

I dig the tint.

Naw. Looks totally ghetto. Now I know you guys have proper actual logical reasons for tint out there for sure. But super dark like that - not only do you look like a jackass gangsta wannabe from the outside, but riding INSIDE those cars BLOWS with tint super dark.

I've never plastidipped trim (wait... maybe once on some little pieces... I seem to recall doing a quick touchup on something factory matte black on an Audi...) but I have wrapped... and wrap can come out great and work well if you do it well. I did have to redo the shadowline wrap conversion on the non-M hardtop for my 'vert... Came out OK from the start, but by the time I got to the 2nd side I was indeed doing it so much better that I later peeled both off and did them again and they came out even better.

But in future - as long as I was never gonna want to revert it - I'd try Snotto's suggestion.

[BimmerBreaker]

I'm not painting it, or plasti-dipping the trim. My buddy does vinyl wrap so I'm having him wrap them in gloss black vinyl. It will give the same look as paint, but if I scratch one or need to re-do one in the future, it's a lot easier to match vinyl then to re-paint and get it looking exactly the same. Plus I just don't like the idea of painting anything on the car like that. That seems pretty ghetto to me.

The tint is darker than I want but definitely not "ghetto dark" - it's nowhere close to limo. But it is slightly reflective, so my camera makes it appear darker than it is since it picks up the reflections in the tint, as opposed to the camera being able to "see through" the tint like the human eye

If you get up close to it it's not that dark but you can sure tell how reflective it is... (which is good, if it reflects light its reflecting some heat too)

http://i63.tinypic.com/2vxndhg.jpg

Inside looking out has plenty of visibility as well (both images below are looking through the tint)

http://i67.tinypic.com/2mi26va.jpg

http://i64.tinypic.com/5al153.jpg

Car got a little dirty as it rained yesterday... time to give it a good wash and get her looking clean again. Or I could decide to stop caring about how clean it is because its a daily driver. Hmm

[geargrinder]

Ahh ok yeah that doesn't look too bad. Actually "light tint but somewhat reflective" is a good look (maybe it IS the ceramic stuff?)

[BimmerBreaker]

Ahh ok yeah that doesn't look too bad. Actually "light tint but somewhat reflective" is a good look (maybe it IS the ceramic stuff?)
It's not 3M Crystalline but it may very well be a mid-grade ceramic tint. It's definitely not as bad as it looks in the first photo I showed - it is just really hard to photograph right. When I look at the car, I can see through the windows. The camera can't :dunno

Forgot to mention as well, I fixed the front window regulator (duh, had to be done before tint) and installed an autodimming rearview mirror - before I knew they had autodimming mirrors WITH COMPASSES IN THEM.

I'm so excited for my compass mirror. Looking for one like this in particular, no homelink buttons and the slimmer style alarm button.

http://www.idon-industries.com/bimmer/various/projects/compass_mirror/12.jpg

[drivinhard]

Very cool color, don't see many of those

[BimmerBreaker]

Very cool color, don't see many of those

Yeah, it's really nice. Shifts between a silver and a light blue color, and looks really nice when the sun hits it just right

http://i63.tinypic.com/v3nb6t.jpg

Installed the compass mirror today with Danny's help. Had a moment of panic thinking it wasn't working before realizing it just needed calibration (which involved pushing a small button and driving in a few circles). Completely plug and play - autodimming works and now I have compass functionality too! It's the small things...

[johnd15]

Yeah, it's really nice. Shifts between a silver and a light blue color, and looks really nice when the sun hits it just right

http://i63.tinypic.com/v3nb6t.jpg

Installed the compass mirror today with Danny's help. Had a moment of panic thinking it wasn't working before realizing it just needed calibration (which involved pushing a small button and driving in a few circles). Completely plug and play - autodimming works and now I have compass functionality too! It's the small things...

Where did you find that? Is it plug and play for all models?

[dannyzabolotny]

Where did you find that? Is it plug and play for all models?

They're all over eBay, a lot of the newer BMW's had the same mirror so you've got plenty to choose from. It's plug and play if your car is wired for a self-dimming mirror. Most E39's are pre-wired for that if I remember correctly— Graham's car originally didn't even have a self-dimming mirror but we installed one and it was plug and play. Same with the compass + self-dimming mirror, plug and play as well. All the mirror stuff is self-contained so all it really needs is power.

[johnd15]

They're all over eBay, a lot of the newer BMW's had the same mirror so you've got plenty to choose from. It's plug and play if your car is wired for a self-dimming mirror. Most E39's are pre-wired for that if I remember correctly— Graham's car originally didn't even have a self-dimming mirror but we installed one and it was plug and play. Same with the compass + self-dimming mirror, plug and play as well. All the mirror stuff is self-contained so all it really needs is power.

Ok, thanks for the info! Might have to look into getting one, didn't even realize the existed for the E39's.

[BimmerBreaker]

Technically Im not sure a compass mirror does exist for E39's. This one was from an E90 or an E46, forgot which in particular. BMW mirrors pretty much all interchange, at least for models after the E39. I think soooome E39s uses the older style mirror mount, but thatd be like 97/98 models iirc. Some werr a button mount some are the three prongs (mine is a 3 pronger). Some early E39s also may not be prewired (mines an 03) but if you have autodimming should be good to go. Check for the mirror harness under front of headliner if unsure.

If you have an autodimming mirror now then the compass mirror should be 100% plug and play as long as mirror mounts are the same

[geargrinder]

+1 to all that - agree I don't think a compass mirror exists for E39 and agree there's massive interchangeability across the model lines. My E46 'vert has a 750iL mirror or something.

There's a few little funny things like if you have an E39 w/ homelink in the headliner sunroof-switch area (which most USA cars have) then you generally don't want the homelink+compass mirrors (of which you'll see many if you start looking around...) E46 'vert mirrors have the remote-opening antenna in them so if you swap a non-vert into one you have to do some frankensteining of the guts. But mostly the mirrors all swap around - I think probably E53's are good source for compass mirrors, although many of those also seem to have the HL which I'd not want to 'duplicate'...

[BimmerBreaker]

I think probably E53's are good source for compass mirrors, although many of those also seem to have the HL which I'd not want to 'duplicate'...

You know, I thought that too - but my 4.6is (which was the fully loaded model back in the day) didn't have a compass mirror. Mine has navigation though, so maybe the ones without the nav unit got it?

FWIW I just double checked and my compass mirror came from an E46 323i. I bet with some patience someone could score one in a junkyard, tons of E46's littering the yards near me at least

It's a cool little mod. In a stupid way it makes me want to drive the car more just to see the little compass feature working, even when I already know what direction I'm heading lol...

[BimmerBreaker]

http://i68.tinypic.com/rkocxx.jpg

Getting the chrome trims wrapped in gloss black vinyl. Pass side chrome parts are done, driver's side chrome coming up next then the center bits at a later time. Taking a biiiit longer than I thought but at least I have another car to drive in the meantime

[computiNATEor]

Looks great, pretty good match for the wheel color, too ;)

[BimmerBreaker]

Looks great, pretty good match for the wheel color, too ;)

Yeah the brake dust with OEM pads is shameful, but the braking feel is amazing :)

http://i63.tinypic.com/npkt29.jpg

Got the car back from having the trims wrapped in black vinyl today. Looks much better - think we need to go around and finish some odds and ends (my friend who wrapped em took the trims off and the rear doors at the rear edge aren't sitting perfect on either side). Really improved the look

Also got the clear euro tails in the mail today so went ahead and installed those along with the clear sidemarkers when I picked the car up. I'm not proud of betraying the amber army, but the clears are just the right look on this car. Something about the ambers made the whole car look... muddled, in a way. And low spec as Danny was always happy to point out :rofl The clears also help to contrast against the color and really help bring out the blue in the paint

Seems I maaaaay be having troubles with my aux fan again though, so I'm going to look into that in the coming days. When I press max a/c it's like the aux fan doesn't kick on right away, whereas other times it does. Have pulled over a few times to investigate and it just seems to start working seemingly at random. I'll pull over because I'll have the a/c on and aux fan won't be on when it seems it should be (a/c isn't blowing super cold, then aux fan kicks on after I get out and look and a/c starts blowing colder). I jiggle the cables and try to ensure connection is good but usually when it starts working I'm just looking at it so it seems pretty random. Been monitoring the coolant temps though and nothing out of the ordinary and it seems to come on to regulate temps... at least the car doesn't overheat. Maybe I'm just overreacting and sometimes the computer can be a little slow to tell the aux fan on and thats just normal?

[computiNATEor]

IIRC, the DME uses a combination of factors to drive the aux fan, including radiator outlet temp, engine coolant temp (as measured by the coolant sensor in the back of cylinder head under the intake manifold), AC pressures, exterior temperatures...

[geargrinder]

Yeah I think I've given Graham the links to the Aux-fan conditions documentation before... but yeah its basically the list you have there...

[BimmerBreaker]

Yeah I think I've given Graham the links to the Aux-fan conditions documentation before... but yeah its basically the list you have there...
Chyeah you did

I was reading through the link on A/C functionality you gave the other day in this thread but I can't find anything about what the aux fan should be doing in my PWM system with the A/C on. Page 16 describes it coming on with the A/C on on the earlier models. Page 17 describes how it operates in PWM systems and says it'll come in in various conditions, when IHKA tells it to. Page 15 explains IHKA operations on my model, and the only bit about the aux fan reads:
"The IHKA also anticipates the necessary auxiliary fan speed and passes this information on to the ECM via the K-bus."

So - even at MAX A/C, sometimes the aux fan won't come on? Even if the A/C isn't as cold as it would be with the aux fan on?

I'm going to test to see if triggering it on always works correctly in INPA and ISTA before getting too worried... but it just seems like it should be coming on with max a/c on.

[geargrinder]

I'm guessing, but I think the IHKA sends the Aux Fan Request to the DME, which then makes the final call based on all the outputs... i.e. "IHKA calls for 50% PWM based on AC request" then DME says "OK Roger that, but I see the radiator exit temp is already high so according to table XYZ123999 PWM output will be %70..." The earlier ones are obv way simpler with switches and fixed speeds... but the PWM car is SO much nicer to deal with as the Aux can come on at nice low rates most of the time...

I'm with you tho'... indeed wondering if you still have some problem. Keep reading the live values in INPA too though... you should be able to see in digital values if / when the IHKA is calling for fan, and if the DME is calling for fan. I can't recall what values are available that are fan related but even if i did it'd be M62TU based, and the 'read status' screens vary drastically between models... but have a look... maybe there's a DME Read Status that will show you what it is requesting. IF its requesting high fan activation then you know its still wiring related...

[BimmerBreaker]

Yeah I'll do further INPA diagnostics later today. I'll try commanding the fan on and if that works I'll drive around with INPA and see what live readings I get.

It's just weird like one time I'll press Max A/C, a/c is cold but obviously not the coldest it could be. If I turn A/C off then try max a/c again all the sudden its freezing cold...

[dannyzabolotny]

On my 540it the aux fan runs pretty much non-stop, and I don't have a MAX AC button either... so maybe your car is just different from mine, lol. I guess the thing I'd be more concerned with is how cool the AC is, rather than if the aux fan is on all the time.

[BimmerBreaker]

On my 540it the aux fan runs pretty much non-stop, and I don't have a MAX AC button either... so maybe your car is just different from mine, lol. I guess the thing I'd be more concerned with is how cool the AC is, rather than if the aux fan is on all the time.

Yours is a resistor based fan though, mine is PWM. So yeah - yours is supposed to be on any time the A/C is on.
I can't find anything saying specifically that mine *should* be on anytime A/C is on though. But its just odd because I notice the A/C not blowing super cold, pull over, aux fan isn't on... I basically just look at the fan with a disappointed look on my face and eventually it starts to work then the A/C gets cold again :dunno Coolant temps are always in range and the compressor is on even when aux fan isn't so it's just sort of odd...

[Aubergine]

I'll jump in here since I always seem to have 96 production year E39s. The attachments are all the same from models coming out of the late 80s (3 prong). All US Spec E39s are wired for auto dimming and thus have power for everything. My one E39 has an E90 compass mirror with Homelink buttons. All the mirror needs it power for the functions to work.

The Compass mirror is a dealer retrofit according to RealOEM (the version BimmerBreaker used) but the later ones from E60/E90 models will fit too.


Technically Im not sure a compass mirror does exist for E39's. This one was from an E90 or an E46, forgot which in particular. BMW mirrors pretty much all interchange, at least for models after the E39. I think soooome E39s uses the older style mirror mount, but thatd be like 97/98 models iirc. Some werr a button mount some are the three prongs (mine is a 3 pronger). Some early E39s also may not be prewired (mines an 03) but if you have autodimming should be good to go. Check for the mirror harness under front of headliner if unsure.

If you have an autodimming mirror now then the compass mirror should be 100% plug and play as long as mirror mounts are the same

[BimmerBreaker]

So got the harness set in a way it was working reliably and ziptied it in place... worked perfectly for a bit so figured it was OK and was just getting loose from jiggling. Being ziptied in place should fix it then, right? Nope

Though the good news (for my dignity anyways) is it ended up my solders weren't bad, the harness was bad. I went camping this weekend and on the way up there it go so bad I was pulling over every 5 miles to jiggle the fan harness back into working condition. I would have to like push the wires in from the backside until I heard the A/C compressor kick on (because it detected the fan was working before the fan actually turned on), then the fan would come on.

Luckily I anticipated some sort of trouble and brought enough tools to fix it. Not enough tools to fix it correctly mind you, but....

http://i67.tinypic.com/2z4zec8.jpg

http://i68.tinypic.com/f3gj2g.jpg

The fan-side harness also got damaged - the wires were very frayed and just not happy, so that is why I ultimately cut them both off. I couldn't find an easy way to de-pin the harness either so I had to do this hokey method. I just cut the wires, twisted the respective ends together, heat shrinked over em (twice for good measure - those wires carry a decent amount of juice and there was a high chance of rain...) and used a crimp connection on the PWM. I had to use it the incorrect way, as a tie-off basically since it wasn't the right diameter, which is why the end is bent like that. Say what you will but it worked the whole way home no trouble at all

Now that I'm home I'll fix it the proper way. I'm probably going to wire in an X5 harness as I think those style are more reliable

[BimmerBreaker]

Swapped in the steering wheel from my 03 X5 4.6is I'm parting out

http://i67.tinypic.com/23hn40w.jpg

I like the lower open spoke style, and the slightly thinner wheel - though this is a bit too thin. Maybe I'll get this one reupholstered slightly thicker

Still haven't fixed my aux fan wiring properly. Deciding if I should just hardwire it in or try my luck with another harness. I will probably just hardwire it in... or may try an X5 wiring harness like I was thinking before. I have my parts car X5 and an old bad X5 fan from a customer car so I could easily make that happen and I do feel the later X5/E46 style harnesses were more reliable.

[Jason5driver]

I like it !

[BimmerBreaker]

I like it !
Thanks!

Recently purchased a 2003 530i as a donor car. Been on the hunt for a tan interior 530i with style 42's since I got the wagon but recently decided if I could get 2 out of the 3 in one car that wouldn't be too bad... after quite a bit more searching I found a 530i with style 42's in Indio that had been sitting for 2 years. So headed out on a 4 hour voyage with Danny to pick it up and here it is :)

http://i64.tinypic.com/2s1apu0.jpg

Interior is trashed, body has quite a few issues as well. But the wheels were in good shape. Tires were shot, which the seller informed me of beforehand, so I borrowed some style 32's with good tires from one of Danny's partouts to get her home.

http://i68.tinypic.com/2s8ffqd.jpg

Drove like a champ - had a christmas tree on the dashboard but engine felt good and responsive, had a few check engine lights but only one for a post-cat O2 came back on the drive home. Pulled over to get gas after a long drive and temps started to creep up when pulling over. Discovered a small coolant leak at one of the hoses under the intake manifold which we thought was the issue but decided to just get back on the road and get going. Needless to say, the last 2 hours were much more stressful than the first two...

Got into town and started to notice after coasting for awhile, the temps would creep up. Once it happened while driving I put it in N and revved it and it would immediately drop the temps. Have experienced something similar with a customer car, so I knew that once I got off the highway it was just a matter of putting it in N and keeping the revs up. Got it back home no issue and now shes ready to be parted... few good bits on it... I'm mostly just keeping the wheels, engine and brakes. Oh and of course the 530i badge ;)

Also doing a 525i engine swap at our shop right now so the whole procedure should be pretty recent in our memory :)

[dannyzabolotny]

Pretty stoked to see the 42's with some fresh rubber next week, and the 3.0L engine will definitely make your 525it a good bit faster. I'd be curious to race the two after the swap and see how it does against my 540it ;)

[computiNATEor]

Sounds like a bad/failing thermostat. Exact same symptoms as my car when the thermostat failed. Coolant temps would creep up in traffic, and revving the engine flowed more water through the partially-opening thermostat and cooled it off.

[Dsscats]

Please let me know if you ever decide to sell, my dad's last car was a Bluewater E39T and I'd love to own one

[BimmerBreaker]

Please let me know if you ever decide to sell, my dad's last car was a Bluewater E39T and I'd love to own one
Don't think the girlfriend will let me sell it at this point. She loves it, been her daily driver now for about 4 months, even gave her a name (Laguna). I still drive it regularly too, camping or on long roadtrips. Taken it camping a few times, got a roof rack on her as well for kayaking. It's a great vehicle :)

Did eventually get the 42's on it as well

652463
652464
652465
652466
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We have another 525iT (E34) in the shop now receiving an engine swap. That's a customer of ours but after that, I will be doing the 3.0 swap on this. Pretty excited :cool Should be really pretty easy and straightforward too, especially compared to the E34 swap we are doing. That's a manual swap too, plus swapping out the rear diff... we are literally replacing that entire drivetrain. E39 I'm just replacing engine and trans so should be much easier. Old one out, new one in, some coding, boom.

[Jason5driver]

Don't think the girlfriend will let me sell it at this point. She loves it, been her daily driver now for about 4 months, even gave her a name (Laguna). I still drive it regularly too, camping or on long roadtrips. Taken it camping a few times, got a roof rack on her as well for kayaking. It's a great vehicle :)

Did eventually get the 42's on it as well
We have another 525iT (E34) in the shop now receiving an engine swap. That's a customer of ours but after that, I will be doing the 3.0 swap on this. Pretty excited :cool Should be really pretty easy and straightforward too, especially compared to the E34 swap we are doing. That's a manual swap too, plus swapping out the rear diff... we are literally replacing that entire drivetrain. E39 I'm just replacing engine and trans so should be much easier. Old one out, new one in, some coding, boom.
I want to see pictures and well documented progress through the swap.
(Might make it easier to talk the wife into it . :) )

[BimmerBreaker]

I probably wont document it that thoroughly because its just an engine swap because the M54 2.5 and 3.0 are virtually identical. Engine swap and then flash a 3.0 tune onto my stock DME. Not much to it really

[dannyzabolotny]

Yeah the 2.5L to 3.0L swap is about the easiest engine swap you could ever do, there's really not much to it.

[computiNATEor]

Yeah the 2.5L to 3.0L swap is about the easiest engine swap you could ever do, there's really not much to it.

Take engine out, put engine in, reflash DME. Done.

[geargrinder]

Or...


BadgeSwap. Done.

:D

[computiNATEor]

Or...



:D

The tiny brake rotors give the 25i/28i models away ;)

[BimmerBreaker]

The tiny brake rotors give the 25i/28i models away ;)
Not for too much longer... just ordered front and rear brakes for a 530i :) The rears were starting to make noise, and with a full 530 swap in the future, I figured I'd do the rears now, and swap the fronts over when I do the engine swap

Just drove the wagon 1200+ miles to Durango, Colorado... didn't miss a beat!

http://i67.tinypic.com/2natilt.jpg

http://i66.tinypic.com/2hf1f7n.jpg

http://i68.tinypic.com/2crtw1v.jpg

Drove it to LA the 1st of this month as well, to pick up an 06 4.8is (http://i65.tinypic.com/1z6tkwo.jpg) for myself. She's got a lot of miles on her recently!

[StephenVA]

Wash that poor thing!

[BimmerBreaker]

I was too busy putting 2,000 miles on it last month to wash it... Im going to give it a full proper detail when I bring it in for brakes next week

[BimmerBreaker]

http://i68.tinypic.com/28i9p49.jpg

Brake stuff is in but didn't do them yet... washed the wagon (first part of the wash at least, still need to finish the second stage, I ran out of time last night) and changed it's oil (164k) last night.

Bringing it back in later in the week to finish the wash and do the brakes. Gonna pull the calipers and caliper brackets off my parts car 530i to have ready to install

[computiNATEor]

Is it just the angle, or does the car look like it's sagging a bit in the rear? SLS or normal springs?

[BimmerBreaker]

It is SLS, it functions properly. The sport models sit like that from the factory

[computiNATEor]

Gotcha. A teeny bit of front drop would level things out, IMO, but not important :) I'd avoid the H&R springs (they're stiff), or the Eibachs (too low and soft).

[BimmerBreaker]

I kind of had those plans when I first got the car, but honestly after having driven it now for awhile with the nice stock setup, I'm sort of leaning towards just enjoying it as it is. I've had a lot of BMW's over the years and I think I've learned from my experiences that BMW has these cars pretty well sorted from the factory. I could lower it and make it look a little better, but there always seem to be some compromise with that. The "best" an aftermarket setup gets in most cases, is that its close in feel to OE. So why not just enjoy the OE stuff I have now that works?

Plus, its my girlfriend's daily driver now, she kisses curbs occasionally with the stock height as it is so lowering it would be a recipe for disaster. I mostly only drive the car on roadtrips and that's an excellent example of one of those times I'd rather it feel comfortable and nice to drive rather than be low and look good. So at least for the foreseeable future, it's staying at this height. I'd rather put money towards freshening the 3.0 engine to swap in too :)

And I think the angle wasn't doing it any favors. It really isn't that drastic in person

http://i63.tinypic.com/2zrfbxu.jpg

[computiNATEor]

I kind of had those plans when I first got the car, but honestly after having driven it now for awhile with the nice stock setup, I'm sort of leaning towards just enjoying it as it is. I've had a lot of BMW's over the years and I think I've learned from my experiences that BMW has these cars pretty well sorted from the factory. I could lower it and make it look a little better, but there always seem to be some compromise with that. The "best" an aftermarket setup gets in most cases, is that its close in feel to OE. So why not just enjoy the OE stuff I have now that works?

Plus, its my girlfriend's daily driver now, she kisses curbs occasionally with the stock height as it is so lowering it would be a recipe for disaster. I mostly only drive the car on roadtrips and that's an excellent example of one of those times I'd rather it feel comfortable and nice to drive rather than be low and look good. So at least for the foreseeable future, it's staying at this height. I'd rather put money towards freshening the 3.0 engine to swap in too :)

And I think the angle wasn't doing it any favors. It really isn't that drastic in person

True that; BMW or Dinan, IMO.

Eh, it's still tucking more tire in the back than in the front. Looks good though, I still like the color :) Could prob raise the SLS up a bit, but it's fine. And yeah, don't lower it if it has a concrete kissing sesh every so often haha.

[dannyzabolotny]

Most BMW's of this era look like they're sitting higher in the front than in the back, that's mostly due to the wheel arches not being the same front to back. If you look at that profile shot, you can see that the rear wheel arch sits a bit lower, so it makes the rear end look visually lower without actually being lower. That 525it sits nice and even in person.

[BimmerBreaker]

http://i65.tinypic.com/qoswt0.jpg

The heat shrink has been removed, but this has been powering my aux fan since October of last year (https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?2385915-2003-Bluewater-Metallic-525iT&p=30119363#post30119363). Not bad.

I repaired this issue and currently have a somewhat intermittent issue that I've traced to the wiring further up the body harness. I'm going to remove the tape off the wiring and look for faults, I have a feeling the PWM wire got tugged or something and now has a loose connection inside the wire. Just need to find exactly where and repair it. I will also order a harness and pins to repair the aux fan connector properly - in the meantime, I just soldered them together (thought I took pictures but guess not, I was probably just eager to be done soldering and heat gunning in the 110 degree weather)

[BimmerBreaker]

Finally found time to finish washing the wagon yesterday!

http://i67.tinypic.com/2ng75a9.jpg

http://i68.tinypic.com/rlyvci.jpg

http://i67.tinypic.com/2ujnzvo.jpg

Gave the whole car a coat of Ammo Skin. Went back and did a second coat of Skin on the roof, hood, and above the beltline around the perimeter of the car. Globbed on a decent amount to the door handles, the driver's side is showing some clearcoat failure on the top of the handle so want to keep the others intact as long as possible.

Also (after the second picture was taken) I removed the underbody trims from behind the front wheels as on both sides they had loosened on the inside and were dragging on the ground. I will replace them eventually, but for now its better to not have them then to have them dragging on the ground...

[StephenVA]

It looks like a Touring now! :thumbup:

[BimmerBreaker]

It looks like a Touring now! :thumbup:

Did it look like a sedan before? :(

[computiNATEor]

Finally found time to finish washing the wagon yesterday!

Gave the whole car a coat of Ammo Skin. Went back and did a second coat of Skin on the roof, hood, and above the beltline around the perimeter of the car. Globbed on a decent amount to the door handles, the driver's side is showing some clearcoat failure on the top of the handle so want to keep the others intact as long as possible.

Also (after the second picture was taken) I removed the underbody trims from behind the front wheels as on both sides they had loosened on the inside and were dragging on the ground. I will replace them eventually, but for now its better to not have them then to have them dragging on the ground...

Looking good!

Those underbody panels have little triangular spats that go from the frame rail down to the plastic panel to prevent air from grabbing them; I found on the I6 that at speeds approaching triple digits, without those spats, the panels would rip free again because of the underbody aero.

Different parts on V8 vs I6.

[StephenVA]

Did it look like a sedan before? :(

Looked like a mud bogger before. Needed a good scrubbing and detailing. Looks so much better now.

[BimmerBreaker]

Still enjoying the wagon... Ill take some new pics soon. Its lookin a little different these days with the roof racks and mudflaps.

Been chasing that intermittent A/C issue still. Was fine from when I tied the wires together when camping a year ago but recently started to become intermittent again. Basically - when it works, its ICE COLD. The interior fans are always blowing. INPA sees A/C command on, but won't always send the A/C output... and this is because its not spinning the front fan

So I hardwired the fan to the car and soldered the wires together (note, im not a big fan of soldering for automotive applications, solder joints are brittle and rigid, and cars vibrate and bounce... Crimps are better imo!). That lasted all of 3 months. Im gonna get to the bottom of this! I know the issue has to be the PWM wire. The 12v is seeing 12v and the other is properly grounded...

I knew it was a continuity issue so I cracked (and I mean cracked... Those things are freaking BRITTLE) the DME cover off. Opened the X60004 connector, de-pinned pin 4 (this is marked as a DME input on most places I look - but it is the PWM signal wire for the fan, I assume data goes both ways in this wire to tell the DME if fan is on?). Im M54B30 swapping an E36 at the moment so had some spare X60004 pins. Crimped on the correct pin, clicked into the pin 4 spot and plugged it back into DME. Snipped the wire down at the fan harness and soldered (for testing only) the PWM wire to the fan.

Started it up... Front fan still wasnt spinning :( I go up front of the car, defeated, to investigate...
*Click* a/c compressor turns on...
*Whiirrrrr* fan starts spinning

I forgot the a/c doesnt turn on immediately after starting the car. Takes a few seconds

Fan and A/C has now been 100% reliable since running a new PWM signal wire. This car was never in any accidents or anything to have caused this. Possibly related though, im getting a fast blinking turn signal on the pass headlight (right near the fan harness).

I have heard some mumblings that BMW may have ran shorter wires then they should have and over time as the sheath dries it stretches the wire and can break it. I havent removed the old/original PWM wire yet to investigate (my gf has been enjoying the A/C) but ill investigate that more when I replace the headlight turn signal socket.

[mattmar1]

soldering and heat shrinking is my preferred method on cars, though one has to take care when soldering to minimize the solder wicking up the conductor. lengthening the "stiff" section, causing increased leverage from motion in any vibration/movement. so proper restraint of the repaired section is important. this is for splices only, for pin attachment to wire ends, i always crimp.