gmak: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: A journey with my new-to-me 2000 540i

[gmak]

I have a thread up here about my questions regarding the suitability of the Bilstein B6 to be used with lowering springs (vogtland lower by 30mm 1.2").
TL;DR: I'm sending them back due to mismatched rear shocks and instead of upgrading to B8 as Bilstein themselves recommend, I'm going with the Koni yellows (sport). The reason is that the consensus seems to be that KONIs will have the more comfortable ride - which I am looking for now, in my 540i (Been spoiled by the E60 M5)

On another note, my steering knuckle sleeve showed up today. I was having difficulty with the thrust arm ball joint removal from the sleeve and I found these online. I ordered one "in case" - but everything worked out with getting the sleeve off of the ball joint spindle.

This first one seems to have a mild imperfection or a bit of corrosion at around 1 o'clock on the sleeve cap. I think that I'll put a tiny bit of oil on it before storing in my parts cupboard. The size is based on the nut size on the ball joint. I got the one for 21 / 22mm. I believe that there is one for the 18/19mm size as well. Here was their response to my question about size. By key range, they mean socket size. By mother, they mean the nut on the spindle.

We have two different sleeves, 1x 26mm and 1x 28mm !!! How is the key range from the mother 18/19 or 21/22? Key size 18/19 = 26mm sleeve Key size 21/22 = 28mm sleeve MfG GuN-Design

20170701 ball joint sleeve 1.jpg

Here are the other two angles.

20170701 ball joint sleeve 2.jpg 20170701 ball joint sleeve 3.jpg

I measured my sleeve before ordering this one and to get confirmation that I did need the 28mm one. These are the measurements.

The sleeve itself has an outside diameter for the body of 30 mm. It is 28 mm long from top to bottom. The cap is about 3.5 mm thick.

I measured the sleeve they sent, and the outside diameter is 28mm not 30mm - so this may not be a viable solution to the sleeve problem. As well, the cap is about 3.1 mm thick. I'll write them and let them know. Perhaps they will change their sizes. I get the impression that this is not a high production item anyway.

[peter540]

You know, when I did my front suspension overhaul a number of years ago, a couple of those sleeves came off on the arms' spindles, and one broke when I tried to remove it from the old arm. I ended up taking one off a 6-cylinder car's hub assembly, which was the right diameter but slightly shorter. Never knew where to find replacement sleeves and have feared what I would do if this happened again (i.e. if I swapped out the coil-overs).

Where, again, did you find these? How much were they?

--P

[gmak]

You know, when I did my front suspension overhaul a number of years ago, a couple of those sleeves came off on the arms' spindles, and one broke when I tried to remove it from the old arm. I ended up taking one off a 6-cylinder car's hub assembly, which was the right diameter but slightly shorter. Never knew where to find replacement sleeves and have feared what I would do if this happened again (i.e. if I swapped out the coil-overs).

Where, again, did you find these? How much were they?

--P

Here is the whole thread. The link is in the first post to the Ebay listing, but here it is. They're about GBP20 + shipping. I think that works out to be US$26. They're pretty reasonable people. They said that they would have no problem taking the part back but that they have sold quite a lot with no issues. I told them that I was happy keeping the part against a future emergency and that I was just giving them information about the outside diameter.

It does raise the question as to whether different MYs and different chassis (E46 vs E39 etc) and different generations, have different OD for the barrel - i.e. 28mm vs 30mm.

[gmak]

Due to a last minute tantrum from the E60 M5 (looks like the electric rad fan is working intermittently leading to higher oil and coolant temps - not what you want at the track), I drove the 540i with the FA 500s and G.A.S. monoballs in the thrust arms, and my wife had the big boat 530xi.

We (my wife and I) spent the day at Calabogie Motorsports Park, which is Canada's largest track with 20 turns when it's in full configuration. The track can be split in two (shortened) for certain race events. Classroom instruction was 3 sessions on all the basics. Before the first class, us novices were taken out by the instructor that would be with us for the day.


My guy was Doug - who had a 2017 corvette with what looked like to be the fully optioned interior (ventilated seats like the E60 M5). He said that it was the first Corvette where the interior didn't look like a Chevette. Great driving, and a nice guy all-around. In between each classroom session, we were out on the track. At one point, I pulled into the pits and asked Doug to take me around in my car, talking to the points.

My wife did really well. Me, less so. I have to study things and take them apart before I feel comfortable and understand. Just driving around wasn't doing it for me - and with 20 turns, I found that sometimes I couldn't remember where I was and the protocol for getting through the curve. There were some similar ones that finished differently and needed to be driven differently. We'll probably go drive the fast go-karts here in the city, so that I can get more of a feel for the flow and minimal wheel turning.



But, here is some information on the 540i:
In anticipation of my wife using the 540i, I took out the rear speakers so that I could get access to the little nobs (the extenders were useless to me - too big). I didn't put everything back - just the rear shelf and seats because I do have the KONIs showing up soon.

Even with the 88C thermostat, car temps got up to 103 - 105C after the session. But, it was hot and muggy, and I put the AC on through the lower vents just to keep the comfort level up.

After our third session, the thunderstorms came in (temperatures dropped about 7C ) - and they don't allow the race marshals to be on the track if lightening is within 3 miles (5 km) of the place. the rain was so bad - literally sheets of water dumping on us huddled under a common area covered with tent. The water was splashing in off the pavement and everyone with them was opening umbrellas and putting them down to stop the splashes.

At that point, my wife and I realized that the day had taken a lot out of us already. So, as soon as the rain let up, we said our goodbyes and headed back to the city 1.5 hours away (at the speed limit). Of course on the way we ran through more storms where traffic slowed down to around 60 - 70 kph (35 - 40 mph) and many cars pulled over with their 4 ways on. One clown pulled over on the left hand side of the highway. Don't know what he or she was worried about. They were in a big-@ssed truck with 4 wheel drive.

I don't have video - but there is some ear and eye candy below. I'M HAPPY TO REPORT - that the FA 500s did what they were supposed to do at the track - STELLAR!. I had 5 clicks in front with 8K springs and 10 or 11 clicks in back with 7K springs. Simply amazing. I never even gave them a second thought the entire day. On the other hand, we drove back into the city - and the minute I hit city streets, I was VERY aware that I had race coilovers on the car.

This is a very recent video posted on youtube - the car has FA 510s. Enjoy!


I spoke with a few of the trainers and "old timers" and it seems that "Harry's Laptimer" - the "Grand Prix" version - is the way to go for recording track data and filming each lap. It's for Android or iPhones - so everything pretty much. I believe that the full package is < US$30 - which is quite cheap for what it does. Doug doesn't use it because the Corvette has this built in - and he was showing film on his phone of various courses he's done in the USA - along with pictures of that course hi-lighting the gees he was pulling at each turn. Amazing stuff, technology.

[auaq]

Nice! Good to know these coilovers are great for the track and just not for the street.

[philly98540]

Very cool track layout! Love some of those turns and that long straight! Nice day you had!

[auaq]

Yeah, that track looks awesome.

[gmak]

Photography by Rod Windover / Photos courtesy of www.rodwindover.ca

There was a photographer at the event who took pictures of the cars and then provided them to us. I guess he couldn't run all over the facility to get different angles, but it was nice of him to do this. Car is framed nicely and frozen in time by shutter speed.

20170707 540i Track day 3.jpg

20170707 540i Track day 2.jpg

20170707 540i Track day 1.jpg

[Jason5driver]

Need some shots with the car hitting the turns - showing the car tilting...

[computiNATEor]

Like the body color bumper trim, I do!

[gmak]

Need some shots with the car hitting the turns - showing the car tilting...

Maybe next time I'll get some video. My wife's going to a women's day where it only costs $100 and you get an instructor as well. This seems a bit unfair. Maybe I'll put on a wig and sneak in.

I don't think that the car tilts much at all or even "shifts" on high-G turns. Those FA 500s really do the job on the track. I'd have to put in a lot of extra effort to get that shot in. Maybe Auaq can manage it.

- - - Updated - - -

Like the body color bumper trim, I do!

Thank you! I think it's a bit different than the standard black - and there are enough E39s with Mbumpers around that I think it adds a bit of uniqueness. Clearly, you do too.

[gmak]

When I took out the back seat of the 540i to adjust the FA 500s for the track day, I didn't put everything back in place. I left the speakers out so that I could access the knob to change the valve settings. And, I left the C pillars off. The reason is that I'm waiting for KONI yellows to swap in.

However, my remote key stopped working and I thought that I had damaged the antenna / receiver somehow (rear shelf has automatic sunshade so it's a b*tch and awkward to get out with attendant banging around). I checked fuses visually, tried the key reset. Nada.

Today, I put in a new used trunk lid handle because the old one had rubber that was so deteriorated, that it was coming off on our hands everytime we opened the trunk. It worked fine - you don't even have to remove the trunk lid cover with the 'tool kit' to do it. On a roll, for some reason I decided to pull that fuse 53 for the remote access. There is a silver metal fiber that runs visibly across the top. It was intact. I held the fuse up to sun and I could see a small break inside where there is that curved piece of metal joining the two prongs.

So just because the fuse looks intact, it may not be. Gone are the days of visual inspection I guess.

Swapped it out. refreshed the keys. Remote access now works again. I needed an easy victory like that.

Cheers.

[gmak]

First I was sent an unmatched set of Bilsteins that I returned. I still haven't received my refund. I think that I will be raising this with my bank's VISA card branch and putting in a claim.

Then, I ordered KONIs from another Canadian supplier who brags about how good they are. Almost 4 weeks later they tell me that one of the pairs is on back order and won't be here until the end of August (hah!). I've left them a voice mail to cancel that order.

As soon as I know that I have the order cancelled and I have my refund, I'm going to look in the USA for some in stock.

[gmak]

This is what I'm talking about.

Bought this via PayPal, outside of EBAY to avoid the $150 shipping charges. Big mistake. It removed one layer of protection for me as a buyer.

Long story short: ISTA software did not communicate well with my cars. INPA and the rest would generate errors as well. I sent the disk back "to be fixed". Same issues still. I looked closely at the disk and it has what looks like a UK contact number on a decal on it, along with some diagnostic software buzzwords.
I kept asking for the Admin password - the seller kept avoiding the issue.

I did a claim through PayPal, but my own lack of experience in this led to me with no money and PayPal telling me to discuss it with the seller. NOTE: NEVER ACCEPT ANY DEAL TO MOVE ON - UNLESS IT'S FOR THE FULL AMOUNT. The seller gave me money to send the computer back to be fixed - it was a lot of money to ship. I felt bad for the seller and came up with what I thought was a better solution.

I spoke with seller and suggested just sending the disk back. He agreed, so I refunded most of the shipping money that I had accepted. Above you see the result - a diagnostic system that fails miserably. I've attached some pictures below of how scary this is.

Seller logged in remotely. did some stuff and now I was able to access TIS and ETK whereas they failed before. Note that WDS will not run because it says the system is incompatible. It wants XP. Obviously the seller, in spite of insisting that he is a BMW specialist and a genius at this stuff for 9 years now, has no clue as to what he is doing.

Seller has not provided Admin password, because IMHO he doesn't know it. This system comes from somewhere else and it was jammed into the Lenovo Thinkpad. Doesn't seem like it was tested at all.

I used to make my career in systems development - including overlays and modifications to VMS operating systems. So I cracked this one (finally caught a break). The original "seller" of the software on the disk had disabled some of the control panel. I managed to raise the "user" / guest to an admin and clear the admin password and restore the disabled control panel features.

I went into Device manager, and imagine my surprise to find that there is no LPT / COM devices. I downloaded the FTDI drivers and uninstalled all the USB stuff, except the INTEL drivers. I plugged in a K+D-CAN cable, saw the light come on and waited. I believe that I had to force the computer to look for new devices - maybe it found it on it's own but was very slow. End result: There are drivers in there that one would expect for the USB > COM mapping.

Im a little under the weather, but I will go try this on my cars later. In the meantime, I am so fed up that I am going to list it for sale on EBAY at a steep discount (CAD$300), once I'm sure that it works - and I'm going to have a write up of my adventures so even if someone doesn't buy, they'll know not to buy from anyone who pretends to be a BMW specialist. AND IF YOU'RE ON THIS FORUM READING THIS: sc**w you.

This is the old system on my toughbook.
20170719 ISTA my old system.jpg

This is going in with the "new"-er system. Note all the greyed out modules that ISTA/D thinks don't exist
20170719 ISTA 1st attempt.jpg

Exiting and coming back shows that all modules exist but that a number of them are not responding
20170719 ISTA 2nd attempt.jpg

Exiting and coming back yet again shows that all modules exist but that a different set aren't responding
20170719 ISTA 3rd attempt.jpg

[HoZy]

Wait... You paid for illegally obtained and distributed software a $5 generic cable & a 15 year old laptop and you only NOW think there is an issue?

Keep on keeping on.

Cheers
Mat

[gmak]

Wait... You paid for illegally obtained and distributed software a $5 generic cable & a 15 year old laptop and you only NOW think there is an issue?

Keep on keeping on.

Cheers
Mat

[So I guess you only ever buy BMW parts and not Chinese knock-offs, right? ]

The implied irony is not lost on me. If you want to maintain these old cars, at least INPA is essential. You are overlooking that this is now a 25 year old unsupported software program that has de-facto become publc-domain - therefore no longer illegal. The seller is making a business of this - it's not some one-off thing in a back alley after someone stole a computer to feed a tinder habit.

I know that there is no honour among thieves (there, some more irony for you) but, if you're going to sell a product you should make sure that it works and support it. You should at least have the admin password to give to the purchaser.

Edit: What I think that the seller does is buy the UK product on a disk, slam it into a laptop and "re-brand" it under his moniker. Pretty hard to run a business that way if you have no control over what software is on the disk and whether it works or not.

[gmak]

Alright. My KONI yellows order has finally been processed and they have the parts in stock. The Canadian vendor had the wrong rear shock for the 540i sedan. I went to a number of web-sites and found what KONI part number they had for the 540i sport. Then the vendor contacted KONI and got the confirmation about what I was trying to confirm and say all along.

Thank you for contacting us here at KONI NA. The available 540i V8 sedan applications are as listed below.
STr.T
8750 1074 (front), 8250 1021 (rear) ** (2000-2003 540i Sport package car may sit up to 10mm higher in rear)

Sport
8741 1372sport (front), 8240 1156sport (rear)

emphasis added

[computiNATEor]

Yeesh. How annoying.

[gmak]

I assembled everything after consultation all over the place. The rear KONIs with Vogtland springs are on the car and the FA 500s off. Tomorrow, the struts go on the car. After wrestling with those wheel liners and various tubes and lines etc etc, just didn't feel like fighting with the tie rods.

Here is a picture of the assembled front struts waiting for their turn tomorrow.
20170803 KONI front assembled.jpg

Here are a couple of pictures where I try to show the difference in height between the rear (new) and the front (old). As you might be able to see, the rear is settling and will be about 1" lower than where the front is right now (Both rear and front were standard height for the 540i m-sport - yes that's how much gap there is with 17 inch wheels.). I'll try to move the car to a better spot and re-shoot tomorrow. This is for Peter who can't wait for Xmas.
20170803 KONIS rear 2.jpg


20170803 rear KONIs 1.jpg

[peter540]

Thanks for those photos! Xmas HAS come early! I'll be interested to get those fender-to-hub measurements.

My car's an '03 Msport with the 18" M-parallels. Wonder if that will further reduce the gap. Like you, I'm not after a slammed look; just want a slightly more aggressive stance.

--Peter

[gmak]

Got the front done today. I can attest that it is possible to do it without popping the tie rod end out of the steering knuckle. However, note that the KONI is not as long in the bottom of the stem as are the Sachs - so there is enough room to get them in without destroying the fender.

Steps:

1. Jack up car - put on jackstands. Your ability to do this without removing the tie rod end depends on how high the car is jacked relative to the length of the new strut.
2. Remove front wheels
3. Remove calliper and put it on an upside down bucket so that there is no stress on the brake line.
4. Disconnect sway bar end link at sway bar
5. Put a small jack under the steering knuckle to support it.
6. Loosen the pinch bolt
7. Spread the pinch collar
8. Remove the nuts on the strut tower
9. Gently lower the small jack an let the strut come down out of its tower
10. Pivot the strut so that the head is outside of the wheel well. This involves putting one's foot on the rotor and pushing down.
11. Twist and remove the strut.
12. Repeat on other side.
13. Put it all back together (don't you hate it when that is how the DIY ends?)

A couple of notes:
i) Use a sharpie and mark a line on each new strut where the "R" and "L" are located - all the way to the bottom of the strut. KONI puts theirs where it will go inside the pinch clamp - and it's on paper so it can get torn away. this way you can see when everything is lined up.
2. Use a small jack to push up the steering knuckle to get the three studs through their respective holes in the strut tower. Also, by jacking up so that the spring compresses a bit, one can torque the sway bar end link, and the pinch bolt as if the car were on wheels on the ground. Note that BMW expects it to be weighted like for an alignment when torquing, so a little extra upward push is a good idea.


Here are some pictures of after all that work- crappy as they are.

Front LHS
20170804 KONI front LHS 1.jpg

Front RHS
20170804 KONI front RHS 2.jpg

Front RHS
20170804 KONI front RHS 1.jpg

Here is the wheel well gap after lowering the car. clearly I will have to wait for it to settle. I can say that the rear has come down noticeably since yesterday, so I expect this to normalize as well. If not, Lucy will have some 'splaining to do!


20170804 KONI front RHS wheel gap initial.jpg


Just a quick word on parts for the front struts. I was quite happy with everything for the rear shocks, but I found the front struts' fiddly bits to be less than stellar even though I bought 'quality'.
I bought the Lemforder upper strut mount - and I'm surprised to find that there isn't that little bump / nodule that sticks up beside one of the studs that go up into the strut tower. Also, I bought the "BMW" bearing and upper strut mount shim (the rubber) - this thing didn't have a place for the spring to abutt against. The bottom one did, but it was weird seeing this absent on the upper one. The upper strut mount doesn't pivot easily - and I'm worried that there will be noise when the car is being driven. My impression was that they would turn smoothly and easily with a firm hand.

I bought the BMW strut bellow - and that thing is HUGE. If there are any issues, I'll just be returning the parts to FCP Euro and getting different / better ones. :


Here is a picture of the upper front shim (pad) on the FCP Euro site. See that white stuff? That's exactly how mine looked like when it showed up. Talk about truth in advertising. I wonder if they had just the 2 of them and used one for the photo.

20170804 BMW upper shim pad.jpg

[gmak]

One more picture. You can see the difference in the wheel gaps between front and rear. You can also see the difference between today (first picture) and yesterday (second picture) for the rear.

The measurements from the bottom of the rim to the fender are as follows. Bentley's has about 22 (sports) and 22.2 (M-sport) for the rear and 23.1 (both) for the front. Note that the measurement is taken with 150lbs in each front seat, 150lbs in the middle of the rear; 50 lbs in the trunk and a full gas tank (i.e. the alignment and torquing set up).

I confess that I'm a little concerned about this - but I've also read that this settles over 1 - 2 weeks. Who knows? We'll see with time. If the front doesn't come down, I don't know what I can possibly do. I'm pretty sure that the struts are in "all the way" since I jacked up the steering knuckle before tightening the pinch bracket. I also don't know why I have different measures between the RHS and LHS in the rear. Perhaps it's because the car is parked on uneven ground.

Rear RHS: 22 3/16
Rear LHS: 22 3/4
Front RHS: 26
Front LHS: 26 1/2



KONIS both front and rear, today.

20170804 Wheel gaps RHS.jpg


KONIs only on rear after installation yesterday.
20170803 rear KONIs 1.jpg

[gmak]

Here is a picture taken this AM. The gap from bottom of rim to fender is 25" = a couple too many. The LHS side is 24" (??) There is a slight slope to that side so I would expect that LHS side to be higher by a bit, not lower as the wheel made up the difference caused by the slope. I think that it might be worthwhile to take a look at that RHS - especially since the label scraped a bit in the pinch clamp.

For 17" wheels, Sport and M-sport, the front gap is (BENTLEYS) about 23", Standard is 24" and Rough Road is 25" - this is with the torquing / alignment weight in the car. When you realize that I have KONI sports and lowering springs - about an inch - then it sure seems like something isn't right - at least on the RHS.

In the rear, I have RHS = 22 and LHS = 22 3/4" which is what I would expect given the slight slope. I'll go find a perfectly flat piece of pavement (parking lot, I guess) and measure there. But still this gives me and average of about 22 3/8 for the rear on level surface versus 22" in the BENTLEYs. True, the BENTLEYs's measurements are taken with weight in the car, but I would expect that to make a difference of about 1/2 inch in ride height. So that puts me square on in the rear - but where did my "Lowering" go? I'll wait for the rears to settle some more, I guess.
20170805 Wheel gap 12 hours later.jpg


I'm wondering if somehow I didn't have the pinch clamp "loose" enough and then the strut didn't get fully in the sleeve? I did have difficulty opening it and was unable to get my special tool in the gap.

It's like this one - a strut spreader socket:
20170805 strut spreader socket.jpg

Should I wait a full week to see if more settling takes place? Probably for the rear shocks. But I think that the RHS front is worth taking the wheel off and undoing the pinch clamp (sigh - what an operation) and seeing if I can get the clamp wider and the strut settled down more.

[gmak]

Given the difference between the wheel gaps on the front LHS and RHS - contrary to what I was expecting - I decided to bit the bullet and go back in. After jacking the car, I measured the amount of KONI dampener sticking below the pinch clamp. I measured from the pinch clamp gap to the bottom of the strut - as best as could be done. It was about 2 1/4" on the RHS and 3" on the LHS. Oho. A clue!

Here are pictures of the RHS followed by the LHS showing the amount of dampener below the pinch clamp.
20170805 RHS KONI stub before.jpg 20170805 LHS KONI stub before.jpg

What I did was put a jack under the steering knuckle and put it there to hold.
Then, I loosened the pinch bolt.
Then, I jacked up the steering knuckle some more
Then, I took 2 big-@ss flat screwdrivers and put them above and below the pinch bolt in the very small gap in the pinch knuckle.

Using leverage, I widened the gap and watched the steering knuckle slowly crawl up the strut. At one point, the gap held open just enough to get my special tool in and rotate it sideways to widen the gap furthers. This ensured that the strut was fully seated with the ledge on the body near the bottom of the pinch clamp.
This is what it looked like after. Quite a difference, no? The extension is now 4". I did the same thing on the other side. I think what threw me off was remembering pictures of yellow dampeners that I had seen in the past with a large gap between ball joints and bottom of dampener. But, IIRC, those were of Bilsteins. I guess the KONIs hang down as much as the Sachs and OEM.
20170805 RHS KONI Stub after.jpg


So what is the end result? See below. The front gaps are still a little high at around 24" - but better than 26", no? I'm going to go for a test drive to make sure that there are no unusual sounds and, tomorrow I'll measure again - in a flat parking lot somewhere.
20170805 Wheel Gaps LHS after.jpg 20170805 wheel gap RHS After.jpg

[computiNATEor]

Isn't there a kind of shoulder on the Konis that sets in place in the pinch collar? Like a flared point on the shock body? There is on the FSDs for I6 cars, at least.