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

[gmak]

Yes. But you can't see where it is. If your pinch collar is a little bit tight still - the shock will slide down but not all the way.

[gmak]

It's about time to tackle this again. It went away then came back. I used a stethoscope and it seemed loudest from the RHS valve cover at the front.

I've started a separate thread on it for more exposure here

For those who don't want to read another thread with more info, here is the sound:

[peter540]

Looking forward to hearing how you like the ride with the Konis installed at all four corners. Also interested to hear where the ride height finally settles.

Sorry to hear about that whine. At 100k miles, it's quite early for this problem to develop, but I've heard of folks who had it happen that soon. I did my TCGs as a preventative measure five or six years ago VERY early (around 72k), since I knew I'd likely never have the opportunity to tackle the project again. My logic was that I'd just ensured myself a good 100k+ miles from there. Big job, but doable for any DIYer. Biggest challenge is timing, but Danny seems to have found superior timing tools that make getting it right the first time much more likely.

--P

[gmak]

The KONIs are nice. My wife and I still tense up when we're in the car and pavement flaws are coming up fast and heavy - kind of preventative measure to keep the fillings in the teeth. As we go over the bumps we start laughing. The KONIs aren't as "cloud-like" as our 2006 530xi, but they're quite a bit better on the street than the FA 500s. They have a slight sporty feel to them without being rough. My wife even took out the 540i for a run which she hasn't done since I put the FAs on.

Now, I just have to clean up the FAs and get them on the market, with both 5K and 7K springs for the back and the Japanese bearings for the front. I'm sure someone who likes to track a lot will want these at a discount to New.

So far, about 2 fingers gap from tire to fender in the front on both sides. 1 Finger in back on the LHS; 3 fingers on the RHS in the back.


We just took the car to do a food run down to the market. It growls nicely. It's only after the engine is warmed up that the whine shows up. Very nice handling with the KONIs and the monoballs.

[peter540]

Nice! Now I'm thinking hard about this. Just don't have the budget for the Konis and springs right now. Wish I did, since I'm about to get into redoing the rear suspension, swapping in an M5 diff and doing the clutch. Since the car's already going to be off the road for all of this, and since the rear suspension arms will all be out, it's the perfect time to swap in shocks and springs. Still debating whether to upgrade the FA springs one more time (they suggested going to 8k, not 9k); it was be complicated, since I'd have to ship the rear shocks back to get revalved.

Speaking of springs, were Eibachs in your consideration set? What led you to choose the ones you did?

Forgot you had those monoballs. I'm not game for messing with the thrust arms right now...

[gmak]

Springs were (actually) just a whim. I liked the look - and honestly, springs are springs to me (above a certain level). I pretty much had decided to change out the dampeners on all 4 corners, and I hadn't kept the old shocks and struts from way back - so I pretty much had to get new springs and fiddly bits.

I didn't want to lower the car too much - I'm not a slammed kind of guy. I just had to find a better solution for "on the street" than the FA 500s. They are amazing on track - but not on a quasi-daily-driver As you know, I almost went with Bilstein - and had them here at my place. But, I didn't have the right ones for the springs - and the mismatch in the rears made it likely that I would be listening to noises and groans when I drove on them.

The KONIs were just based on the fact that I have yet to see any negative sentiment regarding the sports.

As for the monoballs - they were a minor blip in time. I popped out the old bushings and popped in the new ones. It didn't take long and was a very easy DIY as far as these things go. The G.A.S. monoballs are precision-personified. They both pressed in as easy as breathing. My only difficulty was with the brackets for the bushings on the subframe. They seemed to be a mm or so too narrow for the monoballs with the conical end pieces that come separate. I had to grind a tiny bit on one side of the bracket to get everything to fit. BUT... I've had this problem with other thrust arms and bushings - so it was expected - and probably characteristic of my unique vehicle.

I can't say enough good things about the handling from these - and, to me, there in absolutely no different in NVH - so win / win all around.

[gmak]

Replaced the motor in the passenger side mirror. (RHS). Even with cleaning and graphite lube on the tooth and wheel components that position the mirror, I was unable to get the "reverse position" to function. It would sometimes dip the mirror but not return. Sometimes, it wouldn't even dip. Sometimes it would return but not to the original position. The moving parts were stiff on one side, and likely "broken" on the other.

There are enough Youtube videos etc around that I didn't take pictures.

I Door card / panel removal


II. Mirror removal - showing where the 3 torx bolts /screws are that hold it on the door


III. Disassembly of a mirror - getting at the donor mirror motor [M5 - but it gives you the idea]


Some notes:

1. The two screws that have to be removed in the door card are different specs. The one behind the door handle is torx. The one hidden in the vent is phillips (star). Why, BMW, why?
2. There is a clip in the middle of the door card that can be released by pulling on the arm rest.
3. You have to remove the mirror, the front bezel, the back cover in order to have the access to the wiring. You also have to remove the 3 Torx screws holding the mirror frame that are located on the inside of the door. One is hidden by the rubber triangular flap at the front-most edge of the door that tucks in behind the Rubber trim.
4. I removed the individual pins from the plug on the donor mirror motor - I wasn't interested in taping / soldering / shrink wrapping 8 wires (9 if you count the ground wire split at the motor).
5. I cut the wiring up by the old mirror motor - but with enough distance that if I had to put it back together for some reason, I could. I passed the new wires through the metal opening in the mirror housing and taped it to the newly cut wires going into the door.
6. There is an accordion grommet that goes into the door with 2 rubber protuberances. One is for the mirror motor wires, the other is for the folding mirror motor wires - when there is one. I had to cut the protuberance for the mirror motor wires because it is quite snug on those wires. there may be a rubber sleeve there as well that you can gently cut through (it can be reinstalled and electric-taped over afterwards).
7. I gently pulled the old wires out on the inside of the door, which pulled the donor motor wires through the proper passages. The donor wires seemed shorter for the brown (ground) and black (power) that connected directly to the heated mirror - so I had to pull them through creating some slack in the other wires' bundle inside the door. I used the cloth wiring tap to wrap around them and give them a smaller profile - and provide support to the now-tighter black and brown wires that heat the mirror.
8. I removed the old wiring pins one at a time from the harness plug and put the same colour wire's pin from the donor motor into the pin slot immediately.
9. Reassembled the plug; plugged it back in, reassembled the mirror; Tested it out !It works! Reassembled the door. Note that sometimes the cable to the door handle (bowden) comes out of it's plastic slot in the door handle bezel. If this happens then the door doesn't unlock properly when you pull the handle. Make sure that the bowden cable (I believe that it's green with a hook that goes into the handle) is inserted in that slot. You have to pull on the cable to extend it out of its green sleeve in order for it to fit in.
10. When the door card is being put back on, the top edge has to be pushed forward and down to set in its clips. Also, it helps to push that clip in the middle back in before doing the edge of the door card - just push in on the arm rest to get it to engage. I had to lie down under the door to position the plastic (what do you call them) "clips" to go into their holes. It was a gentle move upwards in every case to get that clip in its hole.

Here is a picture set from ViolinArc posted here, showing the door handle cable placement. Thanks dude!

Gotcha covered on the door handle Bro...

[peter540]

Springs were (actually) just a whim. I liked the look - and honestly, springs are springs to me (above a certain level). I pretty much had decided to change out the dampeners on all 4 corners, and I hadn't kept the old shocks and struts from way back - so I pretty much had to get new springs and fiddly bits.

I didn't want to lower the car too much - I'm not a slammed kind of guy. I just had to find a better solution for "on the street" than the FA 500s. They are amazing on track - but not on a quasi-daily-driver As you know, I almost went with Bilstein - and had them here at my place. But, I didn't have the right ones for the springs - and the mismatch in the rears made it likely that I would be listening to noises and groans when I drove on them.

The KONIs were just based on the fact that I have yet to see any negative sentiment regarding the sports.

As for the monoballs - they were a minor blip in time. I popped out the old bushings and popped in the new ones. It didn't take long and was a very easy DIY as far as these things go. The G.A.S. monoballs are precision-personified. They both pressed in as easy as breathing. My only difficulty was with the brackets for the bushings on the subframe. They seemed to be a mm or so too narrow for the monoballs with the conical end pieces that come separate. I had to grind a tiny bit on one side of the bracket to get everything to fit. BUT... I've had this problem with other thrust arms and bushings - so it was expected - and probably characteristic of my unique vehicle.

I can't say enough good things about the handling from these - and, to me, there in absolutely no different in NVH - so win / win all around.

So -- have the shocks and springs settled more? Eager to hear where your ride height landed. Would you mind measuring the distance from the fender to the center of the wheel (the hub) front and rear? I'd like to compare to the 13.5" setup I have (I like that height's look -- lower, but not at all slammed; just more aggressive-looking).

--P

[gmak]

I'll get around to the measuring this weekend.


In the meantime, given that I'm storing the E60 M5 for winter, I'll be able to keep the 540i out for driving. I have the original wheels from the PO still and I've decided to get them refinished, sell the pretty-much-new tires that are on them, and put Nokian Hakkalaupitta R2s (235/45R17) on the refreshed rims for the winter.

The rims are the BMW (BBS) Style 5 two part composite. I've taken the before pictures - both sides of each rim and tire. The center pieces look quite good. I don't believe that any work will need to be done on them. I'm getting the lip polished and then clear coated. I'm getting the back of the barrel refreshed and then done in black. Pjacques.com of Montreal is doing the work.

The front views:
20170808 rims 4.jpg 20170808 rims 3.jpg 20170808 rims 2.jpg 20170808 Rims 1.jpg

[gmak]

The back view:


20170808 rims 8.jpg20170808 rims 7.jpg20170808 rims 6.jpg20170808 rims 5.jpg

[gmak]

Quick picture of the car showing LHS wheel wells.

20170812 BMW 540i wheel height.jpg

[gmak]

In the picture above - that side, from the bottom of the rim to the fender. This is without the 300 - 150 - 50 lbs loading.

Front LHS: 23 1/2"
Rear LHS: 22 1/4"

Versus Bentleys (weighted) having Front: 23" and rear: 22" , roughly for the m-sport. I estimate that I'm bang on for this - so the only "lowering" is giving me the sport measurement - which is fine by me.

[peter540]

Interesting. That looks lower than the M-Sport. Also, is it just me, or does the rear look a little low compared to the front?

Would you mind giving us the fender-to-wheel-center/hub measurement? I'm hopeful you'll come in around 13.5".

Also, how are you feeling about the right quality and handling versus the FAs now?

[gmak]

Ride quality and handling vs FAs? Night and day on the street. No comparison at all.

Rear vs Front: Measurement says 1 inch difference between rear and front - just like the "official" measurement. Lines behind and around the car in the picture + shadow in wheel well can create an illusion. The ground is sloped in 2 directions (x and y) at that location.

Fender to wheel center/hub: Front: 14" rear 13 1/2"

[peter540]

Thanks!

I guess the1/2 inch higher in the front is attributable to the higher front fender line. I'm running 13.5" in front and really like the look; do you think there's any room to lower the strut any further (didn't look like it from your install photos)?

The rear height is just what I like with my FAs, and I can say with certainty that height is lower than when I was running the original MSport setup (mine is an '03).

Sure would like to make the switch. Not in my budget's reach just now, sadly.

[gmak]

The height is pretty much set in front. It can be lowered or raised in the rear because of the 3 levels for the spring pad.

[peter540]

Ah. Pretty much what I figured. Please do post some more pics with the cat on level ground - would love to see more!

[auaq]

Yeah, I would love to replace the coilovers with Konis but currently not in my budget. On track, the FA would shine no doubt, but for street I have always heard good reviews about Konis.

[gmak]

I've been a little busy with the M5 - it's hitting everyone of the "weak points"; and the 530xi - going over the frame and unibody with a fine tooth comb to make sure that it makes it another decade without dissolving into rust. Time just slips away. But I'll get there for the pictures.

[gmak]

I overhauled the under car for my E60 and decided that "I was on a roll" enough to do it to the 540i, which will be driven this winter instead of stored. I have a bunch of pictures - it is hard to take them under the car - but it doesn't look too bad for a 17 year old car (2000/05 production, IIRC).

When I pulled the plastic rivets on the rear splash guard on the rear RHS rocker panel, water started to flow out like a U-boat that had sprung a leak. Each plastic rivet being pulled as i moved towards the back, yielded the same result.

I did some research and found this thread/post: https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...9#post26220409 which mentioned water running down the inside of the door and into the rocker panel instead of the rear passenger. I immediatelly went out and opened the rear RHS door and some water ran out. Sure enough, I have the holes under the sill plate with no plug in them. More important, I know that I have to take the door card off and get into that whole DIY. Plus, I intend to blow out my sun roof drains and my AC drains - maybe use a shop vac on the latter.

Here are the pictures, in no particular order.
image5.JPGimage4.JPGimage2.JPGimage1.JPG

[gmak]

More pictures. I think that I'm going to use high heat enamel (flat black) on the exhaust - with an appropriate self-etching primer.


image10.JPGimage9.JPGimage8.JPGimage7.JPGimage6.JPG

[gmak]

More pictures

image16.JPGimage14.JPGimage13.JPGimage12.JPG

[gmak]

Having found water in the rocker panel, the obvious place to look is behind the door panel, to see if the foam vapour barrier is compromised, and to check the drain holes to see if they're blocking a 'normal' exit for the water.

I have the sunscreens on the rear windows and this makes removing the doorskin slightly different.

1. Remove the small screw behind the silver door handle. There is supposed to be a small black cover over it, but in my case there wasn't. Aha, I said. Someone has been in here before.

2. Because of the sunscreen, there are 2 phillips (star) screws behind the door trim. This picture shows where one of them lies.
20170825 540i door 1.jpg

3. Use a plastic trim tool to pop the white plastic rivets that hold the deerskin on the frame, out of their sockets. They go all the way around both sides and the bottom.

4.. Give the big door handle / armrest a good dry tug to disengage the clip on the inside.

5. Use a plastic tool to lift the doorskin and separate it from the clips at window level.

6. Unplug various devices; take the metal handle and rotate it to pass through the hole in the deerskin; do the same with the fottwell light on the bottom of the door.

7. This picture shows where the foam vapour barrier was hanging loose.
20170825 540i door 2.jpg

8. This picture shows how the cable must be set in it's plastic niche for the metal handle to work.
20170825 540i door 3.jpg

9. When I took the deerskin off, a plastic piece fell out. I guessed that it was something that fit in a particular slot on a metal piece on the back of the doorskin, in order for the clip to work;
20170825 540i door 4.jpg

10. Ah. I was right.
20170825 540i door 5.jpg

Now, I'm waiting for my roll of butyl 'tape' to arrive, along with some decent waterproof tape to enhance the seal of the foam vapour barrier. While I'm waiting, I guess I'll be getting back under the car to plastikote rust-convert whatever rust I find, and to apply POR-15 as appropriate. Plus, I want to make sure that the little drain holes on the rocker panel are clear - which I suspect aren't given the water therein. I believe that I may have covered them over on the RHS when I applied POR-15 to atop rusting around the jack pads last year.

[peter540]

Can you post some more photos of your car? Eager to see how it's settled and how the stance looks.

--Peter

[gmak]

It's up on jackstands wile I overhaul the frame, sub-frames and deerskin vapour barriers.