"What did you do to your E39 today V2.0."

[SW530]

In the last couple days I replaced the right tail light and grafted in a replacement pigtail, both were corroded as hell from whoever decided not to run the battery vent line and I suspect the tail light gasket wasn't in great shape either. Fixed all that. I'm not sure if you guys have seen these solder seal connectors? Basically using one of these is like soldering and heat shrinking in one easy step. Normally I carefully solder each wire, heat shrink each wire and then heat shrink the group of wires and then use whatever loom material the manufacturer uses to dress the outside of the loom. The goal of course is to not be able to tell they've been touched.

These connectors are slick if you use them right, strip back 3/8" of insulation but don't twist the wires, insert wires from each side so the strands interlock like fingers interlocking, then use a small heat gun to shrink and seal the outside ends of the connector, then work it towards the middle sealing and shrinking and then finally melting the low-temp solder so it flows through the bare wire in the middle and makes a perfect connection. When done you can see through the connector to make sure the shrinking, sealing, and soldering is properly done. I suppose the old way is better since you have open access and better visibility and can choose the perfect solder and flux for the job, but these seem to do a more than adequate job and so far I've been happy with them. Properly sealed on each end there is no oxygen left on the connection to corrode.

There were five connectors and I tiered them about 1.5 inches apart so the loom never became great around than it originally was. I opened all the connectors and used dielectric in each so they'd never corrode since water can't displace dielectric very easily or really at all, used that DeoxIT in all the bulb sockets and then visually inspected them before replacing the bulbs with new Hella bulbs. They looked a lot cleaner. I snaked the bore scope into each corner of each light and made sure there was no sign of moisture, and then placed each bulb socket at maximum lock with a touch of rubber cement on each socket flat to ensure moisture wouldn't enter via that access. Finally a drop of purple Vibra-Tite on the last three threads of the studs, let it dry, and then tightened the nuts onto the studs.

Between my ham radio gear, especially the mobile gear, off-road vehicles, race cars, street rods, gunsmithing, and whatnot, I've amassed a small collection of different brand and types of thread lockers and thread locking primers and adhesives. This stuff slowly adds up to a surprising amount of money, and every last product has an expiration date that you'd best pay attention to if reliability is important to you. I can't count the times at competitions when a scope would move or a selector lever would fall off, or during training classes when sights would come loose or light mounts would come loose or undone, and the owner admitted to using a thread locker that when they thought about it was years old. I've found if you keep keep the products in a poly ammo can with a rubber seal, and keep that can in a cool environment, it will last way past it's listed product life, where if you don't and don't even bother to put the cap back on properly your $25 per half gram of product no longer works. Details.

Finally I removed the three twist lock sockets from the soon to be tossed tail light, cleaned and put new bulbs in those, added some more bulbs that were left over, included some vintage BMW fuses and relays left over from my totaled E34, a copy of the fuse legend, put it all in a small ziplock and then taped it to the inside of the battery door in the trunk. I like to do similar preps at different points so it's available if needed. OCD at it's finest.. well.. CDO if you put it in order..

Today I got in my $17.72 Genuine BMW Carrier Bushing. The fitment guide says it fits a 1996-2003 525i/530i and 528i and it came up in a search for a 2003 540i.. and ScottieDucati says a 525i bushing will work.. so we'll see about fitment soon. Heck of a paint job though.. They had their own brand poly bushing for $43.95 that I passed on. I like to use original rubber on cars where comfort is appreciated. Hopefully it will work out.

Looking at the part I know understand how it works. There are two slotted nubs that extend out to hold the part in place when you slide the small end of the shifter into the bushing. It forces the nubs out. Or you can assemble the shifter and then use a small screwdriver to force it in place.. I suppose we'll see.

Also replaced the cupholder.. I managed to break the original BMW part. And replaced it with an Amazon USTAR part.. I haven't learned a thing, have I? It did fit better than the original part and works great so not complaining.

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[scottieducati]

Yep I had a poly bushing and did NOT install it with my unicorn nuggets as per Jed’s advice.

My shifter feels f*cking mint.


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[SW530]

Yep I had a poly bushing and did NOT install it with my unicorn nuggets as per Jed’s advice.

My shifter feels f*cking mint.


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Mine did.. my son rebuilt it with stock parts and it felt great. Now I'm waiting for him to come over and fix it.. He's got small hands. Really small hands. But he's making me wait to teach me a lesson. Not sure exactly on what, but I think he thinks I messed up his shifter.. Just wait until next time he needs to figure out a multimeter or soldering iron..

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[seagreen323i]

Does anybody know if I can source the internal chrome bezel for the xenon headlights? It's the frame that holds the projector and the reflector for high and low beams. I guess the heat got to mine and it has split in the middle. I'll probably just get a used headlight that has a crap lens for cheap and take it apart. But if anybody has that part let me know.

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[scubajim20]

Mine did.. my son rebuilt it with stock parts and it felt great. Now I'm waiting for him to come over and fix it.. He's got small hands. Really small hands. But he's making me wait to teach me a lesson. Not sure exactly on what, but I think he thinks I messed up his shifter.. Just wait until next time he needs to figure out a multimeter or soldering iron..

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Love it....sounds like my house!

[seagreen323i]

I finally tracked down eibach sways. They are on the way. I'm so excited!

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[JimLev]

So where did you get them from. They are for your 540, right?

[theWalkinator]

Not the e39 540i, this is E70 n63 engine valley, talking about replacing m62tu valley pan gasket, compare with N63, it is a breath, just look at the mess, oil leak from the turbo oil line housing:
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[theWalkinator]

This is the culprit:
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Look at the rubber gasket, completely flattened, and BMW do not sell the gasket separately so you have to buy a new housing that comes with the gasket

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After cleaning:
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[JimLev]

Your E70?
Makes me think I don’t want to buy a new(er) BMW.

[theWalkinator]

Your E70?
Makes me think I don’t want to buy a new(er) BMW.

Yeah, 2013 X5 50i, wife's car, had valve stem seals replaced by the dealer under the n63 campaign but still need to top off one qt. of oil every 600~700 miles. BMW put twin turbos in between the two heads, very hot there, it is called hot vee, nicely packaged but the it is the hell to work on.

[Nfs021]

At least that part isn't too expensive. Granted yes the work to replac it sucks. Looks as bad as changing the heat exchanger o-rings on my M5 last year. Have to drian coolant from the block and motor oil in order to avoid a massive mess.

That was a fun job...not!
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[stephenk22]

Added a Seibon CF hood

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[BlkzhpWoG]

Just did the simple N62 mech. fan / fan clutch mod for my m62tu. It is a lot quieter, and it feels like it moves more air based on the pull on the little radiator flaps. Air seems much more directed too, based on having to move my hand more behind the fan to feel the breeze compared to the stock fan.

[SW530]

Why bother trying to get their stupid gasket or housing, just get some of this Right Stuff and it will never leak again.

[SW530]

Added a Seibon CF hood

(No offense, I've been waiting to say this for weeks and your number just came up first.. ) 2010 called and they want their carbon fiber back.. I get carbon fiber if it saves weight or adds to structure and can be painted over so you can't tell it's carbon fiber, but I just don't get that it looks better. I'd rather run Eastwoods Contour machine and brush up some metal as a better looking hood, interior trim, shift knob, steering wheel, bumper, door handles, sunroof cover, wheels, thermostat housing, engine beauty cover, horn button, side view mirrors, glove box cover, license plate frame, side molding, etc... than pay uber bucks for a carbon fiber widget.. though, I do have a weakness for the carbon fiber wheels on the GT350's..

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

Well, I might be wrong, but I think he said that it came with the car when he bought it. That hood is not cheap, I do feel the same though, a carbon fiber hood should be a lot lighter, and stronger than a steel hood. Carbon fiber is cool, I get it, a lot of guys love seeing it, I have had many toys that have a ton of carbon fiber on them, my rc helicopters are full carbon fiber, been playing with those for many years, seeing carbon fiber is really no big deal for me, now the really good dry carbon fiber with the matt finish, I still love seeing that stuff. So for me, that hood would have gotten painted black as his car is. It’s a classy car, keep it classy. The nice thing about that hood,I had a Seibon carbon hood on a long past gone 540 wagon, painted Jet Black at a shop that I worked at, we got hit by a nasty hail storm. The hood was perfect, but the rest of the car was riddled with dents. A good friend of mine was a really good PDR guy, and we horse traded. I traded him a 50cc aerobatic Extra 300 rc airplane that cost me about $3,000 a few years before the hail storm hit, and he PDR’d all those stupid dents out perfectly.

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

Speaking of E39 hoods, look what I had on my hood a few days ago, my little toy rc race truck!

[JimLev]

I saw this a few days ago and was going to as you about the engine size, think it was 32cc??
How does that compare in size to the 40 OS Max I have for the plane that I probably will never finish?

[SW530]

Speaking of E39 hoods, look what I had on my hood a few days ago, my little toy rc race truck!

Looks familiar. What are those shiny things on the ends of the bottom opening? they kind of look like lights or air ducts? Minne doesn't have whatever it is:

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I'm not an RC guy, all else equal I've always preferred the full size toy. Though lately I've been looking for something to exercise my dogs with, where if they catch it it will have something like a bite rail or something where they'll be able to shake it and not destroy it by the time I get them to let go. Tennis balls are fun but they'd really like something more challenging.

I wish I could find a PDR guy to trade for one of the toys I build.. I enjoy building them and my wife's Suby got caught in a storm late last year.

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

I saw this a few days ago and was going to as you about the engine size, think it was 32cc??
How does that compare in size to the 40 OS Max I have for the plane that I probably will never finish?

That OS 40 Max is a great little engine! But it is a nitro engine, it is a .40 cubic inch engine. I’ve had my fair share of those engines when I was first getting into flying RC airplanes! OS was, and is one of the best of the Japanese model engine companies, another great Japanese model engine company is Saito. One of my favorite slimer engines, the Saito’s are all 4 strokes, the equivalent to your OS .40 would be either a Saito .72 to a .82. But of course, me being me, nothing used to stay stock, one of my favorite modern classic small model airplanes was a Funtana 40, would have flown with that .40 of yours, but I got the Saito.72, they just run stronger, with awesome bottom end torque, perfect for crazy aerobatics, where on a .40 2 stroke, you have to have the throttle floored just to have fun. The company that manufactured the airframe kit, recommended the .72, I went and sold the .72, because it was sort of lame on that airplane, bought the Saito .91. Much more power, basically about the same weight, the .91 was a punched out .82, which Hangar 9, he airframe manufacturer who recommended the .72, eventually went on to recommend the .82, after so many people complained about the bad recommended engine, it was a good engine, just not in the Funtana. They were like $279 for the .72, the .82 was about $320, and the .91, for me was a no brainer, they were a bit more, but well worth it. That plane became one of my all time favorite slimers! I still have the engine! The airframe is history…. Lol, I have the wings that found at a swap meet, so If I find an airframe, I’m getting it. Only problem, glow fuel prices have gone through the roof. These Saito 4 strokes love slurping 30% nitro, with 23%oil, the price for a gallon of 30% nitro is now $45 a gallon! So no, maybe I will not be running that engine anymore.

So to answer your question, a .40 cubic inch engine is 6.5cc, my Saito .91 is 14.91cc the 2 stroke engine in that big truck is a 32cc engine, 32cc is equivalent to 1.95 cubic inches. The truck weighs 35.4 lbs, the engine puts out 3.22hp, and hits just about 50mph. I have a tuned pipe coming, For $900, there’s an aftermarket company that has a race engine for this thing, with the tuned pipe, it should go over 65mph, but it’s already stupid fast. I almost ran it into me flying around a gravel curve at full throttle, at 35lbs, it’ll do some damage.

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Looks familiar. What are those shiny things on the ends of the bottom opening? they kind of look like lights or air ducts? Minne doesn't have whatever it is:

StateFarmClassic-17.jpg

I'm not an RC guy, all else equal I've always preferred the full size toy. Though lately I've been looking for something to exercise my dogs with, where if they catch it it will have something like a bite rail or something where they'll be able to shake it and not destroy it by the time I get them to let go. Tennis balls are fun but they'd really like something more challenging.

I wish I could find a PDR guy to trade for one of the toys I build.. I enjoy building them and my wife's Suby got caught in a storm late last year.

Just an aftermarket grille that I had laying around, it came with those sink drain rings. I have the hose tubes, just have not found the time to run the tubes from those rings, to the air ducts for the brakes. Most people don’t do anything with them, for now, I am one of them, but one day, they will at least be functional. Don’t get this truck for your dogs! It will kill them, if not, it will break their legs!

[computiNATEor]

I washed and clayed and waxed it, then drove down to the BMW CCA San Diego car show at Spanish Landing Park on Sunday. Ol' girl cleans up pretty well, and will cross 190k miles in just a few days. Maybe even tomorrow!

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[E0339]

Bled my coolant system for the first time today.

I just started my car and I’m seeing if the needle stays cantered.

I like learning how to do new jobs on my car!

[E0339]

I was dreading bleeding the cooling system, but honestly it literally could not be any easier.

I went for a very agressive drive (I had to bed my brakes) and the coolant temp needle stayed right in the middle. Hooray!

I:
- Replaced front pads and rotors
- Replaced VANOS Solenoid O-rings (I got stuck on this job forever. I couldn't figure out why the bolts weren't going in properly. Gasket was on crooked. Bleh)
- Replaced about 2 gallons of coolant
- Replaced fuel filter (seat dyno loved that one)
- Replaced belts
- Bedded the CRAP out of my brakes. Oops. My car smelled very campfirey afterwards. I know what brake fade feels like now.

Here's the coolant bleeding procedure I used. It's straight out of the TIS, but seeing someone else do it makes it make much more sense: https://www.bimmerfest.com/threads/d...system.558386/

[seagreen323i]

So where did you get them from. They are for your 540, right?

Yep for the 540, eibach apparently still produces the front bar and a company in Canada still has the rear bar in stock.

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