Page 39 of 45 FirstFirst ... 142930313233343536373839404142434445 LastLast
Results 951 to 975 of 1117

Thread: Danny's Japan Rot 540i Touring Thread

  1. #951
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    North OC, CA
    Posts
    3,327
    My Cars
    01 M5 TiAg/M1SW
    Cool! Best of luck! You'll love the manual.
    Nate J.

    (oOO\ (|||)º(|||) /OOo)
    Titanium Silver/Black Nappa Full 07-18-2001 E39 M5 Heritage (BZ99672). 198,000mi+. Increasing daily. Engine rebuild thread.
    (eŌō\ (||||)º(||||) / ōŌe)
    Alpineweiss III/Black Merino Full 03-26-2007 E60 M5 Manual (CX08265). 157,000+. Dead starter -_-

    RIP, Seabiscuit. Black Sapphire/Schwarz 03-11-2003 530iA Sport (CK39185). T-boned 03-01-2017 at 155,861mi.
    Take 2 "Otto" - Toledo Blue/Sandbeige 04-25-2002 530iA Sport (CH98032). Sold 11-10-2017 at 147,743mi.
    Take 3 "Manuel" - Toledo Blue/Grau 10-29-2001 530i5 Sport (CE92358). Sold 02-01-2019 at 217,600mi. I regret that. Build Log
    Reliable P.O.S. - Green/gray 1995 Camry V6 LE. 270k mi. Sold for space.

  2. #952
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Tempe, AZ
    Posts
    7,657
    My Cars
    1995 525i/5
    Quote Originally Posted by computiNATEor View Post
    Cool! Best of luck! You'll love the manual.
    Thanks! And I'm sure I will, haha. I had a 2003 540i/6 M-Sport for a while, an M5, and several other 540i/6's, along with my current 525it/5 and M3/5, so it'll be nice to just have everything be a manual.
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  3. #953
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Lawrenceville, GA
    Posts
    11,857
    My Cars
    4 BMWs.
    Quote Originally Posted by dannyzabolotny View Post
    Thanks! And I'm sure I will, haha. I had a 2003 540i/6 M-Sport for a while, an M5, and several other 540i/6's, along with my current 525it/5 and M3/5, so it'll be nice to just have everything be a manual.
    I said that once too. LOL I enjoy being able to switch between MT/AT. 528iA-M5
    2001 Z3 3.0i -Oxford Green/Sandbeige
    2016 428xi -Estoril Blue II/Black
    2018 430iC- Estoril Blue II/Black
    2018 330it - Melbourne Red/Venetian Beige/Black

  4. #954
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Tempe, AZ
    Posts
    7,657
    My Cars
    1995 525i/5
    Quote Originally Posted by amancuso View Post
    I said that once too. LOL I enjoy being able to switch between MT/AT. 528iA-M5
    I’ll eventually get another automatic vehicle in the future, most likely in the form of a Range Rover so I can tow a bunch of stuff and go off-roading. I miss having one, my last one was awesome.

    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  5. #955
    geargrinder's Avatar
    geargrinder is offline Having No Trouble Here BMW CCA Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    AndoverRockport MA & Intl
    Posts
    14,856
    My Cars
    E46M3Cic E39.540iT E84X1
    Yeah the Luk clutch is fine. I'd suggest get the M5 Luk clutch (still cheap) for a "wee upgrade" factor, but honestly the stock 540 clutch is - as you know - not known at all for inability to hold rated power.

    I got 2 cars w/ 420G's, and IMO the DSSR hoo-hah is totally overblown. If you freshen up the normal bushings and lever components (i.e. get the famous E60 budget SSK...) the linkage is really pretty solid, and, truly the weak point in the system is the actual tranny itself. Those Getrags just aren't ever gonna be the yummiest shifters internally... No dumbmoney blingDSSR is gonna fix that...

    Dannzo I'm sure it'll be super easy for you, esp w/ Grahamsandwich's help. How come he never posts anymore by the way? Or he just lives over in Z3land probably, right?

    Also BTW, just noticed the E34T ! Sweet! Those are pretty rare! I'd love to have one... Would make for a fun crazyweird swap or turbo build...
    2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
    2002 540iT Sport Vortech S/C 6MT LSD TiAg
    2008 Audi A3 2.0T DSG (the daily beater)
    2014 BMW X1 xDrive28i (wifemobile)

    Former:

    1985 MB Euro graymarket 300SL
    1995.5 Audi S6 Avant (utility/winter billetturbobattlewagen)


  6. #956
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Tempe, AZ
    Posts
    7,657
    My Cars
    1995 525i/5
    Quote Originally Posted by geargrinder View Post
    Yeah the Luk clutch is fine. I'd suggest get the M5 Luk clutch (still cheap) for a "wee upgrade" factor, but honestly the stock 540 clutch is - as you know - not known at all for inability to hold rated power.

    I got 2 cars w/ 420G's, and IMO the DSSR hoo-hah is totally overblown. If you freshen up the normal bushings and lever components (i.e. get the famous E60 budget SSK...) the linkage is really pretty solid, and, truly the weak point in the system is the actual tranny itself. Those Getrags just aren't ever gonna be the yummiest shifters internally... No dumbmoney blingDSSR is gonna fix that...

    Dannzo I'm sure it'll be super easy for you, esp w/ Grahamsandwich's help. How come he never posts anymore by the way? Or he just lives over in Z3land probably, right?

    Also BTW, just noticed the E34T ! Sweet! Those are pretty rare! I'd love to have one... Would make for a fun crazyweird swap or turbo build...
    I thought about the M5 clutch and honestly by the time I swap in an S62 I'll probably want to upgrade the clutch anyways, so the stock 540i setup will work fine at the moment. Given my love of burnouts and other nonsense, I'll probably kill it pretty quickly anyways.

    I plan on replacing all the usual bushing bits in the shifter linkage so it should feel decent. I might still spring for the E60 SSK, but we'll see. I definitely don't want anything too short, the 420g gets way too notchy very quickly. The 420g isn't the greatest-feeling manual transmission in the BMW world, but it does hold a good bit of power and seems to hold up nicely to abuse, so I can't complain too much.

    Graham posts in the Z3 forum here and there, but he hasn't been on forums too much lately, dunno why. I keep trying to get him back on here, so we'll see. I figure with a few people helping out this shouldn't be too scary of a project. What worries me the most is wiring, because wiring in general freaks me out. But I'm sure once I actually get down to it, it'll be fine.

    The E34 525it is a new-ish addition to my stable... Graham and I bought it for a whopping $350 from a friend that needed to get rid of it. We bought it non-running with no DME and a butchered wiring harness, and over the course of a week we sourced a new (used) harness, ignition coils, injectors, fuel rail, fuel pump, filters, thermostat, and more. It runs quite well now, the only thing it really needs at the moment is an AC overhaul. No title either, so I applied for a bonded title and that's in progress now. Oh and did I mention it was already 5-speed swapped? Score!
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  7. #957
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    North OC, CA
    Posts
    3,327
    My Cars
    01 M5 TiAg/M1SW
    Quote Originally Posted by geargrinder View Post
    I got 2 cars w/ 420G's, and IMO the DSSR hoo-hah is totally overblown. If you freshen up the normal bushings and lever components (i.e. get the famous E60 budget SSK...) the linkage is really pretty solid, and, truly the weak point in the system is the actual tranny itself. Those Getrags just aren't ever gonna be the yummiest shifters internally... No dumbmoney blingDSSR is gonna fix that... .
    The DSSR doesn't even fit with the E60 shift lever. Totally useless, IMO.

    The "rod end joint" on the back of the 5-speed transmission has been superseded to a part that no longer requires the small washers on the shift assembly; I recommend putting the new part on if there's a similar revision for the 420g. That eliminates any shift lever slop. I'm also pretty happy with my Unicorn Nuggets from M5Jed; they're neat.
    Nate J.

    (oOO\ (|||)º(|||) /OOo)
    Titanium Silver/Black Nappa Full 07-18-2001 E39 M5 Heritage (BZ99672). 198,000mi+. Increasing daily. Engine rebuild thread.
    (eŌō\ (||||)º(||||) / ōŌe)
    Alpineweiss III/Black Merino Full 03-26-2007 E60 M5 Manual (CX08265). 157,000+. Dead starter -_-

    RIP, Seabiscuit. Black Sapphire/Schwarz 03-11-2003 530iA Sport (CK39185). T-boned 03-01-2017 at 155,861mi.
    Take 2 "Otto" - Toledo Blue/Sandbeige 04-25-2002 530iA Sport (CH98032). Sold 11-10-2017 at 147,743mi.
    Take 3 "Manuel" - Toledo Blue/Grau 10-29-2001 530i5 Sport (CE92358). Sold 02-01-2019 at 217,600mi. I regret that. Build Log
    Reliable P.O.S. - Green/gray 1995 Camry V6 LE. 270k mi. Sold for space.

  8. #958
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Tempe, AZ
    Posts
    7,657
    My Cars
    1995 525i/5
    As usual, life gets in the way of fun car projects. At least this time it's my fault and not something that's out of my control. Recently, Graham and I opened up a shop here in Phoenix that we've named ASC Motorworks. It's an exciting and costly endeavor so the 6-speed swap plans have been shelved for the time being. I might even sell the parts (transmission/flywheel/driveshaft/crossmember/shifter/master + slave cylinder) to recoup some cash.



    I've been driving the E34 525it/5 for a bit, at least until it started leaking a bunch of coolant. I'll fix it eventually but right now it's sitting at the shop as a driveway decoration. The fact that it has almost no AC means I'm not in a rush to fix it, haha. I've also been dailying the M3 for a bit, but even that gets old after a while (rough ride + tons of road noise + lackluster sound system). It's a super fun car for ripping around mountain roads but in daily driving it's a bit of a chore. Maybe I'm just spoiled since I've been daily driving an E39 for so long.

    In any case, I've been driving the 540it some more the past few days. Seems like its transmission issues have decided to take a break? It went from going into failsafe after 2 minutes of driving to being able to handle grueling hot days without a single issue. That makes me think it's an electrical issue and that the transmission itself is fine. I'll be keeping an eye on it for now, but I'm cautiously optimistic about being able to fix it if the problem comes back. I'm pretty sure it's related to the wiring harness issue that the transmission has had intermittently for over a year now. Yeah yeah, autotragic and all, but for now it'll do. I have the M3 if I want to make vroom vroom noises and slam into gears.

    I'm glad to have the 540it back in daily driver duty— out of all 3 cars, it's got the best AC and tint (even though it isn't perfect either) which is nice when it's 110ºF outside and the sun is beating me down with a vengeance. As usual it's been doing fun wagon things, hauling stuff that's almost way too big for it.





    One thing I have noticed is that the front tires are wearing in a really weird way... the outer tread got a little more worn than usual due to the previously bad front suspension components, but the front end has been 100% brand new for a while now, and it's had several alignments since then. It almost looks like the tires are dry rotting, which is very strange considering the tires are from 2016 (I purchased them new). Anybody else seen this happening with Hankook Ventus Evo 2 V12's? Lots of shaking and noise from the front tires, so they'll likely need to be replaced at some point soon, sigh.

    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  9. #959
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    North OC, CA
    Posts
    3,327
    My Cars
    01 M5 TiAg/M1SW
    Quote Originally Posted by dannyzabolotny View Post
    As usual, life gets in the way of fun car projects. At least this time it's my fault and not something that's out of my control. Recently, Graham and I opened up a shop here in Phoenix that we've named ASC Motorworks. It's an exciting and costly endeavor so the 6-speed swap plans have been shelved for the time being. I might even sell the parts (transmission/flywheel/driveshaft/crossmember/shifter/master + slave cylinder) to recoup some cash.



    I've been driving the E34 525it/5 for a bit, at least until it started leaking a bunch of coolant. I'll fix it eventually but right now it's sitting at the shop as a driveway decoration. The fact that it has almost no AC means I'm not in a rush to fix it, haha. I've also been dailying the M3 for a bit, but even that gets old after a while (rough ride + tons of road noise + lackluster sound system). It's a super fun car for ripping around mountain roads but in daily driving it's a bit of a chore. Maybe I'm just spoiled since I've been daily driving an E39 for so long.

    In any case, I've been driving the 540it some more the past few days. Seems like its transmission issues have decided to take a break? It went from going into failsafe after 2 minutes of driving to being able to handle grueling hot days without a single issue. That makes me think it's an electrical issue and that the transmission itself is fine. I'll be keeping an eye on it for now, but I'm cautiously optimistic about being able to fix it if the problem comes back. I'm pretty sure it's related to the wiring harness issue that the transmission has had intermittently for over a year now. Yeah yeah, autotragic and all, but for now it'll do. I have the M3 if I want to make vroom vroom noises and slam into gears.

    I'm glad to have the 540it back in daily driver duty— out of all 3 cars, it's got the best AC and tint (even though it isn't perfect either) which is nice when it's 110ºF outside and the sun is beating me down with a vengeance. As usual it's been doing fun wagon things, hauling stuff that's almost way too big for it.





    One thing I have noticed is that the front tires are wearing in a really weird way... the outer tread got a little more worn than usual due to the previously bad front suspension components, but the front end has been 100% brand new for a while now, and it's had several alignments since then. It almost looks like the tires are dry rotting, which is very strange considering the tires are from 2016 (I purchased them new). Anybody else seen this happening with Hankook Ventus Evo 2 V12's? Lots of shaking and noise from the front tires, so they'll likely need to be replaced at some point soon, sigh.

    That looks to me like a tire that's exceeded its designed capacity for heat cycling. Looks like a tire that's been abused on track.

    In other words, yes, it's time for new tires.
    Nate J.

    (oOO\ (|||)º(|||) /OOo)
    Titanium Silver/Black Nappa Full 07-18-2001 E39 M5 Heritage (BZ99672). 198,000mi+. Increasing daily. Engine rebuild thread.
    (eŌō\ (||||)º(||||) / ōŌe)
    Alpineweiss III/Black Merino Full 03-26-2007 E60 M5 Manual (CX08265). 157,000+. Dead starter -_-

    RIP, Seabiscuit. Black Sapphire/Schwarz 03-11-2003 530iA Sport (CK39185). T-boned 03-01-2017 at 155,861mi.
    Take 2 "Otto" - Toledo Blue/Sandbeige 04-25-2002 530iA Sport (CH98032). Sold 11-10-2017 at 147,743mi.
    Take 3 "Manuel" - Toledo Blue/Grau 10-29-2001 530i5 Sport (CE92358). Sold 02-01-2019 at 217,600mi. I regret that. Build Log
    Reliable P.O.S. - Green/gray 1995 Camry V6 LE. 270k mi. Sold for space.

  10. #960
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Tempe, AZ
    Posts
    7,657
    My Cars
    1995 525i/5
    Quote Originally Posted by computiNATEor View Post
    That looks to me like a tire that's exceeded its designed capacity for heat cycling. Looks like a tire that's been abused on track.

    In other words, yes, it's time for new tires.
    The funny thing is that I've never taken this car to a track (aside from the drag strip). The hardest it's done are spirited mountain road drives, and by spirited I mean at double the speed limit with ample amounts of tire squeal. It's only ever been a front tire, so it hasn't had to endure any burnouts (that's all on my back tires, which are still fine for the most part).

    I'm guessing it's the two summers' worth of driving 80mph+ in 110ºF+ heat. They do have around 32,000 miles on them, but it's just odd that they've started dry rotting before wearing out all the tread.
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  11. #961
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    North OC, CA
    Posts
    3,327
    My Cars
    01 M5 TiAg/M1SW
    I'd bet it's the summers, too. That's what I was trying to imply.

    32,000 miles is a good bit of usage. I'd say that's more or less what I get.
    Nate J.

    (oOO\ (|||)º(|||) /OOo)
    Titanium Silver/Black Nappa Full 07-18-2001 E39 M5 Heritage (BZ99672). 198,000mi+. Increasing daily. Engine rebuild thread.
    (eŌō\ (||||)º(||||) / ōŌe)
    Alpineweiss III/Black Merino Full 03-26-2007 E60 M5 Manual (CX08265). 157,000+. Dead starter -_-

    RIP, Seabiscuit. Black Sapphire/Schwarz 03-11-2003 530iA Sport (CK39185). T-boned 03-01-2017 at 155,861mi.
    Take 2 "Otto" - Toledo Blue/Sandbeige 04-25-2002 530iA Sport (CH98032). Sold 11-10-2017 at 147,743mi.
    Take 3 "Manuel" - Toledo Blue/Grau 10-29-2001 530i5 Sport (CE92358). Sold 02-01-2019 at 217,600mi. I regret that. Build Log
    Reliable P.O.S. - Green/gray 1995 Camry V6 LE. 270k mi. Sold for space.

  12. #962
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Middle of a corn field
    Posts
    14,770
    My Cars
    E39 hamster/ruberbandPWR
    Looks like it is Firestone Indy 500 times...!

    Looking for an E39 belly pan , passenger front inner fender liner …

  13. #963
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Tempe, AZ
    Posts
    7,657
    My Cars
    1995 525i/5
    For the sake of saving some money in the meantime, I swapped on the style 32's that I had on my E34 touring— they have nearly-new Toyo Proxes on them. They definitely need to be balanced, which makes sense since I've never really had them balanced properly in the time I've owned them (they rode okay on the 540i/6 and E34, but neither had a super-sensitive suspension like my 540it does).

    I also fixed a problem that I've had for a while in this warm weather— the coolant temperatures were on the upper side of things, occasionally causing the coolant temp gauge to move a bit to the right (never got to the red though). On the highway I was running around 108ºC, and in town at red lights I'd often see 111ºC and higher. Since my cooling system is largely new and has no leaks, I figured it was an airflow issue.

    I initially tried reinstalling the clutch fan, which helped a bit, but then the engine started shaking a bunch because the clutch fan somehow lost one of its blades... no damage from it, just a blade harmlessly disappeared and made the clutch fan super shaky. I removed it and carefully dealt with the higher temperatures for a week or so until I decided to do something about it. I ordered a new clutch fan from AutohausAZ, and I'll be returning the broken one since I've had it for less than 2 years and it should still be under their warranty.

    With the new clutch fan, I also decided it was time to finally replace the aux fan, since mine sounded like a lawnmower when running at high speed (which is all the time with 110ºF ambient temps and AC on). It was silly loud, to the point of where my girlfriend (who knows nothing about cars) commented that it sounded weird. You literally couldn't even hear the engine with the aux fan going. I've had a brand new Behr aux fan laying around in my garage since I bought the 540it... talk about procrastination, haha.

    The install was pretty easy, starting with the disassembly that took the 540it from this:



    To this:



    That took about 15 minutes total. To be fair, I was working with Graham on this so the job went a lot faster than if I did it all myself. Next the aux fan came off:



    Quite a bit of crud had accumulated on the AC condenser over the years... I'm pretty sure this is the original aux fan so it's never been cleaned out. A bunch fell out during the disassembly as well. We used a shop vac to get all the crud out, which was extremely satisfying. After that, we installed the brand new aux fan, plugged it in, and tested it before reassembling everything.

    With the aux fan replaced, we replaced the clutch fan blades... you can see how the old one was casually missing a blade:



    Once all the new goodies had been installed, we idled the 540it for like 15 minutes with the AC on to see how hot we could get the coolant temps... 102ºC was the highest it got. Success!

    The new aux fan is much quieter, even at full blast, and the clutch fan adds that extra bit of airflow at low speeds that the car really needed. Plus I'm sure cleaning all the crud off the condenser helped with airflow to the radiator as well. I used to be a proponent of running without the clutch fan, but it's just too hot in the Arizona summer to get away without it unless 90% of your driving is highway driving.

    Driving home from the shop on the highway, the temps ranged from 99ºC to 102ºC. Once on city streets, it stayed right around 104ºC, never going too much above that. Eventually I'll install a lower temperature thermostat along with a new water pump, but for now this will do!



    Getting close to 210k miles, pretty stoked on that. That means I've personally put on almost 36,000 miles in my 2 years of owning this car, averaging about 18,000 miles per year. I've averaged 16.5mpg in all that time, going through 2,027 gallons of gas and $5,454 in fuel costs (tracked in Fuelly). It's also been about 8000 miles since my last oil change, so I'll have to do that sometime soon.

    Crazy to think it's been 2 years with this car... remember when I couldn't hold onto an E39 for more than a few months? Ha! It's a little disappointing to have not done anything cool with the 540it in that time, but at the very least it's been pretty reliable and has been a pretty good daily driver. Eventually once the shop's revenue stabilizes I'll be able to throw some more money to get this car back to looking awesome (M5 bumpers, style 65's, fixing the hood, etc).
    Last edited by dannyzabolotny; 07-12-2018 at 01:52 AM.
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  14. #964
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    North OC, CA
    Posts
    3,327
    My Cars
    01 M5 TiAg/M1SW
    I'd say it looks pretty good the way it is!

    I'm keeping my 530i5 in near-stock cosmetic condition. I figure the M-bumpers are for the M-cars, I guess; can't justify the price tag on the OEM parts.
    Nate J.

    (oOO\ (|||)º(|||) /OOo)
    Titanium Silver/Black Nappa Full 07-18-2001 E39 M5 Heritage (BZ99672). 198,000mi+. Increasing daily. Engine rebuild thread.
    (eŌō\ (||||)º(||||) / ōŌe)
    Alpineweiss III/Black Merino Full 03-26-2007 E60 M5 Manual (CX08265). 157,000+. Dead starter -_-

    RIP, Seabiscuit. Black Sapphire/Schwarz 03-11-2003 530iA Sport (CK39185). T-boned 03-01-2017 at 155,861mi.
    Take 2 "Otto" - Toledo Blue/Sandbeige 04-25-2002 530iA Sport (CH98032). Sold 11-10-2017 at 147,743mi.
    Take 3 "Manuel" - Toledo Blue/Grau 10-29-2001 530i5 Sport (CE92358). Sold 02-01-2019 at 217,600mi. I regret that. Build Log
    Reliable P.O.S. - Green/gray 1995 Camry V6 LE. 270k mi. Sold for space.

  15. #965
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Tempe, AZ
    Posts
    7,657
    My Cars
    1995 525i/5
    Quote Originally Posted by computiNATEor View Post
    I'd say it looks pretty good the way it is!

    I'm keeping my 530i5 in near-stock cosmetic condition. I figure the M-bumpers are for the M-cars, I guess; can't justify the price tag on the OEM parts.
    I mean it's certainly not the worst-looking E39! The thing is, I've been spoiled by the M-bumper curse, I can't go back. This is how my car looked last year:



    I'm just waiting until I can afford a new OE M5 bumper. I know it's a lot of money but I care more about my car than I do about most things in life, so...

    Besides, I still eventually want an S62 + 6-speed + LSD in this car. It's not a matter of "if," it's a matter of "when." It all depends on how well my shop business does... if it does well, it could be within a year, otherwise if I can get an S62 in there within 5 years from now I'd be happy.
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  16. #966
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Tempe, AZ
    Posts
    7,657
    My Cars
    1995 525i/5
    The other day I ordered a new set of tires for this 540it... tired of all the vibrations and weird handling from these old Hankooks (fronts are actually old, rears were out of round shortly after being installed). I've seen a lot of people hyping up the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500's, so I'll be giving those a shot. The price was right and Tire Rack had free shipping on them, so I figured why not. All my ride quality issues boil down to my tires at the end of the day, since literally everything in the suspension is brand new at this point. Since I'm pretty close to Tire Rack's distribution center in Nevada, that means the tires will be at my house at some point tomorrow. I plan to get them mounted by a shop that specializes in high-end cars, so hopefully I'll be shake-free. After that I plan on getting an alignment by a BMW indy mechanic that I trust.

    In the meantime, I figured I'd get the ride height dialed in before the new tires and alignment. I've had a set of coilovers laying around for quite a while, from my 540i/6 parts car. They're not exceptional coilovers (Solowerks is the brand if I remember correctly) but I remember they rode nicely, even with a low ride height. I haven't been super impressed with the Koni Yellows and Dinan springs in the front, I feel like the spring rate is just way too high for my car— which makes sense considering that I bought them from somebody that had them on an M5. The install was pretty straightforward: loosened the control arms at the bushing side, undid the strut pinch bolt, undid the sway bar mounts, removed 3 bolts up top, and that was all it needed. It was especially fun doing it in 115º heat, but that's Arizona for ya!

    I do enjoy how much more compact the coilovers are compared to the Konis:



    And the result:



    No complaints so far, the ride home was pretty good aside from the tires being trash. Now I need to lower the rear some more with INPA, I'll probably do that tomorrow when I'm back at the shop.
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  17. #967
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Tempe, AZ
    Posts
    7,657
    My Cars
    1995 525i/5
    Got the tires delivered this morning. Tire Rack is fast! Loaded em up in the touring and I’m getting them mounted now.

    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  18. #968
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    IL
    Posts
    13,581
    My Cars
    2000 740i sport
    Oh how I love the look of new tires, those look sweet. I also love the new tire smell... what sizes did you go with? The stance on those coilovers look amazing

    Sent from my SM-N910T3 using Tapatalk

  19. #969
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Tempe, AZ
    Posts
    7,657
    My Cars
    1995 525i/5
    Quote Originally Posted by purplecty View Post
    Oh how I love the look of new tires, those look sweet. I also love the new tire smell... what sizes did you go with? The stance on those coilovers look amazing
    New tire day is best day. If only it weren’t so expensive!

    I went with the same sizes I had before, aka M5 sizes: 245/40/18 front and 275/35/18 rear.

    I’m definitely digging the look so far, should be even better once the rear is lowered to match.
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  20. #970
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Tempe, AZ
    Posts
    7,657
    My Cars
    1995 525i/5
    Got the tires mounted earlier today:



    After that, I adjusted the rear ride height at the shop. Needs a little more tweaking but this is a huge improvement over what it was. Plus I love how the Indy 500's look like race tires:



    The rear fitment is almost perfect...



    Now I just need some 10mm spacers for the front and I'll have the perfect fitment (in my opinion, of course). Afterwards, I drove it home and couldn't resist snapping another pic:



    I'll reserve my full judgement on the tires until I've had some time to really feel them out, but even after a short time I can say they're a huge improvement. No more tramlining, the ride is a lot smoother, and the grip is just incredible. I haven't been able to break the rear end loose at all yet, which is surprising because with the Hankooks it was stupid easy to get the rear end sliding.

    The next thing on the list will be to get an alignment, but I'll probably wait until early next week to do that. Tomorrow night I'm flying out to Portland to do the chain guides on Ruski's X5 over the weekend, I'm so stoked!
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  21. #971
    Join Date
    Sep 2013
    Location
    Tx.
    Posts
    4,133
    My Cars
    02 bmw 540
    She looks sweet Danny Z, so what would you say solved your shakes?

    Was it new tires or the coil overs? BTW love how it sits!

    Ruski is one lucky guy! Safe travels friend!

  22. #972
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Tempe, AZ
    Posts
    7,657
    My Cars
    1995 525i/5
    Quote Originally Posted by Mannyf540 View Post
    She looks sweet Danny Z, so what would you say solved your shakes?

    Was it new tires or the coil overs? BTW love how it sits!

    Ruski is one lucky guy! Safe travels friend!
    Seems to have solved all the shakes up front... now I still have to figure out what's shaking in the rear, still have a bit of that past 70mph. I'll run the car on jack stands tomorrow to see if it's a wheel issue or a drivetrain issue, but at least now I have new tires all around so that's one less variable.
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  23. #973
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    North OC, CA
    Posts
    3,327
    My Cars
    01 M5 TiAg/M1SW
    Looks great! Keep us posted on how these tires do; I'm seriously considering them for my next set. My current Continental ExtremeContact Sports are too harsh.
    Nate J.

    (oOO\ (|||)º(|||) /OOo)
    Titanium Silver/Black Nappa Full 07-18-2001 E39 M5 Heritage (BZ99672). 198,000mi+. Increasing daily. Engine rebuild thread.
    (eŌō\ (||||)º(||||) / ōŌe)
    Alpineweiss III/Black Merino Full 03-26-2007 E60 M5 Manual (CX08265). 157,000+. Dead starter -_-

    RIP, Seabiscuit. Black Sapphire/Schwarz 03-11-2003 530iA Sport (CK39185). T-boned 03-01-2017 at 155,861mi.
    Take 2 "Otto" - Toledo Blue/Sandbeige 04-25-2002 530iA Sport (CH98032). Sold 11-10-2017 at 147,743mi.
    Take 3 "Manuel" - Toledo Blue/Grau 10-29-2001 530i5 Sport (CE92358). Sold 02-01-2019 at 217,600mi. I regret that. Build Log
    Reliable P.O.S. - Green/gray 1995 Camry V6 LE. 270k mi. Sold for space.

  24. #974
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Tempe, AZ
    Posts
    7,657
    My Cars
    1995 525i/5
    At this point I've put about 600 miles on the tires and they've been wonderful. I still have a slight shake between 70-80mph but I think that's a balancing issue— the tire shop that mounted the tires had some new guy do it and I don't think he knew what he was doing. I'll get that fixed soon enough but it's more of a minor nuisance at this point. Not having the steering wheel shaking violently between 50-60mph is really nice though, I missed having smooth highway on-ramp pulls from 0-80.

    The grip is just phenomenal— I seriously have trouble breaking these loose, whereas with previous tires I could easily get that DSC light flickering. I've driven them in the rain as well and they did not disappoint. I haven't been able to drive my car past 80mph for a while because of bad tires, but now it's like a whole new car. I find myself speeding entirely too much because of how good 90mph feels on these tires. The car is just glued to the road, and it doesn't wander at all. On broken pavement and bumpy roads the tires still feel good; they have enough pliability to soak up imperfections without being harsh, which was a big complaint I had with the Hankooks. My initial impression of these tires is very positive, but we'll see how they hold up long-term with the Arizona heat and my aggressive driving.

    Today I changed the oil in the 540it... 210,905 miles. About 9,000 miles since the last oil change, oops! On the bright side, the oil that came out didn't look bad at all. I've been so busy fixing other people's cars that I forgot to change the oil in this one, haha. I'm gonna be more punctual with the next oil change for sure. The oil I used was the Liqui-Moly 5W40, which was a bit pricey but seemed to work wonders in my friend's 200k mile 540it. It definitely worked nicely for my 540it as well, with far less startup rattle and less lifter noise overall. I'm pretty happy with it for now.

    After the oil change I went and got an alignment, so now the 540it drives pretty straight and won't be prematurely ruining the tires. It wasn't too far out of spec, and the guy at the shop said I did a pretty good job on the suspension install.
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  25. #975
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    North OC, CA
    Posts
    3,327
    My Cars
    01 M5 TiAg/M1SW
    Ah, you should be fine on the long intervals. LiquiMoly is at least as good as the stuff BMW recommends.
    Nate J.

    (oOO\ (|||)º(|||) /OOo)
    Titanium Silver/Black Nappa Full 07-18-2001 E39 M5 Heritage (BZ99672). 198,000mi+. Increasing daily. Engine rebuild thread.
    (eŌō\ (||||)º(||||) / ōŌe)
    Alpineweiss III/Black Merino Full 03-26-2007 E60 M5 Manual (CX08265). 157,000+. Dead starter -_-

    RIP, Seabiscuit. Black Sapphire/Schwarz 03-11-2003 530iA Sport (CK39185). T-boned 03-01-2017 at 155,861mi.
    Take 2 "Otto" - Toledo Blue/Sandbeige 04-25-2002 530iA Sport (CH98032). Sold 11-10-2017 at 147,743mi.
    Take 3 "Manuel" - Toledo Blue/Grau 10-29-2001 530i5 Sport (CE92358). Sold 02-01-2019 at 217,600mi. I regret that. Build Log
    Reliable P.O.S. - Green/gray 1995 Camry V6 LE. 270k mi. Sold for space.

Page 39 of 45 FirstFirst ... 142930313233343536373839404142434445 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. 2001 540i Touring/Wagon Sales Brouchure
    By ZM Blue Devil in forum 1996 - 2003 (E39)
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 05-24-2006, 10:56 PM
  2. E34 540i Touring: Problems???
    By e30-323ti in forum 1988 - 1996 (E34)
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 01-18-2006, 09:30 PM
  3. Difference between 540i touring and sports???
    By sirc1228 in forum 1988 - 1996 (E34)
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 06-03-2004, 02:34 PM
  4. 540i Touring 3.46 LSD W/Black Rims
    By 95m3sc in forum 1988 - 1996 (E34)
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 07-23-2003, 04:11 PM
  5. 540i Touring....very quick touring that is
    By 95m3sc in forum General BMW and Automotive Discussion sponsored by Intercity Lines
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 07-16-2003, 10:30 PM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •