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Thread: Danny's Japan Rot 540i Touring Thread

  1. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by RSBBlackM3 View Post
    OH man that red is killer! Come on over to the touring section, its fun and weird over there.

    Im completeing my suspension overhaul this week...its sooo worth it.
    I'll post there if I have any touring-specific questions, but otherwise I think I'm gonna keep this thread here. Don't want to deal with having two concurrent threads haha.

    The suspension definitely needs work in my touring, there's some shimmy around 40-50mph and upon braking. Typical E39 suspension issues. I'll start with the front and then move to the back once the front is good.
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  2. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by dannyzabolotny View Post
    I'll post there if I have any touring-specific questions, but otherwise I think I'm gonna keep this thread here. Don't want to deal with having two concurrent threads haha.

    The suspension definitely needs work in my touring, there's some shimmy around 40-50mph and upon braking. Typical E39 suspension issues. I'll start with the front and then move to the back once the front is good.
    Lemforder is pretty good FYI. ECS has some pretty good kids.

  3. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by justinca540i View Post
    Lemforder is pretty good FYI. ECS has some pretty good kids.
    Yeah, Lemforder is what I'd go with. I don't really like ECS' kits, they're convenient but they often have too many parts or are somewhat overpriced. I get much better prices by ordering parts individually and price-matching all of them. I also prefer to buy from FCP Euro since they have a lifetime warranty on parts.
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  4. #29
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    Nice color. "Arrest me red" we used to call this. Looks in pretty decent shape. Good score.

    Danny has clearly defeated Michael as the king of car flipping on bfc. What's the over under on keeping this one? 4 months?
    98 540i 6, 525 whp, 120 mph 1/4, V3 Si S/C'er @16 psi, W/A I/C, Water/Meth, Supersprint Headers, HJS Cats, 3" Custom Exhaust, UUC Twin Disc, Wavetrac LSD, GC Coil Overs, Monoball TA, AEM FP, Aeromotive FPR, AEM Failsafe AFR/Boost, Style 65's w/275's, M5 Steering Box, Eibach Sways, M3 Shifter, Evans Coolant, 85 Deg Stat, PWM Fan, 10" Subs, B.A. speakers, Grom Aux/BT, Still Rolling as my DD!

  5. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by philly98540 View Post
    Nice color. "Arrest me red" we used to call this. Looks in pretty decent shape. Good score.

    Danny has clearly defeated Michael as the king of car flipping on bfc. What's the over under on keeping this one? 4 months?
    I wouldn't necessarily call it car flipping, the M5 will be the only car that actually makes me money. Usually I just make my money back and move on to a different car. I don't do this for financial gain (because so far I've mostly lost money), it's more so just wanting to try out all sorts of different cars but not being able to afford buying 20 cars all at once.
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  6. #31
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    Started the car earlier today, and even on a cold startup there was not a single rattle to be heard. Wow! I took a quick video of that:



    Side note: the auxiliary cooling fan needs to be replaced. It's extremely noisy and makes the car shake— it's probably out of balance due to age. Pretty common issue.

    I just replaced the FSU, and that appears to have solved the fan speed issue. Now it all works correctly and Auto mode works properly. It was a relatively easy fix, the only annoying part was doing it outside in 105º heat. I was sweating like crazy, and access to the FSU was tight. Thankfully I didn't have to remove the dashboard to replace it, that's only required if you need to replace the blower fan. The old FSU looked quite a bit different, but it was the same part number, as confirmed by RealOEM. The old FSU had a production date of 2004, so it was quite old.

    Photo Jul 07, 1 12 22 PM.jpg

    New one on the left, old one on the right. Both are made by Behr. The design changed quite a few times over the years from what I've read. Those little metal prongs don't really plug into anywhere (they're like sensors that hang around) so that didn't affect how the new FSU fit. The new one fit in just fine, and it snapped into place with a very satisfying click. I love easy jobs like this.

    After that, I replaced the oil filter housing mounts. For whatever reason these were always broken in every E39 I've ever bought. I removed the zip tie hack job and installed the new oil mounts. The old ones were pretty gross and broken, so it was quite satisfying to swap in the new ones.

    Photo Jul 07, 12 57 10 PM.jpg

    After that, I changed the oil filler cap and the power steering reservoir cap o-ring. That's two less leaks to think about.

    Photo Jul 07, 1 05 41 PM.jpg

    All that's left to do in the engine compartment is to replace that nasty old fan shroud, replace the old clutch fan (the previous owner replaced the fan clutch but reused the old fan), and replace that duct-taped washer fluid filler cap. The valve covers don't look great but they just had the valve cover gaskets replaced so I'm not going to mess with those until I have to. At some point I'll get those powdercoated black.

    Photo Jul 07, 12 18 28 PM.jpg

    It's so bright and colorful in my driveway, I love it. Even when it's dirty and covered in dead bugs it still looks like a jewel. The touring body style is such a visually satisfying shape... I'm kicking myself for not buying one of these sooner.
    Last edited by dannyzabolotny; 07-09-2016 at 03:08 AM.
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  7. #32
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    Quote Originally Posted by dannyzabolotny View Post
    Started the car earlier today, and even on a cold startup there was not a single rattle to be heard. Wow! I took a quick video of that:

    YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgGPhtdcPiI

    Side note: the auxiliary cooling fan needs to be replaced. It's extremely noisy and makes the car shake-- it's probably out of balance due to age. Pretty common issue.

    - - - Updated - - -

    I just replaced the FSU, and that appears to have solved the fan speed issue. Now it all works correctly and Auto mode works properly. It was a relatively easy fix, the only annoying part was doing it outside in 105º heat. I was sweating like crazy, and access to the FSU was tight. Thankfully I didn't have to remove the dashboard to replace it, that's only required if you need to replace the blower fan. The old FSU looked quite a bit different, but it was the same part number, as confirmed by RealOEM. The old FSU had a production date of 2004, so it was quite old.

    New one on the left, old one on the right. Both are made by Behr. The design changed quite a few times over the years from what I've read. Those little metal prongs don't really plug into anywhere (they're like sensors that hang around) so that didn't affect how the new FSU fit. The new one fit in just fine, and it snapped into place with a very satisfying click. I love easy jobs like this.

    After that, I replaced the oil filter housing mounts. For whatever reason these were always broken in every E39 I've ever bought. I removed the zip tie hack job and installed the new oil mounts. The old ones were pretty gross and broken, so it was quite satisfying to swap in the new ones.

    After that, I changed the oil filler cap and the power steering reservoir cap o-ring. That's two less leaks to think about.

    All that's left to do in the engine compartment is to replace that nasty old fan shroud, replace the old clutch fan (the previous owner replaced the fan clutch but reused the old fan), and replace that duct-taped washer fluid filler cap. The valve covers don't look great but they just had the valve cover gaskets replaced so I'm not going to mess with those until I have to. At some point I'll get those powdercoated black.

    It's so bright and colorful in my driveway, I love it. Even when it's dirty and covered in dead bugs it still looks like a jewel. The touring body style is such a visually satisfying shape... I'm kicking myself for not buying one of these sooner.
    I like the way the speedo reads "fast"

    The auxiliary fan on the end of the blades have small weights to balance the blades, maybe your missing one.

  8. #33
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    An odd request, but could you post a video of what your aux fan sounds like? Mine is quite noisy compared to other cars, but I have no idea what a normal one should sound like. If it sounds like yours then I'll line up a replacement I guess!

    Looks superb. I really like the present facelift parts with the red, I think it looks fantastic in its own way. Great score !

  9. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by shwy View Post
    An odd request, but could you post a video of what your aux fan sounds like? Mine is quite noisy compared to other cars, but I have no idea what a normal one should sound like. If it sounds like yours then I'll line up a replacement I guess!

    Looks superb. I really like the present facelift parts with the red, I think it looks fantastic in its own way. Great score !
    I'll post a video today probably. It sounds like a lawnmower when the fan is at max speed. Since it's around 110° every day here, the fan is always on the highest setting, and it's louder than anything else in the car. It also makes the car shake a little.

    I don't mind the pre-facelift bits, but I ultimately do want to facelift the car.

    Last night I went and did some more stuff with the car. First on the agenda was replacing a burnt out foglight bulb since it was throwing an error on the cluster. It took a total of 10 minutes, not bad at all. I wasn't sure what bulb was in the working foglight, but the Sylvania H7 bulb I picked up from Walmart ended up matching pretty well.

    Before:



    After:



    Somebody asked about interior pictures earlier in this thread, so here are a few. Sorry if they're a little dark, it was nighttime (aka when I can work on the car without getting sunburnt).





    Everything is in really good shape. No broken buttons and the wood trim is fantastic. No cracking whatsoever, not even on the MID. Garaged cars are the best.

    After I took interior pictures, I started cleaning the interior a bit. Check out the massive difference after like 20 minutes of scrubbing with a leather cleaner.





    If you have sandbeige seats, clean them and be surprised/appalled at what you were sitting on.

    After conditioning the seat that I cleaned, I moved onto replacing the steering wheel. I'm not a big fan of the old style M-Sport steering wheel, it blocks the cluster way too much. I basically just swapped my M5's facelift steering wheel into the wagon. It really makes the wagon interior look a lot more modern, and it's pretty sweet to have a real M5 steering wheel in the wagon, tri-color stitching and all. Once I get the M5 cluster set up for this car I'll be in full-on ///M poser mode

    Before:



    After:



    One interesting thing I noticed while doing this swap was the DSP subwoofer which was blocking access to the battery. A super cool little feature on these tourings is how the DSP subwoofer has a little knob you turn to loosen it so you can swing it out of the way on a hinge. So cool! I love little stuff like this.



    Here's how the interior looked when I was done last night:



    Not a bad place to be.
    Last edited by dannyzabolotny; 07-08-2016 at 01:24 PM.
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  10. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by dannyzabolotny View Post

    One interesting thing I noticed while doing this swap was the DSP subwoofer which was blocking access to the battery. A super cool little feature on these tourings is how the DSP subwoofer has a little knob you turn to loosen it so you can swing it out of the way on a hinge. So cool! I love little stuff like this.


    I thought it was a cool feature too... but since I have the sliding cargo floor that sits a few inches higher, the DSP sub only swings out an inch or two. To gain any sort of access to the battery you have to remove it by unbolting it from the hinges. It's a huge pain in the rear.

  11. #36
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    Quote Originally Posted by augustballer View Post
    I thought it was a cool feature too... but since I have the sliding cargo floor that sits a few inches higher, the DSP sub only swings out an inch or two. To gain any sort of access to the battery you have to remove it by unbolting it from the hinges. It's a huge pain in the rear.
    That is a bummer for sure... I never really saw the point in having the sliding cargo floor, I'm glad I don't have to deal with that.
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  12. #37
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    Wow, Dude, that's a really really great looking car, love the color
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  13. #38
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  14. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by NordmanMg View Post
    Wow, Dude, that's a really really great looking car, love the color
    Thanks! I love the color too

    Quote Originally Posted by dk500 View Post
    Mamamamamanual swap
    Maybe one day. What I want to do sooner is swap in an M5 steering box, the 540i's steering is so damn heavy at low speeds.
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  15. #40
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    Quote Originally Posted by dannyzabolotny View Post
    the 540i's steering is so damn heavy at low speeds.
    Wimp
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    On3 Performance top mount single turbo kit, Precision 6466 Turbo, ECS Tuning charge pipe, 7in FMIC, JB4 w/ MHD backend flash, Stage 3 fuel pump, Port injection, E85, some wheels that came w the car but are thick

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  16. #41
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    Quote Originally Posted by dk500 View Post
    Wimp
    I've been spoiled by the M5's super light and easy steering, it really makes the car feel a lot easier to maneuver. The 540i's steering feels unnecessarily heavy when I drive the two back to back.
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  17. #42
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    This is one hell of a car, man, congrats! Maybe I'd keep the old pre-facelift bits, not sure of how many japanrot 540i tourings where made but I'm sure not much, perhaps in 15 more years having an original red touring means more potential value?
    Diehard E39 driver.
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  18. #43
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    Quote Originally Posted by jicaino View Post
    This is one hell of a car, man, congrats! Maybe I'd keep the old pre-facelift bits, not sure of how many japanrot 540i tourings where made but I'm sure not much, perhaps in 15 more years having an original red touring means more potential value?
    Eh, I highly doubt this touring is going to go up in value, regardless of its rarity or color. It's not an 03 M-Sport and it has 177,000 miles, so it's not a garage queen. Plus here in the US wagons aren't seen as cool or desirable by the majority of the population, which is why we don't get a lot of the wagons that Europe gets.

    I also plan to do a lot of things to this touring so it's not going to be stock for very long.
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  19. #44
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  20. #45
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    Quote Originally Posted by dannyzabolotny View Post
    I've been spoiled by the M5's super light and easy steering, it really makes the car feel a lot easier to maneuver. The 540i's steering feels unnecessarily heavy when I drive the two back to back.
    U can't complain about it till you try driving a 540i without PS

  21. #46
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    Quote Originally Posted by dk500 View Post
    I want a wagon so bad
    I'll trade you my wagon for your 540
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  22. #47
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    Quote Originally Posted by ColtonBH View Post
    I'll trade you my wagon for your 540
    I want a working, non salvage title wagon so bad.
    E90 335i
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    6 spd swap, "Almost Nardo" Vinyl Wrap, JB Racing LTW flywheel, M5 clutch & control, BC
    Racing
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  23. #48
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    I wanna F30/80

  24. #49
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    Wagons are awesome. Sorry y'all, but I'm not letting go of this one. I'll be selling the M5 and the 540i/6 in the near future and just keeping this wagon as my only E39.

    Anyways, I washed/waxed the touring this morning. Started at 9am, finished at around 2pm. It was like 105º while washing the car outside, so that was definitely a labor of love right there. After washing the wheels and then the car, I drove it into the garage and clay barred the whole car, using soap as lubricant. After that, I rinsed the car off, dried it fully with a large microfiber towel (to prevent water spots from hard water drying on the paint), restored the trim using Mother's Back To Black, cleaned all of the glass thoroughly, polished the car, waxed it, and then applied some tire shine to finish it off. At some point in the near future I want to buy a proper DA and some compound and do a really thorough paint correction to get rid of the swirls and scratches from the previous owners.

    I drove it around a bunch after that, and then around sunset I decided to take some pictures of it. My DSLR battery was dead so I ended up using my iPhone SE since I didn't want the perfect lighting to go to waste with a freshly cleaned car. Time for some picture spam!















    Man, Japan Red cleans up so well. It looks stunning with just a basic detail. If the car looks this good with the current setup, I can't imagine how awesome it'll look with facelift headlights, taillights, and M-tech bumpers.



    As you can see, the driver's seat cleaned up really nicely, as did the armrest. The M5 steering wheel really ties it all together. Excuse the gross carpets, I'll be getting new floor mats relatively soon and then I'll give the carpet a good shampooing.



    The backseat area is in fairly good shape as well, it just needs some cleaning and some new rear cupholders, along with getting that broken seat pocket fixed.



    The cargo area is decent, but it could really benefit from some vacuuming and shampooing. The cargo cover needs a bit of cleaning as well. All in due time, I suppose.
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  25. #50
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    Beautiful. Nothing in the back that the little carpet scrubber can't take care of.

    I guess your GF is happy. A Touring is a subliminal sign that you're read for a family
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