Danny's Japan Rot 540i Touring Thread

[amancuso]

Nice!

[jp5Touring]

Impressed with how it turned out,that bumper was pretty far gone. Nice effort.

[philly98540]

Yeah, really nice save on a really really messed up bumper. And you leared some great skills!

[dannyzabolotny]

LaFerrari red!

It's actually Japan Red, haha. It should be a really good match— I took the little painted tow hook cover up to the car the other day and it matched extremely well, so I'm pretty stoked.

Looks great Danny. Nice work. Mind if I ask how much you have in the whole project?

Into the bumper repair project or into the whole car itself?

Impressed with how it turned out,that bumper was pretty far gone. Nice effort.

Thanks! I have to give credit to my friend Jeremy for how well it came out. He's been doing body work for more years than I've been alive! Together we formulated a plan of action and made it happen.

Yeah, really nice save on a really really messed up bumper. And you leared some great skills!

My friend said this was the most messed up bumper he's ever worked on. It'll be interesting to see how the repairs hold up over time. I definitely learned a lot about body work and plastic repair, so if I have to do this again in the future it'll be a lot easier (and quicker).

[purplecty]

And more brain cells burned! Nice work! Can't wait to see it mounted!

[TxDarth]

The secret to doing the plastic bumper repairs is using the correct materials - the correct glue and fillers for plastic.

[dannyzabolotny]

And more brain cells burned! Nice work! Can't wait to see it mounted!

Thanks! We used respirators for the whole paint process, and the garage was pretty well ventilated while we did the body work so hopefully brain cell loss is minimal.

The secret to doing the plastic bumper repairs is using the correct materials - the correct glue and fillers for plastic.

Yep. We used an epoxy that's specifically designed for plastic bumpers and a body filler that works with plastic as well. The key is to use materials that can flex— regular bondo won't work on a flexible bumper.

[computiNATEor]

Yep. We used an epoxy that's specifically designed for plastic bumpers and a body filler that works with plastic as well. The key is to use materials that can flex— regular bondo won't work on a flexible bumper.

Heh, I always take a kind of sadistic glee in seeing bumpers where big chunks of bondo have just crumbled away... :P

[TxDarth]

Heh, I always take a kind of sadistic glee in seeing bumpers where big chunks of bondo have just crumbled away... :P

Sadist !!!!!!!!

[cnsorial]

It's actually Japan Red, haha. It should be a really good match— I took the little painted tow hook cover up to the car the other day and it matched extremely well, so I'm pretty stoked.



Into the bumper repair project or into the whole car itself?



Thanks! I have to give credit to my friend Jeremy for how well it came out. He's been doing body work for more years than I've been alive! Together we formulated a plan of action and made it happen.



My friend said this was the most messed up bumper he's ever worked on. It'll be interesting to see how the repairs hold up over time. I definitely learned a lot about body work and plastic repair, so if I have to do this again in the future it'll be a lot easier (and quicker).

Just the bumper project.


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[dannyzabolotny]

Just the bumper project.

Way too much, haha. Bumper was like $200+ on eBay because I insisted on an OEM M5 bumper and not a replica. I don't remember the exact amount, but I do feel like I paid too much considering how damaged the bumper was.

The repair/prep/paint supplies were around $280. Mostly because I insisted on using good primer, good paint, and good clearcoat. The paint alone was like $70 for a pint— good automotive paint is pricey! And then there were the random little things like mixing cups, funnels, sandpaper, new filters for respirators, hardener, reducer, adhesion promoter, etc.

So yeah, it likely would have been cheaper if I had gone to a shop for the paint, though I'm sure with the body work it might have been quite costly. And there would be no guarantee of it being done right since a lot of the local paint shops are complete trash.

Thankfully my friend let me borrow a lot of his painting supplies so this wasn't as expensive as it could have been. He provided the air compressor, the HVLP paint gun, the paint thinner (for cleaning), the respirators, and various other tools. It was a great learning experience for sure though, and I'm pretty pleased with the results. I can't wait to mount the bumper, that'll be happening either today or tomorrow.

The bumper also required a few trims and whatnot, so let's list those: $50 for the side trims (Genuine BMW), $24 for the tow hook cover (Genuine BMW), $30 for the foglights and trims (eBay, because foglights always get wrecked in Arizona), $30 for the grille (eBay again because this will get destroyed), and $23 for the headlight washers (Clemster). I have not bought the fender liners yet but I'll most likely go with aftermarket ones because the OEM ones cost way too much and will get ruined within a year. Or maybe I'll suck it up, buy some OEM ones from FCP Euro, and keep milking that lifetime warranty.

[cnsorial]

Way too much, haha. Bumper was like $200+ on eBay because I insisted on an OEM M5 bumper and not a replica. I don't remember the exact amount, but I do feel like I paid too much considering how damaged the bumper was.

The repair/prep/paint supplies were around $280. Mostly because I insisted on using good primer, good paint, and good clearcoat. The paint alone was like $70 for a pint— good automotive paint is pricey! And then there were the random little things like mixing cups, funnels, sandpaper, new filters for respirators, hardener, reducer, adhesion promoter, etc.

So yeah, it likely would have been cheaper if I had gone to a shop for the paint, though I'm sure with the body work it might have been quite costly. And there would be no guarantee of it being done right since a lot of the local paint shops are complete trash.

Thankfully my friend let me borrow a lot of his painting supplies so this wasn't as expensive as it could have been. He provided the air compressor, the HVLP paint gun, the paint thinner (for cleaning), the respirators, and various other tools. It was a great learning experience for sure though, and I'm pretty pleased with the results. I can't wait to mount the bumper, that'll be happening either today or tomorrow.

The bumper also required a few trims and whatnot, so let's list those: $50 for the side trims (Genuine BMW), $24 for the tow hook cover (Genuine BMW), $30 for the foglights and trims (eBay, because foglights always get wrecked in Arizona), $30 for the grille (eBay again because this will get destroyed), and $23 for the headlight washers (Clemster). I have not bought the fender liners yet but I'll most likely go with aftermarket ones because the OEM ones cost way too much and will get ruined within a year. Or maybe I'll suck it up, buy some OEM ones from FCP Euro, and keep milking that lifetime warranty.

Yep, paint is expensive. I was planning to spray mine myself then decided to just have a shop do it. Guy did a fantastic job and it only costed $200. But then I sprayed my door handles myself and paid $100 for paint (base and clear, already had primer from a previous project).

I was curious to see if it would've been cheaper for you to get a CCA membership and get an OEM bumper from tischer BMW or similar for about $550-600 and get it sprayed for $2-300. The ancillary pieces are a fixed cost since any bumper you buy will require those. Can you not reuse your current headlight washers?

After a wetland and buff it'll look fantastic. It really does make these cars look a lot more modern and aggressive.


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[cnsorial]

Also, I modified my liners to work with the M bumper, you may want to look into that.



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[dannyzabolotny]

Yep, paint is expensive. I was planning to spray mine myself then decided to just have a shop do it. Guy did a fantastic job and it only costed $200. But then I sprayed my door handles myself and paid $100 for paint (base and clear, already had primer from a previous project).

I was curious to see if it would've been cheaper for you to get a CCA membership and get an OEM bumper from tischer BMW or similar for about $550-600 and get it sprayed for $2-300. The ancillary pieces are a fixed cost since any bumper you buy will require those. Can you not reuse your current headlight washers?

After a wetland and buff it'll look fantastic. It really does make these cars look a lot more modern and aggressive.

Even with everything I've invested so far, I'm still at less than the cost of a new OEM M5 bumper. For a cheapskate like me, that's a win. I might still get CCA at some point but I dunno.

My car doesn't have the cold weather package so it never had headlight washers. I'm putting them into the bumper because I like the way they look, plus the bumper already had the holes for them. Also, every M5 had the headlight washers and since I'm a committed ///M-poser I need them too. Maybe I'll retrofit the full system if I ever need it to work.

Also, I modified my liners to work with the M bumper, you may want to look into that.

I remember seeing you post that in another thread and I briefly considered it, but my stock liners are completely destroyed so I need new ones anyways.

[dannyzabolotny]

My friend and I were both busy with other stuff the past week so the bumper is still a work in progress— we sanded down some parts we weren't happy with and plan to do a few touchups at some point soon.

In the meantime I helped my friend get his 2001 540i up and running after it had sat in pieces for over a year. The 239,000 mile engine got a full rebuild with new piston rings, new rod bearings, new main bearings, arp rod bolts, new lifters, new head gaskets, new chain guides, new OSV, rebuilt Vanos units, resealed valley pan, and a bunch more stuff. We timed it using my tools— timing an engine from scratch is certainly an interesting experience, like we had to loosen the cam journals so that we could place each camshaft at TDC manually and lock them into place. We ran into an issue where his DME decided to fry itself, so after fiddling around a bunch, we sent a spare DME that I had laying around to DUDMD along with the EWS and key for coding. That worked out perfectly and now the engine starts and runs beautifully. Now we're just chasing down various oil and coolant leaks from places that I didn't even know were capable of leaking. At this point most of them have been taken care of and my friend is putting miles on the rebuilt engine, getting it ready for emissions.

A few weeks back I went to the local Saturday car show. The touring looked really nice after a good wash and detail:





A cool 1989 Porsche 964 Targa parked next to me with a super similar color paint job. It was owned by a nice older gentleman who put 140k miles on it.



I actually had a dream last night that I was about to drive a black 964 Turbo, but then I woke up right before I could. I was pretty mad at myself for waking up.

Last weekend I helped my friend Graham get his S54-powered Z3 M-Coupe up and running after it had been sitting for like 6 months. We replaced the radiator and radiator hoses, which was a bit of a hassle with how tight the S54 sits inside a Z3. I gotta say, V8 cooling system jobs are a breeze in comparison. We also had to figure out how to re-mount the electric fan on the new radiator. After that was done, we had to get a new battery since the existing one was dead and didn't respond to jump-starting. With the new battery, it started right up and we took it on a short test drive to the gas station. Now there's just an EML error we have to sort out and it should be ready for Bimmerfest. I also introduced Graham to the holy gospel of wagon-dom, and now he understands. His wagon is a Saab, but it has a turbo V6 so it's still pretty darn quick. It's red too, just a little darker.



Lastly, my original key battery decided to completely give out last week. The range had been slowly decreasing until eventually it just stopped unlocking the car. It still worked in the keyhole and to start the car, but it was super inconvenient so I ordered a new key. I went through the BMW Mini Parts Store, as recommended by several other forum members. A new key was only $160 to my door! This was for an OEM BMW key that was already cut and coded to my car. All I needed to send them was my driver's license and registration. I got the key earlier this week and after initializing it worked perfectly! I'm pretty stoked to have a brand new key to replace my worn, 17 year old key. And it didn't cost a fortune either! BMW of North Scottsdale wanted $290 + tax, what a joke.



I'm excited for Bimmerfest West, only one week left! It'll be a busy week for me as I have to finish the bumper, install it, and finish my rear suspension refresh.

[justinca540i]

damn, I was all excited to see a japanrot e39 wagon with m5 font bumper. Disappointment.

[philly98540]

Looking great Danny! Like to see some pics of you buddies rebuild. Is he on here?

[dannyzabolotny]

damn, I was all excited to see a japanrot e39 wagon with m5 font bumper. Disappointment.

Go look at jp5's touring, it's japan red with an M5 bumper. Mine will look basically like that, except with black trims and no lip. I could have just finished the bumper and installed it last week, but there were some really bad drips in the clear that were super visible so we elected to sand them down. Now we just need to redo the clear (and base in some areas) since we had to be pretty aggressive to get the surface smooth.

Looking great Danny! Like to see some pics of you buddies rebuild. Is he on here?

I'm not sure if he has an account on here. I'll ask him to post about it, or at the very least send me some pics so I can post about it. It's a 2001 540i in Orient Blue with a tan interior. It's got style 65 wheels and M bumpers front and back. It's a nice-looking car but it needs some cosmetic help after sitting in the Arizona sun for so long.

[sooch]

Last weekend I helped my friend Graham get his S54-powered Z3 M-Coupe up and running after it had been sitting for like 6 months. We replaced the radiator and radiator hoses, which was a bit of a hassle with how tight the S54 sits inside a Z3. I gotta say, V8 cooling system jobs are a breeze in comparison. We also had to figure out how to re-mount the electric fan on the new radiator. After that was done, we had to get a new battery since the existing one was dead and didn't respond to jump-starting. With the new battery, it started right up and we took it on a short test drive to the gas station. Now there's just an EML error we have to sort out and it should be ready for Bimmerfest. I also introduced Graham to the holy gospel of wagon-dom, and now he understands. His wagon is a Saab, but it has a turbo V6 so it's still pretty darn quick. It's red too, just a little darker.

You worked on an S54 Z3M and didn't include pics.... Sad! Those are the only other BMW thats on my radar currently....

[dannyzabolotny]

You worked on an S54 Z3M and didn't include pics.... Sad! Those are the only other BMW thats on my radar currently....

Well his Z3 Coupe isn't exactly a "proper" S54 Z3 M-Coupe. It started out as a non-M Z3 2.8 and the previous owner paid a racing shop to do a fairly legitimate S54 swap, using an S54 from an E46 M3 (if I remember correctly). So while it has the S54 engine, it still looks like a non-M Z3 Coupe and has the regular Z3 interior. Aside from the super loud exhaust it's actually quite a sleeper. He also has a true Z3 M-Coupe with the S52, but that hasn't ran in forever. That'll be the next thing on our list.

I wish I had taken pictures, but I was too busy swearing and cutting myself on the radiator while trying to install the radiator hoses in the tiniest space ever. That's the kind of stuff that makes me never want a straight-6 powered BMW.

[sooch]

Well his Z3 Coupe isn't exactly a "proper" S54 Z3 M-Coupe. It started out as a non-M Z3 2.8 and the previous owner paid a racing shop to do a fairly legitimate S54 swap, using an S54 from an E46 M3 (if I remember correctly). So while it has the S54 engine, it still looks like a non-M Z3 Coupe and has the regular Z3 interior. Aside from the super loud exhaust it's actually quite a sleeper. He also has a true Z3 M-Coupe with the S52, but that hasn't ran in forever. That'll be the next thing on our list.

I wish I had taken pictures, but I was too busy swearing and cutting myself on the radiator while trying to install the radiator hoses in the tiniest space ever. That's the kind of stuff that makes me never want a straight-6 powered BMW.

Makes sense, but the S54 in my e46 m3 is a dream to work on.... Very little has had to be done on mine, but once the fan and shroud is off it's wayyyyy easier than the v8. Waterpump thermostat is a wink and the vanos is a much tamer animal on the inline 6s. An e46 is a much friendlier engine bay than the z3s

[geargrinder]

Makes sense, but the S54 in my e46 m3 is a dream to work on.... Very little has had to be done on mine, but once the fan and shroud is off it's wayyyyy easier than the v8. Waterpump thermostat is a wink and the vanos is a much tamer animal on the inline 6s. An e46 is a much friendlier engine bay than the z3s

COULD NOT AGREE MORE.

The biggest hassle on the S54 I've had has been that taking the heatshields and SAI crap from above the header was kinda a PITA. But that's like a frickin dream compared to the "jack the engine / drop the subframe to even think about looking at the headers" for the V8's.

Plus it only has about 1/900th of the chronic futzy farty crappy little issues that a BMW V8 has so you hardly have to go in there at all, vs it being a daily occurrence. But we know Danny has weirdo opinions about BMW's and V8's being 'proper BMW engines' and whatnot (aka whacko kids these days, no understanding of history.... ;^) )

Bllbstn aside, I imagine the Z engine room is prob tighter. I think I've heard that they are a bit PITA.

[dannyzabolotny]

Makes sense, but the S54 in my e46 m3 is a dream to work on.... Very little has had to be done on mine, but once the fan and shroud is off it's wayyyyy easier than the v8. Waterpump thermostat is a wink and the vanos is a much tamer animal on the inline 6s. An e46 is a much friendlier engine bay than the z3s

I think it's because the S54 was in a Z3— the Z3 was originally designed with a 4 cylinder in mind, so a 3.2L i6 is a bit of a stretch. Whereas the E46 was designed for an inline 6 from the start.

COULD NOT AGREE MORE.

The biggest hassle on the S54 I've had has been that taking the heatshields and SAI crap from above the header was kinda a PITA. But that's like a frickin dream compared to the "jack the engine / drop the subframe to even think about looking at the headers" for the V8's.

Plus it only has about 1/900th of the chronic futzy farty crappy little issues that a BMW V8 has so you hardly have to go in there at all, vs it being a daily occurrence. But we know Danny has weirdo opinions about BMW's and V8's being 'proper BMW engines' and whatnot (aka whacko kids these days, no understanding of history.... ;^) )

Bllbstn aside, I imagine the Z engine room is prob tighter. I think I've heard that they are a bit PITA.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure an E46 M3 has a lot more room in the engine bay than a Z3. And the S54 needs plenty of stuff too— rod bearings, vanos, regular valve adjustments, fancy expensive oil, etc. If you're comparing the S54 to the S62, the S62 isn't that much more needy, and you get so much more low end torque.

I know BMW is historically known for their straight 6 engines, but I like the torque and sound that the V8 has— it makes the 'Murrican in me happy. I care more about torque than horsepower anyways. And I haven't had to do anything to the engine in this touring— I bought it with 174k miles and it's at around 190k miles now, so that's 16k miles of trouble-free engine running. The valve covers aren't even leaking! Literally the only thing I've done under the hood has been a cooling system refresh, and that's a common E39 issue regardless of which engine you have.

[XAlt]

Any I6 BMW made before 2005 is a breeze to work on, but personally I find the E39 V8 spacious too even if something breaks every other month. Maybe the M70 is just skewing my view of things.

We ran a salvage E46 M3 into ground (previously had the bearings replaced) with no incident, but I'd stiill count on the M60 over it.

[sooch]

I think it's because the S54 was in a Z3— the Z3 was originally designed with a 4 cylinder in mind, so a 3.2L i6 is a bit of a stretch. Whereas the E46 was designed for an inline 6 from the start.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure an E46 M3 has a lot more room in the engine bay than a Z3. And the S54 needs plenty of stuff too— rod bearings, vanos, regular valve adjustments, fancy expensive oil, etc. If you're comparing the S54 to the S62, the S62 isn't that much more needy, and you get so much more low end torque.

I know BMW is historically known for their straight 6 engines, but I like the torque and sound that the V8 has— it makes the 'Murrican in me happy. I care more about torque than horsepower anyways. And I haven't had to do anything to the engine in this touring— I bought it with 174k miles and it's at around 190k miles now, so that's 16k miles of trouble-free engine running. The valve covers aren't even leaking! Literally the only thing I've done under the hood has been a cooling system refresh, and that's a common E39 issue regardless of which engine you have.

BMW v8s are crap compared to the american offerings or even some other companies out there. Let's not get into that issue, cause people may get offended around here!!

S54 -
Rod bearings - can be bulletproofed with multiple diff brands
VANOS - can be bulletproofed w/Beisan. Easy install.
Valve Adjustments - 30-40k miles, which is about 3-4 sometimes even longer because they are not typically DD duty for owners
Fancy oil- Liqui Moly is cheaper than any BMW oil out there

S62
Rod bearings- can be an issue depending on previous owners
VANOS- $$$ double the units, many moving parts
Suspension- while not motor related, heavier car runs through suspension quicker
VCG & Valley Pan- can leak, whereas the S54 a change takes a matter of minutes (no valley pan)
Fancy Oil- Same boat as S54

I think you need a dose of S54 in your life to show you to the other side of BMW. The S54 is not torqueless, just a different experience - one that has made BMW a racing and household name.