Danny's Japan Rot 540i Touring Thread

[dannyzabolotny]

Ah, you should be fine on the long intervals. LiquiMoly is at least as good as the stuff BMW recommends.

I wasn't running Liqui-Moly before, that's what I put in this time around. Up until this oil change, I've been running Mobil 1 0W40 for the whole time I've owned the car. Should still be fine since that's a relatively high-quality synthetic oil, but I'd ultimately rather stick to slightly shorter intervals because I do push the engine pretty hard and the heat here is intense. Today I was doing some pulls against my friend in his S54-powered Z3 Coupe, redlining my engine with it being 112ºF outside.

[dannyzabolotny]

Washed the touring and had a little photoshoot with it today, though I had to hurry a bit to avoid getting hit by the gnarly dust storm.









For 211,000 miles, it still cleans up really nicely. It's bittersweet, because these are also the photos for my sale ad for the touring. I've had some great times with the touring and I'll definitely miss it... just typing that makes me sad. I had great plans for the touring but unfortunately a lack of time and money have prevented most of them from happening. Though that's life, I guess.

Why am I selling it? I don't really have much of a need for a wagon these days. I'm not a mobile mechanic anymore so all my tools stay at the shop and not in the back of the touring like they used to be. Aside from that, I didn't use the touring for much other than the occasional haul, and for that I still have my E34 touring which I'm keeping around. I feel a lot better using the E34 touring for moving stuff around because it's super beat up already, whereas I felt bad getting the 540it dirty because it's such a nice car.

Also, the red touring has been a royal cop magnet. Some people say it isn't true that red cars get pulled over more, but I think it is. Most of the times I've been pulled over while going with the flow of traffic, I'm never the one speeding ahead of everybody. The other day I got two tickets, one for going 84 in a 65 despite the fact that *everybody* around me was doing that speed, and another because the cop found something wrong with my plate (which is the DMV's fault but ugh). So in 2 years I've gotten 4 tickets, and all in this car. I've had other cars that I've driven like a complete moron (M5, M3, Corvette, Mustang) but zero tickets in those.

The last reason is that every time I drive an E39 sedan it just seems to handle better to me. The touring air suspension is a pretty nifty design but I've found it to be hard to dial in to my liking. The ride height is easy to set but the damping and shock absorption still leaves a lot to be desired, even with new Konis and new subframe bushings. I've driven other tourings that had a decent ride so maybe mine is just weird.

The next move for me is likely going to be a 540i/6. I liked the last one I had so once the touring sells I'll keep my eye out for a decent 540i/6. Better fuel economy, a quieter interior, and still looks great IMO. I think more than anything I just want a change after two years. I'm tired of the M-Pars as well so the next car will have different wheels.

Thanks for tuning into my ramblings over the years, it means a lot to me

[cheapE46]

Sorry you have to let her go man. She is definitely an attention seeker. Best of luck!

[peter540]

Really, Danny? You're so close to getting this car where you want it! I'm confident you could sort out the suspension/ride quality issue, and you're THIS close to converting it to a 6-speed. MY suggestion is that you NOT get rid of this car, but make the improvements you'd hoped to make. With the manual tranny, it'll seem like a completely different car.

Every time I've started to get a (minor) inclination to get rid of my '03 540/6, I make some minor improvement, and I love the car even more than before. I bet that'd be the case for you with the Touring, too.

Plus, one could argue that the wagon is the better-looking car over the sedan. If I had it to do over again, I'd have likely looked for a Touring, myself. But then, I bought my car 11 1/2 years ago, and I wasn't married and didn't yet have kids. The extra utility the wagon offers is now something that would be a HUGE plus.

--P

[philly98540]

You really must need the cash from what I'm reading here. Take a pause and rethink this. You will likley come to regret the sale. A red tour is not an easy find.

[Mannyf540]

That red touring is a beauty, if your going to sell it. Get what it’s worth. Put that bad boy on BAT, since it’s been blessed by Dan the man himself!!

Someone is bound to appreciate all the extensive maintenance you performed on it!

Good luck with the new shop, I plan to take my 335 to you when I’ve got things sorted out. It will need a transplant and maybe we can make it a stick. For now she’s in her slumber in my backyard.

[dannyzabolotny]

Sorry you have to let her go man. She is definitely an attention seeker. Best of luck!

I still love the color though...

Really, Danny? You're so close to getting this car where you want it! I'm confident you could sort out the suspension/ride quality issue, and you're THIS close to converting it to a 6-speed. MY suggestion is that you NOT get rid of this car, but make the improvements you'd hoped to make. With the manual tranny, it'll seem like a completely different car.

Every time I've started to get a (minor) inclination to get rid of my '03 540/6, I make some minor improvement, and I love the car even more than before. I bet that'd be the case for you with the Touring, too.

Plus, one could argue that the wagon is the better-looking car over the sedan. If I had it to do over again, I'd have likely looked for a Touring, myself. But then, I bought my car 11 1/2 years ago, and I wasn't married and didn't yet have kids. The extra utility the wagon offers is now something that would be a HUGE plus.

--P

Well with the 6-speed swap, my biggest issue is the lack of money to buy the new parts I'd want for the swap, like the clutch, shifter bushings, SSK, shift boot, shift knob, clutch lines, etc. I wouldn't want to cheap out and regret it later. Though I guess I could always throw it on the credit card... I'm in 5 digits of debt already, what's a little more, right?

You really must need the cash from what I'm reading here. Take a pause and rethink this. You will likely come to regret the sale. A red tour is not an easy find.

Yeah, every time I think it over I end up changing my mind, haha. Life's difficult when you're a cash-strapped person with a car that needs money. I'm not starving or missing rent by any means, just have a bunch of debt. But maybe keeping the 540it is the right thing to do.

That red touring is a beauty, if your going to sell it. Get what it’s worth. Put that bad boy on BAT, since it’s been blessed by Dan the man himself!!

Someone is bound to appreciate all the extensive maintenance you performed on it!

Good luck with the new shop, I plan to take my 335 to you when I’ve got things sorted out. It will need a transplant and maybe we can make it a stick. For now she’s in her slumber in my backyard.

When'd you get a 335i?!

[geargrinder]

Hey brother... I'm the first oldfart to tell y'all kiddies to save yer beans and don't run up the CC's. (Do like I say not like I did-when-I-when-I-wuz-you-age... )

But I kinda agree w the Philly sentiment... Think carefully. Red Tourings don't fall off trees. And there's value "a car you know all the warts on", even if it still has warts (you've had enough cars to know every damn car has 10-50 things that you only find out over time...)

Also... "how much debt is that really gonna pay off...?" I mean, if it was like some motorcycle or a boat that you love but don't really use a lot and is a dime a dozen and you can always buy another and it'd chunk your monthly pay down significantly.. yeah for SURE I'd be the voice of oldfartreason. But - SADLY - how much is an old 211k E39 wagon gonna get these days... ? Not much I'm afraid... even w/ the Shiny Red premium.

As a compromise with your "fiscally responsible urges" maybe you just take it off the road, stash it in the garage under a cover and express your fiscal-discipline via learning to accept not buying all the swap parts and next-level-suspension etc. etc. parts that you are dying to put into it..? Then come back to it at some future point when you're a bit more flush...

That said, I do agree you got a bit of overlap there w/ the 2 tourings... I am a full proponent of making sure your stable has some sensible diversity... that's what keeps you loving all your cars... when I had the 2 'verts it was too much the same... even though they were totally different in other ways, I'm not rich enough to justify the "slow vintage semi-beater vert" AND the "razor handling minty vert" as 2 driveway space-takers. So w the (kewl) E34 beaterwagon, yeah I can see why you're questioning your setup...

[dannyzabolotny]

So I had some downtime at the shop today and I took peter540's advice and just started fixing minor little stuff that bugged me.

First I started off with the loose, rattly hatch. It always seemed like it wasn't fully closed, even when it was fully latched. It's gotten worse over the past few months so I started looking around for ways to adjust the latch mechanism. Lo and behold, I found that the three screws that hold on the latch have slots in the bolt holes for adjustments. They're all easily accessible too— two on the outside of the latch and one that's accessible from inside the hatch with the tool compartment opened. After adjusting the latch, the hatch finally closes fully and sits really tightly. No more rattling around and the interior seems much quieter overall!

Encouraged by my victory with the hatch, I continued working on the other stuff that bothered me. I removed one of the trims on the glass section that was loose, figuring it was better to just leave it out rather than having it rattle. Then I turned my focus to the rear wiper arm, which always sat at a stupid angle, as you can see in the pics above. After a bit of fiddling I figured out how to remove the wiper arm, and I was able to reposition it to sit properly:



With that done, I finally did something about the stupidly loose and cracked hatch handle. That's the little piece on the touring that contains the hatch actuator and the license plate lights. Given that my hatch struts have been close to dead for a while, all the stress of pulling up the hatch by that trim place loosened it up pretty badly. I removed it to assess the damage and it looks like 3 out of 4 of the metal studs that hold it in place had broken out completely. So I'll order a new one, the piece is something like $80 from FCP Euro. I was able to carefully pry the painted bit off of mine so hopefully I'll be able to reuse it with the new part and avoid doing expensive paintwork. For now, this is how the touring looks without the handle piece. I can still open the hatch with the remote key or by opening the glass and pulling the emergency release tab.



So who knows, maybe the 540it is sticking around a bit longer...

[dannyzabolotny]

Hey brother... I'm the first oldfart to tell y'all kiddies to save yer beans and don't run up the CC's. (Do like I say not like I did-when-I-when-I-wuz-you-age... )

But I kinda agree w the Philly sentiment... Think carefully. Red Tourings don't fall off trees. And there's value "a car you know all the warts on", even if it still has warts (you've had enough cars to know every damn car has 10-50 things that you only find out over time...)

Also... "how much debt is that really gonna pay off...?" I mean, if it was like some motorcycle or a boat that you love but don't really use a lot and is a dime a dozen and you can always buy another and it'd chunk your monthly pay down significantly.. yeah for SURE I'd be the voice of oldfartreason. But - SADLY - how much is an old 211k E39 wagon gonna get these days... ? Not much I'm afraid... even w/ the Shiny Red premium.

As a compromise with your "fiscally responsible urges" maybe you just take it off the road, stash it in the garage under a cover and express your fiscal-discipline via learning to accept not buying all the swap parts and next-level-suspension etc. etc. parts that you are dying to put into it..? Then come back to it at some future point when you're a bit more flush...

That said, I do agree you got a bit of overlap there w/ the 2 tourings... I am a full proponent of making sure your stable has some sensible diversity... that's what keeps you loving all your cars... when I had the 2 'verts it was too much the same... even though they were totally different in other ways, I'm not rich enough to justify the "slow vintage semi-beater vert" AND the "razor handling minty vert" as 2 driveway space-takers. So w the (kewl) E34 beaterwagon, yeah I can see why you're questioning your setup...

Yeah, I wouldn't be paying much debt off with selling the 540it... even if I got some decent money for it I'd have to throw a bunch of that money into another car so in the end it wouldn't really be a huge improvement to my financial situation. The 540it is my daily driver so if I were to sell it I would immediately need another car, as neither the M3 nor the E34 have good AC (which is an absolute must in Phoenix).

And yes if I got into another 540i/6 (which is what I was planning on replacing the 540it with) I'd be getting into yet another old BMW with all sorts of issues. I guess it's easy to forget that and get caught up in that new (to me) car feeling.

So in the meantime the 540it is staying. I feel stupid flip-flopping on my decisions all the time though.

[peter540]

Glad you came to your senses, Danny. That car is closer to where you want it to be than you may realize. Look for other small "victory repairs" that you can do to fall back in love with your car.

[Mannyf540]

I still love the color though...



Well with the 6-speed swap, my biggest issue is the lack of money to buy the new parts I'd want for the swap, like the clutch, shifter bushings, SSK, shift boot, shift knob, clutch lines, etc. I wouldn't want to cheap out and regret it later. Though I guess I could always throw it on the credit card... I'm in 5 digits of debt already, what's a little more, right?



Yeah, every time I think it over I end up changing my mind, haha. Life's difficult when you're a cash-strapped person with a car that needs money. I'm not starving or missing rent by any means, just have a bunch of debt. But maybe keeping the 540it is the right thing to do.



When'd you get a 335i?!

I got about 2 years ago, I killed it with a crazy tune.
So I need a new motor. Should of kept the JB4.

Here she is in action.

https://youtu.be/YTQ8tAKdnTU

[blackknight530i]

Yeah, I wouldn't be paying much debt off with selling the 540it... even if I got some decent money for it I'd have to throw a bunch of that money into another car so in the end it wouldn't really be a huge improvement to my financial situation. The 540it is my daily driver so if I were to sell it I would immediately need another car, as neither the M3 nor the E34 have good AC (which is an absolute must in Phoenix).

And yes if I got into another 540i/6 (which is what I was planning on replacing the 540it with) I'd be getting into yet another old BMW with all sorts of issues. I guess it's easy to forget that and get caught up in that new (to me) car feeling.

So in the meantime the 540it is staying. I feel stupid flip-flopping on my decisions all the time though.

Yeah, just look at my new project touring. I still love my 530it/6 wagon because it's mechanically sorted and mostly sorted otherwise, just has some dents in the hood and fender from the hail. I go and buy a 540it that looks great in pics, but then I see all the little things that I've already sorted out on my 530it/6 and realize that I really am going to have to do it all over again on this car. Point is, I can't really see much benefit from selling the blue wagon, so I'll likely keep both unless someone offers me a really good deal on the blue one for the powertrain/drivetrain. Your red wagon sure seems pretty well sorted in comparison, so like the others have said, I agree that you should keep it and finish the last few things to make it right. As long as the body is good and doesn't need a ton of paint/body work, the mechanical stuff is pretty easy for most people to do. Fix the things that bug you the most and enjoy it. Eventually, it will be perfect and you won't see the need to buy anything newer. That's where I'm at.

[computiNATEor]

I say keep it. It's a very cool, very special car (obviously IMO), and others mentioned, it's going to be at the bottom of the market/depreciation curve now.

[dannyzabolotny]

Glad you came to your senses, Danny. That car is closer to where you want it to be than you may realize. Look for other small "victory repairs" that you can do to fall back in love with your car.

Yeah, I need to just commit to doing more little repairs here and there, that stuff makes me a lot happier with the car. Prior to today, I hadn't really worked on the touring in a while. I guess the best way to stay close to your E39 is to fix stuff on it!

I got about 2 years ago, I killed it with a crazy tune.
So I need a new motor. Should of kept the JB4.

Here she is in action.

https://youtu.be/YTQ8tAKdnTU

I love how you kept up with that modded Corvette, that's pretty rad. How'd you kill it, leaned out? Lots of N54 guys kill their cars here by tuning too aggressively without adding more fuel. I'm totally down to help you put another engine in it, sounds like a fun project!

Yeah, just look at my new project touring. I still love my 530it/6 wagon because it's mechanically sorted and mostly sorted otherwise, just has some dents in the hood and fender from the hail. I go and buy a 540it that looks great in pics, but then I see all the little things that I've already sorted out on my 530it/6 and realize that I really am going to have to do it all over again on this car. Point is, I can't really see much benefit from selling the blue wagon, so I'll likely keep both unless someone offers me a really good deal on the blue one for the powertrain/drivetrain. Your red wagon sure seems pretty well sorted in comparison, so like the others have said, I agree that you should keep it and finish the last few things to make it right. As long as the body is good and doesn't need a ton of paint/body work, the mechanical stuff is pretty easy for most people to do. Fix the things that bug you the most and enjoy it. Eventually, it will be perfect and you won't see the need to buy anything newer. That's where I'm at.

Yeah, that's what I've come to realize. Even the nicest-looking 540i/6's will need a bunch of work done to them, it would basically be like starting over from square one. The body on my touring is really good, with nice original paint and no rust at all. Mechanically it's solid too, with no check engine lights or anything like that. The engine runs smoothly and takes a beating in stride.

The only real issues are with the suspension, but I'm formulating a plan to tackle that...

I say keep it. It's a very cool, very special car (obviously IMO), and others mentioned, it's going to be at the bottom of the market/depreciation curve now.

Yeah, it's still a high-mileage 540it at the end of the day, the color alone doesn't instantly make it super valuable.

[dannyzabolotny]

So I'm kinda going through the touring in my head and just thinking about everything that bugs me about it. I don't care about the money, I'm just gonna throw stuff on the credit card and worry about that later. I want to be 100% happy with my car already. Without further ado, here's what I've come up with:

- I'm still not happy with the Meyle HD thrust arms. I don't think they're the sole source of the steering wheel shimmy (that's likely due to the crappy alignment that Firestone did... need to yell at them tomorrow). Shimmy aside, they transmit way too much into the steering wheel. I like knowing what's happening with the front wheels, but the HD bushings are just too jarring in my opinion. I also drive on a lot of bad roads, perks of living and working in semi-ghetto areas. I contacted FCP Euro and they said I could mail the Meyle HD thrust arms back for a refund, so I'll buy some Lemforder thrust arms and just be done with it.

- The hatch handle is $95 and will be well worth every penny when I can go to the grocery store and open my hatch without the handle falling off. That'll certainly make it feel like a much newer car when it's all solid again.

- On that same note, I'm tired of the hatch hitting my head if I'm ever on the slightest slope or don't have it opened 100%. Time to do the hatch and glass struts. I heard it's a bit of a pain but there are plenty of threads about it and I have a bunch of pry bars so I'm sure I can figure it out.

- The tan interior is just icky at this point, especially the driver's seat. Even with a lot of cleaning, the seat leather is just falling apart. There are cargo area trim panels that are cracked and rattling around on bumps. The solution is just to suck it up and do the interior swap. I pulled some of the cargo area panels off, might as well start swapping to black from back to front, little by little. It's pretty hot outside and I don't have whole days to dedicate to this like I used to, but I'm sure if I can do an hour of work here and there I'll eventually get it done. Even if the touring looks a little disheveled inside during this process, I'd rather have that than just having the black interior sitting in my house forever (though my cat does love sleeping on the seats).

- My front and rear wiper blades are trash, they make awful scraping noises and do more harm than good. Replacing them is easy, no idea why I still haven't done it. Now that Phoenix is in the monsoon season with semi-regular thunderstorms, it's as good of a time as ever to replace them. FCP Euro has them so they should be the last wiper blades I'll ever need to buy, haha.

- While the rear of the touring feels less clunky with the hatch secured properly, it's still rather harsh on sharp bumps and bad roads. I'm thinking the Meyle HD subframe bushings are to blame for this, since everything else has been ruled out at this point. My friend's 2002 540it with 200k miles on original subframe bushings has a much softer ride in the rear. Hopefully Lemforder subframe bushings ride nicer. They should be much more comfortable, given that they're the OEM part.

Aside from those things, there's the ever-present vibration at 70mph+ in the rear. I just got all four tires roadforce balanced by a high-end wheel shop today, no real change there. I don't think it's a wheel issue at this point, though I'll still troubleshoot that just in case it is. Could wheel bearings be the cause? I don't hear any groaning or grinding and it doesn't seem to be affected by turning, so it certainly doesn't match up with the classic wheel bearing failure symptoms. One other thought I had is that maybe it could be something with the driveshaft? I know I replaced it about a year ago but I've done a lot of aggressive driving with the 540it so it might be worth looking at it again. I feel the vibration/shaking mostly in my seat. It mostly goes away past 80-85mph, but not 100%.

Tomorrow I'm going to put the touring up on all fours and I'll run it in the air with the wheels on and then with the wheels off to see what I can rule out. I figure if it still has the shake with the wheels off then it's definitely a driveshaft issue. It's time to solve this once and for all! Thanks for the encouragement, guys.

[computiNATEor]

If the wheel bearings haven’t been done yet, I think it would be a good idea to replace them. It can’t hurt. Lots of work, though.

[geargrinder]

...but then I see all the little things that I've already sorted out on my 530it/6 and realize that I really am going to have to do it all over again on this car...

This times a billionty.

There's some car-guy "Growing Up" milestone you hit where you start to realize that kind of stuff.

I mean it doesn't mean you don't bite the bullet and say "net net its still worth it" or "screw it I'm willing to buy into a new car" but at least you wake up to that being a reality of buying into a new ride.

When I was pre & post selling my S6, which I sold partially because of too-many-cars-too-few-driveways factor but also because the body and other niggling things just were bugging me (virtually exactly like Danny), I really thought a lot about getting another C4S6 car... trying to find another better body shell and make it the more perfect version of the car I had...

But then I went down the list of stuff I had "sorted" on the old car and realized I'd be working for a year just to get to "catch up" level. Those cars are fantastic / amazing / excellent / fun cars but there's a giant list of "basic modprovements" that you generally want to do to one, let alone getting into the actual long list of $$ performance mods... Unless I bought somebody elses well-done project car, then I'd just be so far back at ground zero and re-doing a million of the basic things and then still sitting there having to buy upgraded manifold and turbo and all suspension and whatnot....

Of course in meantime my bud who owns my old car now takes it to events and wins prizes cuz he had the body done and then fixed up a few of the little things and then took the suspension to the next level and then the next level and the next level beyond that... At least I can take pride in the engine bay when I see it cuz thats still all my work... but there's still the days I wish I'd kept it... ANyway...

- On that same note, I'm tired of the hatch hitting my head if I'm ever on the slightest slope or don't have it opened 100%. Time to do the hatch and glass struts. I heard it's a bit of a pain but there are plenty of threads about it and I have a bunch of pry bars so I'm sure I can figure it out.

Brother its easy peazy lemon squeezy. You're gonna be "WTF is all the fuss about" once you do it. I have a thread with tips someplace but theres other good ones (and one horrifically bad one that stupidly comes up high in Google results where the sh1thead says to drop the headliner and unbolt the mounting balls from inside... do NOT DO THAT EVER!!?!?!?! Moron...)

Just go do that like tomorrow, you'll be blown away by how not a big deal it is and how much happier you are not having the thing sag down onto your noggin.

[blackknight530i]

Brother its easy peazy lemon squeezy. You're gonna be "WTF is all the fuss about" once you do it. I have a thread with tips someplace but theres other good ones (and one horrifically bad one that stupidly comes up high in Google results where the sh1thead says to drop the headliner and unbolt the mounting balls from inside... do NOT DO THAT EVER!!?!?!?! Moron...)

Just go do that like tomorrow, you'll be blown away by how not a big deal it is and how much happier you are not having the thing sag down onto your noggin.

So, JC and I are about to be in an agreement match, LOL. The hatch struts are very easy to do. I've done them on 2 tourings now and mine was even easier than my friend's car, and it was the first time I did it . Long pry bar, a 90 degree pick tool, a couple torx bits are about all you need to do the job. Oh, definitely a good flashlight and preferably a friend to hold said flashlight, though I did find it easier at times to hold it myself while lining up the pry bar. Removing them is super easy. Installing them is slightly more difficult, but if you're lucky, you get the cups snapped onto the ball mounts the first time and it's so satisfying, LOL. This job is another one of those "little things" that I sorted out on my blue wagon that I'll definitely need to do soon on the 540it. They are totally shot.

[purplecty]

So, JC and I are about to be in an agreement match, LOL. The hatch struts are very easy to do. I've done them on 2 tourings now and mine was even easier than my friend's car, and it was the first time I did it . Long pry bar, a 90 degree pick tool, a couple torx bits are about all you need to do the job. Oh, definitely a good flashlight and preferably a friend to hold said flashlight, though I did find it easier at times to hold it myself while lining up the pry bar. Removing them is super easy. Installing them is slightly more difficult, but if you're lucky, you get the cups snapped onto the ball mounts the first time and it's so satisfying, LOL. This job is another one of those "little things" that I sorted out on my blue wagon that I'll definitely need to do soon on the 540it. They are totally shot.

This is the reason enthusiast owned cars should have a higher selling point. All the little things you won't need to do, which any other one you buy would need...

Sent from my SM-N910T3 using Tapatalk

[dannyzabolotny]

I agree on all points. The hatch struts probably aren't as difficult as people make them out to be— I've done all sorts of supposedly "terrible" jobs that turned out to be rather simple, so I'm hoping that's how this works out as well.

I ordered a bunch of stuff at FCP Euro today, RIP wallet. Lemforder subframe bushings, Lemforder thrust arms, wiper blades front & back, hatch & glass shocks, and the hatch handle trim. That should take care of just about all the major annoyances with this car.

I also ordered a set of front BC Coilovers, because I might as well go all in, right? They're super adjustable and have camber plates so I should be able to get my front aligned nicely and avoid wearing out my new tires with all that newly found camber after I lowered the front on the cheap coilovers. Every E39 I've been in with BC Coilovers has been pretty comfortable, even at super low ride heights, so I feel pretty good about it.

Earlier today, Graham and I jacked up the rear of the touring to try and run it in the air to determine what was causing my 70mph shake, but unfortunately my steadily dying battery decided to completely die after it was jacked up. When I jump-started the engine with the portable jumper pack, the self-leveling suspension freaked out and did this:



I'm honestly surprised it got that high up, and it stayed at that height too. Good thing I have new air struts and new ride height sensors, if everything was old it probably would have fallen apart. The way we fixed it was by gently loosening the little plastic air lines that go to the air struts and slowly letting the air out while both of us sat on the rear bumper. After a few minutes it was back to normal, albeit with a self-leveling inactive error on the cluster. My dying battery solved that though, by conking out and resetting everything. The error hasn't come back so that works for me!

On the downside though, it means I finally need to buy a new battery. Little known fact, I've never actually bought a new battery for this car, or any BMW I've owned. With all the other cars I either sold them before that was an issue or I raided my junk battery pile and revived an old battery from a partout. The Bosch battery in this touring was originally from my old X5 4.6is... it died back when I had the X5 so I replaced it with another good used battery and the Bosch battery sat in my shed for the better part of a year before I recharged it and popped it into the touring. I got another 4 months out of it so I'm not complaining. Yes, I am the biggest cheapskate in the world when it comes to batteries, even though I'll happily spend hundreds of dollars on useless cosmetic stuff like bumpers.

I figure I'll buy a new battery with an actual warranty this time, versus buying a cheap used/reman battery. I guess the touring knows that I'm a spending mood...

Oh and I also found that one of the wheel bolts had snapped and fallen off from the rear right wheel... of course it left a chunk of the bolt still in the hub. Time to hit it with an easy-out or something of that sort?

[computiNATEor]

I recommend an AGM battery. They're tougher, and withstand deeper charge/discharge cycles, and require no maintenance. I had one sitting in my parts car for months, and it worked immediately when the old Bosch in my 530i5 started to fade (if I used the auxiliary ventilation feature, the car wouldn't start).

I have a Duralast Platinum H8-AGM, which is now 4 years old. I have never had it discharge or fail to start the car, even when I drove it for about 20 miles w/ a dead alternator. I did buy it a few years back, and I seem to recall paying $120, but they're now $200.

[peter540]

Danny, maybe you'll find that removing and replacing the snapped-off rear wheel bolt will solve your vibration issue in the rear...

[geargrinder]

+1 to Nate’s battery suggestos

also re your vibe, read ScottieDucatis recent posts about discovering his rear axles were the culprit for mystery vibe.

[purplecty]

I think I've seen someone else with a snapped bolt and they were able to remove it with like a needle nose pliers or something small enough to just loosen it up and it fell right out because it was even that tight in there... For batteries and pretty much anything its all about the deal to me. I usually find the best coupon code for advanced auto parts and get their best lead acid for my e38. Usually runs around $100 after the discount when purchased online for store pickup. Here is a link of what should fit your wagon but im not sure you have advanced in AZ?

https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/...49h8/2130012-P

Best one I can find now is 25% off using code
MKT25


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