I feel the change of oil. I went from 0W-40 Mobil 1 to 5W-30 high mileage Mobil 1 and my engine seems a little quieter.
Win/win that my truck also uses 5W-30 so a couple of those Amazon 5 quart jugs really keep the cost down.
1999 528i Touring - Alpine White
1995 525i 5-speed - Thread
Hey I used to live in that building from the OP.
Nice car, man.
-E
Last edited by alas26; 07-17-2016 at 06:52 AM.
Did you notice any difference with 10W40? My engine was quieter when I switched to it.
E90 335i
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
E39 540i (SOLD)
6 spd swap, "Almost Nardo" Vinyl Wrap, JB Racing LTW flywheel, M5 clutch & control, BC Racingcoilovers, cat back straight pipe, E60 SSK, ZHP shift knob, hard wired aux, Style 32 17", BFG G-force Sport Comp-2 tires, shadow-line trim, reenforced differential bushing, ATE Type 200, Hawk HP Plus pads, intake res delete, 10W40 M1, trans fill 50/50 Redline MT-90 & 75w90NS, solid shifter carrier bushing, pixel fix, red needles
late to this party Danny but just to correct your assumption... the waggie didn't come w/ staggered setups. square is proper for Touring.
not to say don't stagger if you want, just sayin'... yer posts imply you think it's a defect but it's not... that's how they rolled off the showroom...
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)
Swap the S62/420G in and part the M5 out, keep the 6 spd from the 540i/6 as spare and put together a 540iA or part the other car too, it will make more money in the end than selling them as whole cars. ;-)
Diehard E39 driver.
I'd rather die or take a walk before driving an E60 or any BMW made after Y2K.
"Your momma's so ugly she makes Bangle cars look nice"
-Paul
2003 "M5" - Full M5 conversion, AMG C63S 6 piston front calipers, Porsche Panamera 4 piston rear calipers, GC Coilovers, Eibach ARBs, UUC Evo3/DSSR, Borla Exhaust w/Muffler Delete, BMW NBT with Carplay/Android Auto, Bi-Xenons, e38 Style 37 M-Pars, e60 Hubs 530i 6-speed swap build thread2005 Range Rover 4.6is (M62TU Powered) - 4.6is Engine Swap from X5, BMW NBT with Carplay/Android Auto
2006 Porsche Cayman S - Soul Performance Competition Headers and Exhaust, H&R Coilovers, 718 Boxster Spyder wheels, Rennline 35mm rear spacers
Congrats on the car, always loved the red. Searched for an E34 in red for years and gave up lol. Also dig the steering wheel, I need to do the conversion so I can run it!
And is it only me that likes the pre-facelift xenons?
Diehard E39 driver.
I'd rather die or take a walk before driving an E60 or any BMW made after Y2K.
"Your momma's so ugly she makes Bangle cars look nice"
The building in the first picture of this thread? That was just some building in Long Beach, CA. I live in the Phoenix area, more specifically Chandler.
I can't say I've noticed a huge difference, but the engine runs pretty well. We'll see how it behaves when it gets a little cooler here in Phoenix, because right now even a "cold" startup is in 90º+ weather.
I'm aware that wagons never came with staggered wheels, but these aren't the original wheels anyways. This wagon originally came with style 32's according to the build sheet, much like most other 540i wagons at the time. I do plan to have staggered wheels though, because I think they look awesome and I like the extra grip when I'm hooning it.
I'm not doing any of that. The M5 is mostly functional and isn't a salvage title, so I'd rather sell it as a whole running car. Parting out E39's is a pain in the ass honestly, especially here in Phoenix. It's mostly just broke people that want to haggle everything down to $20. It took forever to part out the 2001 540i that I had, and I still have a bunch of parts left over. I don't want to deal with shipping either.
And with the 2000 540i/6, I bought it for so little that even if I sell it for bottom dollar I'll still make a very healthy profit. So I'm not parting that one out either.
Thanks! Finding an non-M5 E39 in red is tricky indeed, which is why I more or less impulse-bought this car. I saw it, booked a flight the same day, and flew out to get it.
I actually don't mind the function of the pre-facelift xenons, they light things up pretty well. My only gripes are with the dated appearance and the broken adjusters that make the lights bounce up and down on every little bump.
1995 525i 5-speed - Thread
Yep, first picture. Small world.
-E
After gathering parts for a week, I decided to tackle changing the transmission fluid and filter earlier today. I got the touring up on all fours, which was pretty easy. Then I climbed under it and realized holy cow it is hot under there! It was around 110ºF outside, and under the car it was like 120-130ºF by my estimates. I didn't even drive the car much today, but it sat outside for the last few days so it's just been absorbing triple-digit heat. I was drenched in sweat after about 30 seconds of being under the car, which is always fun.
After briefly questioning my decisions in life, I proceeded to loosen the fill bolt and the drain bolt. Both came loose without too much drama thanks to my 3/4" breaker bar. The fluid that drained out was pretty black, and it was scalding hot. Good thing I was wearing 7mm thick nitrile gloves, otherwise I probably would have gotten burned. I literally couldn't touch anything for more than a second without feeling like I was on fire. That made things interesting for sure. After the oil drained out, I decided to go take a break and let the car cool off inside the garage.
I came back to working on the car later in the evening, after the sun had set. It was a lot more tolerable under the car at that point. I started removing the T27 Torx bolts, and of course I ended up stripping 4 of them. Ugh. I'll pick up some new bolts from AutohausAZ tomorrow, but getting these bolts out is going to be frustrating. I tried using a bolt extractor, which didn't work too well because I couldn't find my adjustable wrench and pliers didn't work very well with the bolt extractor. So I guess I'll have to buy an adjustable wrench as well. Any other good tips for removing stripped Torx bolts?
I hate Torx bolts, it seems like these are the only kind of bolts I ever strip. Maybe I need to buy new Torx bits as well, all of mine are old and rounded from a year of heavy wrenching.
1995 525i 5-speed - Thread
Might want to get a ribe drive set, I know some torx looking bolts on are cars are ribe drive, correct me if I'm wrong.
The 5HP24 oil pan screws are specifically torx though. That's what literally every set of instructions says, including the official ones from ZF (the transmission manufacturer). The only place on the car that uses something resembling Ribe is the CCV on the back of the intake manifold.
1995 525i 5-speed - Thread
-Paul
2003 "M5" - Full M5 conversion, AMG C63S 6 piston front calipers, Porsche Panamera 4 piston rear calipers, GC Coilovers, Eibach ARBs, UUC Evo3/DSSR, Borla Exhaust w/Muffler Delete, BMW NBT with Carplay/Android Auto, Bi-Xenons, e38 Style 37 M-Pars, e60 Hubs 530i 6-speed swap build thread2005 Range Rover 4.6is (M62TU Powered) - 4.6is Engine Swap from X5, BMW NBT with Carplay/Android Auto
2006 Porsche Cayman S - Soul Performance Competition Headers and Exhaust, H&R Coilovers, 718 Boxster Spyder wheels, Rennline 35mm rear spacers
Lovely car, gorgeous colour and a great write-up!
Will keep my eyes peeled for this thread
My car: 2002 E39 540i Sport - Japanese import - the new project!
1995 525i 5-speed - Thread
-Paul
2003 "M5" - Full M5 conversion, AMG C63S 6 piston front calipers, Porsche Panamera 4 piston rear calipers, GC Coilovers, Eibach ARBs, UUC Evo3/DSSR, Borla Exhaust w/Muffler Delete, BMW NBT with Carplay/Android Auto, Bi-Xenons, e38 Style 37 M-Pars, e60 Hubs 530i 6-speed swap build thread2005 Range Rover 4.6is (M62TU Powered) - 4.6is Engine Swap from X5, BMW NBT with Carplay/Android Auto
2006 Porsche Cayman S - Soul Performance Competition Headers and Exhaust, H&R Coilovers, 718 Boxster Spyder wheels, Rennline 35mm rear spacers
If I think some bolts are going to give me headaches, I take a piece of brass or copper, and a BFH and give em a couple whacks square on the head. The shock wave sent thru the bolt helps to loosen the threads. It works really good on counter sunk flat head screws. Some times they get loose enough that they almost come out with your fingers.
None of these bolts are all that tight, apparently I've just been using the wrong Torx bit this whole time (T27 vs T30). Any tips on removing a bolt after I've drilled it all up? Last night I got really mad at one bolt and just kinda drilled in every direction so it's a bit of a mess. I'm picking up a bunch of new bolts at AutohausAZ later today, so I'm not worried about being able to reuse these bolts.
1995 525i 5-speed - Thread
Alot of people can't agree with this method because if your not steady you can damage the pan. That being said if you have a chisel and a hammer you can take the head clean off and after the pan is off you can unscrew whats left usually by hand or with a pair of vice grips easily. A trip to harbor freight will be cheap if you don't have them already. Alternatively you can do it with a grinder as well but must be really steady. I've used both methods on 2 540is, a 740I and, and an x5.
1995 525i 5-speed - Thread
Be careful though. Don't want to damage a mating surface.
E90 335i
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
E39 540i (SOLD)
6 spd swap, "Almost Nardo" Vinyl Wrap, JB Racing LTW flywheel, M5 clutch & control, BC Racingcoilovers, cat back straight pipe, E60 SSK, ZHP shift knob, hard wired aux, Style 32 17", BFG G-force Sport Comp-2 tires, shadow-line trim, reenforced differential bushing, ATE Type 200, Hawk HP Plus pads, intake res delete, 10W40 M1, trans fill 50/50 Redline MT-90 & 75w90NS, solid shifter carrier bushing, pixel fix, red needles
I've never had a problem with it sealing considering the mating surface is on the other side of the pan. I suppose if the angle was too steep with your chisel you could put a dent in it but you would have to hit it pretty hard straight into the pan instead of the side of the head of the bolt
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