Danny's Japan Rot 540i Touring Thread

[purplecty]

I'm a full-on ///M-Poser now, at least on the interior:

<img src="http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=578494"/>

Now I have a facelift M5 steering wheel along with a facelift M5 cluster. Blackknight530i did an amazing job on coding it to my car. The VIN matches, there's no tamper dot, the mileage matches, and he coded my DME to make the oil temperature gauge work along with the warmup lights. My DME was a little tricky since it was a late 1999, but he managed to get it all sorted out, so kudos to him. He even went the extra mile to replace the super scratched up lens on the M5 cluster, along with the little light bulbs (since all of them were missing thanks to the previous owner of this cluster). It was well worth what I paid, and it wasn't terribly expensive even with express shipping there and back. I mailed it out late on Tuesday and I got it back early this morning, so it went Arizona to North Carolina and back in less than 5 days, pretty impressive.

With that done, I can now focus on getting different wheels, since the terrible replicas on this car ruin the ride quality. I might just swap on the wheels from my 540i/6 for now, since that's not moving anywhere for a while. After that, I'll probably do my rear subframe bushings, since that's the achilles heel of these tourings. Thankfully I know a guy locally that has the subframe bushing tool for E39 tourings, so I might be able to borrow that for little or no money.

Great upgrade! I did the same myself on my e38 and much better on the eyes. Awesome when people notice it and are in awe of how it is fully functional in a non M5 car especially and e38...

Old - I colored the needles and put the aluminum rings in but that wasn't enough. The eyes still hurt haha...



New x5 4.6 cluster - I don't have the tools for setting original miles but I'll take the lower mileage which is also better on the eyes. The old cluster was from an x5 and wasnt original miles either but it had perfect pixles...

[computiNATEor]

I don't know if it was mentioned before, but to anyone with a custom tune of some sort (Dinan, DUDMD, VF, etc) that wants a fully functional M5 cluster, you can talk to DUDMD about him modifying your tune to add the functionality. His price varies and it's not my place to list it here, but just wanted to let people know that the option is available. This still only applies to M62TU powered cars.

TerraPhantm is I think still working on making a custom tune for M54 powered cars to enable the warm up lights that are currently not working, but he hasn't finished it yet.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

Ooh, M54 warm up lights make my knees weak!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[dannyzabolotny]

Paul's the man.

And welcome to the grey-M-cluster club. Most of the cool kids seem to want to all insist on the black, but w/ my grey interior, and since my M3 has grey-grey, I do like the grey M cluster better.

Unfort my cluster isn't 100% up to speed yet, cuz S/C DME, but there's plans in the plan to sort eventually.

I initially didn't like the gray clusters, but then I got used to it with my M5 and I've really been liking them. It's pretty fun having two gray clustered cars now, haha.

Great upgrade! I did the same myself on my e38 and much better on the eyes. Awesome when people notice it and are in awe of how it is fully functional in a non M5 car especially and e38...

Old - I colored the needles and put the aluminum rings in but that wasn't enough. The eyes still hurt haha...

New x5 4.6 cluster - I don't have the tools for setting original miles but I'll take the lower mileage which is also better on the eyes. The old cluster was from an x5 and wasnt original miles either but it had perfect pixles...

Yeah, I feel like the M5 clusters are just a lot more modern looking, whereas the regular E38/E39 clusters are kinda plain and boring to look at. I kinda like the italicized numbers on the X5 clusters, but they don't have the ///M on them which makes me sad.

Ooh, M54 warm up lights make my knees weak!

It'll be cool once those get sorted out, but I have no use for those since I don't anticipate owning an M54-powered car at any point. I already feel like a 540i is slightly underpowered thanks to my M5, a 530i or 525i would feel like a boat anchor in comparison, haha

[geargrinder]

I don't know if it was mentioned before, but to anyone with a custom tune of some sort (Dinan, DUDMD, VF, etc) that wants a fully functional M5 cluster, you can talk to DUDMD about him modifying your tune to add the functionality. His price varies and it's not my place to list it here, but just wanted to let people know that the option is available. This still only applies to M62TU powered cars.

Yeah. I'm a special case though. the old GIAC tune w tweaked binary code to screw w the checksums and lock the tune. (Well not just me,lots of older VF kits, but so few of them come out of the woodwork... Its odd actually....) DIMA tried to work it repeatedly w no success when I was first doing my conversion ...

[blackknight530i]

Yeah. I'm a special case though. the old GIAC tune w tweaked binary code to screw w the checksums and lock the tune. (Well not just me,lots of older VF kits, but so few of them come out of the woodwork... Its odd actually....) DIMA tried to work it repeatedly w no success when I was first doing my conversion ...

Good point. I had forgotten about your struggle. I'm surprised that VF won't send you an updated tune with that disabled if they did that for the newer kits. Actually, on second thought, I'm not surprised.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[computiNATEor]

Good point. I had forgotten about your struggle. I'm surprised that VF won't send you an updated tune with that disabled if they did that for the newer kits. Actually, on second thought, I'm not surprised.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

I literally drove by VF today, so if you guys ever need anything from them in person....


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[dannyzabolotny]

I wonder if ESS Tuning would ever make something for the M62tu... they're right in my town a few miles away from my house and they already make a supercharger for an S62 so I can't imagine that adapting that to an M62tu would be too difficult.

[blackknight530i]

I wonder if ESS Tuning would ever make something for the M62tu... they're right in my town a few miles away from my house and they already make a supercharger for an S62 so I can't imagine that adapting that to an M62tu would be too difficult.

They used to. Check with them and see if they want to make a new one and use your car as a test mule

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

[Mannyf540]

They used to. Check with them and see if they want to make a new one and use your car as a test mule

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

Speak to Roman, I doubt they'll be up for it, as the kit has been discontinued

[mcgnms]

They may even make you one. I bet they still have the cad files for piping and bracketry as well as tunes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[geargrinder]

I think many have called asking so I doubt one guy swinging by will make much diff.

[dannyzabolotny]

I think many have called asking so I doubt one guy swinging by will make much diff.

Yeah, I don't think they'd actually do it, but a guy can certainly dream.

There's a bunch of stuff that needs to be done before I can even think of supercharging, like suspension, facelift parts, some interior work, etc. I'm pretty sure the whole suspension is still original at 177,000 miles, so I'll have to go through all of that before adding power.

[dannyzabolotny]

Now that the M5 is sold, I have some cash to do things with the touring. I've ordered a ton of stuff today, some cosmetic, some functional:

- Behr auxiliary fan: the current one makes a ton of noise and vibration so we'll see if this fixes the issue
- Hood emblem: to replace the cruddy old one
- Engine mounts: no record of these being replaced and the current ones look pretty gross. I went with Corteco since those worked well in my 03 540i/6.
- Aftermarket front cupholders: the ones that everybody has, they stick to the tray that's in front of the stock cupholders.
- Front tray trim piece with the cigarette lighter: my lighter doesn't stay closed so I'm replacing the whole piece
- Rear cupholders: just to have those complete and intact instead of the half-broken mess that's currently there.
- Chrome kidney grilles: tired of the black kidney grilles, want to go back to the stock facelift look
- Clear side marker lights: tired of the lame blacked out ones the touring currently has
- M5 bumper: found a good deal on a used OEM one in Cali on Ebay. It has a few small cracks that I'll fix with Graham before getting it painted. I'm stoked that I found an OEM M5 bumper for not too much more than a good replica. This means I won't have fitment issues

Things I'll be picking up in the next few days:

- OEM Hella facelift headlights with LED angel eyes
- OEM M-Pars along with some new 275 rear tires

I also have the following items in my FCP Euro cart that I'll order today or tomorrow:

- Fan shroud: the current one is falling apart
- Full front + rear brake kit: going with Meyle/Akebono since that's worked well for me in the past. A brake rotor is a brake rotor, I don't see a point in paying more for Brembos or fancy drilled/slotted rotors. The current rotors have sizable lips, the rear pads are dying, and the brakes squeal pretty loudly, so it's all due for an overhaul.
- Stainless steel brake lines: might as well get these since I'll be changing the brake fluid too— they'll improve the pedal feel and won't fall apart in the Arizona heat.
- Motive power bleeder: why bleed the old fashioned way when this does it better? It's not too expensive and it'll be a great tool to have around.

After all of that, I have a few more things on my list, like an M-Sport touring rear bumper, M5 steering box, large metal toolbox for the garage, paint correction supplies (DA, pads, compound, etc), spark plugs, facelift Euro tail lights, M5 bumper liners, M5 fog lights, M5 front bumper grille, touring subframe bushings, and a few more things that I forgot about.

If you can't tell, I've gone completely off the deep end. I am going to make this touring perfect or (financially) die trying.

[geargrinder]

Random thoughts Dan-o.

- I always suggest M5 motor mounts for 540's. They're slightly beefier / stiffer.
- cheap eBay cupholder rules
- I view body color kidney surrounds as the optimal solution. Can work w either black or chrome fins but body painted outer kidneys are sweet. And kinda agree - the full basic black kidneys can look a little low rent mod. Black chrome is not bad but those are different story than the basic black ones.
- actually IMO "basic stock" brembo brand replacement rotors are pretty nice for very little premium. Painted hats and true and quiet. And gonna disagree rotors are not rotors. Have had too many squealer cheap rotor experiences. Crap metal can be used in mfrg and it has the potential to suck ass.

Not a lotta people would keep the 2 540's and sell the M5 that's for sure, but I'm a wagonista obv so full speed ahead brother!

[dannyzabolotny]

Random thoughts Dan-o.

- I always suggest M5 motor mounts for 540's. They're slightly beefier / stiffer.
- cheap eBay cupholder rules
- I view body color kidney surrounds as the optimal solution. Can work w either black or chrome fins but body painted outer kidneys are sweet. And kinda agree - the full basic black kidneys can look a little low rent mod. Black chrome is not bad but those are different story than the basic black ones.
- actually IMO "basic stock" brembo brand replacement rotors are pretty nice for very little premium. Painted hats and true and quiet. And gonna disagree rotors are not rotors. Have had too many squealer cheap rotor experiences. Crap metal can be used in mfrg and it has the potential to suck ass.

Not a lotta people would keep the 2 540's and sell the M5 that's for sure, but I'm a wagonista obv so full speed ahead brother!

I'll get M5 motor mounts if/when I boost the engine. Right now with the stock engine I doubt I would need beefier mounts. We'll see how good the cheap Ebay cupholder is, but I do see it in a lot of E39's so it must be halfway decent at the very least. Not a fan of body color kidney grilles, I feel like they blend in too much. I like the contrast that chrome/black grilles have. I just don't like black grilles because they're the most generic tacky mod that everybody does. I like the classic BMW chrome kidney look, so I'm bringing that back. I'll do some more reading in regards to brake rotors, but I thought the Meyle rotors weren't that bad? I'm not buying generic Autozone crap, haha. Though maybe it might be worth upgrading to Brembos if they're quieter, idk.

And yeah, it was pretty tough to sell my M5, but it was just about what I need right now. I needed some extra money to pay off some debts, and I needed a car that could handle daily commuting in stop and go traffic. The M5 is super fun to drive but commuting in it is pretty miserable, it's just non-stop clutching in and out in traffic, which I did for about 45 minutes each way to and from work. The gas mileage never really got above 14mpg in it either, whereas in the 540i I can manage 18mpg with tons of city driving and traffic, and like 23-24mpg on long highway drives. It might not seem like a big difference, but since I drive about 350 miles a week it adds up pretty quickly. And *gasp* I actually like having the automatic for commuting— I can just put on some music and relax.

The decision was pretty easy, since M5's are a dime a dozen whereas the odds of me finding another Japan Rot 540i Sport Touring are slim to none. For my next car I want to try something a little different anyways. I'm not quitting E39's, but I just want to try out a Z3M before their prices get way too insane. Right now it's still possible to pick up an S52 roadster for less than $10k, and very occasionally I'll see a clownshoe for $10k or so with high miles, accident damage and/or a salvage title.

I also just picked up some M-Pars from Graham, since he had them laying around. They fit into the back of my touring without even folding down the seats. It was like a match made in heaven:

Photo Aug 04, 11 04 22 PM.jpg

They're in pretty good shape, with little to no curbing and no peeling clear coat. After a good cleaning they'll look awesome. I'm going to a tire shop tomorrow to get these mounted on. I'll see if they have any 275 tires in stock, because sometimes they do. They're E38 M-Pars, so the rears are extra wide. Thankfully, they've already been bored out to fit an E39, so less work for me to do

[geargrinder]

I'll get M5 motor mounts if/when I boost the engine. Right now with the stock engine I doubt I would need beefier mounts.

Well. No obv the OEM motor mounts aren't a known huge problem on this car, unless they get so bad that they let the motor toss around and whack the visco fan into something and then assplode etc. etc...

I hear you that you already seem to have bought the 540's but given the price ain't materially different, and given that no doubt you'll end up buying 3 more 540's in the next 18 months, I just suggest in future you program that in as the no-brainer to do. Zero downside. Firmer longer lasting mounts for roughly same money. Should be the default for all 540's IMO.

We'll see how good the cheap Ebay cupholder is, but I do see it in a lot of E39's so it must be halfway decent at the very least.

It's not like its a rocket surgery part but it works perfectly, no breaking, rock solid (suggest you go to HW store and get extra-HD 3M double sided tape for it though, the stuff that comes on it kinda sux and in my case at least is too thin so doesn't 'bottom out' solidly...) The only downside is if there's a huge drink in there it blocks controls, but that's true of the crap ass crappy poo crap OEM ones that don't even hold a drink properly AND then break and irritate the crap out of you.

Not a fan of body color kidney grilles, I feel like they blend in too much. I like the contrast that chrome/black grilles have.

Have you truly seen a good car with well done ones in person? Looks "like it was supposed to be that way". Not talking painting the vertical ribs, just the outer kidney. You still have contrast in the ribs for sure. Clearly you're dead wrong on this one but as a smart lad I expect sooner or later you'll come to jebus and see the light. we can give you a little extra time.

I just don't like black grilles because they're the most generic tacky mod that everybody does.

Exactly what I said, fully agreed... like I said the black chrome outer does look pretty good though... philly has it and on a black car it's perfect - not 'generic black plastic cheap mod' the way the all-black ones look. Maybe it's a "good on black cars" thing though...

And *gasp* I actually like having the automatic for commuting— I can just put on some music and relax.

yeah. was in some bad traffic as always doing a Boston-Delaware round trip this week and believe me there were times I was thinking fondly about the old steptronic. not that I'd switch back but there are times I kinda wish I had a decent slushbox beater lying around the yard. of course I've been there before and what always happens is I never want to take it on the long roadtrips where indeed the auto is more likely to be needed. although the clutch was a PITA a few times on the trip, having the S/C V8 LWFW manual LSD killer highway machine was a blast at a dozen different times. whaddarayagonnadoo.

I just want to try out a Z3M before their prices get way too insane.

IMO already there pretty much.

Roadsters are cheaper at least, cuz the hardcores look down their nose at them, and you can't track them w/ BMWCCA... and as you say, S52 can get you a little price relief...

[purplecty]

I used those eBay hamburg technic mounts for my e38 and so far so good. I was researching for the real oe mounts with the matching bolt head and the only thing I found was dealer bought mounts were the only ones to have these. The aftermarket ones have a cheap mounting stud but you can tap your original ones out and use them on the new aftwrmarket ones if you want...

[TxDarth]

I also vote for the painted frame and flat black slats - especially on a Cosmos car.....

[purplecty]

I took off the black for oe style chrome grilles on the e38...

[bmv528ie39]

Now that the M5 is sold, I have some cash to do things with the touring. I've ordered a ton of stuff today, some cosmetic, some functional:

- Behr auxiliary fan: the current one makes a ton of noise and vibration so we'll see if this fixes the issue
- Hood emblem: to replace the cruddy old one
- Engine mounts: no record of these being replaced and the current ones look pretty gross. I went with Corteco since those worked well in my 03 540i/6.
- Aftermarket front cupholders: the ones that everybody has, they stick to the tray that's in front of the stock cupholders.
- Front tray trim piece with the cigarette lighter: my lighter doesn't stay closed so I'm replacing the whole piece
- Rear cupholders: just to have those complete and intact instead of the half-broken mess that's currently there.
- Chrome kidney grilles: tired of the black kidney grilles, want to go back to the stock facelift look
- Clear side marker lights: tired of the lame blacked out ones the touring currently has
- M5 bumper: found a good deal on a used OEM one in Cali on Ebay. It has a few small cracks that I'll fix with Graham before getting it painted. I'm stoked that I found an OEM M5 bumper for not too much more than a good replica. This means I won't have fitment issues

I hope you didnt buy the one that was from Sacramento

http://www.ebay.com/itm/97-98-99-00-...p2047675.l2557

[BimmerBreaker]

Chrome kidneys are the best hands down

I hope you didnt buy the one that was from Sacramento

And why is that?

[dannyzabolotny]

It's not like its a rocket surgery part but it works perfectly, no breaking, rock solid (suggest you go to HW store and get extra-HD 3M double sided tape for it though, the stuff that comes on it kinda sux and in my case at least is too thin so doesn't 'bottom out' solidly...) The only downside is if there's a huge drink in there it blocks controls, but that's true of the crap ass crappy poo crap OEM ones that don't even hold a drink properly AND then break and irritate the crap out of you.

Have you truly seen a good car with well done ones in person? Looks "like it was supposed to be that way". Not talking painting the vertical ribs, just the outer kidney. You still have contrast in the ribs for sure. Clearly you're dead wrong on this one but as a smart lad I expect sooner or later you'll come to jebus and see the light. we can give you a little extra time.

Exactly what I said, fully agreed... like I said the black chrome outer does look pretty good though... philly has it and on a black car it's perfect - not 'generic black plastic cheap mod' the way the all-black ones look. Maybe it's a "good on black cars" thing though...

IMO already there pretty much.

Roadsters are cheaper at least, cuz the hardcores look down their nose at them, and you can't track them w/ BMWCCA... and as you say, S52 can get you a little price relief...

I've seen body-colored grilles in person, and I think they look rubbish. Sorry. I like the chrome kidney grilles the most, they're classic BMW imo. My car also isn't black or silver, so red colored outer grilles would look wrong.

Thanks for the tip on the cupholders, I'll keep that in mind.

Roadsters are cheaper for sure, especially the S52 ones. I'd want the S52 either way, as it's a much simpler engine that has plenty of power and torque for the car's size. I've driven Graham's S52 M-Coupe and it honestly felt really fast despite *only* having 240hp. The power to weight ratio is pretty awesome in those cars. An S52 roadster with an upgraded diff would be plenty fast for me, and I'd have to do almost nothing to it since the S52's are pretty much rock solid. I wouldn't mind the roadster body style either, I've always wanted to try a convertible.

I also vote for the painted frame and flat black slats - especially on a Cosmos car.....

Ehh, honestly not a fan of that look. I feel like chrome grilles would look better. All black everything is not a look that I like. But again, personal preference.

I took off the black for oe style chrome grilles on the e38...

That looks awesome. BMWs are meant to have chrome grilles, they just look right.

I hope you didnt buy the one that was from Sacramento

http://www.ebay.com/itm/97-98-99-00-...p2047675.l2557

That is the one I bought, actually. Why does it matter? I didn't pay the listed price, I made a much lower offer which the seller accepted. I know the bumper has a bunch of damage, but that's really not a problem for me since I have Graham's bodywork expertise at my disposal. I've seen him put together a bumper that was literally in pieces. It's just plastic, after all. I'd rather have a repaired OEM M5 bumper than a perfectly intact aftermarket bumper.

[bmv528ie39]

Okay, im not trying be a downer or whatever but it was pretty beat up when I checked it out at in person. You guys should document the repairs, I think it would be helpful for non-auto body people that would otherwise spend a good chunk of money to have it repaired.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

[dannyzabolotny]

Okay, im not trying be a downer or whatever but it was pretty beat up when I checked it out at in person. You guys should document the repairs, I think it would be helpful for non-auto body people that would otherwise spend a good chunk of money to have it repaired.

That's exactly what I was looking for— beat up, but fixable. Otherwise the OEM M5 bumpers cost way too much. Since I'll be painting it anyways, there's no harm in fixing it up. And then I won't feel bad when I inevitably curb it right after installing it. It should be arriving next Friday, and we'll take lots of pictures of the repair process.

[BimmerBreaker]

I've fixed way worse bumpers than that. Looking forward to getting it in and getting to work on it