Danny's Japan Rot 540i Touring Thread

[dannyzabolotny]

Driving around in the heat today, I was coming back from getting lunch with Graham, and then I saw a "check coolant level" warning. I checked the coolant temperature via the cluster menu and it was staying pretty steady between 105º and 108ºC, never going above that, so I didn't think too much of it. It was around 110ºF outside and I had the AC blasting at max for the whole ride. When we got to Graham's house, we popped the hood and checked the cooling system for any obvious looks. Everything looked fine so we closed the hood, but then Graham spotted a little drip under the car coming from the driver's side radiator. We popped the hood again and saw that the driver's side plastic end cap on the Behr radiator was leaking. I didn't check the radiator date code yet, but it looks to be in super good condition otherwise so it can't be that old. Typical E39 stuff. No idea how long it's been leaking for, but I guess the coolant level finally got a point where it was setting off a warning. It could have been dripping like this for a while, but since coolant and water evaporate pretty quickly on 120ºF concrete it doesn't really leave any signs like oil does.

I'll be picking up a new Behr radiator on Monday at AutohausAZ. It shouldn't take more than 30 minutes to swap— it's the easiest job ever. For now, I'll just wait until the car cools off and I'll add more coolant in the meantime.

[BimmerBreaker]

Time to rebuild the engine

[dannyzabolotny]

Time to rebuild the engine

While I'd love to fully rebuild an engine at some point, the engine in this car is sadly in good condition. So that'll have to wait :P

[dannyzabolotny]

Earlier today I went and picked up some facelift headlights. They cost me a good bit of money but they've been polished with new adjusters, so they're quite nice. Installation was relatively easy, with everything aside from the angel eyes being plug and play. Prefacelift tourings are a little trickier when it comes to installing angel eyes, since the turn signal/parking lights only have two wires instead of the three on the sedans. However, since I want my angel eyes to function as my DRL's, all I have to do is find a switched source of power that's on whenever the ignition is on. Shouldn't be too hard, especially if I have someone help me out.

Before and after:



Done:



For now, everything works aside from the angel eyes, so I can still drive the car while I get those worked out.

More pictures to come once it's not so bright outside.

[purplecty]

Looks great!

[RRH]

Just tap the wires coming straight from the battery. They might be enough to power the angel eyes, but you may need a second source.....

[NordmanMg]

Don't pre-face cars have 3 wires to the turn signals? And 2wires on facelift cars?

[blackknight530i]

Don't pre-face cars have 3 wires to the turn signals? And 2wires on facelift cars?

Yes. The third wire on the turn signal should be the running light (aka side light) which should instead run to the angel eye positive wire and the angel eye negative should tap into the turn signal negative. Thing is, he wants to run them as DRL, so he needs switched power, or he can build the diode circuit I came up with and wire that behind the glove box and wire the angel eyes as I mentioned above.

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[dk500]

If you pop the EGS box open and look at the BMW Planet wiring diagrams you can probably find some easily accessible switched 12v+

[dannyzabolotny]

Just tap the wires coming straight from the battery. They might be enough to power the angel eyes, but you may need a second source.....

My M5 had the angel eyes set up like that, with a big ol' red cable going to the battery positive terminal. That's a little too ghetto though, I'd rather do it semi-properly.

Don't pre-face cars have 3 wires to the turn signals? And 2wires on facelift cars?

Yeah, the pre-facelift sedans have 3 wires, but the pre-facelift tourings only have 2.

Yes. The third wire on the turn signal should be the running light (aka side light) which should instead run to the angel eye positive wire and the angel eye negative should tap into the turn signal negative. Thing is, he wants to run them as DRL, so he needs switched power, or he can build the diode circuit I came up with and wire that behind the glove box and wire the angel eyes as I mentioned above.

The pre-facelift tourings only have 2 wires, not 3. It's an odd touring-only quirk that makes wiring the angel eyes a little trickier. I plan to just find some switched power in the DME box under the passenger side cabin air filter, and then I can just run a wire down to the headlights. At least that's the plan for now. I don't need to be able to turn off the angel eyes, I'm fine with them being on all the time when the car is running.

[blackknight530i]

My M5 had the angel eyes set up like that, with a big ol' red cable going to the battery positive terminal. That's a little too ghetto though, I'd rather do it semi-properly.



Yeah, the pre-facelift sedans have 3 wires, but the pre-facelift tourings only have 2.



The pre-facelift tourings only have 2 wires, not 3. It's an odd touring-only quirk that makes wiring the angel eyes a little trickier. I plan to just find some switched power in the DME box under the passenger side cabin air filter, and then I can just run a wire down to the headlights. At least that's the plan for now. I don't need to be able to turn off the angel eyes, I'm fine with them being on all the time when the car is running.

I wonder if it's because those got the later LCM, which uses PWM for all bulbs, much like the facelift cars. If that's the case, then it could be that the wires for the side lights wouldn't have been run. You could of course run them from the LCM, but that would be a bit of a pain.

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[dannyzabolotny]

In other news, while I ponder the angel eye wiring issue, I ordered a bunch of parts to address the radiator leak issue: radiator, expansion tank, brass bleed screw, expansion tank clip, fan shroud pop rivets, and expansion tank cap. This should take care of everything around the radiator in one go. The current expansion tank isn't leaking, but I'd rather replace it now since I have no record of it being replaced. I also ordered some headlight gaskets, since these new headlights didn't come with them.

[blackknight530i]

In other news, while I ponder the angel eye wiring issue, I ordered a bunch of parts to address the radiator leak issue: radiator, expansion tank, brass bleed screw, expansion tank clip, fan shroud pop rivets, and expansion tank cap. This should take care of everything around the radiator in one go. The current expansion tank isn't leaking, but I'd rather replace it now since I have no record of it being replaced. I also ordered some headlight gaskets, since these new headlights didn't come with them.

Make sure you don't overtighten the brass bleed screw or it can crack the plastic around it. Also, make sure when you put a clamp around the elbow on the radiator at the top that the screw side is down, otherwise the shroud will press down on the elbow, causing it to leak.

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[dannyzabolotny]

Make sure you don't overtighten the brass bleed screw or it can crack the plastic around it. Also, make sure when you put a clamp around the elbow on the radiator at the top that the screw side is down, otherwise the shroud will press down on the elbow, causing it to leak.

Yep, I'm aware of this, the little elbow and the expansion tank nipple are super fragile for some reason. I've swapped these before on one of my previous 540i's haha.

[dannyzabolotny]

After waiting for three days, AutohausAZ finally got my parts in for pickup. So much for same-day pickup. I picked up a mountain of stuff, including a bunch of stuff for the cooling system.

I pulled the touring into the garage around 9:30pm, and I was done with replacing everything at around 11:30pm. It probably would have taken less time if I had all my tools organized properly, because right now the garage is a mess. There are tools everywhere, parts everywhere, and the floor is covered in equal amounts of oil, transmission fluid, and coolant. Delightful.

In total, I replaced the radiator, the expansion tank, the fan shroud, the expansion tank clip, the bleed screw (got a brass one), the expansion tank cap, and the clutch fan blades. The failed radiator was made in 2011, making it around 5 years old, which is about the typical lifespan of a radiator in these cars. The replacement radiator is a Behr that was made in South Africa this year, so let's see how long it holds up. The expansion tank didn't really need to be replaced, but I figured I'd replace it since I was taking everything off anyways. At least now the radiator and expansion tank are both brand new with fresh BMW coolant flowing through them. The original fan shroud fell apart as I was taking it out, it was in really bad shape.

Photo Aug 10, 10 24 51 PM.jpg

Photo Aug 10, 11 06 24 PM.jpg

Unfortunately I didn't take too many pictures, as I did this job half-asleep (it was a long day). Everything went back together really nicely overall, so no complaints there. I had to reuse a bunch of components from the old radiator, like the rubber feet, the rubber mount grommets, and the hose that goes to the transmission heat exchanger (only on automatic 540i's). So just keep that in mind if you replace yours, since the new radiator comes with literally nothing aside from the radiator. I also replaced the clutch fan blades, which were original according to the 1999 date on them. I'm surprised it hadn't exploded like so many other clutch fan blades I've seen.

After everything was back together, I filled the system up with 50/50 BMW coolant/distilled water, and proceeded to bleed it. The first time I bled it I didn't get all the air out, so the temperatures would go past 108º. I didn't let it run too long like that before shutting off the engine. I left the car alone for a bit and went to go do housework. At around 3am I figured I'd try bleeding the system again, as it had been a few hours. I added some more coolant mix, cracked open the bleed screw, and ran the engine for a bit. This worked perfectly for me and I was able to get all of the air out of the system. I know that isn't the official bleeding procedure, but it's worked really well for me with all of my E39s. It's a little messy when the coolant starts overflowing, but with a suitable catch container and some paper towels it's not too much of a problem. As a fun bonus for a lazy person like me, coolant evaporates on its own just like gasoline so there's really no cleanup required.

Before I did this job, my radiator was leaking pretty badly and my coolant temperatures would stay around the 108º range when idling and 105º when driving. Whereas now I'm seeing 105º while idling and 102º while driving. I'm sure I could probably bleed the system a little more, and I'll also keep an eye on the coolant level since that'll need to be adjusted in the coming days.

I also picked up my M-Pars from a local wheel shop since I had to get them bored to 74.1mm to fit my touring properly. Long story short, the guy I bought them from thought they were bored out— turns out they weren't, and I found this out the hard way when I got the tires mounted at a shop and then couldn't bolt the wheels on properly. Good thing I didn't try to drive it like that. It was only a temporary setback, so I'm not too upset about it. I got some lightly used Michelin Pilot Sports for the rears in 275/35/18, and they look pretty good:

Photo Aug 11, 10 16 34 AM.jpg

I'll get some proper pictures up once it stops raining (it rains in Arizona?). The touring needs a wash pretty badly, since the rains here leave tons of hard water spots. However it's been raining almost every day for the past week or so, so I'm waiting until the weather clears up.

One thing I did notice immediately with the wider rear wheels is how bad the subframe bushings are. The rear of the touring feels like it's waddling back and forth when driving at slower speeds, and every single crack and bump leads to very loud and painful clunking, it's like riding in an empty truck. So those will likely be my next DIY. Thankfully, I know a guy locally who can lend me the tool to do those.

[dk500]

Coolant doesn't evaporate. At the track it will make a slippery spot that can't be cleaned that will last for days.

[waters17]

Coolant doesn't evaporate. At the track it will make a slippery spot that can't be cleaned that will last for days.

Eventually it does. The blue stuff leaves that white crust behind too.

[dannyzabolotny]

Coolant doesn't evaporate. At the track it will make a slippery spot that can't be cleaned that will last for days.

Well my garage isn't the track haha. I do clean the floors sometimes, I just don't always get around to it.

[purplecty]

Nice work! MPARS look awesome staggered!

[dannyzabolotny]

I had guests visiting from out of state this past weekend, and I took them all around town in the touring— 350 miles in just two days. The cooling system worked perfectly, with no issues at all. It was super hot and I had 4 people in the car but the touring didn't skip a single beat, accelerating smoothly and keeping the interior cool even in the 110ºF heat.

Photo Aug 13, 1 45 43 PM.jpg

It looks so good with the fresh wheels and tires, and the paint looks clean in pictures even though it's actually filthy right now.

Yesterday we went up to the top of South Mountain right before sunset— which is 2330 feet high and is the highest point accessible by car in the Phoenix metro area. The touring had no trouble getting up there, even with the heat and altitude.

Photo Aug 14, 6 58 50 PM.jpg

I also saw a gentleman in a Ferrari 348 on top of the mountain. I talked to him and he said that he goes up the mountain practically every week in the Ferrari. It's cool to see these cars actually being driven, and his had 41,000 miles which is almost unheard of with these cars.

Photo Aug 14, 6 59 21 PM.jpg

After that, we watched the sun set over the city, which was just a beautiful view. I've been on this mountain quite a few times but the view never ceases to amaze me. I love this city and I love the touring.

Photo Aug 14, 7 16 41 PM.jpg

Going down the mountain in the dark was pretty fun, and thanks to my new headlights and tires it was pretty safe too. At this point, my only complaint with the touring is the harsh, clunky ride. That'll be remedied pretty soon, as I have some Meyle HD subframe bushings on the way and I'll be ordering a full front and rear Lemforder suspension kit from FCP Euro later this week. RIP my wallet but it should ride beautifully after all of that work.

[dannyzabolotny]

Anyways, to continue the story of maintenance that I've done, last night I replaced a bunch of little cosmetic things, which was oh-so-satisfying.

First, I started by replacing the nasty old badge with a fresh OEM one:

Photo Aug 15, 12 11 27 AM.jpg

After that, I replaced the black grilles with chrome ones. I didn't feel like paying $100+ for OEM kidney grilles, so I got a pair for $40 on eBay. We'll see how they hold up. The black grilles had some kind of black silicone glue holding everything together, so that was a bit of a pain to remove. I ended up breaking them to get them out, but I don't care because I don't ever plan on going back to black grilles.

Photo Aug 15, 12 11 04 AM.jpg

It's starting to look like a proper OEM E39 now I need a new hood latch handle because the current one was bent in a stupid way to accommodate the aftermarket grilles. AutohausAZ has them for pretty cheap so I'll scoop one up sometime this week. I'll be working on the M5 bumper this week as well, so I can get that painted and installed at some point soon.

The last thing I did was replacing the aftermarket smoked indicators for proper OEM clear ones.

Photo Aug 14, 11 54 43 PM.jpg

All that's left is the front bumper + tail lights and then I'll have a fully facelifted touring

[geargrinder]

Cool pix dannzo. Sounds like a good time.

[WBAD530i]

Something about the chrome grille just doesn't look right. I would prefer the black inserts and chrome outer. Looks kinda off. Kinda like those chrome 65s on the ole M5 you had.

[auaq]

Aren't those the old style / pre-face grille?

[WBAD530i]

Aren't those the old style / pre-face grille?

No, those recess into the hood more. No border to them really. I think he said these are the ebay specials.