Back in an E39 - UK 2002 530i Sapphire Black

[danb1979]

Hell yeah...


Details from the decoded VIN:

Vehicle Identification Number	-----------------------
Type	DT62
Model	530i - EUR
Development Code	E39
Chassis	LIM
Steering	RL
Doors	4
Engine	M54
Displacement	3.00
Power	170
Drivetrain	HECK
Transmission	AUT
Color	Black Sapphire Metallic - 475
Upholstery	Standardleder/beige E36 Sandbeige E - N6SN
Production Plant	DINGOLFING
Production Date	2002-02-08

Standard Equipment

202	Steptronic	Steptronic
520	Foglights	Nebelscheinwerfer
661	Radio Bmw Business	Radio Bmw Business
853	Language Version English	Sprachversion Englisch

Options

210	Dynamic Stability Control (dsc)	Dynamische Stab. Control (dsc)
249	Multi-function For Steering Wheel	Multifunktion Fuer Lenkrad
302	Alarm System	Alarmanlage
337	M Sport Package	M Sportpaket
339	Satin Chrome	Shadow Line
428	Warning Triangle	Warndreieck
431	Interior Rr Vw Mirror W Aut Anti-d	Innenspiegel,automatisch Abblendend
434	Interior Trim	Interieurleisten
441	Smokers Package	Raucherpaket
470	Child Seat Isofix Attachment	Kindersitzbefestigung Isofix
473	Armrest, Front	Armauflage Vorn
481	Sport Seats F Driver/front Passenger	Sportsitze Fuer Fahrer/beifahrer
500	Headlight Washer Sys/intensive Cleaning	Scheinw.waschanl./intensivreinigung
508	Park Distance Control (pdc)	Park Distance Control (pdc)
521	Rain Sensor	Regensensor
534	Automatic Air Conditioning	Klimaautomatik
694	Preparation For Cd Changer	Cd-wechsler Vorbereitung
705	M Sport Suspension Ii	M Sportfahrwerk Ii
710	M Leather Steering Wheel	M Lederlenkrad
715	M Aerodynamics Package	M Aerodynamikpaket
775	Individual Roof-lining Anthracite	Individual Dachhimmel Anthrazit
785	White Direction Indicator Lights	Weisse Blinkleuchten
788	M Lt/aly Wheels	M Leichtmetallraeder
812	England Version	England/irland Ausfuehrung
850	Add Fuel Tank Filling For Export	Zusaetzl. Tankfuellung Export
863	Europe/dealer Directory	Service Kontakt-flyer Europa
877	Deletion Cross-over Operation	Ueberkreuzbedienung Entfall
880	English / On-board Documentation	Englisch / Bordliteratur

- - - Updated - - -

Lovely car; more or less spotless sand beige interior; drivers seat is quite discoloured, so going to get on with cleaning that ASAP. Fingers crossed it comes up, otherwise it'll be a more intensive clean and maybe a re-dye

A few mechanical niggles to sort (temp gauge is running cool; so going to replace the stat and temp sensor in lower coolant hose - both top & bottom hoses are new as Sept 2016, but nothing in the paperwork to say the stats been replaced!

Needs body work also (both rear arches need care, drivers side is the worse), both rear ends of the sill needs sorting also. But all jacking points are solid. NS sill needs sorting, small dent in OS front wing, the valance above the rear bumper has 2 patches of rust in the usual places and the rear bumper has a crack/asciuff to it, fingers crossed it can be plastic-welded, if not, it'll be another bumper!

Will get on and clean engine bay tomorrow, it's disgusting! Going to put the OEM H7's back in as well; currently it's running some HIDS4U crappy HID set up and it's shockingly bad iMO. Will get some OEM ballasts and decent D2S bulbs in soon enough alongside LED halos etc

Wheels will get a basic sand down, respray and lacquer by me as well, that'll do for them until I come across a sensibly prices set of Style 42's or maybe Style 37s

Need to sort the OEM tape unit out and replace the horrible Parrot Bluetooth hands free kit that's fitted currently. Very fickle with connection and a terrible sound!

That's about it... Fer noo

- - - Updated - - -

In solid condition, with masses of paperwork


Only 105k miles


Had quite a few thousand £££ spent on it's maintenance since 2012 Just can't understand why the bodywork was left...


Don't think the rear seats have ever been sat in!


Pics as I collected it:













- - - Updated - - -

Been giving it a thorough clean inside and the engine bay this morning

Hoovered the engine bay Was full of debris etc - all plastics wiped down and nice and clean now. That was after I used liberal amounts of brake cleaner to get rid of the horrible build up on/around the PS reservoir; cleaned all the old grease out of the bonnet latches and locks. All re-greased with lithium grease. Air filter removed and cleaned, air box hoovered out too Will get a K&N filter sorted ASAP

• HIDS4U xenon kit removed; standard Osram Nightbreaker H7's fitted back in for now until I source some OEM ballasts etc
• Stat and top hose ordered; deffo a stat issue, temp on Torque Pro isn't getting above 67ºC!
• Drivers seat been given a good scrub with a gentle leather cleaning brush and Autoglym leather cleaner; looks much better, but not good enough. So need to look into alternate methods or it'll need a re-dye
• Car booked into body shop (20th March) to have the rear arches, sills and rear valance (above rear bumper) de-rusted and repainted. Rear bumper needs to be replaced really as the cracks will always be a weak point; so will look for one when I can and get that and the OS front wing sorted at the same time. But, the guy at the bodyshop said he'll have a look at the bumper whilst it's off and if he feels it can be fixed; he'll go ahead and do that!
• Interior LED kit ordered; rear number plate LED lights ordered
• GoodRain wiper blades ordered

[XAlt]

Probably one of the best tan interiors I've seen in an E39. The all-grey trim isn't for me, but you don't see it everyday.

Also, welcome to the Black Sapphire Metallic club, too bad my paint is dying a painful death.

[danb1979]

Yeah; the rear seats and passenger seat have hardly been sat in; can't understand why the drivers seat has got so discoloured though!

I've been quite brutal with it, but the discoloration isn't coming out as well as I'd expected!

However; bodywork and stat/cooling system are priorities for now. The rest of the car is extremely mechanically sound! Thank god...!

[Das Leg]

Looks great, and the interior is in great nick too. Need to get some bodywork done on my oxford green 530 aswell, please post the quote for the bodywork, Style 37's will be going on in a few weeks time.

20170305_103409.jpg

20170305_103434.jpg

[danb1979]

The body work I'm having done is by a pal of mine, so it's 'mates rates' and as I work from home; he'll keep the car as long as necessary, I'm in no rush for it back... So, it'll be with him for a week or 2 I'd say

I think if it wasn't 'mates rates'; the price would be around £45-£550 UK Sterling etc

[danb1979]

Car went into the bodyshop yesterday; it's having both sills, both rear arches, the valance above the rear bumper and the rear bumper sorted (either de-rusted and resprayed, or fixed and resprayed - bumper has a few cracks )

I've got it booked in later next week to have the stat, top/bottom hoses and temp sender fitted (current stat is stuck, only runs around 67ºC which is far too cool); will have a full coolant refresh also and whilst it's up on the ramps; I'll give the underneath a very good once-over to see if there's anything that needs doing/fixing/replacing etc

Then, there are a few dents in the bonnet/hood, right at the very front, so will ask the dents guy local to me to see if he can work his magic. Once that's done, a local leather specialist is going to come out and see what he can do re the drivers seat etc. Fingers crossed he can get it back nice and clean, so it matches the rest of the interior!

[danb1979]

Finally got the car back from the body shop last week...

I did get it back 2 weeks ago, but the rear bumper hadn't come out as well as we'd hoped and some of the filler in the cracked areas had sunk in and paint on top of that; so the guy at the shop took it back in and repaired it again/resprayed it etc in the midst of the other cars he was working on... Luckily I have 2 cars!

Anyways; I got it back early last week; weather hadn't been great so cleaned it inside within an inch of it's life and refurbed (rough, but clean) the rear Style 66 alloys and will do the fronts sometime next week. They'll do for now until I find some alloys I like for the car, may go for a set of Style 37s or 42s, if I can find them in a looked after condition, or at the right price to get them refurbed

I spent all Friday morning cleaning the car itself, clayed it as best as I could, then washed, rinsed, hand dried and then polished (again, as best as I could by hand) to make it look as shiny as possible. I really need to learn how to use a rotary polisher, but for now, it looks well IMO

It's booked in this Wednesday to have the stat, water pump and that specific belt changed (aircon belt is new as of Dec 2016) and that should be it for now. Just want to enjoy driving it!

A few pics of it sat on the drive yesterday:

[DennisCooper]

Hi Dan,

M Parallels?.. yawn...
Style 42's, see if you can get a wider set to run all round! Be ready with that toothbrush to keep them clean !

Car's looking good and you are moving to make it very nice again! I've got some boring maintenance aspects for my car, some light damage to resolve (all parts here now) along with a good selection of nice modifications to do as well

Cheers, Dennis!

[amancuso]

Beautiful!

[danb1979]

^^

Thanks

- - - Updated - - -

New stat, water pump and temp sender fitted today along with the necessary belts.

System topped up, bled and all is as should be; running at the correct temp and temp needle is where it belongs

Also had the rear alloys re-balanced (and new valves fitted as they were both leaking air very slowly) and now no shaking from the rear of the car when at speed!

[danb1979]

Car had been detailed again over the weekend

We're suffering from the 'Sahara' rains currently which brings a lot of red dust; so having to wash the car regularly to get rid of it all; it gets everywhere, even the engine bay got details, again!

'Roughly' refurbed the front alloys as well to match the rears (sanded, cleaned, smoothed, primered, rattle can sprayed with 3 coats followed by 2 coats of lacquer). For a DIY refurb and really, my first proper attempt, I think they look well! They'll do until I can find a decent set of Style 42s

Next jobs are to get the dents guy out to look at the small dents on the bonnet and drivers side front wing, look at changing the OEM head unit/Parrot Bluetooth set up to a decent Android based head unit and then get the drivers seat refurbished...

Never ending!

[danb1979]

Haven't posted in a while

Haven't really done much to the car TBH as it's not really needed anything

I uprated the head unit to a Kenwood single DIN the other day, managed to source a rare OEM BMW E39 single DIN fascia plate, IMO it looks very well and sounds good to boot. It's replaced the OEM radio/cassette player and I've removed the CD changer from the boot (trunk) as it never worked anyway and I've no CDs (all music is on iTunes etc)

It's getting some new alloys and tyres next week; will update with pictures then

It's in need of the dents'-guy, so that'll be sorted in a week or so (2 dents on front of bonnet (hood) and one on the front drivers-side wing.

It's then in for a mini-service, health check and look-over underneath (oil & filter, diff oil and new plugs, spark plugs, HEL braided brake lines and brake fluid flush/refill etc)

Pics of the OEM head unit, it's a Kenwood Bluetooth head-unit, Bluetooth mic is by the rear view mirror:

[danb1979]

New wheels fitted

18x8 and 18x9 AVA Phoenix in Hyper Silver; ET20 all round





- - - Updated - - -

Mini service in next week (as mentioned above) and then bodywork issues to be sorted (front end needs a full respray due to stone chips) and then I'll look into lowering (probably go with D2 coilovers again as by the time you buy 4 decent shocks and lowering springs, you're about at the same price here in the UK)!

[amancuso]

Nice upgrade. I need to have the steering wheel in my M5 redone by Royal. They did a great job with the wheel for my Z3.

[Ajcanadian]

A zaino leather cleaner a day will get the driver seat back to form

[danb1979]

A zaino leather cleaner a day will get the driver seat back to form

It won't; it's too far gone unfortunately

Will have it professionally restored by a local guy who comes out to your car in the next month or so!

[530e39]

Very nice. I just bought a sapphire black 530i with tan interior, but nowhere as nice as yours.

[danb1979]

Just bit of an update:

Car's booked into the body shop in 2 weeks time; having the following done:

• All previous areas that were treated, a few bits have come back (rust), so it'll be worked on hard/deeper this time around (so both sills and bottoms of the rear arches)
• Front end respray (front bumper/fender, bonnet/hood and both wings)
• Rear bootlid/trunk up to the spoiler to be resprayed as a bit of an issue around the lock
• Rest of the car to be fully mopped and polished

I'm not after a 'perfect' car; just want some slight dents and a lot of stone chips (front end) sorted and looking much better. The rest of the car is covered in swirls etc, so a professional polish will sort this out nicely

After that I'll probably look at replacing the suspension, so Bilstein B4 shocks with the Eibach Pro kit springs all round unless I get offered a decent price for either D2/BC coilovers

2 new front tyres to be fitted later this week, current tyres are showing their age

Swapped the interior trim out the other day as well; the aluminium has gone and the vavona looks so much better





And cluster rings fitted yesterday:

[computiNATEor]

Hah, and we in the US love to swap our wood trim for Technical Graphite... I love my silver trim!

[danb1979]

The alu trim just does not suit the beige interior, the vavona does, so much better IMO

My previous 530i was black on black in the interior, so the alu trim made a nice contrast etc

[AusE39er]

So glad you put that woodgrain in. The silver was looking kooky between the beige and brown. That couldn't of been how it came from the factory...

[danb1979]

So glad you put that woodgrain in. The silver was looking kooky between the beige and brown. That couldn't of been how it came from the factory...

It is, shows in the spec in the first post!

[danb1979]

Yesterday I fitted new fog lights and CANBUS error free HB4 LED bulbs.

Also ftted OEM xenon ballasts and Osram Xenarc 'Cool Blue' D2S xenon bulbs using the D2s/H7 bulb holder adapters

Done nothing since as the weathers horrible here in the UK (obviously nowhere near what you're suffering over the Pond currently)!

[danb1979]

Refurbished a set of 16" turbine alloy wheels ready to put winter tyres on them; think they came out looking fairly well



Car has also just come out of the body shop (Monday) ann went into the mechanics yesterday to have the rear upper-rear arms replaced and the front tie rods and inner knuckles. Bit of a sod of a job, but all done

First proper wash and polish today too; fitted some Schmiedmann gloss black kidney grilles too





Car was absolutely cleaned to within an inch of its life inside too, was fully of body shop dust. Rear door cards removed and the vapour barriers resealed too (I know, the driver's seat is the next job to get done, needs a professional refurbish):



After wash and polish:

[TecNickal]

Super clean car - nice. Black looks great.

Is that a storage cubby to the right of the steering wheel? Must be a UK thing?