Newbie- Help me make a horrible automotoive decision

[douglawrence42]

I can't find the coffee cup....

Here is a hint?

https://youtu.be/vKWfW-MIRHc


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[douglawrence42]

Well, big red battery light came on today. I’m measuring a little less than 12v, engine running. Don’t know anything more than that now, investigate tomorrow.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dannyzabolotny]

Well, big red battery light came on today. I’m measuring a little less than 12v, engine running. Don’t know anything more than that now, investigate tomorrow.

Sounds like your alternator has died. I wouldn't drive it much until you get it figured out, otherwise you'll kill your battery and find yourself stranded rather quickly when the battery has to handle all of the car's electrical functions alone.

Some parts stores can specifically test for alternator function, like Autozone. The alternator on the 540i is water-cooled which means you'll have to drain the cooling system to swap the alternator. A new one is ludicrously expensive, but a Bosch reman unit should be pretty reasonable, around $300 or so. Alternately, you could roll the dice with a used alternator from a parts car— you can often find reman units in those, since most 540i's have had the alternator replaced at this point in their life. That's what I did, I swapped the alternator from my 540it parts car to my 540i/6 when the alternator in the 540i/6 failed.

Oh, and ask your parts store for an alternator gasket o-ring if you want to see some really confused looks, haha.

[douglawrence42]

Ironically, I was shopping for less important stuff this morning like headlights, belly pan and bumpers. I honestly thought “well, I can spend a little on the nice to haves because the have to haves are being gentle to me”. I assume my alternator committed suicide as I was shopping and dreaming. Oh well. Might as well do serpentine belt, radiator hoses, what else? I think I’ll give no fan a shot for a bit.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[douglawrence42]

Alright. All connections look good, but no juice comes out of the alternator. Parts (ouch) are ordered. Told 2 good friends that have forgotten more than I know about cars all about my water cooled alternator, they were stunned such a thing exists. But before I can get to tearing my extremely German alternator out, fatherhood calls. Baby Stig turns 2 on Sunday, time to get her some wheels. We want the best for our children, and no child of mine will be forced out into this cruel world in a naturally aspirated vehicle. This girl is going places, and to get there she requires a bad ass roots blower and a huge rear wing

It’s a little chromosexual for my taste, but I think she will like it fine. It has mouse ears all over it, I assume that makes it a rat rod. Sometimes on these heavily modified rigs it’s hard to guess original manufacturer, but the crap suspension, extensive use of cheap plastics, and Mickey Mouse engineering leads me to believe this is a mopar product.
The build was a lot easier than anything I’ve done on the E39. Unfortunately, when I got it up on the lift, I saw this:

Like her father, Baby Stig is restricted to one wheel burnouts. Our shame is now multi-generational.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[computiNATEor]

I love reading your posts, Doug. Don't stop

[douglawrence42]

I love reading your posts, Doug. Don't stop

Thanks, I am shameless when it comes to receiving compliments, don’t stop either.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[douglawrence42]

New parts won’t be here until sometime week after next (you can charge me $300 for a remanufactured alternator, but you’ll get my $10 for shipping over my dead body). But I had today off, so I went ahead and got the old bastard off. First, we are changing an alternator, something I’ve done tens of times, so let’s drain the coolant????

I have a lift. I have multiple cool catch cans. Did coolant manage to miss them? You bet.
Getting all the stuff off the front of the engine was actually pretty easy. My fan was not stuck. Probably only an hour to get to this point

And the offending hardware.

It’s a $150 core charge. The question is, do I earn more returning it, or keep it for proof so I can win bets from gear heads that such a thing exists?
Now a long 2 week wait for parts to put it all back together again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dannyzabolotny]

I'm impatient and often do my wrenching at the last minute so I always pay for the more expensive fast shipping. Like I'll do something like an alternator or brakes the day before a 2000-mile road trip. Because I procrastinate in every facet of my life.

[douglawrence42]

At least someone is driving their project car

After a little test and tune, she is running solid 9’s in the 1/4 driveway. I think there is more to be had if she can keep her wheelspin down. 2 year olds just stomp it, no patience.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[douglawrence42]

Parts, motivation, time off and need have come together so I can get the 540 off the lift. I need the bmw functional, so I can get it off the lift, so I can get the truck on the lift, so I can do brakes, so I can tow a 7000 lb trailer over the Appalachian mountains to Chattanooga this weekend . Now I’m aware that this really isn’t a big deal, and just a standard Tuesday morning for any mildly incompetent mechanic. I’m aware that Danny regularly takes off immediately following major modifications in a half sorted 540it across the desert and mountains to pick up extremely sketchy bmws far and wide. But as a 41 year old Dad, i feel like my lame adventure has me right in the middle of a roadkill episode. Don’t bust my bubble, I need this.
Anyway, everything went back together easily. Total time to install alternator and button everything up was 2 hours.


One advantage of not having a clean engine is it makes new parts very pretty.



New belt, new hoses, not putting the fan back on for now. And here is the carnage:



So now I’m off to pick up some DI water, and see if I’ve screwed anything up.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[douglawrence42]

Much success!

This is I think the third time I’ve bled coolant. But it’s the first time I’ve taken everyone’s advice and elevated the front end.


As for the fan, it’s 54 degrees and raining, so no great test. But temps go slowly up to 105, then immediately drop back to 102 as the thermostat opens. So I think it’s a winner for now. It definitely makes everything sound nicer


And the battery is charging, so I appear to have total victory. Now to put a 163” wheelbase truck on the lift, which is a lot less fun than the bmw.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dannyzabolotny]

Well done! I love that shoutout you made too, haha. I actually quit my full-time day job recently so I could focus on sketchy BMW's full-time, so I anticipate even more stupid adventures with sketchy BMW's on a moment's notice.

[douglawrence42]

Well done! I love that shoutout you made too, haha. I actually quit my full-time day job recently so I could focus on sketchy BMW's full-time, so I anticipate even more stupid adventures with sketchy BMW's on a moment's notice.

Wow, that’s quite a leap. Good luck with it. I can only afford to lose money on cars part time. Young and childless is the time to take your big risks. Even if it doesn’t work out, I bet you’ll learn a lot.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[douglawrence42]

Holy crap, I finished the truck! So install bmw alternator, button up everything, fill, bleed, drive, fill, then do pads and rotors on 4 corners of the truck, drive, bed, cleanup. 8:30 am to 4:00 pm.

I am slow and not particularly competent. This is entirely what having a good shop does for you (yes, many guys could do that and more, in the driveway, faster. Don’t care, I’m proud.).

And in super bonus news, the wife has seen the labor fees I avoided just today, and is now convinced the lift is paying for itself. Victory is mine!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dannyzabolotny]

Wow, that’s quite a leap. Good luck with it. I can only afford to lose money on cars part time. Young and childless is the time to take your big risks. Even if it doesn’t work out, I bet you’ll learn a lot.

Haha yeah, it's quite the change. But I've been preparing for it for a little while— sold some cars, saved some money, etc. I've been getting some more chain guide work already so I'm feeling pretty good about it for now. I don't have any kids or a mortgage, so it's not a bad time to take a big risk. Plus I have my girlfriend's income to fall back on for paying rent and whatnot, which is comforting for sure.

[douglawrence42]

I’ve been traveling for 6 of the past 7 weeks. Finally got a week off this week. In preparation for summer, I decided to pay actual money for a professional to evacuate, leak check, and fill my refrigerant. Should be an $80 trip, plus whatever we find. Having another guy touch her sensitive parts upset the car greatly. I parked, handed over the keys, and 2 minutes later, tech informs me the car is no crank no start where I parked it. Turns out the posts on my battery are to small for the positive clamp to fully clamp. Never been a problem until then. I shimmed the post. On the good news front, the ac leak was likely the schrader valves (both), so $20 later, ac should be leak free. At that point, the starter decided to die. Labor for them to do it wasn’t much more than a tow would have cost, so I let them do it. And that’s how an $80 trip turned into a $500 trip. Crap. On the bright side, I really only wasted about $100 paying someone else to do an easy job. It still stings though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[douglawrence42]

I’m in town for two weeks. My one bmw project was to get an inspection. Then this happened:

Parking “lamps” state inspection issue
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sha...1&share_type=t

Same tiny sliver of time home, and I lose a compressor on a 3.5 year old HVAC unit. The compressor is under warranty, but shipping, labor and refrigerant cost double the part cost of the compressor. And the 3.5 year old fridge is icing over. Apparently it is international Doug bend over week.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[douglawrence42]

Something a little more simple in the shop today




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[douglawrence42]

A neighborhood kid (High school senior) is taking care of his grandfathers classics.

The exhaust is completely rotten, despite having been completely replaced as recently as 1972!



In preparation for him getting parts so we can fabricate a new exhaust, we went ahead and straight piped the car today. I got to see an 18 year old gear heads face the first time he heard v8 straight pipes of his own making. Today was a good car day.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RuskiE39]

Was gonna say you should of replaced the idler pulleys before they whee whoo whee whoo whee whoo... nice build/maintenance so far.

[RuskiE39]

Congrats on finishing. The injector clips are easy to remove as long as you have a long 90deg pick and know the correct angle to go at for each clip.
2 propane heaters, get some insulation on those walls.
The battery cable goes from the + terminal to a big splice point where it's clipped to the pass rear side of the front subframe. From there one side goes to the starter. The other side goes to another splice point down by the alternator to go to the alternator and to the top of the valve cover.
Electrically, like Nate said, it doesn't matter too much. Less splice points if you connect it to the battery.

When I need to remove the valve covers, I don't bother putting the clips back on afterwards. Makes getting back in there that much easier the next time.

[douglawrence42]

The saga of the little Orange lights continues. Before leaving on the month long work trip from hell, I had ordered oem xenon headlights from a junkyard in St. Louis. Opened them up, and they look like this:



Notice the bulbs they come with:



So crap. In my professional career, I have designed and built a 2000 lb submarine that swims into nuclear reactors. However, the ability to add two little orange lights to the corners of my headlights is kicking my butt.

Where the story turns strange however, is that the junkyard halfway across the country who hadn’t heard boo from me a month after they sent me the headlights was totally cool and refunding my money.

Now I’m back at square one. The goal is to make my headlights legal while spending as little as possible. I’m going on to other projects for a bit while I come up with a new plan.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Samsam15]

I am pretty sure the ones with the silver corners can't have that outer side marker, the light would not be able to shine through the metalization on the corner. I was able to find some info and photos on how the small light in the corner works at least on orange cornered headlights, I found it at http://www.bimmer (rhymes with jest) .com/forums/showthread.php?t=490314 .

[douglawrence42]

I am pretty sure the ones with the silver corners can't have that outer side marker, the light would not be able to shine through the metalization on the corner. I was able to find some info and photos on how the small light in the corner works at least on orange cornered headlights, I found it at http://www.bimmer (rhymes with jest) .com/forums/showthread.php?t=490314 .

Thanks for the link. I had come to the understanding that there is a fiber feeding the side of the headlight ambers from the angel eye bulb on oem assemblies. I also noted while perusing headlight assemblies on ebayzon that most of the lit up pictures don’t show lit corners. So decision time. I have tomorrow to screw with this. I could:
1: try going to a lax shop for inspection
2: go to 2 junkyards (e39’s on the lot, no sure headlight matches though) and try to find a winner
3: Open up one of my now numerous headlight assemblies, and light the corners by any means necessary.

Not sure what I’m going to pick.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk