Newbie- Help me make a horrible automotoive decision

[dannyzabolotny]

Throw some NGK Iridiums in there. Autozone has them for like $6 each. Once you install those you won't have to think about plugs for a very very long time.

Fuel filters are a bit of a crapshoot— sometimes they last for 300k miles without any issues, but in other cases they clog and cause poor running at 100k miles. Given how cheap they are, it's not a bad idea to replace the fuel filter if it's never been replaced.

[douglawrence42]

Got myself a little boroscope camera that outputs to my phone.

I went in from the bottom yesterday and could see lower TCG's and the backside of a couple cylinders. I couldn't work the camera and hit the photo button though. Today I went in through the oil fill, I could see a few lifters, more TCG's, and the Vanos assemblies. What a cool toy

Finally, made things shinier. Still a long way to go

So all the maintenance is done, everything looks good. I get sucked into work now for about a month, then I think it's suspension time.


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[StephenVA]

Thanks. Yes I used NGK iridium to replace. After all the maintenance, I think things sound better, but I don't really know what I'm talking about, and my butt dyno is non calibrated
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Your butt dyno is ok, what you actually feeling is no incomplete burns per cycle, the more stable idle makes it appears that your engine has gotten a "tune up"! The improved idle quality and the 2%better fuel economy will be noticeable as well. Don't just accelerate to feel the difference too much.
if you come to D.C. Stop by and say hello

[douglawrence42]

Much Success

It's a very small victory, but that's how we keep momentum


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[wspellmann]

I want your style 32 wheels for my E30 M62 swap.

How about a set of refinished 19" style 167 in trade? 😸

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[douglawrence42]

I want your style 32 wheels for my E30 M62 swap.

How about a set of refinished 19" style 167 in trade? 

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I have no interest in 19"'s

[Mach540]

I want your style 32 wheels for my E30 M62 swap.

How about a set of refinished 19" style 167 in trade? 

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Are you looking for 17"s, or 18"s
I have a set of staggered 17"s that are stripped and machined..
https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...ing-Style-32-s
Kinda lost interest in finishing them for myself......... really no need. But if someone were interested in purchasing them, I'd pick the ball back up.
M logo has been machined back off, but they could be reapplied if interested.

[douglawrence42]

Still a while until I get back to work in the shop, but parts have begun trickling in



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[douglawrence42]

I have my "whole car" wish list assembled. I think I covered all the eventualities assuming everything standard breaks over the next 100k miles. My most effective wife justification for this project is cost per mile vs my truck. Truck was 36k, expect 200k mostly trouble free miles, thats $0.18 per mile, ignoring maintenance and gas costs. So getting 100k out of the 540i for ~$18k is break even, anything less is margin (Yes the logic falls apart if you compare a beater civic, but f' a civic and don't tell my wife). My pay for the car and replace everything list totals $11k, which is a pretty safe margin, but of course $11k is absurd when compared to the value of the vehicle. Anyway, I am t-2 weeks from having some time, and its time to start ordering. My hurdle is that the first chunk, suspension + brakes is $2900. That is all control arms, shocks, struts, sub frame bushings, rotors, pads, wheel bearings, and parking brake stuff. My math says this is no problem, my mileage and ride quality says this needs doing (although quite a few components are being replaced pre-emptively, I don't have any actual "problems"), but the cheap bastard deep inside me is having problems pulling the trigger. My research says doing this all at once is a lot less work than going part by part. What do you guys think? How can I maximize my efficiency, enjoy my car, and satisfy the cheap bastard?

[StephenVA]

Only you can tell if you "feel satisfied" - gee, seek some help for that issue.
I would do all of it at one time as the results will be dramatic to say the least. This path will provide the best ROI on time vs driving pleasure.

[douglawrence42]

Only you can tell if you "feel satisfied" - gee, seek some help for that issue.
I would do all of it at one time as the results will be dramatic to say the least. This path will provide the best ROI on time vs driving pleasure.

So you wont tell me if I'll be satisfied, but do you think I'll have a happy ending?

[StephenVA]

Those are both subjective to say the least. A suspension refresh transformed my wagon. All the loosey feelings, tramming, weird lack of a "planted" feedback from the wheel on long bends, wiggle under braking, clunking on speed bumps and road irregularities, etc. all went away on the first mile after replacement and alignment. The wagon will run as hard into and out of turns like all my other BMWs now. AS it is WAY under powered and has 200 lbs+ in the butt more it still provides a nice comfortable ride and can be tossed into turns when asked. Total confidence.

IF THAT IS NOT A HAPPY ENDING THEN I AM AT A LOSS.

[douglawrence42]

I've done it. Budget blown on suspension and brakes. Now I need the timing chain guides to hold on till Christmas. This is what I got, hopefully it could be a useful list to someone considering a refresh. I ended up going entirely through FCP euro. Their prices seemed to be the best (generally), i liked the way they did their kits over some of the other choices, the warranty is nothing to sneeze at, and by putting everything on one order I could maximize my big order discount

suspensionlist.PNG

[XAlt]

I've done it. Budget blown on suspension and brakes. Now I need the timing chain guides to hold on till Christmas. This is what I got, hopefully it could be a useful list to someone considering a refresh. I ended up going entirely through FCP euro. Their prices seemed to be the best (generally), i liked the way they did their kits over some of the other choices, the warranty is nothing to sneeze at, and by putting everything on one order I could maximize my big order discount

suspensionlist.PNG

You don't need to kneejerk the timing chain guides. Fix them when they break.

[dannyzabolotny]

Man, that is one monster of a list. Once all of that is installed, it should feel like a new car!

[StephenVA]

Great list of parts!

[JPR10]

my maths are lazy. what was the total bill?

[douglawrence42]

my maths are lazy. what was the total bill?

After discount, $2,727.13. My total estimate for everything I will likely NEED to do over the next 100k miles is $5142, so This is more than half. Heck of pill to swallow, ordering parts worth almost exactly what I paid for the car, but hey, should be fun.

[douglawrence42]

Finally off of work. Did 240 hours over 21 days. Now I get some time off, and it's going to be all fishing and BMW. Got started today with new gauge cluster trim, new cup holders, and a new dynavin for tunes.

Now I've got about 3 weeks to install this:

I'll admit I'm a little intimidated


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[fullthrottle540]

How much were those cupholders

[douglawrence42]

How much were those cupholders

Fontic Premium Front Cup Holder for 1997 - 2003 BMW E39 5-Series https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M65HKDX..._26ijzb466VSMJ

$12.99


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[douglawrence42]

Pathetically slow progress for full day 1. The theme of the day was "move the steering wheel dumba**". Started on the driver side front. Replacing all control arms, toe rod ends, brakes, etc. got wheel bearing out and a couple control arm / end link / tie rod ends out.

I couldn't figure out how to get the tie rod end to drop. Stared at it and jiggled for a long time.

Finally I realized I needed to turn the steering wheel, and of course it dropped right out.
So you would think I would have known what to do when there wasn't enough room to get the bolt for the rear control arm past the center link, but no. I chose to stare at the same problem again for 30 minutes before finally turning the steering. Well, tomorrow should be easier


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[joekitch]

this thread seems to reaffirm my long time assertion; the price of a very good truly "needs nothing" condition e39 is $10,000. Not including a 540i msport
anything cheaper than 10 grand probably needs an amount of money inserted to make it equal 10 grand, sometimes more.

[douglawrence42]

this thread seems to reaffirm my long time assertion; the price of a very good truly "needs nothing" condition e39 is $10,000. Not including a 540i msport
anything cheaper than 10 grand probably needs an amount of money inserted to make it equal 10 grand, sometimes more.

I agree. I guess my theory is to spend the money and do the work myself, rather than pay for work that may or not have been done. Rubber ages out and timing chain guides go bad on mint vehicles same as they do on salvage title messes. If nothing has been done, then it's going to cost 10k to buy the car and then get a 540i from 100k to 200k. I guess I look at that as ONLY $0.10 a mile, which is not a bad rate for a great car. Compare that to the rate for 0-200k on a $40,000 truck, and an old, over complicated German money pit seems downright economical


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[joekitch]

I agree. I guess my theory is to spend the money and do the work myself, rather than pay for work that may or not have been done. Rubber ages out and timing chain guides go bad on mint vehicles same as they do on salvage title messes. If nothing has been done, then it's going to cost 10k to buy the car and then get a 540i from 100k to 200k. I guess I look at that as ONLY $0.10 a mile, which is not a bad rate for a great car. Compare that to the rate for 0-200k on a $40,000 truck, and an old, over complicated German money pit seems downright economical


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ah, but the hypothetical 10k one is owned by a maniac who probably has meticulous records and while you will be replacing things, you'll know exactly when you need to do it and can plan ahead
cheaper cars, in addition to needing a lot, generally have little to no record keeping so you pretty much HAVE to do everything at once because who the hell knows when it was last done.