computiNATEor's Build Log - Seabiscuit, Otto, and Manuel

[JimLev]

I'll agree with Philly about it being a personal thing and the better visibility with the rectangular mirrors.

[Mannyf540]

Uploads seem to be working again. Here's the car freshly washed and waxed. It's already dusty again

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I love the stance on H&R springs. The ride is firm, especially in the rear, but not uncomfortable for me. Unfortunately, California freeways seem to have random big bumps and dips, and while I've yet to hit a bump stop, it is jostled-from-seat and moment-of-air-time (for me, not the car) stiff.

I waxed the wheels, too. Why, IDK. Maybe they'll be easier to clean now.
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I'd like to go to a set of 18x9.5 Apex FL-5s wrapped in Michelin PS4S tires for the next big exterior upgrade. Or M-mirrors. Not sure yet.

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Wowed by the renewed shiny exterior, I also installed the BMW Performance aluminum pedal pads that I've had sitting around. Bling bling. I like the way they look; the feel is no different, except the gas pedal is now slightly heavier. Kinda a PITA to install, but I think it was worth a few hours on my knees. I like being down there anyway (ay-oh!).

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I need a recommendation for a good set of floormats. This floormat has clearly seen better days, and while the camera definitely makes it look worse than it is, I would like a set of soft floor mats that make a reasonable facsimile of the OEM mats. I've seen/felt Coco mats; I want something much, much softer than that. I don't want plastic; I occasionally drive in flip flops (barefooted), and I'd like the softness to stay.

Does anyone have experience retrofitting an auxiliary input to a pre-09/2002, navigation equipped car? My 530iA that I sold had an aux input wired in, but it had some serious noise interference, requiring a ground loop isolator. The install was not ideal, either. I'd like to have the aux input in the glove box, exactly like a post-09/2002 car, if possible, with the little face plate and everything. I have the standard (non nav) aux input kit already.

Car looks beautiful Nate!! Keep up the good work.

[computiNATEor]

Thanks guys

If you look closely at the mirrors, you can see they are much more matte than the rest of the car. There’s some sort of old clear bra on the front surfaces for whatever reason, and I doubt it’ll come off easily after being on there for so long. I will need to have the door handles repainted soon, as they’re just starting to have clear coat delamination, and that would be a good time to have the mirrors done, too.

[JimLev]

Forgot to say those pedals gotta be worth at least 5HP!
The clear film on the back of the mirrors should come off if you apply some heat (hairdryer/heat gun) to the film.
That should soften up the adhesive so you can peal it off.

[computiNATEor]

10m video going through the various stuff that I've done or am working on.

[Dking078]

That paint is C-L-E-A-N!

Nav module looks to be in good nick now too

Keep it up nate!

[computiNATEor]

That paint is C-L-E-A-N!

Nav module looks to be in good nick now too

Keep it up nate!

Haha, thanks, but it's really not. I waxed the car the day before, so it looked amazing, and as I mentioned in the video, the front bumper, hood, left fender, rear bumper, and trunk were all recently painted (< 18 months ago). It's swirled like crazy (from the body shop removing orange peel, and me aggressively claying stubborn water spots) which the wax (Collinite 845) hides well, and every original panel (all doors, rockers, right fender, pillars, and roof) has some degree of rock chips or deep scratches.

It's also absolutely covered in ash right now from our SoCal fires.

Nav works great, thanks

[Jason5driver]

Looks awesome !

[computiNATEor]

Looks awesome !

Thanks!

I've developed some sort of clunk in what seems like the left front. It could be the tie rods, which I did not replace, but it sounds more like a bad strut mount, which is disappointing considering they were new Lemforder parts.

[Twistytee]

I had this on my other car. Turned out to be sport springs binding on turns. Was resolved with new top hats (strut mount) bearings. Hopefully not your problem but you instincts may be right.

[computiNATEor]

I had this on my other car. Turned out to be sport springs binding on turns. Was resolved with new top hats (strut mount) bearings. Hopefully not your problem but you instincts may be right.

I have the tools to do it if it is indeed the strut mount, and I just took the car out of commission AGAIN.

Unfortunately, my clutch problem is happening again. The pedal goes to the floor and does not fully disengage. I recently drove a friend's 330xi and E39 M5, and both vehicles had a much more distinct clutch pedal feel (however, both were equipped with the standard dual mass flywheel and self-adjusting clutch mechanism). I managed to limp the car over to my grandmother's backyard (where I work on it) and get my old reliable Camry again.

I'm going to replace the clutch master cylinder (maybe tomorrow) before I take the transmission down (again). I just took it down twice, and if I have to do it again, I'm going to lubricate the ever loving **** out of the mechanism. I'm also going to replace the pilot bearing (for the third time), the throwout bearing (for the second time), and inspect everything else. I may also fashion an old transmission input shaft into a clutch alignment tool; the plastic one I have now blows. If I can find a transmission for cheap, that is. This one has a 4-3 grind.

I'm so frustrated.

And I'm not paying someone hours to do that. Screw that.

[computiNATEor]

Replaced and bled clutch master cylinder. No change. Trans is coming out, and I'm going to hack this one up to make a clutch alignment tool. I am going to dissect the rest of it for fun, I think.

I scored a used trans from a 97 528i from a local pick-your-part lot today. The 528i was pretty clean, actually, except for the ever-present oil pan gasket leak. The new trans shows no sign of leaking from the input shaft seal, so I'm not going to mess with it.

I like the way the 02 sensor wires run in the 528i; that could be a convenient way to run 02 sensor wires in my car without looking aftermarket if/when I go for headers and high flow cats.

[computiNATEor]

Transmission is back in; car is back together. I'm finally rid of the first gear whine, so I'm not sure if the old 5-speed transmission had issues or what. I chopped the transmission apart to create a clutch alignment tool out of the input shaft, which worked nicely.

I'm getting an odd vibration in second gear; it sounds like I installed the selector rod backwards, as it seems to be just barely rubbing the guibo. The vibration is distinctly through the shifter and varies with road speed, but it's only there when the engine is under load. Oops. Hopefully I can fix it without having to take too much stuff apart.

I used some Valvoline 75w140 gear oil in the transmission, but I'm having a hard time with it. I still hear gear rattle, though it is quieter. But the bigger issue is how crunchy the syncros seem to be. I don't think I'm a bad manual driver now; I've put 22,000 miles on this 530i5, and I think I'm pretty smooth.

Because of the UUC lightweight flywheel, RPMs drop very quickly when the clutch is pressed in. When I try to shift quickly at higher RPMs, like 2nd-3rd at about 4500, I get godawful grinding sounds. Rev-matching at higher speeds and RPMs is completely out of the question.

Does this sound like the gear oil is too heavy? Too light? What's the deal here? The 2nd transmission, the one I just replaced, had a blend of Redline MT90 and 75w140NS in it, and suffered from similar characteristics.

Tried some LED high beam bulbs today; unfortunately, it would appear I was sent 9005s instead of H7s, so they don't fit. They connect up just fine and are extremely bright outside of the housing, though.

[Twistytee]

75w140 GL-5 is a "no no" in your transmission. It has 2x the sulphur/phosphorous additive as GL-4 and will wear the brass in your synchros quickly. It will result in hard shifts and the symptoms you describe. Switch back to a GL4 and leave the 75w140 for your diff with steel gears.

[computiNATEor]

75w140 GL-5 is a "no no" in your transmission. It has 2x the sulphur/phosphorous additive as GL-4 and will wear the brass in your synchros quickly. It will result in hard shifts and the symptoms you describe. Switch back to a GL4 and leave the 75w140 for your diff with steel gears.

What GL-4 would you recommend? The orange sticker on the side of the transmission recommends ATF.

[Twistytee]

I use Pentosin FFL4 which was originally formulated for the dual clutch autos but now is the recommended replacement for
MTF2 fluids used in Getrag and ZF trannies. It's expensive but cheaper than a rebuild. A good synthetic Mercon/Dex ATF would probably be cheaper and work better than what you have in it.

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-pentosin...3220309031kt2/

[philly98540]

As already said, get the correct spec fluid in there! Good luck

[computiNATEor]

Update: put in Valvoline Maxlife ATF. Immediately the shifts are crisper and smoother. I can now rev match without grinding! YAY!

Thanks guys!

I also swapped out the trans mounts; the junkyard trans mounts were ok on inspection, but I was feeling some odd vibrations in the shifter assembly. I reinstalled my Lemforder bushings I had previously, and the vibes went away.

Took me about 90 minutes, including jacking the car up on to jack stands, draining and pumping fluids, and supporting the transmission to replace the mounts. EZ PZ.

[computiNATEor]

I'll report back if I have any further issues, but initial impressions are very positive. Didn't get the transmission fully heated up, so we'll see how loud the rattle is in a bit.

[computiNATEor]

The rattle from the transmission is more pronounced, but higher in tone. Not intrusive at all, though we'll see if it stays that way as I drive the car.

I finally got my ULF bluetooth system working today. The eject box wiring required some re-pinning; I was able to diagnose the issue with some old BimmerNav documentation:
https://store.bimmernav.com/blogs/in...-installations

I moved one of the jumpers to 11 and 14 and removed a second jumper that was a dead short. The wire was EXTREMELY hot. Blew two 10A fuses (53, IIRC, in the trunk above the battery) before I touched it and nearly burned myself. With that removed, the system operates well. Extra fuses FTW! Thankfully I have a ton of spares that I pulled from my old 530i for a rainy day.

The ULF works well, but as other forum users have mentioned, the phone book functionality isn't working anymore. The ULF is too old, or the iPhone 7 I use is too new, or both. Not an issue at all for me because of the 7's "hey siri" functionality, which works more or less reliably.

I do find that microphone quality is not great. I'm using the microphone the car came with; the ULF retrofit kit I bought (from eBay) came with another mic, so I will try swapping it out.

I may film a short video on the system for the E39Source YouTube channel. The wiring for the unit is ugly right now, so I will try to tuck and hide away as many wires as I can.

[computiNATEor]

I also installed an auxiliary input into the BM53 in the trunk. Over the next few days I will run the auxiliary cable up the trunk, through the back seat, across the rear floor, up and past the LCM, and into the glovebox. I plan to use a Tunai Firefly to add Bluetooth streaming to the car with the E30Love glovebox flashlight receptacle power adapter. Hopefully I won't have any ground loop issues, but I have a spare isolator sitting around.

There is a sizable lump in the Auxiliary adapter cable about 6 inches before the 2.5mm jack; does anyone know why that is? Circled in blue:

IMG_3407.jpg

I'd like my auxiliary installation to look as OEM as possible, so if I could use the threaded lock ring and the face plate in the glovebox with a few cable splices, I'd like to explore that option.

[computiNATEor]

Found a DIY on M5Board for a factory-like aux input:

https://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e3...t-harness.html

[computiNATEor]

After looking at the cost for an STJ 20/3 cable ($200 for 50ft from the only vendor I could find), I bought an XLR microphone cable. Way easier to source, and WAY less expensive. I paid $30 for a lifetime warranted 20ft. cable at my local Guitar Center. XLR connections are easily removeable, too, so that's nice. The cable I bought even came with red, blue, and black internal wires, so I can easily match up the BMW aux wiring colors (white-blue, white-red, and white-brown).

I chopped the auxiliary cable after investigating the bump I circled above. The "bump" is a small circuit board with two 0.22 µF capacitors and one resistor, which I assume is there to prevent the loud "pop" noises that can happen when cables are plugged/unplugged from the aux jack. I cut the cable between the radio and the bump, so the bump will be close to the glovebox. The XLR cable will be run from the glovebox, down through the center console area, under the rear carpet and along the left rear floorboard, then up through the wiring grommets to the radio. I may also remove some of the excess wiring from the old antennas of the old school cell phone "compensator."

I'm pretty excited! My Tunai Firefly aux/Bluetooth adapter arrived today, too, so tomorrow I might just have Bluetooth A2DP streaming and Bluetooth handsfree HFP operation in my 17 year old BMW with mostly OEM components. Assuming I can get half the interior pulled apart and reinstalled before 5:30, when I have to work.

[computiNATEor]

Does anyone have experience with the "Pro Fit" mount for our cars? It uses one of the brackets for the radio and pokes out from underneath the passenger trim. Looks like a nice and neat solution for mounting my phone securely.

[JimLev]

I had been using the Pro Fit for a long time on a few cars. The trim you mount it under will stick out a little bit.
See my post in your other thread for what I'm using now.

Pretty sure the 2 caps and resistor are needed for filtering and so the radio will see there is something plugged into the AUX input.