Page 3 of 13 FirstFirst 123456789101112 ... LastLast
Results 51 to 75 of 304

Thread: DAS VADR: Evan's E39 Touring Build Log

  1. #51
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    ca
    Posts
    179
    My Cars
    e39
    After the KWs were installed and the suspension started to become more connected it became apparent that the rest of the components were in rough shape and contributing to poor dynamics. After a relatively short drive up to Corona from San Diego it became apparent an alignment was badly needed. I didn't want to waste an alignment on the sloppy suspension components so it was time to refresh all the joints and bushings. It was also time to get the ride height dialed in to something more "acceptable" (per my standards).

    Here is some rubber from misalignment... pretty bad


    I went back on forth between oem and aftermarket parts, decided to roll the dice a bit and see how the cheapos hold up, I prefer to do my research on stuff like this. Worst case scenario if some components don't work out I will have to spend a little bit of time swapping them and be out a few dollars, no big deal.
    I ended up buying a rear control arm kit from BuyAutoParts.com, as it turns out they are down the street from me so I can order online and pick the parts up a few hours later. The entire rebuild kit was $130 OTD about, about 30% more expensive than a single Lemforder rear control arm, lol.


    Swapping the rear components went pretty smoothly as I was up to speed on the rear end from my recent hub swap. I had to play around with cup sizes a bit to get the ball joints pressed in but that was the only minor hiccup that slowed me down


    I didn't capture many pictures as I was busy getting the swap completed but here is a BEFORE/AFTER example of the control arms and the condition they were in.


    Making room for the Michelin PS2s which will eventually be replaced with a tidier Hankook V12 and a lower wheel offset. I don't use the Eastwood roller frequently but when I do I am very thankful to have one readily available.


    Might raise the rear a smidge but much better than before



    Detail stuff.... Diode Dynamics LED turn signals for the side markers


    BEFORE


    AFTER


    New oem front roundel to replace the damaged and Plasti-Dipped one, it received some vinyl decals to fit the monochromatic theme



  2. #52
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Tempe, AZ
    Posts
    7,657
    My Cars
    1995 525i/5
    How hard were the rear upper control arms to replace? That's the last suspension component I haven't touched in the rear.
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  3. #53
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    ca
    Posts
    179
    My Cars
    e39
    Quote Originally Posted by dannyzabolotny View Post
    How hard were the rear upper control arms to replace? That's the last suspension component I haven't touched in the rear.
    Not very hard. No ball joints to separate which is nice. Getting a wrench or socket on the bolts takes some unique configurations so I had to play around a bit to get the right extension, socket, etc. I did it with the bags deflated not sure if this is necessary but I assume it relieves some tension on the arms so it might be a good idea to try if you are having trouble getting the ends out.

  4. #54
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Tempe, AZ
    Posts
    7,657
    My Cars
    1995 525i/5
    Quote Originally Posted by ucsbwsr View Post
    Not very hard. No ball joints to separate which is nice. Getting a wrench or socket on the bolts takes some unique configurations so I had to play around a bit to get the right extension, socket, etc. I did it with the bags deflated not sure if this is necessary but I assume it relieves some tension on the arms so it might be a good idea to try if you are having trouble getting the ends out.
    Oh, so those aren't ball joints at the ends? That makes me really happy, I hate popping ball joints. I figure that access will be a bit iffy, but I have a decent array of wrenches and extensions. Good tip on the air bags, did you just disconnect the air lines or did you deflate them via INPA? I plan on removing my shocks when I do the upper control arms as well, since I need to cut the bump stops in half to stop the shocks from bottoming out too early due to the car being lowered.
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  5. #55
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    ca
    Posts
    179
    My Cars
    e39
    Quote Originally Posted by dannyzabolotny View Post
    Oh, so those aren't ball joints at the ends? That makes me really happy, I hate popping ball joints. I figure that access will be a bit iffy, but I have a decent array of wrenches and extensions. Good tip on the air bags, did you just disconnect the air lines or did you deflate them via INPA? I plan on removing my shocks when I do the upper control arms as well, since I need to cut the bump stops in half to stop the shocks from bottoming out too early due to the car being lowered.
    I just unscrew the small 10mm nuts on the air lines which reside by the spare tire, easy to do but take care not to cross thread or damage the joiner as it is a pretty soft plastic. The ends of the control arms are ball joints but not pressed into place like on the front suspension, once the screws are loosened the ends can slide out.

  6. #56
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    ca
    Posts
    179
    My Cars
    e39
    Hmmmmmmm

  7. #57
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Long Island
    Posts
    505
    My Cars
    528iT
    You've managed to do more work in a matter of weeks vs the entire year and a half I've owned mine lol

  8. #58
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    ca
    Posts
    179
    My Cars
    e39
    Quote Originally Posted by itsbrokeagain View Post
    You've managed to do more work in a matter of weeks vs the entire year and a half I've owned mine lol
    Yea, I am flying through this build, I can't stand driving stock especially when all these maintenance items need to be addressed.

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Time for headlights! I specialize in high performance so this is right up my alley. Although I am a discerning headlight enthusiast and am VERY picky about headlight performance I decided to do a "quick and easy" retrofit as the stock headlights were simply unacceptable. Down the road I will redo the headlights and do a custom oem-looking quad projector setup with some high end components but until then this setup should offer a nice setup...

    Evo 2 Projectors: Shaved and dropped shields
    Osram CBI Bulbs
    OEM Hella Gen 3 Ballasts "Boosted" to 43w
    Black High Beam Surround
    Frosted OEM Angel Eye Rings
    DJ Auto Euro Lenses


    This picture shows how nasty the headlight lenses were, in addition 3 out of 4 adjusters were broken, projectors and bulbs were way past their prime.



    Out the come


    These headlights had the permaseal so they didn't bake open like other variants, lenses needed to be cut of and then channels were manually cleared with razors, a chisel, and some headlight specific tools.




    I don't care for angle eyes in general and I had no intent on ever using or upgrading the oem units. The fiber optics system was damaged so out it came.


    Where I don't care for angel eyes I think the E39 headlight would look odd without the rings, like a cheap aftermarket housing so I decided to keep them in but decided to frost them for a unique look, I do this frequently on other headlight builds I do.
    BEFORE/AFTER



    I decided to paint the chrome ring in front of the high beam bowl black, the goal was to darken the headlight but retain an oem-ish look with some chrome knowing I will have the Euro lenses and needed to keep a cohesive mixture of chrome and black.


    Stock low beam projector was replaced with a modified (shield shaved and dropped) Evo 2 unit. It is a drop in setup and about as easy as it comes in terms of projector retrofitting. The performance of this projector is "good" with the highlight being on center intensity. Personally I prefer a wide beam pattern so down the road I will likely redo the headlights with a "real" low beam projector and retrofit another high beam projector and make a custom quad setup. Until then these are a nice upgrade over the stock projectors.



    New headlight adjusters


    Boosting Stock ballasts. Hella Gen 3 ballasts are the best HID ballasts ever made, this modification of swapping MOSFETs and adding resistors makes them even better by increasing BOTH output and more importantly efficiency.


    Output can go from 35w to 41.5w up to 55w depending on resistor. I chose a moderate 43w.


    I like to refurbish the usually oxidized and grimy cases with some sanding



    Good Ol' BEFORE & AFTER


    Some pics installed. Output pics coming soon.





    Projector LED fog light retrofit is definitely on the To Do List


  9. #59
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Wadsworth, Ohio
    Posts
    11,482
    My Cars
    BMW
    I had a feeling lighting mods were coming soon. That looks soooooo nice!

    -James

  10. #60
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Tempe, AZ
    Posts
    7,657
    My Cars
    1995 525i/5
    Looks pretty good! I just wish you had kept the angel eyes functional, that's like my favorite part of the E39 headlights. I might do that projector retrofit, I'm looking for something simple and easy, not interested in a full custom headlight build. I've been pretty happy with the stock headlight outputs so any amount of improvement would be fine with me.
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  11. #61
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    ca
    Posts
    179
    My Cars
    e39
    Quote Originally Posted by ECSTuning View Post
    I had a feeling lighting mods were coming soon. That looks soooooo nice!
    #HeadlightPerformanceMatters
    Quote Originally Posted by dannyzabolotny View Post
    Looks pretty good! I just wish you had kept the angel eyes functional, that's like my favorite part of the E39 headlights. I might do that projector retrofit, I'm looking for something simple and easy, not interested in a full custom headlight build. I've been pretty happy with the stock headlight outputs so any amount of improvement would be fine with me.
    I am pretty anti angel eye and anti aftermarket LED at this point in time, if I get an itch to have angel eyes then it will be as easy as opening the headlights and installing LED rings but the oem system was shot and needed to be removed.



    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Although this build thread was created on 9/19 the wagon was purchased 9/12 which marks today as 1 month of ownership. Lots of progress has been made!

    Here are some BEFORE/AFTER collages as well some pics from a mini photoshoot and when I say photoshoot I mean a dirty wagon and iPhone camera....











  12. #62
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    mitten
    Posts
    3,760
    My Cars
    525it,02 525it,73 2002
    Touring looks good,nice idea on the wheels. 19's right ? I like how they fill out the wheel well.


  13. #63
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    ca
    Posts
    179
    My Cars
    e39
    Quote Originally Posted by jp5Touring View Post
    Touring looks good,nice idea on the wheels. 19's right ? I like how they fill out the wheel well.
    Thanks, I am a long time fan of style 167s, forged concave 5 spoke, triple threat. I can't wait to get the tires and fitment dialed, can't stand the PS2s in the rear.

  14. #64
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    ca
    Posts
    179
    My Cars
    e39
    A 525iT popped up at a local LKQ so I headed over to snag a few items.


    There was also a 1994 740i with (as I understand it) the M60 manifold which is the bolt on for the M62.


    I ended up removing the manifold but I did have the right size torx bit to remove the throttle body which essentially doubled the price of the manifold (Mani $46, TB $46) although $46 isn't a temendous amount of money I didn't feel like paying double for something I will scrap. There were multiple mid 90s 7 series there so I will come back at a later date with the proper tools.


    This is what $67 will get you at LKQ:
    Cargo cover
    Cargo floor and side covers
    Complete (very good condition) black dash/door/console trim
    Hood latch guide
    Dip stick


    The hood latch guide was missing on my wagon so the pull handle was always exposed.


    Fixed


    Cargo BEFORE


    Cargo AFTER


    Broken Dipstick


    Replaced

  15. #65
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Tempe, AZ
    Posts
    7,657
    My Cars
    1995 525i/5
    Wow, you found a black interior E39 touring at a junkyard? Impressive! I barely ever see any E39's at the junkyards here in Phoenix, let alone an E39 touring.
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  16. #66
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Long Island
    Posts
    505
    My Cars
    528iT
    I'm with Danny. Black interiors are never found here in the Northeast, and the u-pick-it yards are 2+ hours away. Most of the luxury vehicles end up in private yards more locally where they will charge you and arm and a leg for these interior bits.

  17. #67
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Phily, PA
    Posts
    42
    My Cars
    95 M3 LS6
    Great build! The car has come a long way!
    -Chris

    02 540iT LS2 || 13 550XI Msport || 94 530i || 04 330ci || 92 Galant VR4 || 94 Supra TT/6 810whp


  18. #68
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    ca
    Posts
    179
    My Cars
    e39
    Quote Originally Posted by dannyzabolotny View Post
    Wow, you found a black interior E39 touring at a junkyard? Impressive! I barely ever see any E39's at the junkyards here in Phoenix, let alone an E39 touring.
    Quote Originally Posted by itsbrokeagain View Post
    I'm with Danny. Black interiors are never found here in the Northeast, and the u-pick-it yards are 2+ hours away. Most of the luxury vehicles end up in private yards more locally where they will charge you and arm and a leg for these interior bits.
    If you reference earlier in the thread, this is actually the second black interior E39 Touring I found at the yard, both contributed to my build

    Quote Originally Posted by CGinev View Post
    Great build! The car has come a long way!
    Many thanks.

    Little trim swap preview.

  19. #69
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    ca
    Posts
    179
    My Cars
    e39
    Got around to finalizing the interior trim swap, previously I just did the door trim and all the easy pieces so I wrapped it up by swapping the CD cover and console trim.

    Next up for the interior is an M5 steering wheel (already have the air bag), black carpet, and locating some sand beige seats from an E38. I have a 2001 which AFAIK means I have the 2 stage air bags so the E38 seats should be a PNP swap.


    Before (partial conversion)


    During


    Old console trim was cracked


    Comparison


    Console After


    AFTER


    Before/After

  20. #70
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Tempe, AZ
    Posts
    7,657
    My Cars
    1995 525i/5
    The interior is gonna look so much better with an M5 steering wheel, it’s amazing how much it updates the interior.
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  21. #71
    Join Date
    Jan 2016
    Location
    Madison, WI
    Posts
    105
    My Cars
    2001 BMW 525i Touring
    Looking awesome. Props for taking care of the suspension.

    I am really curious what you do with the seats - mine look as weathered as your driver's seat.

  22. #72
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    ca
    Posts
    179
    My Cars
    e39
    Update:

    Wagon has been running well although I have a mysterious alignment/suspension gremling to work out. My ride height is wildly off between front right and front left. Left KW is adjusted as high as it will go and right is dumped as low as it will go but rim-to-fender gap is still taller on left side. Very odd. I took all pics required by KW to confirm they are installed correctly, and they are; the next diagnostic step is swapping the coilovers R-L to see if it follows but haven't have the time to do so.

    The wagon also pulls very strongly to the right and the steering wheel needs to be tilted ~10 degrees to the left just for the wagon to go straight. Alignment was done and they were not able to get rid of the pull, hmmmmmmm. Odd and concerning.
    I have some new tires on the way so once those are mounted and balanced I will swap the KWs to see if I can resolve that issue and then double check all my work on the suspension components I replaced and see if I can get to the bottom of the alignment.


    My headlights were originally retrofitted with Evo 2 projectors which are a "bolt-on" swap in the E39 but unfortunately the driver side mounting points are crooked, I have heard some E39s are like this and others are not. With my high standards for automotive lighting this was a no-go as was the output of the Evo 2s after I had some real time experience behind the wheel. The projectors do have a great "hotspot" which is the on center intensity but the rest of the beam pattern didn't offer much. Width was barely acceptable as was the intensity at the wider parts of the beam. I swapped out the Evo2s for some real projectors; Lexus RX330 AFS modded with custom curved shields and E30 clear lenses. These are low beam only and do not offer a high beam which is fine by me since their low beam output is epic. Ballasts are still "boosted" 43w Hellas and bulbs are Osram CBI.

    Here is the output of the Evo2s


    With the exposure dropped you can better see the crooked cutoff and the contrast in the intensity of the hotspot to the rest of the beam pattern.


    RX AFS mounted up




    Here is the output




    By the way, mounting lights on your garage door is awesome!




    Made another run to the local salvage yard and pulled a few more interior trim pieces as well as a M sport steering wheel, the condition isn't great as the wheel has some damaged leather up top but I am happy to get rid of the school bus steering wheel I previously had.




  23. #73
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Caboolture, Q, Australia
    Posts
    973
    My Cars
    E39 535i
    Have you tried raising the opposite corner to lower the gap?

    Sent from my G8141 using Tapatalk
    Last edited by StRaNgEdAyS; 01-28-2018 at 03:30 PM.

  24. #74
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Tempe, AZ
    Posts
    7,657
    My Cars
    1995 525i/5
    Quote Originally Posted by StRaNgEdAyS View Post
    Have you tried raising the opposite corner to lower the gap?
    ^ This. The self-leveling suspension in the rear can mess with the front ride heights if the rear ride heights aren't 100% level from side to side. That's the downside of having such a stiff chassis, it means that all four corners need to be at the exact same heights for the car to sit level, otherwise it sits crooked. It took me a while to dial in my 540it's ride height because the rear air struts weren't staying at the same height on both sides.
    1995 525i 5-speed - Thread

  25. #75
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    ca
    Posts
    179
    My Cars
    e39
    Quote Originally Posted by dannyzabolotny View Post
    ^ This. The self-leveling suspension in the rear can mess with the front ride heights if the rear ride heights aren't 100% level from side to side. That's the downside of having such a stiff chassis, it means that all four corners need to be at the exact same heights for the car to sit level, otherwise it sits crooked. It took me a while to dial in my 540it's ride height because the rear air struts weren't staying at the same height on both sides.

    Yea, I adjusted them with INPA and the sensors were reading even as was the rim to fender measurement but my suspension seems to wander out of spec. Did you use INPA to adjust your suspension? If so what process did you do to adjust and "set" the new ride height, on tm6 E61 I would have to jump to another screen and lock in the new settings for them to stay, I wonder if I am missing something on the E39.

Page 3 of 13 FirstFirst 123456789101112 ... LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. E39 Touring 6speed Build
    By karies in forum E39 Touring / Wagon
    Replies: 97
    Last Post: 01-17-2021, 02:58 AM
  2. lq9 in e39 touring build
    By hkssupra in forum Engine Conversions
    Replies: 106
    Last Post: 11-30-2020, 11:02 AM
  3. Custom E39 Sound System/Build Log
    By Newnewera in forum 1996 - 2003 (E39)
    Replies: 12
    Last Post: 02-02-2015, 10:37 PM
  4. Replies: 49
    Last Post: 02-28-2014, 06:08 PM
  5. E39 Euro Tails for e39 Touring
    By Mad Dog 20/20 in forum Exterior Lighting & Body Parts
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 12-14-2007, 02:47 PM

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •