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I rented it from Jed who offers it on this forum. Just google BMW E39 subframe tool rental and you will find the thread.Originally Posted by srx788
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Thanks dude. Found it.
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Next time we grab beers, I'd like to hear this new setup. I'm just happy I reverted by to my stock Radio/CD player. This is a whole new level!! Great job!
'98 M3 5spd - '03 540it 6spd M-Sport
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Any plans to replace the rear speaker in the roof headliner?
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great inspirational material in here.
Did you use the diode dynamics bulbs your reverse lights as well as the side markers? Did you have to install resistors or were they plug and play?
Last edited by ghostbutts; 03-26-2018 at 12:37 AM.
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It is up and running but needs some more fine tuning.
Not at this time. When listening to music I don't see the need for a rear stage.
Thanks. The reverse lights are the Osram Zevo their output is about the same as stock. I did it mainly for the change in color temp. If I need more output then I will simply add a LED light bar like I did on my E61. Not running any resistors so I have error messages, I will get around to coding them out eventually.
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Subwoofer Grill arrived.
Love these wheels!
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Laser beams!
Member
Now those are definitely some usable fog/driving lights!
Ed
________________________________________________
-2002 540iT Sport-
Previous Bimmers. - 2000 540iA Sport | 2000 540i6 Sport | 2000 M5 | 2000 740i customized | 2000 323Ci | [Bikes 2012 f800GS | 2014 R1200GS]
Current Stable - 2011 VW Touareg TDi | 2016 Mazda 3 Hatch | 2019 Ram 2500 6.4L Hemi 4x4 Big Horn Off-Road
Keep on modding and fixing!..
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oh man, i just finished my LED retrofit of my OEM fogs and high beams and they are so good! I found some well reviewed bulbs on amazon from company called "Zdatt" that have bulbs in H7 and 9006. They come with 3 different sleeves so you can do fog/amber at 3K, regular white (slightly whiter than the xenon projectors) and a blue one that must be 7K or up. Construction seems sturdy, the base is a giant heatsink/fan, and the diode positioning is perfect for a reflector retrofit.
I had to hack up some H7 HID adapters and dremel a bit off material off the aluminum base to make the high beams fit properly, but its well worth it. I hope they hold up, because they are bright as hell and the correct color.
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I know how $40 "12,000 lumen" Amazon/eBay LED BULB upgrades usually go (not well), but since you mentioned diode placement I will give you the benefit of the doubt.
Let's see some output pics like these. Also, if you can drop the exposure to show the light distribution and "hotspot" on the high beam that would be helpful.
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I have had absolute shit luck with ebay and amazon LEDs and I was extremely skeptical about them as well. Not sure I know all these fancy photography terms but if the phone can do it I will try!
What did you install? I recall seeing you putting a projector in the fogs but not the others.
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On an iphone all you have to do is tap and hold the screen and it will enter a manual exposure mode and then you can slide it up and down to raise or lower exposure. Not sure what phone you have but I am sure Google can direct you unless you still have a Blackberry or flip phone.
Here is an example with exposure in auto and then dropped:
The pics above is from my E61, low beam projectors are Lexus SC430s @46w and the high beam is a Morimoto D2S 4.0 modded for high beam only use @55w. IMO one of the best headlight configurations possible for performance.
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How's maintenance life with the E61 535i? Great looking car.
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Tricky question to answer since although I have suffered from some of the "typical" N54 related issues, the wagon has been so heavily modified many items were upgraded/modded before inevitable failures had a chance to rear their ugly heads. I guess you can call this responsible preventative maintenance? I call it "mod all the things."
The N54 is a stout engine and can make great power when massaged the right way, a lot of it's shortcomings are some of the bolt on engine components like the fuel system, turbos, water pump, etc. Yes, not cheap and enjoyable repairs but it's a trade off for being able to make 500+whp with bolt-ons. XI system can be problematic but that is mainly associated with increased power or driving the car in an abusive manner, or improperly spec-ing staggered wheels.
My E61 came with an CCC iDrive and it sucks, mine crashed and thankfully I still had warranty, the 2010+ CIC system is better but what's best is no NAV IMO. Aside from the stuff mentioned above it is mainly normal car wear items like bushings. Personally I am a big fan of the N54 motor, especially in the E61 as opposed to the cookie-cutter 335i sedans you see everywhere.
The E39 is a relative classic but now that I am back in the E39 scene I can't help but chuckle when I see people spending ~$10,000 to gain 100-150whp. You can achieve that with <$2,000 on the N54 and it is easy to go way beyond.
Depending the crowd you surround yourself with there might be a lot of moaning and groaning about the maintenance on N54 cars but the reality is with their prices dropping from $35k-$55k down to $10k you get fresh out of high school "junior" who buys the 335i spends zero effort exploring preventative maintenance, instead throwing a tune and bolt-ons at the car, and then heading to Facebook to complain about how the N54 is unreliable. It's a early gen twin turbo BMW motor, not an LSX. The N54 can get a bad wrap due to neglect and incompetent owners but it is really more like a mini 2JZ ready 600whp. Personally I am a huge fan and think the E61 in particular is a helluvalot of car for the modest $10-$15 it takes to get into a nice example, a big comfortable wagon which can run down GTRs and F10 M5s, and CTS-Vs if you want it to.
Evan
Member
How did you mount the lights on your garage door? Moreso, how did you setup the wiring?
I want to do this on my garage but can't seem to find any info on the internets.
Member
I used small sheet metal screws to mount the lights into the vertical support members on the underside of the door. The lights can simply be plugged in and don't need to be hard wired (these are Feits from Costco) and each light has a built in plug so they can be connected in a series so I just have an extension cord zip tied along where the chain runs, making sure there is enough slack to allow the door to open/close. Pretty simple installation really: screws, extension cord, and zip ties. Just double check the extension cord has clean routing and won't get snagged on anything during operation.
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have you noticed any flickering with your osram zevo reverse bulbs? I put them in this evening and noticed that they flicker quite a bit if the car is off in reverse (mine is manual so might not be applicable.)
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Yes, LED bulbs will strobe when the car is "off" but awake and there will also be pulses when the car is running, same thing goes for fog lights, running lights, etc. It is the CANBUS system sending "hot checks" and "cold checks" to see if bulbs have failed. This can easily be removed with coding in the light module. I just have been too lazy to address them. lol.
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I've removed all the cold checks for everything in the front already through PA Soft and I dont have issues with the front LEDs - other than the angel eyes, since there is no option a cold check. As far as i can tell the resistor module that comes with the after market LED angel eyes doesnt do a damn thing. There is probably a way to disable the cold check by editing the code but I havent looked for it. I'll check to see if I have cold checks enabled for the rears as I've ordered a few bulbs in anticipation of swapping out my rear lights. I'm planning on using an LED for a blinker bulb but I'm dreading wiring a resistor into it.
From earlier - here are some shots of the fog and high beam LEDs with exposure turned down a little past halfway. Hard to find dark places in the bay area, but here is a mostly blank wall. Clicking should show bigger pic. Definitely not nearly as crisp as your projector retrofits, but theres definitely some bang for the buck with these:
stock xenon projectors as reference:
IMG_0962.JPG
High beam:
IMG_0960.JPG
fogs:
IMG_0963.JPG
IMG_0965.JPG
IMG_0968.JPG
Last edited by ghostbutts; 04-13-2018 at 05:51 PM.
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How does the rear seat back panel come apart ? The carpet piece. I need to repair my center seat belt. thanks
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So, Evan - how is the sundown sub treating you?
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I haven't coded an E39 recently, most of my work was on my E61 but I am surprised there was no cold check for the angel eyes? I assume there was a warm check? There should be both hot/cold for all lights, tail lights included. I would double check the light module. If I ever get around to doing it I will confirm as well.
Those pics work just fine, thanks. The LED high beams do look good, I am intrigued! Beam pattern looks good in pics. I might get a set to test out myself. Those fogs are a glare fest! Did you put HID bulbs in them? Looks like they would make a great DRL! lol
Sub has been good. I was struggling to get the system sounding satisfactory and it turns out the volume on my processor was too low so cranking up the headunit was creating a lot of distortion, much better now. With how my system is setup the sub is clean and adequate. My bass knob for the JBL MSA500 doesn't give me the range I want. On a scale out of 10 I feel like the knob gives me a range of 3-5 and I was hoping it would be more like 2-8 so when the knob was cranked up the sub would really slap (I am still a bass head). As it is the sub is clean, deep, and adequate so I am happy but just "curious" since I know the sub and AMP are capable of so much more.
There are a lot of little clips around the perimeter of the panels, there is a certain way they need to be released without breaking them. I forget which was this is but there are enough clips that if you break a couple it won't matter. I recommend starting a the seat base and after you get the panel to lift a little, use a flashlight to peer in and see the orientation of the clips. Sorry I can't be more helpful I don't recall exactly how it went together.
Evan
Member
I bit the bullet and ordered an LCM 4. By the time E61 was around, the LCM already had all that stuff. In the LCM 3 (which is what I have) you can only do cold check disable on 5 lights total and I dont recall which. The LCM4 which came at the very tail end of e39/2003 and in e53s of that era has a much more detailed list for both hot and cold checks. Assuming the used LCM works, I'll report back this week. I'd picked up some diode dynamics bulbs for my rear blinkers and tails and tried fitting them, but as is, the flicker was driving me crazy and the LED turn signal double blinks. I considered using the resistors, but I a) didnt want to hack up my existing cables and b) have very little to no interest in having these little f***ers melt my trim since theres really not good place to mount them.
Once I have the LCM coded I'll try it again, but honestly at the same time I'm kind of questioning why I spent so much money on the DD bulbs since it seems like the zevo's will do the same thing at less than half the cost. Will need a side by side test.
Last edited by ghostbutts; 04-16-2018 at 03:14 PM.
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Just some pics.
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