New to me '03 530i Sport

[Twistytee]

Hi all

Just picked-up a 2003 BSM 530i Sport 5MT over the weekend. Mechanically it's in very good shape with relatively low miles (~78k). Exterior has a fair number of bumps and bruises from PO's daily driver activities. Need to find a good PDR guy to see if I can address some of the worst of the bunch. Rear bumper clear coat has failed too so that needs a respray. Other typical E39 issues including fogged headlamps and pixels out on the dash cluster. Plan is to slowly go through it and establish a maintenance baseline. It was regularly serviced but likely needs a cooling system update and fluids changed. Brakes are in good shape and it's always been a southern car so no rust to contend with. Hope to update this thread periodically as I progress through my check list.

Day I picked it up

Untitled by Twistytee, on Flickr

Foam cannon spray down

Untitled by Twistytee, on Flickr

Clay bar treatment

Untitled by Twistytee, on Flickr

Working through polish and paint correction. Starting to see some progress on the hood. Front bumper needs to be pulled off and re-aligned.

Untitled by Twistytee, on Flickr

[computiNATEor]

Nice! Impressively low mileage, too. Sounds like a good buy! Keep us posted on what's going on with the car.

I don't miss owning a black car, especially because I had to park outside all the time. Good to see you already have a tint.

[Dave Sal]

How the heck did you get the hood looking so good? My car, jet black, has been clay barred and polished with a random orbital many times and I always end up with a haze. Congrats on your new car.

[computiNATEor]

How the heck did you get the hood looking so good? My car, jet black, has been clay barred and polished with a random orbital many times and I always end up with a haze. Congrats on your new car.

Artificial lighting, unless it's specialized ScanGrip color-matching and high- CRI lights, are usually going to hide swirls fairly well. Get it out in the sun and I bet we'd see more.

Also, Jet Black is an unforgiving color. Black Sapphire hides some scratches and other sins in the metallic flake.

[Twistytee]

It has swirls and imperfections. It’s 15 y/o paint and age takes its toll. I got some depth and gloss back using a makita and wool pads before moving on to orange LC pads and a PC orbital. I also did the finish polish outside to detect the swirls. It’s not wise to apply sealant in direct sunlight so that was done in the garage per the photo above. Correct that BSM is not true black like Jet and the metallic flakes help hide some of the imperfections.

[edjack]

What's a "BSM?"

[computiNATEor]

BSM = "Black Sapphire Metallic"

[gmushial]

Welcome to the club - picked up the same [just went over 65k mi], though steelblue, in May: has been a love affair so far :-) especially have been enjoying the sport suspension/seats - didn't think a heavy car cold handle: little did I know ;-)

[Twistytee]

Thanks. I’m enjoying driving this one too. Surprised at how tight the orginal suspension feels. Few shots of the interior. Headliner is failing on the sunroof shuttle. I will probably re-do it all at the same time. I did the hardtop on my e36 in UV resistant micro suede and it came out well. Not sure what I’ll do with this one. Will also install a SSK and weighted knob when I find the right combo.

Untitled by Twistytee, on Flickr


Untitled by Twistytee, on Flickr


Untitled by Twistytee, on Flickr

[computiNATEor]

Thanks. I’m enjoying driving this one too. Surprised at how tight the orginal suspension feels. Few shots of the interior. Headliner is failing on the sunroof shuttle. I will probably re-do it all at the same time. I did the hardtop on my e36 in UV resistant micro suede and it came out well. Not sure what I’ll do with this one. Will also install a SSK and weighted knob when I find the right combo.

I recommend a new rod end joint for the transmission shifter shaft and an E60 545i manual transmission lever. Using both will eliminate the tiny plastic washers that used to be in there for whatever reason. Replace the front and rear shifter carrier bushings, too. I went with solid aluminum front bushings from forum user M5Jed, but fresh rubber ones would be good, too.

And then a ZHP shift knob to top it all off

[blackknight530i]

So, having owned my 2003 530i in BSM over black car since 56k miles and now being at 228k, I can say you found yourself a good buy. I first converted mine to a 6-speed from an auto using the e46 M3 transmission, but have since put the 3.0 and 6-speed in my 2003 525it wagon and converted the black 530i into a full M5. It's probably the only e39 M5 in BSM that isn't a touring (I know about Redshift's, LOL). My paint has been very well cared for over the years and when clean, still looks incredible.

OP, since you're in Charlotte (as per your PM to me), I highly recommend Charlotte Speed Shop (aka Dents of Charlotte) for PDR and paint touch-up. Tony runs the shop and has a couple guys that work for him and does incredible work. https://www.facebook.com/charlottespeedshop/ www.dentscharlotte.com. A lady hit my car back in January 2018 and they did the repair work and paint and the color matches perfectly. I also had Tony do PDR work on the car prior to that and he was very fair on pricing and you couldn't tell it had about 17 dings after he was done with it. After a hailstorm in AL this past weekend, my wagon got hit pretty bad by 3-4" balls of hail and will need work done on it, so I'll be in touch with him again once I get an insurance inspection done.

Nice car dude!

[Joe///540i]

I have jet black and doing a paint correction was the best money I have spent

[computiNATEor]

I have jet black and doing a paint correction was the best money I have spent

The 50/50 shot your shop posted was very impressive.

[Joe///540i]

Here you go:

[gmushial]

Hi all

Just picked-up a 2003 BSM 530i Sport 5MT over the weekend. Mechanically it's in very good shape with relatively low miles (~78k). Exterior has a fair number of bumps and bruises from PO's daily driver activities. Need to find a good PDR guy to see if I can address some of the worst of the bunch. Rear bumper clear coat has failed too so that needs a respray. Other typical E39 issues including fogged headlamps and pixels out on the dash cluster. Plan is to slowly go through it and establish a maintenance baseline. It was regularly serviced but likely needs a cooling system update and fluids changed. Brakes are in good shape and it's always been a southern car so no rust to contend with. Hope to update this thread periodically as I progress through my check list.

Day I picked it up

Untitled by Twistytee, on Flickr

Foam cannon spray down

Untitled by Twistytee, on Flickr

Clay bar treatment

Untitled by Twistytee, on Flickr

Working through polish and paint correction. Starting to see some progress on the hood. Front bumper needs to be pulled off and re-aligned.

Untitled by Twistytee, on Flickr

Side question... the "BBS" wheels that we have - are they BMW wheels, with a model/style number? Or actually BBS wheels? Or both: by BBS, for BMW, and with a style number?

[CPHES]

They are bmw specific bbs built - Style 42

[gmushial]

They are bmw specific bbs built - Style 42

Thanks.

And the difference between the 17 x 8 vs 17 x 9 is 530i vs 540i usage?

[Twistytee]

Thanks.

And the difference between the 17 x 8 vs 17 x 9 is 530i vs 540i usage?

this is generally true. The staggered factory set was intended to reduce understeer and increase traction on the more torquey 540i sport models. However I believe the larger wheels including the 18x9 42s were available as an option on all models.

[1823alex]

Side question... the "BBS" wheels that we have - are they BMW wheels, with a model/style number? Or actually BBS wheels? Or both: by BBS, for BMW, and with a style number?

They're wheels made by BBS for BMW and they have a BMW style code (42) and they also have a BBS model (RS 740).

Also has anybody else had the clear coat on their 42s fail disastrously? This is one of mine: https://i.imgur.com/HMkHUT2.jpg



The clear coat was peeling so badly that you could just pick off giant pieces of it and there was so much dirt and grime getting under the clear coat. I ended up sanding the outer barrels down to bare metal, primered them, spray painted them silver and then clear coating and they look so much better, took forever to sand down the old clear coat and stuff though. For the center pieces I took them out separately and scuffed them then primered, painted gold, and clear coated them and they look really nice imo now. If you ever try and redo them and you pull the center piece out. I highly recommend having a second set of tires to have on your car while you do this. Also you'll need a can of PB Blaster and let it sit on all the bolts for like an hour or two and pb blast the edge between the outer barrel and center piece. Once you hopefully remove all the bolts without breaking them take a piece of wood and a hammer and hammer the center out from the back.

[Twistytee]

Going through the headlamp lens restoration project. Is there a good sealant owners have found effective to reduce UV hazing?

before:

Untitled by Twistytee, on Flickr

after:

Untitled by Twistytee, on Flickr

[blackknight530i]

Not bad, but the best way to restore them is to put some new DJ Auto lenses on. Not as simple on 2003 models due to epoxy used to adhere them, but so worth it. You have to cut the old lenses off with a dremel and then remove the remaining plastic once the lens is out of the way. Fix the adjusters while in there as well.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[computiNATEor]

Not bad, but the best way to restore them is to put some new DJ Auto lenses on. Not as simple on 2003 models due to epoxy used to adhere them, but so worth it. You have to cut the old lenses off with a dremel and then remove the remaining plastic once the lens is out of the way. Fix the adjusters while in there as well.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

Agreed. And if you're doing adjusters, I recommend updating/upgrading the projectors, too. The Morimoto Evo X-R 2.0 is a direct fit, and you don't have to wire in the bixenons unless you want to (I did).

However, I've heard good results from people who have their lenses clear-coated. Like the same stuff your paint is coated with. You could have the lenses wrapped in a clear-bra/film material, which will also protect them nicely.

[Twistytee]

Thanks gents. I will probably add new lenses and projectors to my future "wish list". For now, I need to address the cooling system, cluster, headliner, PDR, etc. Fortunately the adjusters still seem to be intact and the lenses cleared up well enough to work for me until I get further down my maintenance list.

[Joe///540i]

The lenses look solid, a good improvement, you seem to have your priorities in order. I had mine professionally restored a month or so ago. They look 100% better but I hate the amber, so somewhere down the road I'll drop $900 or so on the eruo's.

[Twistytee]

Well it was a good news/bad news weekend for the 530i. Good news was the headlamp resto turned out great and while waiting for a new bumper gasket to show-up, I headed out to the pick-a-part and got a new driver’s side brake duct, gas door hinge, spare set of heated washer jets, a tail light harness connector, and some random trim pieces. While cleaning-up the tail light area, I noticed I had corrosion in the passenger side harness. Someone had been in here before, cut the plastic connector apart and jammed it back together.

drivers side:

Untitled by Twistytee, on Flickr

passenger side connector:

Untitled by Twistytee, on Flickr

My battery is new, AGM, and properly vented for the blow-off valve, so I’m guessing this was water intrusion through the tail light gasket. The light still works and I’ve installed a replacement connector, but I may need to replace this lamp and gasket if I continue to get error messages.

I also noticed while working on the bumper cover and related duct work that replacing my oil pan gasket needs to be moved up the priority list. So a few cosmetic projects including the headliner will be put on hold while I address this. What else should I tackle while the subframe is dropped? I’m assuming motor mounts although mine still look good - Lemforder ok or is there a better option? I will probably do the oil filter housing gasket at the same time. VCG was recently done and someone was in there before and replaced the two hoses and clamps on the PS reservoir that are prone to leaking.