Been a long two months...

[SCRSUVS]

Bought my 2003 540iT from a forum member in December of last year, last few months have been sorting out a lot of issues trying to get this car back to as close to pristine as possible. Found out a few things along the way...and a few lessons learned as well.

The car was listed with a LSD added at some point didn't have the time to check when buying the car my bad / car didn't have the LSD. That was a surprise. PO said he would change the oil before purchase that was not done. Knew most of the issues needed to do time was the issue. Replaced the headlight washers, ending the annoying reservoir leaking out completely when washers turned on. First month the alternator went out. Replaced with a Power Select so far no issues. Soon after that battery failed, put in a new one. The car had an oil leak found out it was the VC gaskets, knew that was a problem. the car had timing chain guides done about 15Kish ago another surprise VCs leaking so soon as they were done with the rest of the top of the motor issues with the TCGs.

So spent the last two months getting to the problems and as we all know once opened up we always find new issues. So replaced the VC gaskets, replaced a few cooling hose`s that was a pain to get to, especially the one going to the transmission cooler. The valve on top of the trans cooler cracked (plastic should have been metal) when removing the hose the first time fine hair line crack couldnt see the crack and leaked under pressure when car fired back up and needed to be replaced after everything was put back togther...uuuggghhh. Lot of work involved only to redo...wait for more parts, & after VC gasket was set didn't get the round lip set on the back on the motor over the round hump and was sucked into the motor and started leaking again.... uuuggghhh...replaced the subframe bushings using Jed`s special tool the Jedi M5, the original bushings had cracks thought wouldnt make much difference but seem to? hard to really tell, & on the first test drive about 8 miles the car just died at a stop sign, had to roll it off to the side of the road, guess what no cell phone with me and forgot to mention im in the bay-area not at home in Vegas. Had to flag down a driver, his first call never got to the tow company, waited 2 hours until a Sherriff came by called/towed the car to a friends shop (bay area tow $264)...I didn't have 3A service. My bad again, lesson lerned.

So why did the car just stall, couldn't start it, nothing happened when turning the key? That turned out to be the starter, it just quit, gear inside was moving on its own and should have been stationary. Ordered a new one (Bosch) it came in with problems a clip holding one of the connections was attached to the housing and it shorted out. Bought a second one and it failed on the second test drive, stuck on the road again, but with my mechanic, used his cell to call for another tow. Put in the third starter and cars is running fine for about 10 minutes, then starts to run really rough. That turns out to be a failed crank case vent valve. Replace that and car is running perfectly for another 10 minutes then starts to make a lot of top end noise, lifters? Valves? Timing Chain? Not sure but not sounding healthy at all, and sounds serious. Oil light comes on, all the lights on the dash start coming on, and the message says to shut off motor no oil pressure. WTF? Doing preventive maintance and all kinds of problems one after the other.

I have to get back to Vegas been in the bay-area longer than expected, over a month, now have to rent a car to get back home, leave the wagon in BA and sort out whats going on. Need to see whats going on thought oil filter may be clogged restricting flow back to the motor, not the problem I hoped for, so oil pan is dropped and find out the oil pump is fried. When draining out the original oil find the PO never changed the oil as he stated, its so dirty looks as if it was never changed. Problem is when the car started running really rough making noise, IM hoping that while it was running under those conditions it didnt do any unexpected damage while very low oil pressure. Its been a hell of a ride on a car I love. My mechanic friend had to order a new oil pump I can`t be there so waiting for some good news from him in BA no internal damage because the noise was really bad, hoping the oil pumps solves what has been a long line of "car stuff" we "all" get every once in awhile...hope my next post is good news no more problem oil pump fixes it...drove to the BA no problems everything started after getting there, "its always something"

[swagginwagon03]

I feel your pain. I purchased my current 540 wagon back in April 2017. I overpaid and got deceived by the seller. I haven't had any catastrophic problems as of yet, but the constant nickel and dime expenses can be frustrating. I think the two biggest warning signs of a used BMW are as follows... Being from New Jersey... and a "stanceworks" profile to the car (aftermarket radio, ebay coilovers and WHEELS SPACERS!)

[SCRSUVS]

I feel your pain. I purchased my current 540 wagon back in April 2017. I overpaid and got deceived by the seller. I haven't had any catastrophic problems as of yet, but the constant nickel and dime expenses can be frustrating. I think the two biggest warning signs of a used BMW are as follows... Being from New Jersey... and a "stanceworks" profile to the car (aftermarket radio, eBay coilovers and WHEELS SPACERS!)

I was prepared for the fixes, no LSD would have been a nice upgrade, sucked it hadn't been done. PO "said" he changed the oil, either didn't do it or the shop charged but never changed it. It's one or the other. Oil looked as if it had a 100K on it very, very dirty. Three new Bosch starters was another surprise, one so bad shouldnt have left the shop. Second did the same thing failed while driving, poor quality...keeping fingers crossed the third has no issues. After oil pump failed car was running so bad the noise really sounded like bad lifter or timing chain...hope no internal damage. Mechanic said oil pump worst seen in 30 years...no problem fixing problems prepared for the cost...but one repair after the other takes the wind out of your sail...if more damage to the internals @ 170K will bite the bullet and rebuild it like new.

[swagginwagon03]

I was prepared for the fixes, no LSD would have been a nice upgrade, sucked it hadn't been done. PO "said" he changed the oil, either didn't do it or the shop charged but never changed it. It's one or the other. Oil looked as if it had a 100K on it very, very dirty. Three new Bosch starters was another surprise, one so bad shouldnt have left the shop. Second did the same thing failed while driving, poor quality. After oil pump failed car was running so bad the noise really sounded like bad lifter or timing chain...hope no internal damage. Mechanic said oil pump worst seen in 30 years...no problem fixing problems prepared for the cost...but one repair after the other takes the wind out of your sail...if more damage to the internals @ 170K will bite the bullet and rebuild it like new.

These engines have their faults, but if maintained, they will last. So, if worse comes to worse, a junk yard engine wouldn't be a horrible option. They can be had for a reasonable price, and if you have the mechanic inspect and if everything looks good, just replace all the seals, timing chain/guides, valley pan gasket and throw it in the car. It will definitely be cheaper than rebuilding the mechanicals of the engine (as in getting the crankshaft turned 10 under, new cams, all new main bearings, cam bearings and rod bearings.)
My car looked a little low and I asked the guy if it was lowered. He said, "Stock springs". Nope! It had ebay coilovers. A Pre-purchase inspection will definitely be in my future for my next car. Almost every panel on the car has small dents too. Enough dent's for the paintless dent guy to quote me $1,000 to repair the entire car. Ouch! I'm still screwing around trying to get the radio to work. Did you know the wagon's have their own unique amplifiers apart from the sedan? I didn't until a few weeks ago. I'm thinking about going total red neck and buying a parts car to leave in the yard. Ha!

[blarf]

OTOH I found my 540 on Craigslist, put a deposit down, flew up to Canada a couple months later and met the guy at the airport. He asked if I wanted to check the car out at all before I left. I declined and drove straight back to California. There's some stupid stuff but so far nothing major. The ad made it very clear he was an enthusiast, mentioned all the right things, and when I got there he had a stack of records. Eventually he emailed me his own records and whatnot. Could've been much worse I suppose.

[SCRSUVS]

These engines have their faults, but if maintained, they will last. So, if worse comes to worse, a junk yard engine wouldn't be a horrible option. They can be had for a reasonable price, and if you have the mechanic inspect and if everything looks good, just replace all the seals, timing chain/guides, valley pan gasket and throw it in the car. It will definitely be cheaper than rebuilding the mechanicals of the engine (as in getting the crankshaft turned 10 under, new cams, all new main bearings, cam bearings and rod bearings.)
My car looked a little low and I asked the guy if it was lowered. He said, "Stock springs". Nope! It had ebay coilovers. A Pre-purchase inspection will definitely be in my future for my next car. Almost every panel on the car has small dents too. Enough dent's for the paintless dent guy to quote me $1,000 to repair the entire car. Ouch! I'm still screwing around trying to get the radio to work. Did you know the wagon's have their own unique amplifiers apart from the sedan? I didn't until a few weeks ago. I'm thinking about going total red neck and buying a parts car to leave in the yard. Ha!

First thought was to keep the original block beings its a 2003, not sure yet if that is a big deal one way or the other was told the motors dont have vins#s that match, that was a surprise. Need to confirm that one...agree finding another block is the more cost effictive way to go, but IM such a perfectionist rebuilding the original keeps slapping me upside the head. Figure if there are parts that wont need to be done the cost is in the area of $6K - $8Kish. I like the idea of a brand new rebuild, if it was all about saving I wouldnt even consider doing it...my friend / mechanic said today there is still some noise but nothing like before, and runs strong with just a sound that may be bearings, or vanos...wont be certain until its opened up. So mot sure what will do at this point until I can see in person...like the car so the issues now are more of a dealing with the problems, was a hassle because it happened in BA not close to home.

[SCRSUVS]

Finally (think) found out the cause of the problem,

Oil pump failed, maybe causing lifter(s) damage due to low oil pressure, that probably affected the vanos at the same time. Couldnt pin point engine noises before knowing the oil pump had major issues, but now seems probably confined to the top of the motor. After oil pump removed you can see the machined metal surfaces has scouring across areas that should be smooth as glass. The main gear supposed to move freely wouldnt, and the top of that has major metal gouges. The piston also froze in place and driving gear also suffered with shavings coming off fine in pieces of metal. Some of these were found in the filter, none in the bottom of the oil pan. The low oil pressure probably affected the lifter, there is still noise coming from that area on the top of the motor. Was able to drive the car from the bay area back to Vegas with no problems, because of that ruled out any rod or bearing damage. The car is actually running very strong other that what sounds to be a lifter or? Not sure until its opened up, feel lucky no other major issue, will see as the car runs great, but the sound is really annoying...Pictures show oil pump damage.

oil pump 001.JPGoil pump 002.JPGoil pump 003.JPGoil pump 004.JPGoil pump 005.JPG

[dannyzabolotny]

That's kinda impressive... I've never seen an oil pump fail on one of these engines before. I know the M60/M62 non-vanos have the oil pump bolts that back out, but never any internal failures like this. I wonder if it was caused by contamination of some kind.

[SCRSUVS]

That's kinda impressive... I've never seen an oil pump fail on one of these engines before. I know the M60/M62 non-vanos have the oil pump bolts that back out, but never any internal failures like this. I wonder if it was caused by contamination of some kind.

Yeah, oil pumps failing on these is rare, internals of it took a beating. Oil was filthy, thin, watery, think that was part of the problem. Kick myself for not changing it first like I usuallty do & glad didnt put many miles on before finding out the problems...lifter chatter is maddening hard to drive the car knowing I can even with the noise.

[s14brent]

was your car at the bmw of las vegas dealership (w sahara). I think I saw your wagon (parked/ready for pick up) the other day when I went looking for a few parts for my e30.

[SCRSUVS]

That`s funny of all times it could have been seen that day was it...in for recall on the free airbag...literally 40+ cars in line, little over 5 hrs wait for a ten minute fix...& saw a nice 650M would like to have...top of motor noise is getting to me, bit of hesitation in throttle response frustrated after all the work, would have liked to leave it, have motor & trans rebuilt, with a new paint job...reality set in so just wishing until I get it sorted...