I bought a set of new Arnott air springs when one of mine developed a leak. It was like $300 for a pair of new airbags with new hardware and a good warranty. Well worth it for the piece of mind, if you ask me.
1995 525i 5-speed - Thread
-Paul
2003 "M5" - Full M5 conversion, AMG C63S 6 piston front calipers, Porsche Panamera 4 piston rear calipers, GC Coilovers, Eibach ARBs, UUC Evo3/DSSR, Borla Exhaust w/Muffler Delete, BMW NBT with Carplay/Android Auto, Bi-Xenons, e38 Style 37 M-Pars, e60 Hubs 530i 6-speed swap build thread2005 Range Rover 4.6is (M62TU Powered) - 4.6is Engine Swap from X5, BMW NBT with Carplay/Android Auto
2006 Porsche Cayman S - Soul Performance Competition Headers and Exhaust, H&R Coilovers, 718 Boxster Spyder wheels, Rennline 35mm rear spacers
Yeah, given the age of the cars, I'm not sure I'd ever put a used bag in these unless they were for sure not-original-vintage... Neither would I mix and match (aka I woudln't replace just one saggy bag... that's a cheapskate move for stuff that is gonna be wearing at exactly the same rate...) I might even roll the dice on a set the cheapo cheapo knockoff bags (going rate = $100 for 2...) before I put a used one in... again unless it was less than the 15yrs old that all the originals were...
2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
2002 540iT Sport Vortech S/C 6MT LSD TiAg
2008 Audi A3 2.0T DSG (the daily beater)
2014 BMW X1 xDrive28i (wifemobile)
Former:
1985 MB Euro graymarket 300SL
1995.5 Audi S6 Avant (utility/winter billetturbobattlewagen)
Well, as you know, the airbags are super easy to replace and suspension isn't that high on the priority list, so knowing these came off a car and worked well, I'll go with them for cheap. I got the airbags on my blue wagon from a friend who parted out his 540it sport and they've held up fine over the last couple years. I'm well aware that I will eventually be buying new good ones, but I have other things to spend a large chunk of cash on to get this car roadworthy. I'm mainly buying the suspension from the guy to get the front springs and sport sway bar. The rest is really just bonus.
-Paul
2003 "M5" - Full M5 conversion, AMG C63S 6 piston front calipers, Porsche Panamera 4 piston rear calipers, GC Coilovers, Eibach ARBs, UUC Evo3/DSSR, Borla Exhaust w/Muffler Delete, BMW NBT with Carplay/Android Auto, Bi-Xenons, e38 Style 37 M-Pars, e60 Hubs 530i 6-speed swap build thread2005 Range Rover 4.6is (M62TU Powered) - 4.6is Engine Swap from X5, BMW NBT with Carplay/Android Auto
2006 Porsche Cayman S - Soul Performance Competition Headers and Exhaust, H&R Coilovers, 718 Boxster Spyder wheels, Rennline 35mm rear spacers
thumbsupemoji
2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
2002 540iT Sport Vortech S/C 6MT LSD TiAg
2008 Audi A3 2.0T DSG (the daily beater)
2014 BMW X1 xDrive28i (wifemobile)
Former:
1985 MB Euro graymarket 300SL
1995.5 Audi S6 Avant (utility/winter billetturbobattlewagen)
Ha! So YOU bought the car! My M-Sport wagon got hit last month, so being in Chicago as well I came across this car. I pestered them and they told me it went to auction. Then it went from one auction to another one (so they say) so I had a friend reach out to someone at auction number 2. Well, there was no record of the car being sold at auction, and when I called they finally said it was sold. I was bummed. I was going to swap my full black interior (full extended leather M5 already swapped in) from the M-Sport then install the M5 trans, driveshaft, diff, axels, etc from my donor into this one knowing the auto trans was on its way out. I had a contact who was a vender at auction 1 check out the car for me and he sent me 50+ pics of it. It appeared solid other than the sun-baked paint. Underneath was super clean. My thinking was this would be the perfect candidate since paint work was needed for an Imola respray (I wouldn’t have minded keeping the enigine bay black).
Im glad the car went to another enthusiast who’s going to resurrect it the way it should be. Just kinda bummed it wasn’t me. Lol. Well, my injured M-Sport is currently at one of Chicago’s premier body shops so hopefully I’ll get her back soon.
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Also I have a brand new genuine BMW rear air spring if you need a single one. PM me if you need it. I eliminated the air setup (Koni’s with Jed’s coilover collars and 7” springs).
I just read the earlier posts...I know a guy with a genuine BMW air spring that may want to barter and trade for some cluster work. M5 cluster needs the vin to match and the mileage zeroed out for a certain M-Sport wagon so when the engine gets swapped all will function happily together
Last edited by hey808; 08-11-2018 at 09:39 PM.
Bob
2003 540 M-Sport Touring
2008 528i
1991 318is
1976 2002
Well, I never really publicly mentioned this but my Sterling on Black M-Sport came from a dealer in California about 3 years ago. It was listed incorrectly, with no pics, but a vin was shown. That’s all I needed to know what the car was. When I called them they said it was no longer available since the trans was bad. I though perfect, I’m going to installing the 6-speed anyway! Well, after pestering them daily we finally made struck a deal. The car was shipped to Chicago, but then there was a problem with the title. To make a long story short, I had to install a functioning auto trans in it ASAP, make sure all the readiness monitors set, then the dealer paid to have the car shipped back to Cali, have it tested, then shipped it back to Chicago. Either that, or they would take the car back and refund my money, including what I had in shipping it too Chicago. All the while, word of this car made it to these forums where someone (maybe multiple people?) had tried to buy it.
You win some, and you lose some. I’m just glad this black one is getting the proper attention/upgrades it deserves. =-)
Bob
2003 540 M-Sport Touring
2008 528i
1991 318is
1976 2002
Great stuff, looking forward to watch your build.
I've ordered several key from thebmwminipartstore.com which is BMW of Cincinnati. Great service and price. IIRC around $140 shipped. You take a picture of your title or similar and upload to their email. Few days later you get get programmed key ready to go. They have ordering info on their website.
Also, for less than $50 you can get their spare non remote key which I just did for M5. It manually opens door and starts the car.
2010 BMW M6 SMG Coupe * Black Saphire Metallic * Full Leather Merino Black
2019 BMW X3 M40i * Alpine White * Mocha Leather
Former:
1997 BMW 532M (528i with 3.2 S52 engine from E36 M3 / 5 speed manual)
1998 BMW 540i 6 Speed
2003 BMW M5
It definitely is in the right hands. I'll be taking care of this one. It needs some work and isn't perfect, but it's a good start. The engine runs great, though probably will need VANOS seals done due to cold start rattle and will likely need a suspension refresh soon enough. It's very wallowy right now due to I think blown struts, but they'll be going in favor of the Konis and sport springs, so hopefully that will fix that. I've got no clunking from rear subframe bushings, but I'm betting they are on their way out as most e39Ts are by this age. I own the tool to do them and the Lemforder bushings aren't very expensive.
-Paul
2003 "M5" - Full M5 conversion, AMG C63S 6 piston front calipers, Porsche Panamera 4 piston rear calipers, GC Coilovers, Eibach ARBs, UUC Evo3/DSSR, Borla Exhaust w/Muffler Delete, BMW NBT with Carplay/Android Auto, Bi-Xenons, e38 Style 37 M-Pars, e60 Hubs 530i 6-speed swap build thread2005 Range Rover 4.6is (M62TU Powered) - 4.6is Engine Swap from X5, BMW NBT with Carplay/Android Auto
2006 Porsche Cayman S - Soul Performance Competition Headers and Exhaust, H&R Coilovers, 718 Boxster Spyder wheels, Rennline 35mm rear spacers
paul:
loving seeing wagon builds, aspecially with good writing behind it.
as a newb to bmw with an e39 longroof myself, and being semi local (live in albemarle), do you think i could buy you a sammich or something for a crash course and once over of my new to me car? sounds linke you primarily mess with v8, and mines an m52tu, so you may not be the right guy to ask. just trying to get a good baseline on what i have and what it needs, etc.
thanks in advance.
Michael
Paul’s super standup guy and you guys prob could swap swap-stories until the cows come home. Before you know it he’ll have introduced you to Brian and convinced you to buy the M62TU out of his wagon to swap into your car and and and....
2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
2002 540iT Sport Vortech S/C 6MT LSD TiAg
2008 Audi A3 2.0T DSG (the daily beater)
2014 BMW X1 xDrive28i (wifemobile)
Former:
1985 MB Euro graymarket 300SL
1995.5 Audi S6 Avant (utility/winter billetturbobattlewagen)
I bring good news everyone!!! After ordering a new filter and some new Redline D4 ATF earlier this week, my buddy Steve and I tonight decided to go ahead and drain the fluid, change the filter, and refill properly. The fluid that came out came out super brown and smelling burnt and the filter was done. Also, the old gasket had been gone a long time ago and it was obvious the pan had been leaking for a while. The crazy thing is that only about 2 qts at most came out of the draining, including after dropping the pan and dumping it into the drain pan. I really think that this transmission was simply low on fluid and it cooked whatever was left in there. Needless to say, after filling it with about 9.3 qts of fluid (when the engine was running and trans fluid temp within range only dribbling out), it shifts beautifully now. We drove it to the gas station to fill it up and it was exactly as it was supposed to be. The engine idled as if it was not even running and the transmission felt like every other 5hp24 car I've ever been in, when they work properly. The only thing I noticed was when I downshifted using kickdown and it kind of jerked into gear, but I chalk that up to it still circulating the new fluid and maybe getting rid of some air pockets. It only did it once.
That all said, I had also anticipated that the filter and fluid might not fix it, so I talked to Adam (Clemster) and got a bunch of 6-speed swap parts to go with a bunch of parts I already have. There's still about $800 in parts I'll need, so I'm not really in a hurry to do the swap, especially now that I can actually drive the car normally and not really worry about it. I also finally got the title from the dealership today, so once I get the PO signed from the guy that picked the car up, I'll be able to get it registered. Then I plan to have a glass repair shop reattach the rearview mirror button on the windshield and I can finally start working on the little things.
I'm a happy camper
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Hey Michael,
Sorry I didn't get right back to you. Thanks for the compliments on my writing. I enjoy writing these updates and telling my stories.
I don't mess exclusively with v8s as I have a M54b30 in my other wagon, my buddy's got a M54b25 (from my other wagon) in his e30 that we built, and another buddy has the M54b30 in his 330i, along with a few S54b32s in some e46 M3s. I will say that I haven't really messed with the M52TU and I'm still very new to the M62TU, but my understanding is that the M52TU is pretty similar to the M54, so I could probably help you out if you had questions. Let me know if you're going to be in the Charlotte area sometime and we can try to meet up.
-Paul
2003 "M5" - Full M5 conversion, AMG C63S 6 piston front calipers, Porsche Panamera 4 piston rear calipers, GC Coilovers, Eibach ARBs, UUC Evo3/DSSR, Borla Exhaust w/Muffler Delete, BMW NBT with Carplay/Android Auto, Bi-Xenons, e38 Style 37 M-Pars, e60 Hubs 530i 6-speed swap build thread2005 Range Rover 4.6is (M62TU Powered) - 4.6is Engine Swap from X5, BMW NBT with Carplay/Android Auto
2006 Porsche Cayman S - Soul Performance Competition Headers and Exhaust, H&R Coilovers, 718 Boxster Spyder wheels, Rennline 35mm rear spacers
Im really glad that the fluid and filter brought the trans back to life... that a HUGE plus!
Sent from my SM-N910T3 using Tapatalk
-Paul
2003 "M5" - Full M5 conversion, AMG C63S 6 piston front calipers, Porsche Panamera 4 piston rear calipers, GC Coilovers, Eibach ARBs, UUC Evo3/DSSR, Borla Exhaust w/Muffler Delete, BMW NBT with Carplay/Android Auto, Bi-Xenons, e38 Style 37 M-Pars, e60 Hubs 530i 6-speed swap build thread2005 Range Rover 4.6is (M62TU Powered) - 4.6is Engine Swap from X5, BMW NBT with Carplay/Android Auto
2006 Porsche Cayman S - Soul Performance Competition Headers and Exhaust, H&R Coilovers, 718 Boxster Spyder wheels, Rennline 35mm rear spacers
Did you reset the transmissuon adaptations after the fluid change?
Sent from my SM-N910T3 using Tapatalk
-Paul
2003 "M5" - Full M5 conversion, AMG C63S 6 piston front calipers, Porsche Panamera 4 piston rear calipers, GC Coilovers, Eibach ARBs, UUC Evo3/DSSR, Borla Exhaust w/Muffler Delete, BMW NBT with Carplay/Android Auto, Bi-Xenons, e38 Style 37 M-Pars, e60 Hubs 530i 6-speed swap build thread2005 Range Rover 4.6is (M62TU Powered) - 4.6is Engine Swap from X5, BMW NBT with Carplay/Android Auto
2006 Porsche Cayman S - Soul Performance Competition Headers and Exhaust, H&R Coilovers, 718 Boxster Spyder wheels, Rennline 35mm rear spacers
Nice! The wagon is actually pretty good w/ the 5HP24 working well... I've said before in some ways I wouldn't mind at all a stock suspension + tranny 540iT as a traffic-daily type car.
2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
2002 540iT Sport Vortech S/C 6MT LSD TiAg
2008 Audi A3 2.0T DSG (the daily beater)
2014 BMW X1 xDrive28i (wifemobile)
Former:
1985 MB Euro graymarket 300SL
1995.5 Audi S6 Avant (utility/winter billetturbobattlewagen)
Paul - Nice new project mate. Congrats. Nice to see you overcoming the challenges. And props as always to PP - always there for peeps.
I am with GG on this one about the 5HP24 - especially for a daily driver. The Step with the 3.15 in the back actually gets the car going pretty nicely. You could add the DINAN Transmission tune which enables you to redline in Sport Mode - I had it on mine and it was a blast.
Hi Paul !
Did the transmission fluid look like mine did in my DIY thread ?
LIFETIME FILL - I Don't Think So!
Looking for an E39 belly pan , passenger front inner fender liner …
-Paul
2003 "M5" - Full M5 conversion, AMG C63S 6 piston front calipers, Porsche Panamera 4 piston rear calipers, GC Coilovers, Eibach ARBs, UUC Evo3/DSSR, Borla Exhaust w/Muffler Delete, BMW NBT with Carplay/Android Auto, Bi-Xenons, e38 Style 37 M-Pars, e60 Hubs 530i 6-speed swap build thread2005 Range Rover 4.6is (M62TU Powered) - 4.6is Engine Swap from X5, BMW NBT with Carplay/Android Auto
2006 Porsche Cayman S - Soul Performance Competition Headers and Exhaust, H&R Coilovers, 718 Boxster Spyder wheels, Rennline 35mm rear spacers
-Paul
2003 "M5" - Full M5 conversion, AMG C63S 6 piston front calipers, Porsche Panamera 4 piston rear calipers, GC Coilovers, Eibach ARBs, UUC Evo3/DSSR, Borla Exhaust w/Muffler Delete, BMW NBT with Carplay/Android Auto, Bi-Xenons, e38 Style 37 M-Pars, e60 Hubs 530i 6-speed swap build thread2005 Range Rover 4.6is (M62TU Powered) - 4.6is Engine Swap from X5, BMW NBT with Carplay/Android Auto
2006 Porsche Cayman S - Soul Performance Competition Headers and Exhaust, H&R Coilovers, 718 Boxster Spyder wheels, Rennline 35mm rear spacers
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