Hakeem’s BMW 530i

[Hakeem530i]

I’ve been on this forum for a while just lurking but I picked up an e39 early last month and was daily driving my e24 prior to that.

I bought my 530i for $1800 with 212k miles but that’s nothing compared to my e24 with about 300k miles.



When I bought the car it:
1. Wouldn’t pass emissions

This was due to an 02 sensor (all originals were still on the car),



the thermostat (thermostat failed open so the car never got to operating temps).
P0491 and P0492 due to broken vacuum hose to the intake manifold.

2. Headlights came on by itself with the car off

Fixed after I replaced the LCM



3. Interior dome light wouldn’t work or come on when door is opened

I checked all bulbs and fuses and they were fine. I did some research and it pointed to the GM3 module. After replacing the module all is working now.



4. Had an oil leak that the PO couldn’t find

Due to a leaking camshaft position sensor O-ring. The old one was hard, shrunk and crystallised. The oil leak disappeared after I replaced it. The new one fits a lot more snug.



5. Had a power steering leak.

Idk but I wanted to replaced all hoses since it looks like they were due for replacement. Also found the oring to also be leaking but the hoses and canister were inexpensive so I replaced it anyways.



6. PO disconnected radio due to “electrical issues”

The LCM replacement in #2 fixed this. Reconnected the radio and have no issues apart from the radio going in and out. I’ll be throwing it out soon and replacing it so it’s fine for now.

7. High beams wouldn’t work.

They were disconnected because they kept coming on by themselves. I reconnected them after replacing the lcm and now they work fine.

8. Headlights works intermittently

i realised that sometimes I have to toggle the light switch a couple times before the left side low beams to come on. I linked this to a bad ballast. Used one should be coming in soon.

I’ll upload pictures when I get on my computer and update this as time does on. I also post updated to Instagram .

[JimLev]

Welcome to the forum.
$1800 was a good price with all those (normal) problems, hope he body is in better condition.
Your pics aren't working, probably because of the way you tried to post them.

[geargrinder]

Wow lotta work done already! Good stuff.

Hope the GM and LCM both being bad aren't some signs of something else that was shorting and burning them out (water in the passenger footwell?)

[Hakeem530i]

Welcome to the forum.
$1800 was a good price with all those (normal) problems, hope he body is in better condition.
Your pics aren't working, probably because of the way you tried to post them.

Thanks, not sure why they weren't showing. Just reposted them and the body isn't perfect but I think it's good for $1800. Only flaw I saw is a scratch on the passenger rear door, the fender corners under the hood wasn't repainted after being replaced and bumper gaps.

Wow lotta work done already! Good stuff.

Hope the GM and LCM both being bad aren't some signs of something else that was shorting and burning them out (water in the passenger footwell?)

Thanks and hopefully not. Would the carpets be wet if that was the case? I'm hoping there's a way to find out without pulling it.

[JimLev]

Under the carpet is a 1" foam pad. Under that is (pass side front) a fuse block with 5-7 high amp fuses in it.
If there was any water there the only way to see it would be to remove the plastic sill and peal back the carpet.

[Hakeem530i]

Been working on my car but forgetting to document.


Found out why my tail light worked intermittently. I bought a new connector to use but new tail light gaskets fixed the issues on both sides. Haven’t had the problem in weeks since I changed it.


Got 4 new brake rotors/pads and sensors. This is the first time I’ve ever done brakes on a car and it did take me all day to replace them. Old ones were shot.


I’ve been having “low coolant” message on my cluster and it’s been making me paranoid. After pulling the sensor I found the problem. One of the prongs are broken off. Got a new one, bled and it works fine now.


Replaced the water pump, ac mechanical pulley, tensioner pulley, idler pulley. I was sure to replace the power steering pulley and fan clutch pulley with aluminium from ecstuning.

I’ll be swapping the m56 valve cover and doing a complete cooling system overhaul (deleting the old ccv while in there) in the coming weeks.

Love this car.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[amancuso]

Looks like you've got everything in hand.

[Hakeem530i]

Got a lot colder and my car wouldn’t get to operating temps. Knew it wasn’t good to keep at it for long so I found out the thermostat was the problem as expected. The thermostat was just 2 months old but I guess that’s what I get for buying it from autozone.

Before:


After:


It was warmer outside so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it’ll stay the same when temps drop again.

Got a new ground cable for the engine. You can see from the pic on the right that some of the insulation was gone.


Got New Bosch wiper blades


Changed the spark plugs a month or so ago and forgot to update.


I also cut and program my own keys. I’ll post a pic when I get a chance.

Next I’ll be replacing the driveshaft, overhauling the cooling system, installing the m56 vc then audio.

[CPHES]

Here’s a hint - if you do wheel bearings - look into e60 units - they have the ‘normal 72.65mm hub - not the odd 74.1 that is E39 specific - gives you wheel choices - but you need spacer rings to run E39 wheels

[geargrinder]

Here’s a hint - if you do wheel bearings - look into e60 units - they have the ‘normal 72.65mm hub - not the odd 74.1 that is E39 specific - gives you wheel choices - but you need spacer rings to run E39 wheels

Seems like a bit of a non-sequitur. OP hasn't mentioned needing bearings?
"By the way in case you decide to get a new lawnmower I strongly suggest a zero-turn model, its worth the investment because of the time savings you'll get in mowing-time!"

Re: E60... yeah yeah... the nooberdoober guys constantly throw that out there.

It certainly has its place as a mod, but in reality the hubswap is only worth it IMO if:
- You either really have to have some wheel that doesn't come in E39 spacing, and/or, all your current wheels are trash, and/or you have a stable of BMW's and happen to have wheels that otherwise would be perfect fit
AND
- You definitely need wheel bearings on both ends of the car, and/or for some reason you're tearing the wheel carriers off anyway (and there's almost nothing else requiring the wheel carrier to come all the way off except perhaps an axle job).

If you've got good wheels you're happy with, I fail to see it really being worth it. Its a tremendous amount of PITA and cost just so you can throw on some used 3er wheels or whatever.

[mebjr12]

How did the M56 Valve Cover conversion go? I have been thinking about doing this because I am at 152k and I assume its still the original CCV. My only issue is since I have a 2002 530i I would have to change the wire harness and upgrade to the new BMW coils that were used. Seems like a lot of work just to delete the old CCV

[Hakeem530i]

How did the M56 Valve Cover conversion go? I have been thinking about doing this because I am at 152k and I assume its still the original CCV. My only issue is since I have a 2002 530i I would have to change the wire harness and upgrade to the new BMW coils that were used. Seems like a lot of work just to delete the old CCV

I have all the parts so far but I haven’t installed it and I have a 07/2002 as well so I’m in the same boat. I did get lucky and managed to grab everything for $250 on eBay. With the repinning tool it took 5 mins to repin the m56 harness and the seller I bought mine from included coils, dipstick and the connector from the vc to the manifold so I’m good to go.



You can buy rubber caps from autozone or any auto store to seal off the OEM ccv connections if you don’t want to pull everything out. I’m very ocd so I’ll be pulling the entire ccv when I do a cooling overhaul.

[Hakeem530i]

Seems like a bit of a non-sequitur. OP hasn't mentioned needing bearings?
"By the way in case you decide to get a new lawnmower I strongly suggest a zero-turn model, its worth the investment because of the time savings you'll get in mowing-time!"

Re: E60... yeah yeah... the nooberdoober guys constantly throw that out there.

It certainly has its place as a mod, but in reality the hubswap is only worth it IMO if:
- You either really have to have some wheel that doesn't come in E39 spacing, and/or, all your current wheels are trash, and/or you have a stable of BMW's and happen to have wheels that otherwise would be perfect fit
AND
- You definitely need wheel bearings on both ends of the car, and/or for some reason you're tearing the wheel carriers off anyway (and there's almost nothing else requiring the wheel carrier to come all the way off except perhaps an axle job).

If you've got good wheels you're happy with, I fail to see it really being worth it. Its a tremendous amount of PITA and cost just so you can throw on some used 3er wheels or whatever.

Yup. I love the stock wheels so I have no need for them now. I’d rather spend that $500 or so on a cooling system overhaul or maintenance.

[mebjr12]

Have you found a solution for SES Codes the conversion will cause?

[bimmer7410]

Awesome work. Always feels great to fix these cars part by part. A lot of the work is really straightforward.

[Hakeem530i]

Have you found a solution for SES Codes the conversion will cause?

I was worried about that too. After researching and talking to people that did it, they told me the conversion (different harness swap) won’t trigger the SES light, just codes inside the computer that’ll show up with advanced scan tools and won’t affect emission readiness. To make it go away I’ve read it has something to do with using the resistor from the m54 harness and soldering some grounds to each connector or something like that but I haven’t looked further and I’m not bothered as long as it doesn’t trigger the light.

Awesome work. Always feels great to fix these cars part by part. A lot of the work is really straightforward.

Thanks and Yup. It’s a rewarding feeling for sure. Felt great being in the rain and not having my wipers screeching at me and having heat.

[Hakeem530i]

Wasn’t really the plan but I managed to grab a pair of some DJ Auto headlights from the e39 Facebook group that someone was selling for $120.

I have a pair of hella xenon projectors,shrouds etc that I’ll be swapping from some old permaseal headlights in place of the halogen projectors until I save up for some bixenons



Old set I got for $50 that I’ll be swapping parts from:


Excited I can finally throw out my depo headlights.

[itsbrokeagain]

One thing when doing the M56 cover, the main breather hose coming off of it, will not click into the distribution rail on top of the M54 manifold. I had to trim the end of it down flush (if you look at it from a side view, the tube comes out past the clip) and then I was able to click it onto the distribution rail.

The real solution is to find an M56 rail but that part number doesn't exist and searching eBay comes up with M54 manifolds from sellers who thinks it's an M56.

[Hakeem530i]

One thing when doing the M56 cover, the main breather hose coming off of it, will not click into the distribution rail on top of the M54 manifold. I had to trim the end of it down flush (if you look at it from a side view, the tube comes out past the clip) and then I was able to click it onto the distribution rail.

The real solution is to find an M56 rail but that part number doesn't exist and searching eBay comes up with M54 manifolds from sellers who thinks it's an M56.

Thanks, I'll keep this in mind when doing mine. Have you had any problems so far with the m56 vc?

[itsbrokeagain]

Thanks, I'll keep this in mind when doing mine. Have you had any problems so far with the m56 vc?

I've had none. Did it to both my wife's E46 and my X5. I was going to do that conversion along with the coils in my 2000 e39 wagon but it got totalled out before I could do so.

Another suggestion. Don't bother trying to install the included dipstick. It wasn't bent at the right angle and fit weird. I reused my original dipstick and put a rubber cap over the end where the original CCV would drain back into. Same thing with the distribution rail on top of the intake manifold. Unbolted and gently pried it off, ripped the old CCV line off the back, put a rubber cap over it, did some cleaning while I was in the area and reasemble.

My oil consumption dropped to pretty much nothing after doing it.

You get a satisfying feeling ripping out all the old CCV crap and knowing you'll never have to replace that stuff ever again, and the amount of vacuum leaks you eliminate. Not to mention its also a great time to pull the throttle body, clean it with some brake cleaner as well as the IACV. Mine ran like a champ after doing all that.

[Hakeem530i]

I've had none. Did it to both my wife's E46 and my X5. I was going to do that conversion along with the coils in my 2000 e39 wagon but it got totalled out before I could do so.

Another suggestion. Don't bother trying to install the included dipstick. It wasn't bent at the right angle and fit weird. I reused my original dipstick and put a rubber cap over the end where the original CCV would drain back into. Same thing with the distribution rail on top of the intake manifold. Unbolted and gently pried it off, ripped the old CCV line off the back, put a rubber cap over it, did some cleaning while I was in the area and reasemble.

My oil consumption dropped to pretty much nothing after doing it.

You get a satisfying feeling ripping out all the old CCV crap and knowing you'll never have to replace that stuff ever again, and the amount of vacuum leaks you eliminate. Not to mention its also a great time to pull the throttle body, clean it with some brake cleaner as well as the IACV. Mine ran like a champ after doing all that.

Thanks a lot for the tips. Decrease in oil consumption and not having to pull the manifold again are the only reasons I decided to do it.

Can’t wait to throw it on.

[Hakeem530i]

Replaced the driveshaft with a brand new one,flex disc and transmission mounts yesterday. The difference is night and day.

My flex disc looked new but whoever replaced the driveshaft before me did a half ass job.

The CSB wasn’t straight, ujoints were bad and for some reason the csb was held in by what I’m assuming was tar. I’m guessing they thought it’d help with vibration.


New trans mount vs 210k mile OEM mounts.


New driveshaft fixed clunking when putting it in reverse, drive and now shifts smoothly. Bad news is it didn’t help with a metallic rattle I was having while accelerating.
I replaced all 4 of my O2 sensors with OEM sensors and still have all these codes. This in addition to the p0420 codes make me assume that the catalytic converter is the cause.


Anyone know any cheap alternatives/workarounds (headers/ aftermarket cats) to replace my cats? I have emissions which kinda makes it harder.

[itsbrokeagain]

did you change the thermostat yet? If not do that first, that may be a big culprit in those 02 sensor codes. That and a MAF

[Hakeem530i]

did you change the thermostat yet? If not do that first, that may be a big culprit in those 02 sensor codes. That and a MAF

Thanks. I replaced it earlier this week and fixed cooling issues I had. I’ll try scanning again and see if it goes away. I do still have the metallic rattle though and I already replaced all the pulleys.

https://youtu.be/9rvNRx46dE4

[itsbrokeagain]

Weird. Clear all those codes and see what comes back. If you just replaced the tstat and that code comes back, you may have a defective tstat.