Well, been having a few issues come up so I guess I now see why the car was selling for $1800. This won’t stop me though.
I’ve never been to a mechanic in the 6 years I’ve been driving BMWs since I repair them all myself but I caved in after being irritated with that noise and having no idea where it was coming from.
Mechanic did a free diagnosis and came back and said the issue was coming from the transmission are and that it was the flywheel and showed pics/list of other issues:
Oil pan is leaking
Oil filter housing is leaking
Transmission is leaking
Power steering is leaking
Diff might be leaking
Valve cover is leaking
Flywheel might be cracked (causing noise)
Belt tensioner also keeps bouncing even after replacing the pulleys and the tensioner twice. The belt slipped off and tore today while driving but fortunately made it home.
It doesn’t bother me honestly because I can fix all the above myself, aren’t expensive and I was planning on doing them in routine maintenance anyways but haven’t gotten around to them yet. I will be taking my car to an Indy to get the flywheel checked out and replace the rear main seal because I have no desire to pull the transmission on jack stands.
I also need to figure out the belt issue this weekend though because I can’t drive it if the belt keeps slipping off.
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Hmmm. Are you sure you have the belt wrapped properly? And all the right idler pulleys (nothing is the wrong size therefore causing extra slack)? I think there were various varieties of pulleys used in different I6 engines/cars... Are you using the hydraulic or the mechanical tensioner? (either should work honestly tho'...). Any chance the belt is the wrong size?
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)
The dual mass flywheels have a tendency to separate at high mileage and can contribute to that noise. I just replaced one along with the clutch and RMS on my Audi. I agree about taking it to a shop unless you have access to a lift. The job is a royal pita laying on your back and using jack stands.
I ended up trying two belts and it vibrated with both and I ordered the pulleys from fcpeuro so hopefully they’re the right size as I ordered the ones for the car. My car came with mechanical and I tried the hydraulic and it had the same effect. I’ll try tinkering with it more this weekend. Only thing I remember being off is a broken water pump bolt so I’m not sure if that has anything to do with it since it’s still snug.
Really? Had no idea. The mechanic said they rarely go bad but I assumed it wasn’t true since auto trans in every bmw I have gives issues around the 200k mile mark. Do the autos have the dual mass flywheel as well or is it just the manual?
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just the manual trans ones. auto trans has a flex plate (old term, dunno what BMW calls it) that interfaces with the torque converter. torque converter mass is what gives you the flywheel effect.
if you do a Euro2 tune it will remove readings from rear O2s and wont have any errors from cats, then you can also run aftermarket headers without cats. as long as the emissions testing only plugs into the obdii port youre good. thats what im running currently. also with your headlight xenon projector swap, the xenon projectors have a ground wire that goes into the housing that isnt present on the halogen housings so you might have to figure out a way to work around that,
Didn’t know tho was a thing. For emissions they only do obd readings so I should be good to go. How’re you liking the aftermarket headers any big difference over stock? Thanks for the heads up about the lights, Hopefully it won’t be a pain to do.
Think they call it a driving plate or something similar if I’m not mistaken. Seeing as the autos only have one flywheel according to realoem I’m thinking the flex plate might be the problem. I’ll be dropping my car off at the mechanic this week and hopefully they’ll figure it out.
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Pulled the car apart yesterday to fix the belt issue.
What remains of the old belt:
Seems like The old mechanical tensioner snapped
After the belt slipped.
Bolt is now stuck in the block
I won’t be putting a mechanical tensioner back in and seeing that the hydraulic tensioner doesn’t use the current bolt (uses the 3 on the left) I’ll just let it be.
I was sure to use washers on all bolts and bouncing seems to have stop and I now have minimal movement which I think is expected with the hydraulic tensioner.
Found out I have a leaking coolant pipe up front so cooling system overhaul is due as well. I’ll just do the whole system and pull the manifold to replace heater pipes and delete current the ccv and run the m56 valve cover.
Will be taking the car to the mechanic to fix the flywheel/flex plate issue. Hopefully I’ll get it back before New Years and seeing as it was my daily, it looks like I’ll be driving the e24 until the 530 is back.
Last edited by Hakeem530i; 12-15-2018 at 03:40 PM.
Beautiful. Sterling has always been my favorite e39 color. Best color IMO. Congrats on all the work already done. Is your mechanic cool enough to let you do pan gasket/ rear main while trans is out for flywheel? That’s an awesome opportunity to get those checked off the list Did you guys determine it’s definitely the flywheel? Have you thought about what you’ll use as a replacement?
Great car look forward to seeing more progress.
Ps, I always pressure test cooling system to 23-25 psi every time I pick up a new e39, unfortunately e39’s don’t manage heat well and the hose connectors, radiator end tanks, coolant pipes all seem to quit like a cult.
Best of luck
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Thanks, That probably would’ve been a good idea but it’s the first time I’ve ever been to a mechanic since I normally do everything myself so I don’t know them well. They did say they’re going to do the rear main seal though.
I did take it to another shop for diagnosis and they confirmed it was either the flywheel/flexplate but the one I brought it to said they’ll double check before pulling it apart.
My cars an auto so I’ll probably just get another used flywheel if the one I have is cracked. Hopefully I’ll get my car back for New Years with the noise gone then tackle the cooling system.
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Got my car back from the mechanic. Turns out the flex plate was cracked and rattling around inside.
They also said my oxygen sensor was disconnected and the check engine light went off after it was reconnected.
CCV also needs to be replaced because of the rough idle when cold but I was planning on replacing coolant pipes,hoses and use the m56 manifold while there.
Guess I’ll tackle that next.
Ahhhh, gotcha! Thanks for the visual!
E39 WhatsApp Chat Gruppe
Decided to do the m56 valve cover conversion today. My car is a 07/02 model so it wasn’t plug and play because I have the bolt in coils rather than the ones that snap in. I’ve heard that this will decrease oil consumption but my only reason for doing this is to avoid having to pull the manifold again to replace the ccv under the manifold when it goes.
Parts:
M56 VC
M56 valve cover gasket
Spark plug gasket
Upgraded coil harness for push in coils (Get the m56 coil harness if you so it can be bolted to the manifold).
Push in coils.
If you have bolt in coils then the connector will have to be repinned before use.
Beginning:
End:
This diagram helped me understand the routing of the ccv hoses.
This diagram should help understand installing. I placed caps over the parts circled red and disconnected the stock ccv and used the m56 hose to connect the parts circled in blue.
The m56 valve cover to intake manifold hose can be used but will have to be trimmed.
I decided to use my dipstick and just capped off the side where the ccv hose will connect to.
All my old ccv hoses are still under the manifold waiting to be thrown out when I do my coolant pipes under the manifold.
I’ll put the beauty cover back on and test drive tomorrow and checking to see if I have any codes.
Assuming all checks out, the cooling system is next and way overdue. Then the leaking gaskets and then the cosmetics.
Last edited by Hakeem530i; 12-31-2018 at 09:06 PM.
There you go. You did it exactly how I did it. I do notice the valve cover gaskets can be a PITA but if you use a little grey RTV in the corners of the half moons and a quality gasket it won't leak. Mine did after a year, hada reseal and I just applied a slight layer across the whole bottom to keep it clean.
Man, nice work on that valve cover. Crossing my fingers for no leaks. I'll be doing my intake gasket at some point and unfortunately I'll probably be changing out all the CCV hoses too.
I hope the VC gasket holds but you will most likely have leaks if you didn’t use a bit of sealant on the half moon corners. Lots of gaskets go on dry but that is not one of them.
Thanks. Seems I’m good to go. No leaks yet.
Drove with my cover on this week and surprisingly there are no leaks. There was a bit of sealant left in the grooves under the old valve cover that I left so maybe that has something to do with it. Hopefully it stays that way but if that changes I’ll just take it off and put some in the half moon corners.
And for anyone with a pre 09/02 car that’s been wondering if the swap will trigger the CEL(SES light), I Can confirm that it won’t trigger a CEL so you’ll still be able to pass emissions if you do the swap.
You will get a code for misfire if you scan it with a computer though but that won’t affect emissions.
I do have a tiny vacuum leak that I need to check out but I’ll be replacing all my vacuum hoses when I do a cooling system overhaul so I’ll just check then. I’ll also be monitoring my oil consumption in hopes that the swap will help decrease it a bit.
Last edited by Hakeem530i; 01-05-2019 at 07:55 AM.
I’ve been dealing with a small rough idle since I got it back from the mechanic. It’s not terrible but noticeable when just starting the car because the car shakes with the idle a little higher than usual.
They said I had an O2 sensor disconnected and that I have a rough idle that might be CCV related but the car idled fine before so I don’t think that was the case.
I smoke tested my car and managed to find out that it was coming from somewhere behind the intake manifold.
The problem is I’ve already replaced the vacuum caps and all vacuum lines circled in red yesterday with new lines and the leak was still there so I’m no sure where else it could be coming from. I also have the m56 VC so I don’t have the stock ccv to be a problem.
I thought the hoses may be slack but after closer inspection it seems that’s not the case and it’s coming from somewhere a little lower around that area.
Not sure where else to check but it seems to be quite a vacuum leak because it made a sound and there was a lot of smoke escaping when I smoke tested it. I’m guessing this is culprit behind the cause of the loss of power I noticed.
I’ll need to track it down soon because it’s causing the P0174 and P0171 codes and I need to clear it to pass emissions.
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Last edited by Hakeem530i; 01-13-2019 at 05:25 AM.
Tried fiddling with the smoke test and kept getting smoke so I wasn’t sure what was wrong. After some research it looks like the pump/solenoid (forgot what it’s called) at the rear driver side behind the engine vents to the air when the car is off so thats probably where my smoke was coming from.
Still have :
P0171
P0174
P0183
P0185
I assume all those are vacuum leaks. Spark plugs, all O2 sensors, fuel filter are new. Checked coils and they’re new as well. Unplugged the Maf while car was running and car almost died so I guess that’s not the problem either. Will take another look at it later this week.
I’ll smoke test from the brake booster side, remove the air box and cover the opening then see where it goes from that. Should get an accurate reading from that.
Also went to change my fuel pump and realised I still have the original one at 218k miles. Fuel filter looked pretty old too but not bad.
Funny story is I bought a replacement fuel pump from rock auto and after replacing I realised that I had to put the car on run to build up pressure to start the car when it sat for more than 10 minutes. Thought I had a fuel leak but tried putting the old pump back before going under the car and boom it works. Seems like the aftermarket one is a no go.
That’s what I get for buying aftermarket. I’ll run it until I get a replacement and I’ll be sticking with FCPEURO from now on. Reasons like these are why I always buy OEM for essential parts. Swore I bought OEM but Lesson learned.
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Last edited by Hakeem530i; 01-22-2019 at 01:19 PM.
Rockauto not a great supplier unfortunately. Some nightmare stories about CS / returns with them. They don't have a phone number anymore for one.
What pump did you buy? There's another thread talking about possibly bad replacement pumps fro 540's but what I see on Rockauto for a 530 is either a Uro (UGGGGH NO) or a Delphi (..mmmmmaybe....) or a Bosch (good... IF its really a Bosch and not some rebranding thing)
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)
The picture above looks like the Bosch pump from the picture on Rock Auto.
https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo...383274&jsn=391
Looking for an E39 belly pan , passenger front inner fender liner …
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