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Thread: Jumping into the Touring world with a 525 5 speed

  1. #26
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    Drove 200 miles yesterday. Mostly open highway. All good.

    Today I did the transmission oil and rear end oil. I was very pleased to see clean fluid come out of both drain holes. No chunks, no globs and no metal parts inside. After the maple syrup brake fluid I was really getting concerned about what I might find elsewhere.

    I will need to do a valve cover gasket. Lots of oil residue on the transmission and lower engine. Since I have no data on the plugs. I might as well do them at the same time.

  2. #27
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    This car came into my life with a really sloppy shifter that made finding 3rd gear kind of iffy if I didn’t think about it every shift. I wanted to get under the car and look at the flex joint on the drive shaft along with changing the transmission oil before I messed with the shifter. The guibo and support bearing felt and looked good. So did the oil.

    Changing the oil actually made the shifting a bit worse with a cold car compared to how it was. Better when warm than before though. Since the drive shaft didn’t need to be dropped soon. I decided to go with just an E60 shifter and the bushing to hold it and to do the work from the top.

    I used the suggestion posted here about opening the sun roof to sit on the center console while pulling the shifter knob. Glad I did. No blood and no broken car parts. Yeah. The bushings at each end of the support arm will need to be replaced someday. But for now just the shifter and the white bushing makes a huge difference. Much improved and 3rd gear seems to be there waiting now instead of hiding.

    Now I need to track down a pair of airbag codes that have been there since I got the car for the last immediate issues to address. 9 MRS:head airbag (ITS) left and 5 MRS: side airbag, front left.
    Last edited by Barrman; 02-09-2019 at 03:18 PM.

  3. #28
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    URO = U Re-Order.

  4. #29
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    I like that acronym for Uro. Learned my lesson.

    The IndyCar series is coming to COTA this summer. I am less than an hour away and haven't been around those cars since they were called CART and ran Cosworth engines. They had open access practice Tuesday. I took off work and went. The 525 loves the open road. I stopped for the first time after 40 miles of 75 and had to look at the gauges to verify the engine was still on. No sound and no vibrations. Only 25 mpg for that tank had me wondering how others are getting 30 and above, but I just need to drive more I guess.

    Life with the Touring was great until last Wednesday morning. My normal routine is to get to the car, slide in with the right foot on the clutch to start it. Turn on the seat and steering wheel heater, get out and feed the horse, close everything down and then drive away to work. Maybe 3 minutes of idle time at the most. The SAP normally shuts off about the time I am getting back to the car. That has been just fine for weeks until we had our first morning I was driving the car below 30°.


    I didn't even get out of the drivers seat before it starting missing and surging. The SAP was on. I got back in, gave it a little throttle and it smoothed out. I held 1200-1500 rpm for a few seconds and then let it back to idle. Smooth only until I got out again. Missing and surging again. It actually died this time with the Service engine Soon light on. I turned the key off and did the chores. I fire it back up and no light and no missing. I drove to work and it seemed ok. Backing into my parking space, the SES light came on but the idle stayed smooth. After work it fired up and idled just fine. Still had the light. 5 miles of mixed city and open road driving home all seems well except for the light.

    CA, CB, E4 and E3. Fuel trim control limit both banks and permissible range exceeded both banks. Looking at the data with it running. The MAF is registering different air flow, both pre-cat O2 sensors are making a nice square wave up and down block graph pattern. These codes have shown up every 500-800 miles since I got the car. Working on the brakes for a few weeks took me away from this investigation. I cleared the codes and did some more research. Light came back the next day coming home from work. 10 miles since I had reset it.

    The previous owner had replaced the upper intake boot and thrown in a new lower intake boot still in the bag. He said he put in a new CCV and that the DISA is just fine. The hose on the valve cover for the CCV looks and feels new. As does the hose going to the dip stick. The CCV isn't as dirty as the rest of the intake around it, so I guess he did change that. I decided to pull the DISA just to look. The DISA flap is loose at the control arm. Broken off. The metal pin at the frame end of the flapper is still there thankfully.

    So obviously, the DISA hasn't been working probably the entire time I have had the car. It hasn't made any noise which is why I didn't look at it yet. That could be part of my codes and mpg issues. Since I had it off, I pulled both intake boots. Somebody put the screw clamps to the throttle body on for both connections upside down. RRRR! Once off, the boot was stuck hard to the throttle body and IAC. The accordion section to the IAC looked melted. I think someone slithered something on there in the past or maybe tried some kind of heat shrink covering. Whatever, it was torn in two places. Which could also contribute to my codes and lower than expected mpg.

    I haven't fired it up yet because of the broken DISA. I will get to that this week.


    This car has been an adventure in finding previous owner neglect or stupidity.

  5. #30
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    The German Auto Solutions DISA rebuild parts showed up Thursday. I used the also broken DISA from the parts car for the rebuild. Having the intake open with the DISA out was something I didn’t want to do living in the country in case I broke something and wasn’t able to put it back together the same day.

    At the the same time I put a check valve in the CCV drain hose to the dip stick tube. Along with doing the O2 Pilot mod with a vacuum line to the rear of the intake manifold. Oil consumption has been weird. Starting with how to check the oil and when.

    Turn engine off, pull dip stick, wipe it off, put it back in and remove again to look. Should work just fine. Except the oil level is low. Even after just doing an oil change with the exact amount it is supposed to hold added.

    Waiting 5 minutes after turning off a warm engine has the same result. Actually, waiting up to 8 hours gets the same low oil level result. After 8 hours though the oil is too high. It actually goes not just to the top of the little normal level plastic block but up to the metal above all of the plastic. Wiping it off then and putting it back in shows oil right at the top of the normal plastic block. Why am I getting the over full indication?

    That had me really wondering. I finally came up with the theory that the CCV drain in the dipstick was probably clogged. Or very restricted. Allowing oil to stay in the tube and then run down the dipstick over time making it look like too much oil in the engine. So I pulled the dipstick from the parts car along with what is probably a newer CCV drain hose. Cleaned them both real well, verified the oil drain was clear and put the check valve in the hose.

    I pulled the dipstick and CCV drain hose from the Touring and found the tubing wasn’t clogged. However, the plastic lock at the bottom of the CCV was broken and the hose had separated from the 45° angle connector. That was for sure a vacuum leak and oil leak.

    With a verified clean CCV drain path, vacuum leaks sealed up and extra vacuum applied to the side of the CCV. Plus a functioning DISA valve and an air tight lower intake boot. The engine is amazingly smooth and seems to have more power. I took it for a 200 mile run yesterday. It used to have kind of on/off power with not much below 4,000 rpm and then a bunch above.

    Now it is strong from idle up. So much so that while following a brand new V8 Land Rover yesterday while passing some slower traffic. I just stayed on their bumper and rolling in the power in 5th gear. I never lagged behind and was silently telling them to get moving before the limited passing lane ran out. Once clear of traffic I looked down to find we were at 110 mph. We started passing at around 65 in the 75 speed limit area. I got smooth power now!

    i also noticed there was no more condensation from the exhaust. Even though it was a drizzle filled 50° day which always had visible exhaust before. I was hopeful about much better than the so far 500 miles per quart oil consumption. We got home taking twisty curvy back roads which were a blast. I checked the oil and it was at the bottom of the normal plastic block. Darn.

    I checked it this morning and it was at the top of the plastic again. Just like before. I wiped it off and it was at the top of the plastic normal block. That is good. I took the car to town to pass the state inspection this morning. Which it did. I got home and let it sit for a few hours. At the top of the plastic yet again. Wipe it off and try again and it is at the top of the plastic block. I guess that is how this engine has to be check from now on.

    I will find out in a few weeks if the changes make a difference on oil consumption or if it just boils down to bad rings.

  6. #31
    geargrinder's Avatar
    geargrinder is offline Having No Trouble Here BMW CCA Member
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    Sounds great man. I was gonna quote a buncha parts of your post but all sounds good. Having the parts car to rebuild the DISA from was ideal.

    I have a pretty good guess for your oil thing.
    Hypothesis: Leaking check valve in the "OFH" (oil filter housing). These are known to give high oil readings if they leak back. In your case...
    - Not totally failed so doesn't drain back right away, but does so overnight (cooling-down might even have something to do with it).
    - Something about how it drains back momentarily pushes a little spurt of oil up the dipstick tube, which then gets stuck there by some kind of combo of oil surface tension / vapor lock until you pull the stick and check it.
    - If that theory is correct, you are driving around on the low-side (aka you should top it off when its at the lower setting, and not worry about the 'overfull' reading after a long-park).
    - Easily confirmed by checking the OFH when the car has been long-parked and see if its dead empty. Normally if you open the OFH it will be full of oil (and make a mess all over the place if you go too fast and don't slowly remove the cap...)

    Changing the OFH is not super funtime I hear but not the worst thing in the world. I think there are Viton gaskets that are better than the OEM ones FYI.

    In meantime if you confirm I'm right about it, you can actually just safely top that oil off (aka after a short-park check) and not worry about it.
    2003 M3CicM6 TiAg
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  7. #32
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    Thanks for the clue. I will research that valve.

    I just got home from autocrossing the Miata all day and won’t have time to mess with the oil filter housing until Tuesday or Wednesday. I’ll report what I find.

    Thanks.

  8. #33
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    You called it. I slowly pulled the oil filter cap off my parts car in my class today. It hasn’t been started for weeks and oil was right at the top of the inner housing the filter fits over. I got home and pulled the cap off the Touring which was last run 20 hours ago. Empty.

    So, the check valve is probably bad. The car has always had a second or so display of the oil light when I first start up after a long sit. Not knowing them, I just thought it was normal. I guess not.

    On the positive side. I don’t have to worry about the oil in the filter freezing and resulting in an over pressure event. My M35A2 multi fuel was actually designed with two canister oil filters mounted upside down. Just so they would drain and the oil wouldn’t freeze in arctic conditions. The oil checking procedure for that engine is check between 2-4 minutes after shutting down to match up with the markings on the stick. Or just figure the oil is 1.5 inches higher than the markings as normal. Waiting up to 30 seconds for oil psi to build is normal on that engine. I just don’t like that. So I installed anti drain back spin on oil filters to have pressure right away all the time.

    Back to the M54. I see 4 options.

    Leave it alone.

    Try to install one of the aftermarket check valves several people claim work and sell on the internet.

    Pull the housing off the parts car and install with new gasket, sensors, Vanos oil line, power steering reservoir/lines, belts and tensioners.

    Buy new OEM housing and all the stuff listed above.

    Since the engine has 189,000 miles and I have no clue about the Vanos seals. I can watch the cam angles change by play with the throttle while watching the scanner, so they do move. Correctly? Who knows. They need to be refreshed.

    Things are are starting to snowball here. If I am going to do all of the above. I might as well do the cooling system too. Radiator out of the way will make all the other stuff easier. Plus, it needs to be done in the next year or so anyway.

    Time to save up some money and start collecting parts I guess. I was hoping to do suspension first. Then the engine. Oh well. Either way it will make the car better.

    Thanks for the heads up of what to look for and how to check.

  9. #34
    geargrinder's Avatar
    geargrinder is offline Having No Trouble Here BMW CCA Member
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    Cool. Cooling system if its not been done is a far better use of your time and urgent thing if its just a "long-park drainback only" situation. As long as you don't redline the thing at startup for the 1-2 second when the oil pressure is low you're probably fine to drive it.
    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)


  10. #35
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    Cooling system is 30,000 miles into a complete redo I was told. My thinking is if I have to take part of it apart to get to anything else. I want to do the entire cooling system just to know it is done correct and base lined. I unlocked my cluster and have a constant 96-97° temp when driving or sitting. Of course, it isn't hot out yet either. Just learning the normal temps and tendencies so when it does get hot out, I will know what is what.

    I agree about the oil draining from the filter housing not being urgent. Just something else on the list. Thanks for the help.

  11. #36
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    My new oil checking procedure is to let the car sit at least 12 hours. Pull the dip stick and wipe off the huge amount of oil way up the stick. I have to have a rag under the end or several large drops will fall. Once out from over the fender, I get enough oil off the dip stick to saturate one of those disposable rag towel sheets. Then put the dry dip stick back in to get a reading.

    As pointed out a few post up. I was about a liter low on the second dip once I started doing it this way. I added a liter so I had oil on the metal above the normal block and have continued checking the same way since. Parked in the same place and checking the same way. I have not lost any oil since doing the DISA/CCV lower hose fix/02 Pilot mod and have covered a little over 600 miles.

    I can’t see how the DISA had anything to do with oil consumption so that is just a performance/drivability fix. I can see how the lower hose connection on the CCV could have been maybe leaking some oil. But, there wasn’t a liter every 400-500 miles worth of oil on the block and pan.

    I’m going to keep things as they are and get a real reading of how much oil is actually being used in miles. Then see if I can duplicate it. If I repeatedly get the 1,200 miles per quart I am on track to get at a minimum now. I might pinch off the 02Pilot mod vacuum hose and see what that does to it if nothing else. Prove to me what fixed the oil consumption issues.

    Thsnks again for the help.

  12. #37
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    Pssssst, Hey barboy, that’s pretty much how most people check their oil.
    Set the controls for the heart of the sun

  13. #38
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    Not trying to be argumentative. But. Every other BMW out there has to have the dipstick removed, wiped off and then put back in after it has been sitting 12 hours or more to check the oil? My parts 525 doesn't require that. I just walked over to it, pulled the dipstick after the car has been sitting a few weeks and the oil was halfway up the block. I can understand shutting the engine off and having to do that. Which is what the owners manual says to do. However, I am not aware of any other engine needing to have the dipstick removed, cleaned off and then put back in to check the oil after it has been sitting a long time, even days. Especially, as I pointed out in my last post. Having to wipe off a huge glob of oil and then put it back in to get just the normal light coating on the dipstick.

  14. #39
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    I forgot about your opening statement on that post, on waiting for 12 hours. Never heard of that. Shut the engine down let the oil settle for a couple minutes if you are an anal type, check the oil. If you have to wait 12 hours to see a different reading, as I am understanding your post a little more, you must have sludge, but I will admit, I have not read the whole thread, lol, so I just caught that post. Don’t mind me.
    Set the controls for the heart of the sun

  15. #40
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    So a few more weeks and more things learned.

    1300 miles after the O2 Pilot mod and about a half quart was consumed using my now standard oil check method. It was time for an oil change at 1300 miles so I did.

    I finally had time to take the Touring into my class and put it on the alignment machine. I was trying to figure out how to weight the car for alignment. I happened to have a pair of students both around 150 pound and enough clean engine parts from another project to stuff in the back. Which should let me get it exactly to the correct alignment height.

    Turns out I didn’t need any of it. Right front was 2 inches below what Hunter says it should be weighted. Left front 1.5 inches low and the back was an inch too high on both sides. Obviously, I have suspension issues. It could be a previous owner lowered the front. I don’t know though.

    Adding weight to the rear of the coil spring only car brought the rear down and the front up enough to look at the alignment angles. Which were terrible. Rear toe, camber and thrust angle all over the place. There wasn’t enough in the eccentric bolts to bring camber or toe into spec. I did get thrust angle straight.

    The front was worse. Camber way, way too much negative with toe out pretty bad. Nothing can be done about the camber at this point. So I tried doing the toe and the jamb nuts would not loosen. The tie rod threads looked really buggered. Without new ones to throw on there, I just left it as is. Rather than break something off.

    Struts, shocks, springs and all suspension components and bushings will be needed it seems. I’m thinking adjustable height coil overs with camber plates. If I have to replace, might as well get adjustability.

    My wife totaled our Accord at the end of March. Her 4th total since we met. She keeps on breaking her left foot so she needs an automatic to drive. We found a very well cared for Outback that she loves. I like it as well for daily driving until I get the Touring all done at least. Anyway, yesterday morning driving to work. The car jumped to the right about a quarter mile from home. I stayed in the power and then it jumped to the left. I got off the power and it handled normal again. Back on the power and it free revved.

    Looking at the oil slick left behind by the not clamped down transmission cooler hose. The slick started right where it first jumped. I got stopped and my home this week only from college son came and towed us back home. The clamps were not on either hose end. Who knows how long it has been that way. Anyway, my wife and I both got a laugh out of how the Touring is our dependable make it to work on time vehicle.

  16. #41
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    Another few months of progress and an update.

    Because I teach at a high security juvenile facility. Anything coming or going from campus has to be searched. That includes under the hood with the engine off. I also can't leave a vehicle running while I open and close doors. Add in that my wife takes longer to be ready for work than I so we drive together with her finishing while I drive. If I want to bring one of my vehicles to my class, I will normally park it in the parking lot the evening before. Then fire it up cold the next morning and go into the Sallyport to get searched. Start the still cold engine after the search and drive about a mile at 15 mph to my class. Turn it off. Open a bay door and then drive it in. That is 3 starts on a still mostly cold engine.

    When I brought the Touring in the first time to do an alignment back in May, that is what happened. During the alignment the procedure calls for the engine to be started when applying the brake pedal depressor to check caster. Another cold start that didn't allow it to warm up fully. It just happened to be that my alignment computer kept crashing about the time we could get to the caster sweep and we would have to start over. I think it worked the 4th time. So, 3 more cold starts without warming up.

    Leaving is pretty much the same thing. Start up, drive out the door and shut down. Start up to drive to the gate and shut down. Then I get to drive home. That day had 9 starts without a complete warm up. The last start had a terrible idle and a check engine light. Misfire on 3 cylinders. Clearing the code didn't make it run any better. I limped home and figured my time for plugs was now since I had never even looked at them yet. I did pull the cover to confirm the coils were the newer push on compared to the older bolt on style. They were. There were also 3 different brands of coils on the engine.

    Plugs and coils a few days later had it starting with a huge blue cloud and running better than ever. 2 different versions of NGK plugs to go with the different brand coils. Previous owners really bother me sometimes.

    I get that fixed and a few weeks later the intake camshaft position sensor starts to die. Changing that really made a big difference in how the car drove and performed. Mpg started creeping up after that install.

    I mentioned a post up that the front suspension was inches too low and the camber was waaaayyyyy off. I ordered a complete suspension refresh and a set of adjustable coil overs with camber plates. BR racing struts/shocks. Once done I figured out that my getting in the drivers seat compressed the front drivers spring 1/16" with no changes anywhere else. My wife getting in on the passenger side did the same thing to that front. So, I set the car up at the specified alignment ride height. Since it doesn't move much at all with me in it compared to the stock springs. I like the way it looks at the height as well.

    Once the distance was set. It took a few hundred miles of driving to get the rebound/dampen adjustment just right for me. Then I brought it back in for an alignment. Camber plates sure are nice. I was able to get everything smack dab in the middle of spec except for the rear camber. Lower control arm inner bushings weren't part of the Meyle kit from FCP. The two upper arms were totally replaced in the back, but no lower inner bushings. I have it in the green, but not all the way to 0. A hair more camber is more fun anyway.

    I finally get to experience the magic BMW suspension as it was meant to be. Eats up bumps and such with no notice, doesn't dive on turn in, goes exactly where I point it, level steering wheel with no pull or wander and just begs for a twisty back road to play on. No more shake on braking either. Actual bump stops in the front struts is nice too.

    Drove 184 miles of mostly highway yesterday. Dream meter said 28.3 when I got home. I have never had it over 26 before. Having the tires all facing the proper direction sure does help. Now to save up for all the engine and cooling system work I will do once it gets cool enough out to do the work without risking heat stroke.

  17. #42
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    I was waiting for the warning to pop up
    " This posting coming from a correctional facility "
    I think your scamming us. I'd like to have you recreate the entrance events and see if the coils and plugs really solved the m54 cold cylinder shutdown shake.
    I quit messing around trying to fix mine 30k miles ago. Still runs great, 26-28 mpg and 6k to a qt.
    My theory is still plugged air ports not letting the SAP air into the exhaust stream, then the O2 sensors sense overrich and shut down cylinders to protect the cats.

  18. #43
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    No, not the infamous M54 cold cylinder shake. I was pointing out how due to my work situation I had to keep starting it and turning it off before it warmed up. Which that day resulted in my spark plugs which I had neglected to check or put in new until that time fouling and causing a severe misfire situation. New coils and plugs fixed that issue.

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