Hey everyone,
My name is Stephen and I have a 2000 528iT (alpine/beige) that I picked up a few months ago. I'm newer to bf.c (more involved on m5board) and the plans are to make this touring into a "tribute" of sorts by piecing together different components that I like from BMW. With my M5, I feel a certain pressure to keep it stock-ish or Dinan'ed to retain the E39M5-ness. But with this car, I feel a complete freedom to do whatever I want.
Here's the background:
- My 2000 528iT sports pkg car that had 204k when I picked it up. It's very clean and it came with good maintenance records (original window sticker/records dating back to the orig owner). It now has 207k, it's very reliable, and I think it's a better highway cruiser than my E39M is (largely because of the rack & pinion). The M52TU is a sweet motor and it put down 166whp/194wtq on the dyno with 205k miles. (Yes I dynoed it. My local shop runs year round dyno events for cheap.)
- I added an M5 rear sway bar and it helped with the body roll quite a bit. The car went into electronic overload when I first got it. It turned out to be an ignition switch failure. I also replaced the alternator and front brakes. Other than that, it's been smooth sailing.
- This generation's rack and pinion setup is one of the best I've driven. The steering is a tad heavy, but very communicative with good on-center/off-center feel. Why couldn't BMW figure out a way to put this set up in the M5...
- I remembered seeing this thread on m5board where a guy in Europe picked up an 03 530iT M Sport model in BMW individual carbon black/cinnamon interior. As many of you know, the cinnamon interior was never offered in the E39 chassis in the States and, when I purchased my white touring, I knew I wanted the cinnamon. I didn't know how I would do it (maybe have @redshift dye my beige interior bits!). Lo and behold, @adm750 posted his (very unique) 2003 euro 525iT M Sport in the same exact color combination. I bought the car from Tony and the car will now serve as a major donor car to my build.
- A little bit about the euro car- it has a few unique touches (rear fogs, power folding mirrors, first aid kit under the passenger side, black headliner, built in brake ducts to name a few), it has the black trunk bits (including cargo cover), and the LCI bits + M sport bumpers that I need so I'm set with most of the cosmetics. It has a number of "VIN substitute" stampings that I want to try to bring over to my white touring. It also has a unique wood trim- I think it's anthracite birch but I could be wrong. Either way, I love the way the cinnamon sits over the black interior pieces. The car has a ton of rust at the moment and the car needs a lot of refreshing so I'm pretty set on swapping everything into my white touring and building from there.
- Curiously, the euro car didn't come with the clear tail lights nor did it come with the gloss black window trim. Maybe the lights were changed when it was federalized? And maybe gloss black trim was a North American thing? "
This build will be slow and I'll try to update as much as possible. Between family and work, it's hard enough to even keep these cars clean. I don't know how some of you guys do it!
Here are the things that I plan to work on in the near future:
- Do an interior transplant from the euro touring to the white touring (carpet, seats, door cards, headliners, dash, trunk bits, etc). This will probably be the first thing I do.
- LCI refresh- transfer headlights and CELIS taillights over. I'll have to figure out a way to code the LCM (I'll bring the euro's LCM4 over to the white touring).
- The sound system SUCKS. The speakers in the euro car sound better so I might start by swapping those over. Adding a sub, amps, and crossover should be a vast improvement. Then I'll look into upgrading the front speakers (the ceiling speakers don't seem worth it to invest in).
- M Sport stuff - I'll eventually swap over the bumpers and paint them alpine to give it the M look. I also want to gloss out the shadow line trim like the M5 has it. The matte finish from the sport pkg is decent (way better than the chrome) but I think the gloss black really pops.
- Total suspension makeover (front end, rear end, shocks/struts- everything except the rear SLS since it was recently serviced). I'm still thinking about what kind of set up to go for. I want to keep the SLS so I might do koni's all around with front lowering springs. Maybe Koni's in the rear and GC in the front. I'd probably do Eibach front/rear sway. We'll see.
- Wheels - I'm on a pretty fresh set of tires on OE Style 5's so I'll run these out. Not a huge priority but I'll most likely go on a set of squared Apex ARC's. Maybe 275's like the M5.
- Brakes - If the funds allow, I'd like to upgrade to a mild BBK up front and 540 calipers in the rear. Or maybe I just go 540 all around? Not sure yet.
- Drivetrain swap - I've seen too many posts on forums where a guy talks about what he wants to do and the thread just goes dead. I'll leave this open for now but I am planning an engine/manual swap. Looking to keep it in the BMW family. Also, no S62 swap- I want the rack and pinion in this one.
I'll hopefully start on the interior next weekend.
Last edited by jojonyc; 02-01-2019 at 03:42 PM.
Here are some pics.
Some more pics.
This is the content the touring sub forum needed!
Good luck with your build. Nice to have 90% of what you need already there on the parts touring.
Can't wait to see where this goes! I'm glad an enthusiast picked up that touring, it was way too cool to just go to a junkyard.
If you want a little more zest but want to keep the rack & pinion steering, I'd recommend swapping in an M54B30. You already have the M52tu so the wiring should be almost plug and play. That'll give you a decent bit of extra power while being very easy to swap. Couple that with a 5-speed/6-speed manual and you'll really have a blast!
1995 525i 5-speed - Thread
Hey Stephen! Glad you finally made a build thread for your cars. Also, don't you need to update your location now? I am pretty sure you're not in NYC anymore, right?
That Cinnamon looks fantastic. Makes me want to do something like that in my blue wagon that already has a black interior to break it up a bit.
It's kind of hard to tell in your pics, but it does look like Birch Anthrazite. Pretty rare trim. Looks like the passenger side dash piece is regular nussbaum though. What's up with that?
I kind of doubt the 03 has a LCM IV. Most, even Brian's 03 M-Sport, had the LCM III-B or A (for earlier models). Doesn't mean you can't get a LCM IV for it, but I wouldn't worry about taking the one from the euro car if that's what you're wanting to have.
Just because it's euro spec, doesn't necessarily mean all euro spec cars got the clear turn signals, but I wonder if your car is actually a Canadian spec. Have you decoded your VIN yet to see the destination country?
Drivetrain swap... Come on man, aren't you going to let them in on your little secret? I know what you've been considering .
So, now after seeing both cars in full size pics (unlike the small ones you sent me before when you bought them), I would definitely say do everything to the white car. Alpine looks so good and even better with a cinnamon interior. If the carbon car was perfect, I would say keep it stock, but that rust looks really bad.
Excited to see how this turns out.
PS, you should drive my blue wagon sometime with Brian's old APEX wheels in 19x9.5 square with 275s and see if you really want to do that on a R&P car. My car used to drive great down the highway, but now it tramlines like crazy. I haven't had another alignment done yet since putting them on to see if maybe it affected the contact patch a bit, but it can be a bit scary with that wide of tire on the front. My old 245s never had that issue. It could also be that we put his old rears on the front as they were more worn and they could just need new tires. I may rotate them just to test.
-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
The last 7 of the VIN is GU96619, it's a real Euro-spec car. The build sheet on that car is nuts, it's a proper Euro-spec individual with a super late build date (11/2003).
1995 525i 5-speed - Thread
Thanks guys. Looking forward to it! Appreciate the touring love
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I've definitely considered an M54b30/6spd like a ZHP. That would be nice. I think a large part of my drivetrain plans will be determined by how long I keep my M5 for. If I end up selling it in the near future, I'd want something that would feel like a "replacement" for the M5, performance wise. If I keep the M5 for the long run, I'd just want a solid daily set up like the M54b30. We will see..
Lol @blackknight530i I just changed the location to Raleigh. Wow, I guess I made this account way before I was even a BMW owner. What a faker..
Hm.. good call on the LCM. I thought all 03's got the IV but I haven't personally checked. Either way, I know my white touring's LCM can't support the correct coding for the CELIS and I'll probably need to take it out of the euro car.
The trim is consistent all throughout the car. Might've been my flash or something that's bringing the "brown" out of the trim. The trim pieces can definitely use a nice polishing! (I never thought I'd be one to polish interior trim pieces. Oh well.)
Drivetrain swap... hmmm... let's just say my dream is to put a custom plate reading "SFITTYFO." God I hope I can finish this build the way I envision it.
And yes, I'd love to drive your car. Thanks for the offer. Good call on the tramlining. My M5 has 275's all around and it tramlines just a tiny bit. Is there a difference between your 530it and M5 in terms of tramlining? I always forget how wide 275's actually are until I take them off the M5. They're crazy wide and give a ton of front end grip. I am concerned that my fairly heavy steering will become even heavier with 275's. Maybe I'll try a staggered combo of 245/275. I do like the way Apex Arc's look where the fronts have the flat face and the rears have the concave face.
Funny story- I attended the Michelin skid pad event a few weekends ago and I met Randy Pobst there so I asked if he wanted to drive my M5. So we go out for a lap and Randy's starts thinking out loud. "Oh, understeer." "Oh, this thing has a ton of grip." "Oh, wait, got it. (he catches the drift) Oh, sweet car." So yeah I think 275's are def a lot of tire for the front's.
- - - Updated - - -
Here are the results from the VIN decoder:
VIN: WBADS41040GU96619 Type code: DS41 Model: 525I TOURING (EUR) E-F-R series: E39 2 Series: 5 Type: TOUR Steering: LL Doors: 5 Engine: M54 Displacement: 2.50 Power: 141 (192 hp) Drive: HECK Transmission: AUT Paint code: 490 - SONDERLACKIERUNG Upholstery code: Z1XX - SONDERPOLSTERUNG Prod.date: 2003-11-25
S1CA SELECTION COP RELEVANT VEHICLES S8SF Special edition "Sport" S8SP Control unit CO2 S167 EU4 exhaust emissions standard S202 Steptronic S210 Dynamic stability control III S216 HYDRO STEERING-SERVOTRONIC S220 Self-levelling suspension S227 Sport susp.+low-slung+ride-height ctrl. S249 Multifunction f steering wheel S302 Alarm system P337 M Sports package S339 Shadow-Line S354 Green windscreen, green shade band S386 Roof railing S403 Glass roof, electrical S423 Floor mats, velours S428 Warning triangle and first aid kit S430 Interior/outside mirror with auto dip S431 Interior rear-view mirror with auto dip S434 Interior trim finishers S441 Smoker package S459 El. front seat adjustment w. memory S464 Ski bag S470 Isofix-System S473 Armrest front S481 Sports seat S494 Seat heating driver/passenger S500 Headl.washer system/intensive cleaning S508 Park Distance Control (PDC) S520 Fog lights S521 Rain sensor S522 Xenon Light S534 Automatic air conditioning S548 Kilometre speedo S555 On-board computer V with remote control S609 Navigation system, Professional S644 Preparation f mobile phone w Bluetooth S672 CD changer for 6 CDs S676 HiFi speaker system S694 Provisions for BMW 6 CD changer S710 M leather steering wheel S715 M Aerodynamics package S775 Headlining anthracite S778 Entrance strips "BMW Individual" S785 White direction indicator lights S788 BMW LA wheel, Individual L801 NATIONAL VERSION GERMANY S851 Language version German S863 Dealer List Europe S879 Operating instructions German S940 special equipment BMW Individual S970 Business Package
Man, I would have loved for Randy to drive one of my cars. I wanted to do that skidpad event at the Proving Grounds with the CCA, but oh well. Maybe next time.
Looks like the car is actually a German car. Interesting that it didn't have the white lights, but I'm guessing you're right that they had to "nationalize" it when they imported it and might have just found some used US headlights/tail lights.
-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
Quick update-
A few weeks ago, I had a buddy come visit and he's a BMW nut. He helped me start the process of stripping the interior. I haven't touched it since! (Hopefully I can find time to work on it next weekend)
The car needed (and still needs) a good amount of vacuuming done. I'll probably steam the carpet once I pull that out and detail the leather/vinyl interior parts before putting it into the white touring.
After pulling the front seat out, I had @redshift restore the seat and driver's door card. See the before/after pics. The thigh bolsters were pretty much on the brink of tearing. Brian somehow mended it. Also, the door card was hand-painted to preserve the black stitching. He's legit folks.
Oh also, there's a part of me that really likes the steering wheel contrast. There's another part of me that thinks it's tacky. What are your thoughts? Here's what it looked like new: https://www.ebay.com/p/BMW-E46-OEM-M...6202589&chn=ps
I'd also consider this (I like that center strip): https://www.ebay.ca/itm/BMW-M-TECHNI...-/223204605025
- - - Updated - - -
The guy is a h00t. He spun out a few times but learned my car quickly and drifted around the whole 1/2 mile skidpad. He's a real down to earth, fun guy. Very humble. I will say though... after he drove my car, it started making funny noises lol. On the drive back to Raleigh, I kept telling my wife that THE Randy Pobst broke my car. But it turned out my rubber exhaust mounts (under the center of the car) were massively worn and the exhaust was resting on the center plate.
But yeah, that was a heck of an experience. I must've spun out 50x or so (some much more violent than others). But it was really good to experience my car at the limits in a controlled environment.
Man! That cinnamon is gonna look great in the white wagon! Welcome to the forum Stephen. I’m a Stephen too, but everyone just calls me Steve. Maybe I get to meet you and that car someday when I drive down that way again and see the gang. Hopefully Tony can join us!
Set the controls for the heart of the sun
-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 man! I had a lot of fun that wrench day I came down and met you all! Too bad we’re all so far apart. I’m about to do the black upper dash conversion on my newer Snot Rockit, just remembered, Brian still has the black leather dash panel I brought that day, that had that water blemish over on the passenger airbag section of the dash pad. Hopefully he can repair it.
We’ll all coordinate when Jim and JC come down, should make for a fine interesting car day! Get Tony in on the action too, yank him out of Ohio for the day, hopefully.
Hey Paul, stupid question, well, hopefully not so stupid. E46 M3 SMG cluster out of an ‘04, were those different from our cars? I may be able to fetch one up for $120. Should I snag it if the other pending buyer pulls out of buying it? I made a deal on the Mtech ll steering wheel with paddle shifters, clockspring thrown in, out of that car. Might be making a deal on the S54 and the SMG trans too, I will need help with the electronic side, I fetch the wheel next Saturday. Going into my slushbox 528 wagon, just thought it’d be a fun little project to do.
Set the controls for the heart of the sun
-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
Ahh! Ok, glad I asked! What sucks is, I will soon be moving into a bigger place, but for a lot more money, so my play money will get scaled down after February, maybe start selling a bunch of my other toys just gathering dust.... I really hate selling anything!
Set the controls for the heart of the sun
Hi jojonyc, or should it be jojoraleigh!
As mentioned, it's great to see what is shaping up to be another excellent Touring project and along with everyone here, looking forward to seeing your progress
On this subforum, I think you'd find perhaps 98% of what you'd be looking for in terms of ideas and experience specific to the Touring. Alot of other elements are common across all the E39's so over on M5board and other forums, I think you'd get all the info you'd need.
Also, snap! Alpine E39 Touring's do look fantastic ! although, mine isn't Alpine White anymore
If there's ever anything over here in the UK you want and need, but the seller isn't willing to ship, give me a shout. I send parts like this very often to the USA and forum members here so you always have this avenue. That's the same to everyone else as well of course! I do keep an eye out for various specific Touring and E39 (and other models) bits and keep them in my goodies shed. Currently have some rear CELIS outer clear top lenses. I've been thinking to try and do the US red top outer CELIS lenses swap.
Personally, I'm not a fan of the individual two tone steering wheel, but, I know others love it and for a proper individual interior colour like you have, it can work. So it's down to your personal preference really ! For the Audio, then there's a few options and it depends on how well you like your music reproduced in the car in conjunction with practicality, ease of install, cost, functionality and long term reliability. I've gone with all aftermarket product in my Touring from high quality brands and their entry to intermediate level ranges. As with all your thoughts about what you wish to achieve with the car's build, have a think on this area and I'm happy to help and advise along with the rest of the forum members and their opinions as well.
Cheers, Dennis!
Cheers, Dennis!
Current fleet:
2002 M5 Alpine/Imola
2000 528iT Alpine/Beige & 2003 525iT Carbon Black/Cinnamon (the two shall become one)
2011 Honda Odyssey Touring Elite - That's right. This car is in my sig.
Hey Dennis,
Thanks for the warm welcome! I've followed your posts leading up to this build so I appreciate your contributions to the touring community. Thanks for the offer for parts across the pond. I might take you up on those clear outer lenses.
Sound wise- although I appreciate a quality sound system (I used to do live sound mixing), I don't think I need to clear the bank for a "good-enough-for-me" system. For ex, I liked the Mark Levinson systems in the older Lexus' a lot (specifically in the SC430- a buddy had one in college). I like "smooth clarity" more than anything. I've never built a car audio system before but in general, I like to build in pieces to see the difference a single change makes and to keep things simple and cost-conscious. I'm thinking a good first step is to add a 8" or 10" sub in one of those eBay touring-specific cases. Then maybe add amps. Then speakers. Is this flow of logic correct?
Current fleet:
2002 M5 Alpine/Imola
2000 528iT Alpine/Beige & 2003 525iT Carbon Black/Cinnamon (the two shall become one)
2011 Honda Odyssey Touring Elite - That's right. This car is in my sig.
Yo, excited to see you'll do with this! I'm in Charlotte, NC so if we ever want to have a g2g with the touring folks, i'd be down!
2019 X3 M40i Glacier Silver
-stock
2003 540iT Titanium Silver
-Dinan Exhaust
2003 325i 5-speed Japanrot
-BMW Performance Intake
-Dinan exhaust
wait....what ??
I woke up the other day with a killer headache, stitches in my side, and my car is missing....
dude-wheres-my-car.jpg
"two wrongs don't make a right...only three lefts do...."
'79 Euro 635csi - gone and regretting it...
'89 gsxr-750 - former traffic knife
'97 528i sedan - holding on strong...(just sold after 16 years of ownership - sad day)
'03 Euro 525it - something about a famous dolphin.....
'06 Mercury Grand Marquis (don't ask....it gets the job done....)
'84 Specialized Allez - full Campagnolo Super Record
'99-ish Cannondale CAAD4
"Stinky" - Kona Stinky Five
'86 528e
2008 E70 X5 3.0
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