My new project - 2002 E39 530i touring - Japanese import

[danb1979]

Bought this for myself 2 weeks ago; it's been in the UK 12 months. It's only just covered 85k miles and it's in superb condition

I've already done a few bits to the car (new tyres; cooling system overhaul (stat, pump, coolant flush & refil, oil filter & oil change, oil filter housing gasket replacement, heater valve replacement (one side stuck open), new interior mats and boot liner, new genuine Hella headlights and OEM xenon retrofit (the OEM Hella xenons the car came with were in good condition but the adjusters were in pieces and I've not got the skill nor patience to replace these myself).

I'll be getting the window tints removed and some lighter ones sorted in a few weeks and then will look to sort some new alloys & suspension too. Won't be lowering it too much, so will probably stick with lowering springs TBH.

It's really nice to be back in an E39; my previous ones I really missed and buying an E65 730D was the wrong move on my part. Didn't love the car and couldn't gel with a diesel at all.

Some pics of when I collected the car:






I'll keep updating this thread as I go along

[CPHES]

Very nice - nice stands too

[danb1979]

Very nice - nice stands too

Thanks; that's my pals workshop. He's a well respected motorsport mechanic (Ford M Sport and BMW) so knows his stuff. He's fairly old-skool; so does set-ups in a 'box' rather than with laser tracking systems etc

My steering was off, so he got it all straightened for me when I had the new tyres fitted

[JimLev]

Your touring looks very nice. I'd leave the tint as is.

[danb1979]

Your touring looks very nice. I'd leave the tint as is.

Thanks; it's too dark for my liking, so will get it removed and then get a lighter tint added

[E39 Newbie]

Wow. Very nice. I hope my project looks that nice, someday...

[danb1979]

Finally got round to actually washing the car myself; plus a full bottom inside (it needed it)




It's been thoroughly cleaned inside and out and given a good coating of wax too; wheels cleaned as best as I can, they're presentable for now, until I source their replacements




A few shots of the alcantara interior too; it's a lovely place to be (until I wear my leaking Rohan gilet and there are feathers everywhere and they're a sod to hoover up)















































It's in with BMW tomorrow for an airbag recall.


Then it's in for more suspension work next week (full front OEM Sachs shocks; OEM BMW Mtec springs or Eibach Pro-kit springs (haven't decided which yet), new front & rear top mounts, new front drop-links; an Mtec 82mm stud conversion and 15mm hubcentric spacers and then it'll get booked in for it's MOT

[philly98540]

Nice wagon!

[Stamos]

Very nice! Love the alcantara.

[Manny G.]

Alcantara interior... rarely seen in the US on an E39 unless it was retrofitted. very nice


The side mirrors... why do they look so different to me compared to other E39 mirrors ?

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

Wow! That’s cool, the rear side panels, are those alcantara too?

[danb1979]

Alcantara interior... rarely seen in the US on an E39 unless it was retrofitted. very nice


The side mirrors... why do they look so different to me compared to other E39 mirrors ?

They’re fully electric folding electro-chromatic mirrors... I’ve never seen them on an E39 before either... Unfortunately their folding mechs are mashed, so I’ll probably replace them with aftermarket M5 style folding mirrors, a bit smaller then too, more to my liking

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Nice wagon!

Thanks...

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Very nice! Love the alcantara.

Thanks, it’s a great place to be

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Wow! That’s cool, the rear side panels, are those alcantara too?

No, just the standard anthracite carpet... I’d just hoovered it to within an inch of its life, hence the lines left haha

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

Alcantara interior... rarely seen in the US on an E39 unless it was retrofitted. very nice


The side mirrors... why do they look so different to me compared to other E39 mirrors ?

those are the Euro E39 folding mirrors, same mirrors as on E38’s, but the bases are for E39’s. E38 bolt patterns are diffeeent.

[1BlinkGone]

VERY nice!!

[danb1979]

New suspension up front today (Sachs dampers & OEM BMW Mtec springs with OEM BMW rubber seats and top-mount cups & Sachs bump-stop kit), new Meyle top mounts, new Meyle HD drop links also


Rear Febi top mounts fitted, but replacement dampers needed, so Sachs parts ordered this afternoon too


Also fitted the Mteconline 82mm stud conversion kit and have fitted 5mm hubcentric shims for now until I get my replacement alloys on



























The car currently is sitting higher at the front; but the dampers were shot, it'll settle soon enough. Be good to get the rear end refreshed too

[Foreign killer]

I just bought a 00 528it 5speed and am doing similar mods at the moment im doing Bilsteins front and rear tomorrow

[danb1979]

Front suspension fettled today and new rear Sachs dampers fitted along with new bump stops and dust covers:





















Car needs to settle onto the suspension a bit more; but it'll do that in its own time. Car drives and handles superbly though now with all new OEM/Sachs Mtec suspension

[danb1979]

New boots fitted

They're OEM Style 37s, but E38 9.5" (offset 25) rears and E34 8" fronts (offset 15); so they're a fairly straight set up. The rears are spaced out 5mm with hubcentric shims

Before:








After:







It's still riding a touch high with the new suspension but I'm sure it'll settle soon enough. Rides brilliantly though; but not driven it yet on the n18s, so that'll make a difference I'm sure

[Nyc Dito]

LOVE the interior!

[ojomo]

Your touring looks very nice. I'd leave the tint as is.

Looks nice with the dark tint but my OCD gets triggered when you see the line where the tint hits the glass matrix and doesn't sit flush on the glass, with a lighter tint you don't see that.

[danb1979]

The tints may still be coming off; wary though that they may damage the rear screen heater element when being removed!

[danb1979]

Engine bay detailed today; haven't touched it since I bought the car. It needed a good hoover first haha


DISA valve repaired with the X8R kit, the o-ring that should have been on the DISA when I removed it was non-existent : So glad I did this job today, took me about 30mins all in including removing it and then trying to get the spindle apart; it was seized solid, so ended up gently hammering it out


Also fitted a Z3 3.0 intake boot section to replace the resonator section that comes on the E39s; sounds a bit throatier now


Cars had a quick snow foam, wash, rinse and towel dry too:

[JimLev]

The tints may still be coming off; wary though that they may damage the rear screen heater element when being removed!

Good chance that you will damage the wires in the window.
Nice job of cleaning your car.

[danb1979]

Thought I'd bring this up to date; a lot more work done recently (diff oil and plugs changed, full brake overhaul with Mtec grooved discs and EBC Yellowstuff pads up front, Mtec pads on the rears with HEL braided brake lines all round and Motul DOT5.1 fluid flush and refill; HEL braided vanos line (OEM one was weeping); replacement alternator as the OEM was running at 13.4v (far too low); prop donut changed too; all 4 rear arms changed too for Meyle HD items and a 'cop' OEM transmission undertray fitted (fits well with some OEM bolts and a few zip ties); it's also had a full Hunter tracking and alignment, car handles superbly now )

Pics:









































And after all that; it was filthy (more so with the bedding in of the brakes); so it was treated to an in-depth clean and polish

[danb1979]

Nothing much to report lately as the car hasn’t had much done

I have had the KM speedo readout changed to miles via NCS Expert and someone who knew how to use it

Next I’m going to look into getting the tyres changed and maybe a stainless back-box; an off the shelf one via Schmiedmann probably; they look to be very well made

After that; rear bumper needs a respray (there’s a slight crack to it where someone’s kindly driven into my car whilst it’s been in a car park), so will get rear PDC fitted also as they don’t spec it on Japanese cars for some reason!