2002 525i Resuscitation

[E39 Newbie]

In order to avoid an overlong post, I'll break this into segments.

Back around December I was looking for another project car. I'd done plenty of Chevies and Fords, big block, small block and 4-banger. Buick V6s, Honda V6s. I couldn't find a rotary for the price I wanted to pay. So my friend, a BMW and Porsche mechanic, said hey, for a bit of fun, get an E39. You'll never make money off of it, but you'll enjoy the challenge. I told him that I saw his work, I saw his invoices, and the parts cost would bankrupt a maharajah. He said I could have everything at his cost. So, how could I refuse?

So, for the princely sum of $1,400 American Dollars (and a free AAA tow) I became the "proud" owner of this 20-footer with 155K on the clock and a blown head gasket. It is blue, gray leather, sports package, "Business CD," and has been sitting for almost 3 years. Not pictured, sadly, is the literal rat's nest that was sitting on top of the engine when we first opened the hood, nor the pile of rat turds down by the right side headlight. Since it's not smell-o-vision you can't smell the rat pee, either. Nor can you see the bazillion spider webs, carcasses, nests, etc. <shudder>




The PO had $5K of receipts for the last head gasket job he'd had done a couple years ago. But didn't replace the ancient, original, radiator. (How's that go? For want of a nail...?) Wifey blew the radiator on the freeway, and swore she shut down immediately. We all know better, don't we? We got it back to the shop, my friend spied the cheap "rebuilt" MAF, figured that may be the reason we couldn't get it started, disconnected it and we got it running. So, lots of white smoke out the back, steam out the front, but it did run and drive. Time to disassemble.

I pulled off the air intake stuff, and drained the oil.






Next, off with the exhaust, drive shaft, radiator, drained the P/W fluid, disconnected the A/C and trans, removed the cassette.








Then I removed the bottom cover, disconnected the tie rod (note the completely torn boot) and the other arms.





Next I disconnected all the E-Box wiring, various heater hoses, and so on.





Now it was time to undo the cradle bolts and trans cross-member, and lower the engine out of the car. Not shown - as this was my first BMW I missed an important step. I missed the power brake hose. The plastic gizmo and hoses that attach manifold vacuum to the brake booster broke. D'oh! There went $50.






Off with the exhaust manifold



Next, off with the alternator and W/P pulley, and a few pix for later reference.







Then disconnected the wiring harness, the dipstick tube, the throttle body, and whatever else necessary to remove the intake.




Now we removed the coils (not shown), the camshaft cover (note the chocolate milkshake), VANOS and related bits, and the camshafts.









Finally, we're at the stage where we can remove the head from the cylinder block. Whee.





Now the bad news. Using a mechanic's straightedge and feeler gauges, I determined the PO's wife had heated the bejeezus out of this poor thing. The white waxy stuff in the coolant hoses, from vaporized coolant, was a hint. Now I had proof. The head was convex, the block concave, mostly between cylinders 4 and 5. I knew the answer, but I contacted my trusted machinist anyway. The answer was that it was warped too far for an MLS gasket, and too far to machine. Rats!! There went my visions of just slapping a new head gasket on or, worst case, skimming the head.

That's it for this entry. Next entry will be the acquisition of a replacement engine and installation.

[Monkeybutt2000]

Nice write up, you've got your work cut out for you. At least you had a nice,cool Fresca to enjoy

[effduration]

My first reaction to this was: Photobucket is still hosting pictures?

I have dealt with 4-5 M54 overheated engines, and have rebuilt engines and swapped motors. About 60% of the time the head is too far gone (more than 12, 32's of an inch). Replacing the engine is almost always the better/cheaper way to go....Except, if you are doing a non (or lightly) warped head gasket, you can also replace the oil rings and have an M54 that doesn't burn oil.

If it were me, I would find a tested 3.0 liter M54 engine (M54B30), with like 40 more HP and swap it into that 525i. It will bolt right up and run, even with the 525i's ECU, although you might re-flash the DME later.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[amancuso]

If he is going to rebuild the used engine, it would def. be worthwhile to replace those oil rings. I had an M54 330i and it started to use 1 qt of oil every 500 miles. It was ridiculous.

[E39 Newbie]

Parte Deux

OK. So now my dreams of a fairly easy repair went up in smoke. So, I used my friend's LKQ account to source a tested engine with warranty. Unfortunately, I found out too late that one can bolt up a 3.0, Live and learn. So, I had to remove the trans and get the engine out of the cradle.





I wanted to keep the car's actual mileage and the engine mileage somewhere within shouting distance of each other. So, I chose a local unit with 124K. It was from a wrecked 325i. I like LKQ because their site has pix of the donor car and why it was scrapped. They told me each engine is tested for compression, and some other things I can't remember, before it's put on the shelf and offered for sale. There were some cheaper units available, but on the other side of the country. This one cost about $900, if I recall correctly. Which is roughly what the PO paid for a "reconditioned" head when he had the last head gasket failure. Of course, every freaking o-ring and seal will have to be replaced, but I'd have had to do that with the original engine.




The engine came as you see it. I then tore everything but the intake off. The water pipes were a real MoFo to get out. I finally broke the one from the water pump off and dug out the debris. I think they were original. Sadly, I'd have to buy new ones, because the PO had replaced them during the last rebuild but the engine had gotten so hot that the end of one was partially melted. Ugh. I pulled the pan (which looked pretty clean), the coils/plugs, the cam cover, etc. Then I pulled the VANOS and rebuilt it.




Replaced the O-ring on the oil pump pickup.



The 325i uses a different oil pan so I had to clean the old one and swap it. It wasn't too bad, except for the baffling around the dipstick, which had lots of chocolate milkshake that was hard to clean. Obviously, a new pan gasket, plus a new o-ring for the oil level sensor.



Here we are with the VANOS reinstalled.



Next the oil filter housing, with new gasket. Plus a fair amount of cleaning with brake cleaner and wire brush. They pressure wash the engines, but there was still grease in the crevices. It was obvious, after taking off the cam cover, that the owner of the 325 hadn't changed the gasket in many, many years. It was rock hard and apparently the source of some major oil leaks.Also installed new water pipes.



Now the alternator. Also the front seal.



Next I had to clean the unbelievable sticky tape they used to cover the exhaust ports. That was a chore. Then I painstakingly removed all the exhaust studs, put on some copper antiseize, and reinstalled them into the 525 pattern, which was different than the donor car, probably because the donor was a year newer. It was a hassle because I don't have a 7mm stud socket. Apparently that's a really oddball size, not included in most sets, and I was too cheap to pay for one.



I replaced the thermostat housing, the water pump (with a metal impeller unit), and used the pulley from the donor vehicle because the original was cracked.



Next, the throttle body, with new gasket.



Not shown, i reattached the wiring harness, new o-rings for the dipstick tube (and stick), a fresh set up plugs, the donor vehicle coils, a fresh cam cover gasket and the A/C compressor. Then removed it from the engine stand.




Now it's back in the cradle, sitting on new engine mounts, with the transmission reattached.




Then connected all the various and sundry wires, coils, etc., etc. etc. Also, the front damper, and a new A/C tensioner.







Then the exhaust manifolds and new gaskets.



Now it's ready for reinsertion.

[Monkeybutt2000]

Damn,hats off you're putting on the work! So,what's the deal on the SN95 lurking in the background.

[E39 Newbie]

Damn,hats off you're putting on the work! So,what's the deal on the SN95 lurking in the background.

That's my baby. I got her with 80K miles on the clock a few years back. She now has just over 90K. I just finished installing a stereo/amp upgrade and now it kicks. I love dropping the top and cruising while playing some reggaeton (pretty weird for an old white guy). But with the incessant rain we've had here in SoCal, she's feeling kinda lonely.

[E39 Newbie]

OK. 3rd time's a charm. The first two posts got clobbered when the site glitched.

Not shown - I replaced the o-rings on the trans cooler lines, P/S lines and A/C hoses, then installed a new reman Bosch starter. Also, the P/S reservoir o-ring. That extra air injection thingy on top of the intake was cracked, so I swapped it with the original with, naturally, fresh o-rings. This thing is nothing but plastic and o-rings.

Now time to stuff it up, as it were.









Next, hook up all the various wires, E-Box, fuel line, heater and coolant hoses, etc. Plus the cassette, a new Behr radiator, original shroud and fan. The OP had replaced the coolant reservoir recently, so that was still in good shape.






Next, I drained the trans, changed the filter, changed the gasket, installed a new drain plug and new fill plug gasket. Also, about 3 liters of expensive Liqui-Moly trans fluid. Then a fresh oil filter and 6.5 liters of 5W-40 (I think) Motul synthetic oil.

Next, my friend and I mixed 2 gallons of gen-u-wine BMW coolant with 2 gallons of distilled water in a large bucket. Then we used his slick tool for filling coolant systems. You use shop air to pull a vacuum on the entire system. This is also an excellent way to check for leaks. Then, when you're satisfied that it's not leaking, you open a valve and it sucks all the coolant into the system. No futzing with bleed screws, etc. I guess it's a mandatory tool when dealing with rear-engine Porsches with front-mounted radiators.

Then it was time to fire up the beast. I crimped the fuel hose and cranked the engine for a bit, to build oil pressure. Then let 'er rip. It stumbled and then fired right up. It smoked like a chimney for a few minutes, killing all mosquitos in the area. I guess it had a ton of junk in the cylinders to burn off. Then it settled down, but there was a single very loud lifter. I just let it idle for the better part of an hour, and then noticed that the valve train had become nice and quiet. My friend said it sounded better than any 124K mile engine had any right to. Woo Hoo!

Next up with the driveshaft. I cleaned the grease from the old CV joint, repacked it with fresh, and installed a fresh gasket. The butyl on the suspension bearing was still really good so I left it. It appears the driveshaft had been replaced at some point, fairly recently. Then the exhaust, with new copper nuts and new gaskets. It's quite a job for one guy, but with an adjustable stand, a transmission jack, and some new swear words, I got it bolted up.




Here's the finished product. I used the cam cover from the donor engine because the original was stained with rat pee, and smelled like it.





OK. Now it's time to make this thing roadworthy.

[Jason5driver]

How much was the engine from LKQ ?
Any more pictures of dropping the driveshaft ?

[Monkeybutt2000]

That's my baby. I got her with 80K miles on the clock a few years back. She now has just over 90K. I just finished installing a stereo/amp upgrade and now it kicks. I love dropping the top and cruising while playing some reggaeton (pretty weird for an old white guy). But with the incessant rain we've had here in SoCal, she's feeling kinda lonely.

Nice,I have an 89 LX vert, built a 331 stroker for it and been trying to finish it as well as working on my 528i.

[E39 Newbie]

How much was the engine from LKQ ?
Any more pictures of dropping the driveshaft ?

I had that info in an earlier post that the frippin' web site ate. I guess I missed it with this version. D'oh!

Anyway, the engine was about $900, which is about what the PO paid for a "reconditioned" head. They had prices all over the place, depending on how many miles, and what part of the country the engine is located in. There's no delivery charge for commercial accounts, a flat fee, IIRC, for regular folks. The engines ranged from about $660 somewhere in Virginia, to $900-ish in the SoCal area, all with around 120K miles. Low mileage specimens went for more. I wanted an engine with mileage close to what's on the body.

I couldn't get more pix of the driveshaft because I was alone that day and it is definitely a 2-hand job. It wasn't all that difficult with the lift. You unbolt the guibo, unbolt the CV joint, and then unbolt the carrier bearing. You then have to pull the shaft down into a sort of V shape and fiddle until the guibo comes loose, then you can pull the CV joint apart. So, I wasn't able to take pix of the process. Reassembly is basically opposite. Get a bolt into the CV joint to hold it, then, keeping it in a V shape, get a bolt on the guibo attached, then push it up from the middle and get the bolts into the carrier bearing. If you're doing this on the garage floor, make sure you've got the car high enough on jack stands so you can pull the middle of the shaft all the way without it hitting the floor.

- - - Updated - - -

Nice,I have an 89 LX vert, built a 331 stroker for it and been trying to finish it as well as working on my 528i.

They're never finished... <sigh>

[ordpete944]

That's a ton of work. Interested to hear how it drives.

I just finished up my 7 month rehab on the 530. Getting an alignment this morning. It's a little nerve wracking starting them up after so much stuff was taken apart. Nice work!

[E39 Newbie]

Next on the agenda were the brakes and tension struts.

The large bushings had leaked so the tension struts needed replacement. The other struts looked OK. The pix are crappy to non-existent. I also had to replace the torn in two tie rod end boot on the passenger side. A much easier process than I had imagined.



You really can't see it in the previous pix, but the rotors had the largest lip on them that I'd ever seen. I guess they just kept doing pad slaps over the years without turning or replacing the rotors. The bummer was that they had an almost brand new set of pads, but I felt it best not to reuse them. You can also see, in a previous pic, the driver side brake sensor hanging down. It had been broken by some dufus and just left to flop around. I checked the rotors, they (of course) were below spec, so we needed new ones.






I Googled around and found the procedure to reset the brake warning thing, now that the pads, rotors and sensor were all new. Then, I went ahead and evacuated and recharged the A/C system. I replaced both Schrader valves to be safe.



While I was waiting for some parts, I figured I'd do the headlights. I always use the 3M kit with the three levels of sandpaper, polishing compound, etc. The first pic is the "before" on the passenger side, the driver side was worse. Then a pic of the mid-point of the driver side, and then "after" pix of both sides.

[E39 Newbie]

I've tried posting this next segment multiple times. I guess something's wrong with these particular pix. They display YUUUGE. You can see every dust speck. So, I'll leave them out. They weren't too important.

Next I had to fix the hanging bumper. The PO had hit a curb or something. The driver side had popped off the oval plastic holder, the holder on the passenger side was broken. The parts arrived, I got the holder thing replaced and the bumper put back. It isn't perfect by any means, but it's better. The bumper is a bit screwed up, but it's liveable.

Then I had to put in those interior plastic panels. I found the passenger side one in the trunk. After a bit or creative use with some epoxy I got the mounting holes repaired from where they had broken due to the bumper impact. I had to use an extra right-angle clip on the corner because the mounting tab for the screw was broken away. But, it's on, it's holding the ambient temp sensor and covering the secondary air pump. What more can you ask?

Next was the driver side. It was missing altogether. I found an inexpensive reproduction on eBay. It will never be mistaken for an OEM part, but it fitted reasonably well, and nobody will see it. So, on to the next problem, of which there are legion.

When I fired it up I got the dreaded trifecta. The diagnostic computer said "ABS Pressure Sensor Open Circuit." After much reading I pulled the ABS module and sent it to Module Repair Pro in Van Nuys, CA. They did a nice job. I received it after a week, connected it and my trifecta went away. Well worth $99 plus $12 shipping.

Now I had to drive it around to get the smog sensors to set in order to get it to pass CA smog. That resulted in more broken parts, which I'll discuss in the next segment.

[douglawrence42]

Thanks for the incredible write up and all the pics. Great thread!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[E39 Newbie]

I got the thing out of the shop and started driving around. The first trip was uneventful, but none of the sensors came ready. The next trip, the o2 sensors came ready, but nothing else. The third trip, when I pulled out from a stoplight, very light throttle, the car started bucking and acting like it wanted to stall. The Engine Failsafe Mode message came on and I barely got off onto a side street. I discussed this in another thread. I got two errors about the throttle being jammed. After a few tries I got it started, and the error went away long enough to get back to the shop.

I discussed this with my mechanic friend. He said in many years he's only replaced one or two throttle bodies, but lots of MAFs. We looked at it (new Bremi unit), smelled it (it smelled slightly burnt) and decided to send it back and replace it with a VDO unit. It came, I installed it, the errors went away and I thought I'd finished that part. Now to drive some more...

My test loop has 20+ minutes of city driving, then several minutes of freeway, then 15+ more minutes of city driving. On the freeway part, the battery light came on. Crap! I noticed when I got the thing up to about 5K RPM the light went out. Then came on in the lover rev range. Then it came on permanently. I got back to the shop, put the tester on the battery terminals and, sure enough, wasn't getting any juice from the alternator. Double crap! One of the few parts I hadn't replaced.

After another chat, and some parts lookup, I found that the brush assembly was user serviceable. So, I figured I had nothing to lose, it was easier than removing the entire alternator, so let's take a look. It took a bit of creativity with a mirror, but once you know where the screws are it's not too hard to take off the back cover. Plus I got to remove all the leaves and spider nests inside.





Well, sho' 'nuff. The brushes were probably the originals. I ordered the new part, installed it and the battery was once again charging. Great. Let's drive.

After several more trips, I finally got the Cat Monitor to come ready. Seemed weird, but OK. But the EVAP and Secondary Air would not come ready. After a load more research I ran across a great writeup on the E46Fanatics site. It seems a "lazy" o2 sensor can cause the Sec Air not to set. I ran through the diagnosis of the pump (OK) the valve (OK) and the vacuum when cold (10" - 12" Hg). So, I ordered a couple of new upstream o2 sensors. I installed the back one, which looked quite old, but not the front, which looked pretty new. Bingo! On the next cold start the Sec Air came ready. BUT, then it tried to run the EVAP test and the SES light came on. Arrgh! The error was for an open circuit on the evap relay.

I had left the evap relay from the donor engine installed on the intake. Bad move, as it turns out. So, I swapped in the one that the car originally had, and the light went away. I immediately ran across the street to the smog guy, and had it smogged. In CA, up until a certain year, you can pass smog with everything but the EVAP monitor set. So, this thing was finally legal to drive and I took it out of NonOp for the first time in 2 or 3 years. Later, I ran the tank leak test using my friend's computer, and the EVAP sensor came ready.

Now it was time to replace the 7 year old tires.

[E39 Newbie]

I went to tirerack.com and found some Riken Raptor tires for about $70 each. I have them on my SN95 and they seem like pretty decent tires. So, I had a set shipped to the local Pep Boys, who mounted and balanced all 4, including swapping out the well-worn original spare, for $70 out the door. The ride was 100% smoother going back to the shop. No more vibration and such from the front tires.

During test drives and such I heard wind whistling. I thought perhaps bad weatherstrip on the passenger door. Anyway, the front windshield molding was rotten to the point of crumbling in your hand. The PO had goobed up the entire top section of the trim with a ton of clear silicone-style sealer. What a mess. I got most of that removed and I proceeded to remove the crumbly molding. And, surprise, surprise. The windshield was coming loose in several places. Sigh. This thing is worse than a wooden boat. What a money pit. So, I called around to see what a windshield reseal would cost. I'm desperate to get this thing washed and get some of the rat pee smell removed. It's not inside the car, but in certain places outside you can still smell it. Anyway, I found that OC Windshields in Anaheim was reasonable and I made an appointment. In the meantime I ordered a gennie BMW windshield trim piece.

I spoke with the technician, who was a cool guy. He knew all about the BMW molding issues. I sad the windshield looked to be in fairly decent shape overall, and then he pointed out that it was in terrible shape. All the crap I saw that I thought was just accumulated dirt were actually pits. Sigh. So, for an extra $100 I opted for a new windshield. While waiting, he called me outside. I knew whoever installed the current windshield was an idiot, but I didn't realize how big an idiot. He showed me where they used significantly insufficient sealer. The voids on the windshield where there was virtually none, the place where they had torn off part of the VIN sticker, and, sadly, all the rust that had accumulated in the bottom section of the windshield frame. Double sigh.

Anyway, I insisted they fix the problem correctly. So, I understand he ground off all the rust, which was all surface rust (this is SoCal, so it hadn't been rained on all that much), then sprayed on urethane, then properly sealed up the new windshield and installed my trim. Here are a few "before" pix. Sorry, there's something fishy with this batch and they're again posting really large.

[E39 Newbie]

If anybody has any idea why these pix suddenly started posting super-huge, please chime in.

I went to pick up the car from the windshield people. It looked quite nice. I started it up and it immediately went into Engine Failsafe. Arrgh!! I finally got it started and moving after a few tries. I put-putted back to the shop. About 2/3 of the way there it smoothed out and stopped gagging and choking and the Failsafe "arrows" went away. When I arrived I checked the codes and, sure enough, the "throttle partially jammed" and "throttle fully jammed" errors were back, and another I'd never seen before. I guess the MAF wasn't the culprit. So, fortunately FCP Euro was having a clearance on throttle bodies and I ordered one for $160.

Here's the target area, but the one clamp is hard to access.



With the DISA removed it becomes easier. The O-ring is still in good shape.


Now the boot needs to come off of the throttle body.


There's the culprit.


Yup. Original unit. Has the 2002 date code still on it.


After replacing it and clearing the codes and erasing the adaptations, it fired up, stumbled a tiny bit, and then settled down and ran smoothly. During road testing I noticed that the previous TB was apparently causing a weird, tiny stumble at very small throttle openings when leaving from a stop, Now it's not displaying those tendencies.

As I'd practically replaced everything under the hood, I figured I was home free and could now get an alignment and start driving the wheels off of it. Boy, was I wrong.

[atobe]

Good you see that you're willing to do all that work. If it was someone else they probably would of throw in the towel and it'd be in the scrap yard by now.

[Monkeybutt2000]

Good god man, this thing has been a total PITA.

[E39 Newbie]

Good you see that you're willing to do all that work. If it was someone else they probably would of throw in the towel and it'd be in the scrap yard by now.

Oh, you have NOOOOOO idea how close it's come to that!!

Good god man, this thing has been a total PITA.

It's a good thing the shop is nowhere near a cliff. I would have pushed this thing over it several times already.

[E39 Newbie]

OK. I took the car back home, intending to drive it around for the weekend, then maybe taking it in for an alignment after I got back from a business trip. I parked in the driveway, went inside, and futzed around with other stuff.

I came out to leave, after a couple of hours. I got in and noticed that it seemed awfully warm inside. It was a warm day, but the car wasn't sitting in direct sunlight. And I thought I heard a faint whirring noise. I started the car and the whirring got a bit louder. WTH? It was the heater fan. Blowing hot air. I went to turn it off and the entire HVAC control panel was black and completely unresponsive.

I thought maybe a "hard reset" might fix things. So I disconnected the battery and it all stopped. Then I connected the battery and, after about 30 seconds, the fan started blowing again. The forum has a policy against profanity, so I'll not post what I said. Then I drove back to the shop, about 20 minutes, with my right foot being barbecued by full-blast hot air.

After arrival I attached my friend's diagnostic tool and ran all the tests. The scanner couldn't even find the HVAC unit. Before it always passed the tests. Now it doesn't even register as existing. Sigh.

So, I went online. I guess the nice thing about having a car with a strong following is that it seems, regardless of how weird I think a problem is, somebody else has had it. The same with this. So, I checked all the fuses and swapped in known good ones, etc. It wasn't a fuse. I deduced it wasn't the fan resistor because that failure, while causing weird fan behavior, doesn't seem to have any effect on the HVAC controls. So, it was probably a dead HVAC control unit. Crap.

Getting it out of the dash was a PITA. I tried going from the bottom and almost broke the cupholder mechanism. But got it out, then couldn't get my ham hands under properly in order to get the seat switch/traction control unit out. I think they call this the SXM unit? So, I removed the radio, which needs repair anyway. More on that later. Then I was able to remove the HVAC and SXM units. Well, at least they're easy to remove/install.

I checked and a new unit is still available, but they run from $800 to $1200, depending on your source. Over my dead body. So, again, LKQ to the rescue. Using my friend's commercial account I found one in NorCal, from a 2003 with 88K miles, for $112, including their 2-year warranty. So, I ordered it and waited.

I returned from my trip a few days later, and went by my friend's place and picked up the unit. I didn't have much time, so I just plugged it into the hanging wires. I connected the battery, and no heater fan noise. OK. I turned on the ignition and the HVAC unit lit up, and all the pixels look good. I guess we're moving in the right direction. That was about all I had time for, and I was waiting for a replacement SXM module from eBay. During testing, the SXM would throw a transient, but consistent, error I figured it was going bad, so while everything was apart I'd replace it. LKQ doesn't have these. I found a ton on eBay. Finding the exact part number was a challenge, but I found one for $45. This was the part I was waiting for.

Before leaving, I figured I'd just replace the B+ terminal cap. I had to order one from the BMW dealer, who said there was ONE in the country, in Texas. I bought it for a princely $10. Anyway, I figured I'd put it in before leaving. I hit the 19mm nut with the wrench and the effing ring terminal on the cable snapped off. GDMF. Will the problems never cease?

So, now I'm waiting for a replacement cable from eBay. $13 from a dismantler in MO. I'll post the next installment of this saga after Thursday, when the part arrives.

[E39 Newbie]

OK. Here's a pic of what the HVAC system looked like.



Also a before and after shot of that stupid battery cable.




After struggling a bit, and doing everything using the Braille method, I got the cable replaced, reconnected, and the engine reassembled. Here's a pic of the engine in a completed state. I took it because it's been such a rare thing lately.



I then reconnected the battery and connected the HVAC to see if it worked. Thank God, it did. And no constantly running fan, either.




While I was at it, I decided to replace the SZM module. I got intermittent errors on the scan tool for this thing. So, for under $50 I found one on eBay.



And here's everything reassembled, along with those dratted cupholders. It turns out I can't get the cupholders out by themselves. In this case you have to get that SZM thing loose first, and then you can finagle the cupholders out.



I then connected the scan tool, cleared all the weird-o errors related to disconnecting the battery, and ran a full battery of tests. Wow. For the first time it passed with ZERO errors. I started the thing and drove it around the block to see if the A/C worked, etc.

[E39 Newbie]

Next, we had to fix the radio. Here's a pic of what it looked like powered on.



I couldn't tell how good or bad the radio was, because I couldn't see enough to make any settings adjustments. So, I contacted Bavtek for a repair. His facility is about 45 minutes from my house, so I decided to deliver it and pick it up the next day. Here's what it looked like after repair.




Wow!! What a difference. And all for $100. I adjusted the radio, clock, etc. I see why everybody dislikes these radios. It now sounds "OK" but nothing spectacular. For a very expensive car in its day, it sure had a substandard stereo. I have a 2003 Acura TL that has been my daily, and its stereo blows this thing out of the water. And I think the car was about half the price of the 525 when new.

The 90 minutes from/to Bavtek was the perfect shakedown trip. I now understand the attraction of these cars. They'll never win a drag race, that's for sure. But you can tell they were built to be comfortable on the Autobahn. This thing is quite comfortable at 90MPH, with barely any throttle. It handles well for a large, heavy, car. It feels solid on the road. That BMW straight-six is silky smooth, no question.

OK. The next thing is to get an alignment so I don't screw up the new tires. Then I'll start using it daily. It still has a glitch with the moonroof, which I'll cover in another post because I have several questions. It needs some drivers seat buttons replaced. They work, but they are floppy. But the thing it needs most is a good detail. It's filthy inside and out. Now that the windshield has been replaced, it should be safe to wash. I'll post pix after a good wash and buff. Here are quick pix of a tire and the windshield trim.




It's been a too-long, too-expensive and too-frustrating slog reviving this thing. I'll total it up later. I'm sure I'm upside down in it, but probably not too much. These things seem to go from $3K to maybe $3.5K, so I'm not too far away from that, I think.We'll see...

[E39 Newbie]

I got the beast back from the alignment shop and it drives right nice, now! Next step was to get it detailed. Which only served to make the flaws even more obvious. LOL. When we first saw the car, my friend said it had been repaired. The PO said it hadn't. Now it's pretty obvious. Hood, right fender and right front door have been repainted. It's not that noticeable, but they used some cheap-azz clear on it, which has faded and has weird cracking that looks like long scratches. The plastic parts (rear bumper, door handles) are flaking from too much sun and not enough wax. But the body is really straight. I could only find one obvious dent and it's pretty small. I'll get some pix of the interior, but right now it's at the tint shop. Some PO put seriously cheap-o tint on all the windows except the windshield. It has "lines" in it, it's changing colors, it's peeling from the tops of the windows. Grrrrr.

So, overall, it cleaned up rather nice, considering it wasn't expensive to start with.








The detailer finished cleaning the engine a bit and left. I closed up and headed home. Started the car and got the dreaded trifecta. Again. Arrrgh!! I was not happy. I disconnected the ABS module and blew a ton of water out of both connectors, etc., but no dice. It was giving all kinds of weird errors, like rear speed sensors giving unbelievable results, the trans being unable to read the wheel speeds, etc. I parked it and left it for two days because I was busy. When I got back to it, everything was apparently dry, and the car fired right up with no errors. Lesson learned - cover the ABS module when water is near.