My 2001 740i M Sport

[Btkeenan]

A few updates:
Exhaust: Noticed driving around that the stock exhaust is a bit meh. I get that it's a luxury sport sedan but even the AMG's of the day had a bit more oomph to the exhaust note to seperate it from the non AMG cars. Was looking around and really like the sound of the eisenmann exhaust but not so much the price (if someone has one in the states let me know as I am a buyer). Alternatives I found were cutting the mufflers and adding an X pipe and either magnaflow or borla universal mufflers. While interesting, I don't think that sound quite fits the car. That led me to just a muffler delete and then some clamp on turn downs (something like this). I bought a corsa xtreme kit for my truck and love how it sounds on startup and when on it but it does not have drone when cruising around town and unless you are on it, I sometimes forget it even has an aftermarket exhaust. From what I have read about the muffler delete, this sounds to be a similar situation. Does anyone have any experience with this? I figured if I am strategic with the cut, I could always add a clamp back to the exhaust and muffler ends and re mount it.

Headliner: When I purchased the car about a month ago, the headliner was in great shape. No sagging or creases. Since then, there has been a heat wave rolling through SoCal which I think warmed up the headliner glue enough to detach the rear seat section in one piece which is a bit of a bummer. Was looking around online and found this which seemed like a good first step to try to remedy it. If it does not, I found a few tutorials/videos on removing it and redoing it using material from a shop in Florida. Does anyone have tips on this process or if it is a PITA and worth having someone else do it?

Headliner.jpg

[a777fan]

If you are invested in the time and equipment that it takes to do it yourself then check out this three part youtube:

https://youtu.be/MGxJ5d-fefg


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[Btkeenan]

If you are invested in the time and equipment that it takes to do it yourself then check out this three part youtube:

https://youtu.be/MGxJ5d-fefg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for the link. He did a great job on that 750iL but it does look like a process for sure. I am getting a few quotes for shops around the area to have it redone and will decide. I am leaning towards doing the disassembly and perhaps the prep of the headliner, pillars and sunroof myself and then having a shop get it all glued up. Hopefully that would help on pricing for labor. TBD.

[Staszek]

Thanks!

Thanks! They still manufacture the grey ones? I thought they were NLA.

Hmm not sure about grey

[Thresher]

Thanks!

I noticed after showing a few people the car after purchasing it the engine bay, the left kidney was flopping around. Upon further inspection, the PO in their infinite wisdom decided to silicone all the tabs holding in the chrome trim to the fins along with an assortment of rolled up duct tape and 3M strip adhesive holding it together. **As a side note, anyone that thinks this "fixes" the underlying problem should probably not own/drive these cars. Spending ~$165 for new OEM replacement or less for an aftermarket one would have solved this quickly and easily without the need of adhesive, silicone or tape**

I had the same experience when I bought my car in 2018. Here is a tip: when you open the hood, do NOT stick your fingers into the chrome kidney grill area to lift up on the grill itself, instead use the latch, lift a bit, and then put your hands on either side of the kidney grills, under the hood and lift.

This is what I do now; when I first replaced the kidney grills, I wasn't doing this, and had to replace both new Genuine BMW grills in less than a year. I suspect the high heat coming off the engine really makes the tabs on the kidney grills fragile, so just don't lift the hood by the grills and they should last a bit longer.

[Btkeenan]

I had the same experience when I bought my car in 2018. Here is a tip: when you open the hood, do NOT stick your fingers into the chrome kidney grill area to lift up on the grill itself, instead use the latch, lift a bit, and then put your hands on either side of the kidney grills, under the hood and lift.

This is what I do now; when I first replaced the kidney grills, I wasn't doing this, and had to replace both new Genuine BMW grills in less than a year. I suspect the high heat coming off the engine really makes the tabs on the kidney grills fragile, so just don't lift the hood by the grills and they should last a bit longer.

Thanks for the tip!

[Btkeenan]

While waiting to hear back on quotes for the headliner, decided I'd tackle why the front seat belts were retracting so slowly. After reading to basically not touch the reel portion of the assembly, that left the belts themselves. Visually the driver's side was pretty dirty and the passenger side was dirty in spots. I pulled the belts out as far as they would go and held it in place using a racheting hand clamp and sprayed both with Adam's Polishes carpet and upholstery spray and then agitated with an interior brush. Wiped down with a microfiber and came back the next day to give them ample time to dry. Unfortunately, there was little to no improvement to the retraction.

Decided to use an approach discussed in multiple threads here and soak them in a bowl of water with dish soap. I opted to use a medium sized metal salad bowl and filled it 2/3 full with warm water and maybe 2.5 tablespoons of dish soap. Raised the seat as high as it would go and leveled it out so that the water didnt have a chance of spilling into my seat. Used a T50 wrench to undo the bolt holding the bottom seatbelt bracket in place and pulled it through the plastic trim piece. Next put as much of the seatbelt as I could fit into the bowl of soapy water while leaving the end of the seatbelt with the metal bracket out of the water. Set a timer for 30 min and let it sit. After 30, agitated both sides of the seatbelt with an interior brush and then threw them back in the soapy water for 20 min. After 20, rinsed the bowl with fresh warm water and then put the belt back into the bowl to rinse it and then agitated with the brush again to remove any additional contaminants. Waited 5 minutes and then pulled them out of the water and dried with microfiber. Left them out overnight to dry and came back in the morning and what a difference. I also wiped down the plastic piece that they retract into on the B pillar with some simple green and it made it even quicker.

Onto the next project.

[Staszek]

While waiting to hear back on quotes for the headliner, decided I'd tackle why the front seat belts were retracting so slowly. After reading to basically not touch the reel portion of the assembly, that left the belts themselves. Visually the driver's side was pretty dirty and the passenger side was dirty in spots. I pulled the belts out as far as they would go and held it in place using a racheting hand clamp and sprayed both with Adam's Polishes carpet and upholstery spray and then agitated with an interior brush. Wiped down with a microfiber and came back the next day to give them ample time to dry. Unfortunately, there was little to no improvement to the retraction.

Decided to use an approach discussed in multiple threads here and soak them in a bowl of water with dish soap. I opted to use a medium sized metal salad bowl and filled it 2/3 full with warm water and maybe 2.5 tablespoons of dish soap. Raised the seat as high as it would go and leveled it out so that the water didnt have a chance of spilling into my seat. Used a T50 wrench to undo the bolt holding the bottom seatbelt bracket in place and pulled it through the plastic trim piece. Next put as much of the seatbelt as I could fit into the bowl of soapy water while leaving the end of the seatbelt with the metal bracket out of the water. Set a timer for 30 min and let it sit. After 30, agitated both sides of the seatbelt with an interior brush and then threw them back in the soapy water for 20 min. After 20, rinsed the bowl with fresh warm water and then put the belt back into the bowl to rinse it and then agitated with the brush again to remove any additional contaminants. Waited 5 minutes and then pulled them out of the water and dried with microfiber. Left them out overnight to dry and came back in the morning and what a difference. I also wiped down the plastic piece that they retract into on the B pillar with some simple green and it made it even quicker.

Onto the next project.

Hmm now I want to check how fast mine retract lol

[Btkeenan]

Got some goodies in the mail today courtesy of thebmwminipartstore.com (use ROUNDEL for 10% off). Got a warning triangle (71606770487) to finish off my tool kit, some replacement wheel center caps (36136783536) to replace the ones that came with the car, some replacement hold trunk down straps (51478136450), and some keys (completed the set with another universal transmitter, spare key and valet key). Got the additional key programmed but it is synced to what I assume is a default profile because it adjusts the seating position and mirrors when I hit unlock on that key and reverts to my presets when pressing unlock on the other key. Tried to "sync" the second key by hitting the program button on the driver's door thinking that would tie it to the key but it did not. Also, the new key does not have two stage unlocking like the other key does (which I prefer). Per this document on E38.org, there are key memory options that can be tied to the key but I am not sure how they can be tied to the keys themselves. Is this a dealership only programming option?

Old vs new center caps
Wheel_Roundel.jpg
Warning triangle installed, interestingly it fits with the case unlike in the E39 where you have to ditch the case.
Tool_Kit.jpg

[a777fan]

Ooh. Nice. Your tools still look minty too. Sometimes they can get all surface rusty.

[Staszek]

Got some goodies in the mail today courtesy of thebmwminipartstore.com (use ROUNDEL for 10% off). Got a warning triangle (71606770487) to finish off my tool kit, some replacement wheel center caps (36136783536) to replace the ones that came with the car, some replacement hold trunk down straps (51478136450), and some keys (completed the set with another universal transmitter, spare key and valet key). Got the additional key programmed but it is synced to what I assume is a default profile because it adjusts the seating position and mirrors when I hit unlock on that key and reverts to my presets when pressing unlock on the other key. Tried to "sync" the second key by hitting the program button on the driver's door thinking that would tie it to the key but it did not. Also, the new key does not have two stage unlocking like the other key does (which I prefer). Per this document on E38.org, there are key memory options that can be tied to the key but I am not sure how they can be tied to the keys themselves. Is this a dealership only programming option?

Old vs new center caps
Wheel_Roundel.jpg
Warning triangle installed, interestingly it fits with the case unlike in the E39 where you have to ditch the case.
Tool_Kit.jpg

https://store.bimmernav.com/blogs/ho...5-e46-x3-z4-z8

Check them out not sure if the answer is in there but you can call they may be able to help.

[Btkeenan]

https://store.bimmernav.com/blogs/ho...5-e46-x3-z4-z8

Check them out not sure if the answer is in there but you can call they may be able to help.

Thanks. Yea I’ve got an email out to them so tbd on their reply. They mention in that article “If the keys are not initialized in the same order prior to initialization, the key memory functions activated by the keys will not be assigned correctly” but have not been able to find anywhere specifically noting how to assign key memory functions.


2001 BMW 740i M Sport | 2013 Ford SVT Raptor | 2018 Mazda CX-5 Touring AWD

[TheAngryBear]

If you go in with DISv57 you can code the keys there, if using DISv44 you have to use Progman iirc.
Either way, iirc you can see the keys assigned, deactivate any keys you don’t have, and which functions are activated for each.

When synching/reprogramming your keys, only put the first key in and go to KP1 5 times then do each key you have and mark the order that you did it. Then it will be “synched” with 1,2,3 etc.
each time you do the KP1 5 times, that basically says to wipe the previous memory which causes “issues” in trying to match keys, functions, and settings.


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[Btkeenan]

If you go in with DISv57 you can code the keys there, if using DISv44 you have to use Progman iirc.
Either way, iirc you can see the keys assigned, deactivate any keys you don’t have, and which functions are activated for each.

When synching/reprogramming your keys, only put the first key in and go to KP1 5 times then do each key you have and mark the order that you did it. Then it will be “synched” with 1,2,3 etc.
each time you do the KP1 5 times, that basically says to wipe the previous memory which causes “issues” in trying to match keys, functions, and settings.


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Thanks for the info. I’ll have to investigate.

[Btkeenan]

The hunt is over for a replacement center console. Found a guy in Lithuania on eBay selling 2 of them (one is sitll available if anyone is interested) and put an offer in on one and he accepted it. Glad to have that checked off my list of things to no longer worry about hunting down. Also, last time I washed the car, I noticed that the OE jackpads were all missing so picked up replacements at the local dealership and got them installed. For easy install, I wiped down with an alcohol wipe and then pulled the center pin and pushed it into the cutout on the frame. Once inserted, the central pin can be inserted without issue.

Onto the next project.

Jack_Pad.jpg

[a777fan]

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[Staszek]

The hunt is over for a replacement center console. Found a guy in Lithuania on eBay selling 2 of them (one is sitll available if anyone is interested) and put an offer in on one and he accepted it. Glad to have that checked off my list of things to no longer worry about hunting down. Also, last time I washed the car, I noticed that the OE jackpads were all missing so picked up replacements at the local dealership and got them installed. For easy install, I wiped down with an alcohol wipe and then pulled the center pin and pushed it into the cutout on the frame. Once inserted, the central pin can be inserted without issue.

Onto the next project.

Jack_Pad.jpg

Nice! You inspired me, I ended up getting a new armrest as well, but black is much easier and I am sure cheaper to find lol.

I havent even looked at my jack stands, that's another thing to check.

[a777fan]

These are helpful once you have the pads installed:

Jack Pad Adapter Anodized Black... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0725GCJ6T...p_mob_ap_share


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[Btkeenan]

These are helpful once you have the pads installed:

Jack Pad Adapter Anodized Black... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0725GCJ6T...p_mob_ap_share


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I saw those and ordered a set off amazon. Thought about 3d printing them but not sure about the structural integrity of them after a few uses.

[Btkeenan]

Nice! You inspired me, I ended up getting a new armrest as well, but black is much easier and I am sure cheaper to find lol.

I havent even looked at my jack stands, that's another thing to check.

Nice! Yea black are all over the place. Grey for whatever reason are few and far between.

I was ready to break out the pry tool to remove at least one of them but after 21 years they must have been banged up enough to have fallen out on their own

[Btkeenan]

Have been looking for a shop to do service-related items on my car in the SoCal area and stumbled upon E39 Source down in Escondido, CA after watching a good number of his E39 M5 specific videos on youtube. Ryan, Gary and the team did a multipoint inspection (MPI) on the car as I wanted to have a starting place to go from as the internet research only goes so far . The inspection took just over 3 hours, and they have a checklist of 102 things they go through and test and then assess in red, yellow, green categories.

They concluded that my E38 was the cleanest they had ever seen with the only 100% complete toolkit they have seen and that there were only 15 "red" items of the 102 checked items to address soonish. 5 centered around suspension components being a little tired and worn-out (boots, ball joints, rubbers) most of which I suspected in the miles I have put on it thus far. The biggest surprise though was that the front right strut is blown and leaking oil. Long story short, I may be swapping out the control arms and struts in my near future which should dramatically help the feeling of the car on the road. I asked about aftermarket solutions such as Bilstein/KW/Ohlins and they recommended staying away from bilstein, KW was ok and Ohlins they don't manufacture for the E38 but that Koni could be a good alternative. Did some preliminary research on pricing and to replace all 4 corners worth of OEM sport goodies it will run about $4k in parts with probably another $1k-$2k or so in labor.

Has anyone compared a fresh E38 OE sport suspension to the aftermarket side? Debating on which route to take to get my car back to its former glory.

One thing they also did was swap out the engine belts which were the original ones from 21 years ago! He was surprised it hadn't already failed but was able to swap them without issue after the inspection was complete. The remaining 9 items were already on my list of to-dos but good to have additional validation.

The old belts
Engine Belt 1.jpg
Engine Belt 2.jpg

In any event, I cannot recommend E39 Source enough to anyone in the SoCal area with transparent and straight forward pricing. I may have to schedule work I want completed around scheduled oil changes with them hah

[a777fan]

Yikes that belt is

No direct experience with the guys at e39source, but their youtube is pretty great. You can tell they are into the OE/OEM+ type of ownership which is right up my alley.


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[Btkeenan]

Been busy the last few weeks working on the car. Decided to order a new windshield cowl and clips from ECS Tuning after noticing that mine was starting to crack and break off. Replacement was fairly straightforward as I followed a fellow members tutorial on here. A couple things I found out during my install:
-Buy a windshield wiper arm puller. I got mine off amazon for 12 bucks and was well worth not having to potentially rip the wiper arm up and into my hood potentially denting/messing up the paint
-Wrap some blue painters tape right in front of where the two wiper arms rotate up on the hood because it is easier to pull the arm off the peg when it is in its 90-degree position vs lying on the windshield and the tape can prevent dings/paint chips if they happen to snap back
-Use plastic pry tools to get the plastic expanding rivets out (51718195811) as the screwdriver would work but if you slip you could scratch the plastic/paint and the pliers as denoted in the DIY tutorial has the same issue
-Use some alcohol wipes to remove the grime/dust that has assumulated on both the body and windshield over the past years while you're in there
-Seperate the top from the bottom piece of the rivet to make it easier to press into the cowl/body panels. Also press down on the cowl with one hand and then press in with the other on the rivet to ensure a tight fit (I had to take a few out and redo them after I got the rest of the cowl seated)
-When aligning the wipers back, it helped to have a little bit of dust on my windshield as it left a mark on where to position the wiper arms (I had to readjust a few times as the first time the two arms were positioned too close to one another)

The old cowl
Windshield Cowl 2.jpg

Cleaned body with cowl removed
Windshield Cowl 3.jpg

Old vs New cowl
Windshield Cowl 4.jpg

[Btkeenan]

I also decided to tackle the rear door actuators as they seemed to either be slow or would only click 90% of the time when unlocking/locking and did not want to have to source new door card in the event they failed. I used a combination of tutorials from Timm, 04sshd, and kc314 on bimmerboard as they all did about the same procedure with subtle differences.

Some notes I found when replacing them:
-Took me about 3 hours for the rear left door and 2 hours for the rear right door
-Use tools that you don't mind getting butyl tape covered on as it gets everywhere and can be a PITA to clean off (especially the grooves in the torx 20 bit)
-I did not have to remove the central plastic hangers as I only removed enough of the vapor barrier to get my hand into the opening and used the door handle and lighting assembly to hold the vapor barrier in place while I was working away in the corner of the door
-Instead of using a knife or just pulling the vapor barrier away from the door, I used an unger heat gun on low and paced about 12 inch sections and started pulling it away from the door slowly. It did not fight me and came off pretty easy with the butyl tape is warm
-The little window that is to the top right of the door latch and shows the door unlocking mechanism I had to poke a hole into and ended up removing as this is the window I used to get a flat head screwdriver underneath the actuator and pry it straight up without having to take everything apart
-To remove the lower door trim, I used a plastic removal tool to hold positive pressure downward on the screw while I unscrewed the torx bit. The screw otherwise would just spin in place.
-When removing this trim piece (51428150859) take caution as one of the two enbedded rivets broke off while removing it on the left side. I was spared on the right side as I pulled it out and away from the door. With one broken it still holds the piece in place but more just annoying that if the other one breaks, I will have to replace the whole piece.
-Once that trim is out, take out the 3 external torx 12 fasteners and this should loosen up the whole door lock assembly to move down an inch or so to get it in line with that "window" in the door. This allows for access to get a flathead screwdriver in between the baseplate of the door lock assembly and the door lock actuator. I just rotated the screwdriver on the front and rear of the actuator with decent force to pop it off. You'll know once it comes off as you can pull it away from the assembly with the power connectors.
-Installing the new actuator (67118352165) is the reverse. I ensured it worked properly a few times by cycling lock and unlock on the keys before putting everything back together. Line up the front and rear tangs of the baseplate and the unit should be able to be pulled down onto the housing. It takes some force to get it reengaged with the assembly and room is tight but doable. I pushed the assembly down and towards the front of the door to get my fingers on both sides of the actuator to then pull it down in place. I tested again once in place to ensure everything was good.
-When putting everything back together, I used the same heat gun to rewarm the butyl tape for about 15 seconds and then reattached the vapor barrier holding it with constant pressure for 30 seconds to ensure a good seal. I also fixed any other parts of the barrier that had pulled away from age by doing the same process. For good measure I purchased a roll of butyl tape and used a little in places where the existing tape was a bit aged.

Door with card removed. I removed the 4 fasteners to pull the speaker box out just to have a little more room as well as the two fasteners holding the bulbous plastic piece to the top left of the speaker housing. I probably could have gotten away without doing either but wanted to get as much room as possible for my hand/arm in there.
Door Panel 1.jpg

The small "window" I had to poke through
Door Actuator 1.jpg

These 3 external torx 12 were quite annoying to get back on. There is no way to get the one on the left on and both on the right. The pressure required to push and contort the lock mechanism back into place just is not feasible. I found that if I got the top right etorx in first a few threads, and then followed by the one directly below it, it would line up the actuator and pull it into position for the third one on the face of the door. Also when getting them back on, I tightened each one a few ratches before switching to the other to ensure it was going on equally and would not strip anything (I have seen a few videos of people stripping them and resorting to grinders/drills to get it out). Once they are almost fully tightened, I was able to get the third one without much difficulty. They should snug up and should not freely spin.
Door Actuator 2.jpg

All in all, it was a bit of a PITA to do but glad it is done and no longer something I have to worry about with the rears not locking/unlocking. Need to do some more research on the fronts as I bought 4 new actuators. From what I am finding, they seem to be a bit more involved than the rears (door handle having to be removed) for teardowon and replacement. May just source a shop to do the fronts...

[Btkeenan]

A couple other things, I received the mycarly unit in the mail finally after 2 weeks (shipped from Germany and charged a foreign transaction fee through paypal grr...) and was able to get the car coded with some features I have been wanting such as turning off selective unlocking and lock when at X speed. Pretty neat app and setup for finding fault codes on your car. I can only imagine what other features and modules are available on newer cars. The only downside I can see is the annual fee but so be it for the ability to know more about my cars.

During this initial health scan though, it told me that there was a fault with my AUC sensor (64116917001) so I ordered up a new one and replaced it. The old sensor was all corroded so no wonder it was not working.
AUC Sensor.jpg

While under the hood poking around though, I noticed the wiring going to the headlights is starting to crack (photo below for reference). When checking the diagrams on realoem, I did not see these wires specifically. Are they a part of the main wiring harness? I may end up wrapping them with electrical tape to better seal them in the event of rain/water.
Headlight Wiring.jpg

I also decided that the OEM exhaust is too quiet to decided to do a muffler delete. Got quoted $600 from a local shop and figured yea.... no, I can DIY it. Marked about 4 inches from the edge of the muffler as a good place to cut in the event I ever wanted to revert it back to stock with a clamp/weld. Picked up an exhaust cutter wrench online and went after it. The wrench is surprisingly effective at making a nice straight cut but after about 30 seconds of squeezing as hard as your hands can go and it still not being through the pipe, I resorted to another method. I used some irwin quick grip clamps to apply constant pressure while rotating the cutters and that seemed to work pretty well. What was interesting though is that it cut through the bottom first and struggled to get all the way through the top. Once it was almost 95% removed, I removed the hanger directly attached to the front of the muffler and removed the clamp holding the side of the back of the muffler and was able to "wiggle" it off with some force. Had the same issue on both sides. I then deburred the edges on each tailpipe and started it up. Night and day difference. This is what the 740i M Sport should have sounded like from the factory, especially when comparing it to the S55 AMG of the same era. I ordered some 9 inch down pipes to clamp onto the tailpipes to get the exhaust pointed downward and more towards the heatshielded area but so far am pleased.
Muffler Delete.jpg

Soon it will go under the knife to get the suspension items done and then I "should" be done for a while.