Un-lower a 540i

[AngryBobVA]

I'm considering buying a '99 540i that's been lowered. I would want to return it to stock height. Does lowering an E39 typically involve permanent modifications? Replacing the springs is no problem. If lowering it involved a sawzall, that's a problem. It's far enough away that I thought I'd ask before making the trip to go see it in person.

(First post here, but I plan to stick around.)

[JimLev]

Welcome to the forum BobVA.
Lowering springs or coilovers are what’s used to lower the car.
No sawing is required. Ask the guy what springs he put on it.
Got a pic of how it sits now?

I lowered mine with H&R springs that were suppose to drop the front 3/4” however that actual drop was 1.5”. I left it like that for a while then used some spacers to raise it up 1/2”.

[ross1]

Find an unaltered car instead.

[CPHES]

If you shop for OE springs, know that there are sport height and regular height ones. BMW asks for the VIN if you go thru the dealer network.

[SW530]

Anyone remember those spring risers that were about the size of a socket and in fact you'd put a half inch extension in one end, stick it between the coils and then turn it 90 degrees and it would raise the car a half inch or so? We have up to 12 of those suckers on the front end of an early Mustang trying to clear some huge tires.. to be 15 again.. Add some really long shackles in the rear and you could fit some big tires. I can't remember exactly how many "rare" muscle cars my friends and I destroyed but it was at least dozens. The Santa Monica Outlook newspaper has a section called the Bargain Box where you could sell anything up to $100 for $2.. We found scores of rust free mostly un-maintained early muscle cars in the bargain box. A nice K code 65 fastback comes to mind, a 59 Austin Healy we put a 289 in trying to make our own Cobra, 15-20 more mundane Mustangs I'd clean up, repair, and catch up the maintenance on and flip for enough to sustain my racing habit.. A friend who liked Camaro's got a Yenko from the Bargain Box and another a 426 Hemi Cuda.. we were all jealous of that car. The guy he bought it from had taken apart the carbs and couldn't get them back together and the car had been beat around.. it took us less than a week to have it running nicely. For $50 I got a 69 Boss 302 that had been rear ended. Two weeks later it became my favorite street fighter now in the guise of a 66 coupe with it's 9" rear end, springs, top loader and 302 now in the coupe. When you hear they made over a million 1965/66 Mustangs and you were wondering where they all went.. well.. I figure all my bad karma was because of what we unknowingly did to those cars..

[ross1]

Anyone remember those spring risers that were about the size of a socket and in fact you'd put a half inch extension in one end, stick it between the coils and then turn it 90 degrees and it would raise the car a half inch or so? We have up to 12 of those suckers on the front end of an early Mustang trying to clear some huge tires.. to be 15 again.. Add some really long shackles in the rear and you could fit some big tires. I can't remember exactly how many "rare" muscle cars my friends and I destroyed but it was at least dozens. The Santa Monica Outlook newspaper has a section called the Bargain Box where you could sell anything up to $100 for $2.. We found scores of rust free mostly un-maintained early muscle cars in the bargain box. A nice K code 65 fastback comes to mind, a 59 Austin Healy we put a 289 in trying to make our own Cobra, 15-20 more mundane Mustangs I'd clean up, repair, and catch up the maintenance on and flip for enough to sustain my racing habit.. A friend who liked Camaro's got a Yenko from the Bargain Box and another a 426 Hemi Cuda.. we were all jealous of that car. The guy he bought it from had taken apart the carbs and couldn't get them back together and the car had been beat around.. it took us less than a week to have it running nicely. For $50 I got a 69 Boss 302 that had been rear ended. Two weeks later it became my favorite street fighter now in the guise of a 66 coupe with it's 9" rear end, springs, top loader and 302 now in the coupe. When you hear they made over a million 1965/66 Mustangs and you were wondering where they all went.. well.. I figure all my bad karma was because of what we unknowingly did to those cars..

Yes, those spacers and also the little clamps for doing the opposite.
Those cars were sometimes less than worthless in the early seventies. The 5 gallons of gas you could buy at a time would barely get you anywhere. Big luxury and muscle cars (we never called then that back then) were cheap, cheap, cheap. Halcyon days.

[StephenVA]

Bob, There are always a ton of E39's for sale in our area. The best approach is always find one that is not molested by previous owners as you will spend more time and $$ on undoing after finding the issues than you will otherwise. The newest models are the best starting point as all the upgrades are already installed by the factory. See the FAQ DIY sections on model year changes, tips and pit falls to avoid, etc. There are a bunch of us in the area that would be happy to provide some guidance.
The lowest mileage unmolested 2003 model is always worth more in the long run.

Now what's on the market in Craig's list the bottom feeder of cars
https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/...534384547.html
https://washingtondc.craigslist.org/...532156557.html
https://www.cargurus.com/Cars/invent...331787804/NONE

Then there is always BRing a trailer
https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2001-bmw-540i-66/

[SW530]

Yes, those spacers and also the little clamps for doing the opposite.
Those cars were sometimes less than worthless in the early seventies. The 5 gallons of gas you could buy at a time would barely get you anywhere. Big luxury and muscle cars (we never called then that back then) were cheap, cheap, cheap. Halcyon days.

You must have lived near a Pep Boys or similar as well. At 15-16 I'd drift up and down their aisles looking to see how I could "customize" my car that weekend. One time I was especially poor and they had a can of silver spray paint on the bargain rack without a nozzle for 49 cents so I bought it, stole a nozzle from a can of WD40, and painted the rear diff, traction bars, leaf springs, etc... I was so clueless in those days. A year later when I got into street racing that paint job earned me a lot of money because no one who saw it could take me seriously..

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

Back in the old days, out in California, it was always the guys with the primer painted cars that were creaming all the pretty boys in their great looking cars. Most of the money went into the engines and drivetrain. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.

[SW530]

Back in the old days, out in California, it was always the guys with the primer painted cars that were creaming all the pretty boys in their great looking cars. Most of the money went into the engines and drivetrain. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.

Yep, but it was quality primer.. I always say I grew up in a very traditional home. For SoCal. Dysfunctional one parent family, small beach town just like it looked in the movies, Wednesday night "cruising" on Van Nuys Blvd after hitting the drive in at Bob's Big Boy, late night races on Mulholland Drive, and if you stayed up late enough you could defy death on either Latigo or Malibu Canyon drives, and then up early for the surf report and to decide which beach you were going to spend the day on.. on your day off of course. When I really think about it the cars I routinely ruined the most that later became worth the most were the VW window vans.. Standard 13 window vans were a dime a dozen and we had a few 21 window vans. When I saw "we" I'm referring to a couple of my voc auto buddies that rented a garage together. Later when we started diving (scuba diving was a physical education class in high school) we started picking up pretty nice West Falia camper vans.. we went all up and down the coast in those. I wish I had those Samba vans now.. Yep traditional..

[ross1]

You must have lived near a Pep Boys or similar as well. At 15-16 I'd drift up and down their aisles looking to see how I could "customize" my car that weekend. One time I was especially poor and they had a can of silver spray paint on the bargain rack without a nozzle for 49 cents so I bought it, stole a nozzle from a can of WD40, and painted the rear diff, traction bars, leaf springs, etc... I was so clueless in those days. A year later when I got into street racing that paint job earned me a lot of money because no one who saw it could take me seriously..

No PepBoys back then, near me anyway. If wanting to over accessorize our cars we had the Warshawsky catalog which was chock full of bogus accessory items along with the regular parts.
Yeah, my(first) dumb kid idea was a huge DODGE decal on the back window of my, uh, Dodge. Friends quickly shamed me into removing it.
Since this has been turned into something of an old fart's reminisce I'll share that my town had a large industrial area on it's east side. One notable business there was the engine shop for the UOP/Shadow Can-Am race team. I had friends that lived within earshot and anytime we heard an engine fire up on the dynamometer there would be a dozen kids on bicycles scurrying that way as fast as they could in hopes of getting closer before the session was done. I also remember the guys in the shop wanting NOTHING to do with us.

[SW530]

No PepBoys back then, near me anyway. If wanting to over accessorize our cars we had the Warshawsky catalog which was chock full of bogus accessory items along with the regular parts.
Yeah, my(first) dumb kid idea was a huge DODGE decal on the back window of my, uh, Dodge. Friends quickly shamed me into removing it.
Since this has been turned into something of an old fart's reminisce I'll share that my town had a large industrial area on it's east side. One notable business there was the engine shop for the UOP/Shadow Can-Am race team. I had friends that lived within earshot and anytime we heard an engine fire up on the dynamometer there would be a dozen kids on bicycles scurrying that way as fast as they could in hopes of getting closer before the session was done. I also remember the guys in the shop wanting NOTHING to do with us.

You mean J.C. Whitney's? Are they still a thing? I used to get lost in that catalog looking for the next must have it car part.

[JimLev]

Yup, J.C. Whitney was a supplier of anything you must have for your POS car when you were 16.

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

Man, when I was 16, I already knew the JC Whitney catalog had nothing but junk in it.

[SW530]

Man, when I was 16, I already knew the JC Whitney catalog had nothing but junk in it.

You were probably in those smart kid classes while the rest of us were in shop class learning that not all cars used the same spark plugs..

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

I was always in the back causing all the trouble.

[ross1]

You mean J.C. Whitney's? Are they still a thing? I used to get lost in that catalog looking for the next must have it car part.

Warshawsky had a storefront in Chicago and also the catalog. There was a marriage with JC Whitney at some point. Pretty sure that CarParts.com is the latest incarnation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_72M_0v2ZA4
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/article/roy-warshawsky
Warshawsky had an incredible assortment of hood ornaments and gimmick car horns. Also dubious items like fuel savers and gimmick suspension "improvements". Somebody must have bought that stuff. I just remember marveling that somebody would actually put this crap on their cars.
The guy who ran one of our local parts houses resented the hell out of stores like that and said one day he intended to buy an assortment of those bogus fuel savers according to their various claims (which were variously stated as either a percentage or an outright MPG number) install all of it on a single car and, if the claims were true, the car would then MAKE fuel instead of consuming it. Of course when this didn't happen he was going to sue and get rich. Clearly this never happened but it was always entertaining to hear his plan.

[JimLev]

I was always in the back causing all the trouble.

I find that hard to believe, LOL

[SW530]

I was always in the back causing all the trouble.

I had my "turning point" in school where I stopped cooperating. I was in sixth grade and had received a "Sizzler" and gas pump charger for Christmas. Up to this point I was considered an ideal student, scored high on those Presidential tests, and they even made me be friends with problem students thinking I'd be a good influence. A friend and I who each got a Sizzler for Christmas were zipping them back and forth in the back rows, being polite and not doing it when the teacher would see us and lose track of her thought.. when I guess she heard them (or the other students giggles) and turned around suddenly.. saw the car and asked me for it. She looked it over, set it on the floor, and put her fat foot heeled shoe on it and slowly crushed it! It was a Boss 302. That was all it took where without further guidance for me to mount my unspoken/undiscussed rebellion with our educational system. Even at that age I thought she abused her power, she could have sent it home with a note, suspended me, whatever.. but nope.. I got in all sorts of trouble from that point on and when they'd ask me why I didn't reply. So you weren't the only one.

That was quite the piece of technology back in the late 60's..

[BimmrMeUpSnotty]

I had all the Sizzlers that Hotwheels put out! Those things were awesome! I got you beat, I was causing havoc as early as kindergarten. My mom stuck me in a catholic school, and the stupid penguins always tried to harass me for all the trouble I caused. If you don’t know what a penguin was, that would be the stupid nuns, don’t let the outfits fool you, those penguins outfits had some big pockets, and they always whipped out their wooden rulers with the metal edge, and they would always use it to beat on me. But as much trouble as I got into, it never really punished me, my grandmother was on the board of trustees, and the main mother penguin loved my mom, one thing she always told me, I was just like my mom when she was a kid. Apparently, she liked to cause trouble too, lol.

[StephenVA]

Oh the lessons we learn in childhood. I think its time to toss that shattering and emotional vision into the dust bin of forgotten events.