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Thread: My 2000 Biarritzblau 540i/6 Touring

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2022
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    Austin, TX
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    2000 Biarritz 540iT/6spd

    My 2000 Biarritzblau 540i/6 Touring

    Hey everybody, I've never really posted here. I only created this account to inquire on some of the classifieds here. Anyways, after a 2 year long search for the right v8 manual e39 wagon, I decided on one listed here. I agreed to buy it and flew to New Jersey from Austin, TX to do so. The smart person would've had the car shipped. The smart person would've likely avoided a 22 year old BMW V8 with almost a quarter million miles. The smart person would've also done a bit more inspecting of the car before purchasing. However, I'm an idiot. The second I handed over the full asking price, I road-tripped that sucker down through the Great Smokey Mountains, ripped up the Tail of the Dragon like I stole it, and made it all the way back to it's new home in Austin without a hitch.

    This was several months ago, and I have been loving this car every single day since. The car is just so solid and perfect in every way. It isn't so old that it drives like crap, and it isn't so new that it loaded with unnecessary tech of poor build quality. The car came with loads of service records, was nearly completely stock, and clearly very well cared for its entire life. The only modifications being the black Alcantera headliner kit (Which I love), and the ST coilovers in the front.

    I finally decided to create a thread to document maintenance, modifications, and just to post some random pictures and videos that I think y'all might like.

    Some things that I have done since buying the car on May 04, 2022

    -Upon completion of the roadtrip
    -Mobil1 Synthetic 10w30 oilchange
    -OEM oil filter
    -OEM Air filter
    -MANN cabin air filters

    -Car blew an upper radiator hose during a trip to redline on a 108* degree Texas summer day. Pulled over before overheating occured.
    -New OEM upper radiator hose
    -New OEM lower radiator hose
    -New OEM 88*c Thermostat
    -BMW Blue Coolant

    -I wanted to adjust the stance a bit
    -Raised the coilovers a tad
    -ECS tuning 17.5mm wheel spacers on all 4
    -Extended wheel studs.

    -Needed a bit more exhaust noise so I made an axleback.
    -Removed the OEM muffler (39lbs.)
    -Welded a Vibrant Streetpower stainless muffler.
    -2-3/4" Mandrel bends
    -V-band clamp to OEM piping.
    -I welded the Muffler tip a bit too long, might redo.
    -New axleback system weighs 13lbs.

    This is where it is at right now. I do have some minor near term plans and some pretty major long term plans.

    -I would like weld up a Vibrant resonator in place of the "iron lung" resonator to get a bit more exhaust sound and reduce some weight.
    -I love the Style 32s that are on it, but I want 18" wheels. Can't decide between the rare 18" style 32s, the style 37(m-par), the style 65(m5), or Apex ARC-8.
    -I want to get the most out of the M62 without going crazy. M60 manifold, N62 throttle body, 4" MAF, Cold air intake, DudMD tune.
    -Paintless Dent Repair and have the ceramicoat redone.
    -Replace all suspension and steering bushings that need replacing

    Long term, I think the sand beige interior would really pop with the Biarritz blue. I would do some combo of the black parts of the dove gray and the sand beige. If I could score an M62TUB46 out of an X5 4.6is, I think that would be an amazing replacement for the aging engine that is in there now. We'll see how it all goes.

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    Cheers y'all,
    Wade

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
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    2002 BMW E39 530i (UK)
    That; is stunning... ����

    I really like the Style 32s, but agree 18s would suit the touring better in that design...

    Personally I think Style 37s and Style 65s are overdone; but do know they look well

    Apex ARC 8s would look fantastic, but it's getting the right offsets and for me, their 18x9.5 all round offerings are just too wide; they'd tramline a lot IMO - I know they would here in the UK with our poorly kept roads!

    I ran Style 66s on my 530i Sport touring:



    Those, with all refreshed suspension, Arnott SLS bags and the E39 M5 rear ARB (sway bar) upgrade; the car handled fantastic and it rode smooth and quiet... One thing it didn't do when I ran E38 Style 37s that were bored out to fit the E39

    They did look good though:



    I also ran a set of 18" LMS (18x8.5 and 18x9.5); again, looked well, but heavy & noisier/not as comfy as the 17s:

    My car: 2002 E39 540i Sport - Japanese import - the new project!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    Richmond, VA
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    My Cars
    '99 540iAT; '00 528iT/5
    Such a great looking wagon! Really excellent color too.

    Not that anyone cares, but if it were mine I would put it back to stock appearance (stock f/r bumpers, amber corner lights, pre-facelift grilles) and put in an all-out sandbeige interior. Although black would look very smart with the blue exterior and would be a far easier conversion (no upper dash or headliner or pillar fabric to change).

    Congrats!
    1999 540iAT Glacier Green / Black
    2003 525iT/5 Oxford Green II / Beige
    2011 328i Conv. Platinum Bronze

  4. #4
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    Jan 2022
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    2000 Biarritz 540iT/6spd
    Danb1979, The style 66s are actually my favorite wheel on the wagons. I actually have a really nice set that have been powder coated black and are wrapped in fresh tires. I swap between the two whenever I'm bored, but I am not a fan of black wheels. I've though about having them refinished in the original silver, but I know I have too many projects going on right now, I won't get around to it for a long time. That, and I'm actually planning on a big brake upgrade that requires 18" wheels. Not because I need it in any way, but because I think I can cheaply and easily get design brackets that could adapt Brembo 18Z 6 piston calipers in the front and 4 pistons in the rear. It would be a fun project to figure out, and I think a write-up could be a nice addition to the E39 community. So that leaves me with 18" wheels. I'm thinking about finding someone on ebay.co.uk that would be willing to ship a set of 18" style 32s over here. They are like a third of the price of US prices. Your wagon is very clean, and every wheel option you showed looks fantastic!

    Thanks TexasTouring! I absolutely love the Biarritz! It looks so dark in the shade/overcast, but when the sun hits it, it really pops. The full sand beige would look great as well. I would go that route if I hadn't fallen in love with the M5 Caramel interior. Picking up one of those is more trouble and money than it's worth to me. RVAE34 built a supercharged S62 E38, and had the sand beige interior dyed Caramel. It looks fantastic. That could be the easier and cheaper way to go, and would look really sharp with the blue.

    https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2001-bmw-740i-27/
    Capture.JPG
    Last edited by Beebo311; 11-14-2022 at 09:46 PM.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
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    Ooltewah, TN
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    My Cars
    2010 BMW M6*2019 X3 M40i
    First of all, love the car but the purchase story too! If you think that was crazy, I've bought one of my BMW's from dealer across the country and did 2700 miles in 59 hours:
    https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/...iles-away.html

    Anyway, I had 18" style 32 on my 540 years ago and loved them! The're made by Cromodora unlike 17" which is made by BBS. They're quite heavy too.
    Yes, M-Pars are overly popular and eveyone has them but they're still my #1 choice for looks and strenght. They're made by Fuchs and are fully forged wheel (light and strong).

    My favorite interior is black but have to agree, Caramel would be my choice too for the Touring.

    I love my E39 but E39 Touring is something special and congrats on your purchase!
    Last edited by BMW540san; 11-09-2022 at 08:00 AM.
    2010 BMW M6 SMG Coupe * Black Saphire Metallic * Full Leather Merino Black
    2019 BMW X3 M40i * Alpine White * Mocha Leather
    Former:
    1997 BMW 532M (528i with 3.2 S52 engine from E36 M3 / 5 speed manual)
    1998 BMW 540i 6 Speed
    2003 BMW M5





  6. #6
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    2000 Biarritz 540iT/6spd
    Wow, that's quite the drive! I did around 2200 miles in about 72 hours. I definitely wanted to take longer and see some sites, but I had to get home for Mother's day. My wife would be pretty upset if I left her with the kids on Mother's day while I'm out dicking around with old BMWs haha.

    That's really interesting to know about the different wheel manufacturers. With BBS making so many of the BMW wheels, I guess I just figured they were the sole manufacturer of all BMW wheels. I am definitely not opposed to M-pars. They are overly popular for a reason! If I could find a good deal on a staggered set of 8j and 9.5j, I'd pull the trigger.

    One small maintenance item I forgot to mention (or take pictures of) is the front bumper repair. I finally got around to removing the front bumper and properly heat welding it back together. You can see the crack on the passenger side corner in picture up in my first post. A very minor thing, but not having a crack in the bumper just makes the car look so much nicer. Now I just have to fix my drivers door handle and find out why my rear passenger floor was soaking wet...Always something with this car, but its worth it.

  7. #7
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    2002 BMW E39 530i (UK)
    Quote Originally Posted by Beebo311 View Post
    Wow, that's quite the drive! I did around 2200 miles in about 72 hours. I definitely wanted to take longer and see some sites, but I had to get home for Mother's day. My wife would be pretty upset if I left her with the kids on Mother's day while I'm out dicking around with old BMWs haha.

    That's really interesting to know about the different wheel manufacturers. With BBS making so many of the BMW wheels, I guess I just figured they were the sole manufacturer of all BMW wheels. I am definitely not opposed to M-pars. They are overly popular for a reason! If I could find a good deal on a staggered set of 8j and 9.5j, I'd pull the trigger.

    One small maintenance item I forgot to mention (or take pictures of) is the front bumper repair. I finally got around to removing the front bumper and properly heat welding it back together. You can see the crack on the passenger side corner in picture up in my first post. A very minor thing, but not having a crack in the bumper just makes the car look so much nicer. Now I just have to fix my drivers door handle and find out why my rear passenger floor was soaking wet...Always something with this car, but its worth it.
    Quite a few different manufacturers IIRC; but BBS and Ronal were two of them & Cromodora in Italy too

    Ref your rear soaking carpet; 99.9% it'll be your vapour barriers that have failed inside the doors; so rear doors open rear door cards off, clean the old residual and failed sealant, re-install new butyl tape or mastic tape sealant and press the vapour barrier back home and that's it done

    But check door seals whilst you're at it and if you've a sunroof; double check the drains work as they should!

    Ref the Style 37s you mentioned; 18x8 and 18x9.5 are E38 sizes, so will have the wrong centre bore for an E39 (72.6 vs 74.1); but you can get them bored out if you know a decent machine shop

    The E39 Style 37s are 18x and 18x9 with slightly different offsets; but the E38 offsets work better IMO; 245/40 and 275/35 18" tyres has them sitting really well also as per my middle picture above
    My car: 2002 E39 540i Sport - Japanese import - the new project!

  8. #8
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    2000 Biarritz 540iT/6spd
    Ref your rear soaking carpet; 99.9% it'll be your vapour barriers that have failed inside the doors; so rear doors open rear door cards off, clean the old residual and failed sealant, re-install new butyl tape or mastic tape sealant and press the vapour barrier back home and that's it done
    Uuggh, I was hoping to wait until the beige interior swap to do the door-cards. At least I can snag some free mastic strips from work. I actually made a spot in the garage for it this past Friday. My wife and I have a three car garage. She parks on the single side, and the Datsun I'm building and all the associated tools takes up the 2 car side. I hate it, but the Wagon has been parked outside for 6 months. Anyways, It was raining real hard last Friday, and luckily my wife was not home because I saw a single piece of hail hit. Ohhh F***! I ran out there and whipped it into my wife's spot not 20 seconds before it started actually hailing. Luckily it was light and my truck was just fine. I promptly shifted the Datsun over and moved the rest of the crap out of the way. It's tight and I have a lot of stuff to rearrange and get rid of, but it feels great knowing its out of the elements. Won't see any more rain for a long time. Maybe the door cards can wait till the swap afterall!
    20221111_125538.jpg

    Ref the Style 37s you mentioned; 18x8 and 18x9.5 are E38 sizes, so will have the wrong centre bore for an E39 (72.6 vs 74.1); but you can get them bored out if you know a decent machine shop

    The E39 Style 37s are 18x and 18x9 with slightly different offsets; but the E38 offsets work better IMO; 245/40 and 275/35 18" tyres has them sitting really well also as per my middle picture above
    That's what I've gathered from my readings. What I want to know is how to best get the E38 spec wheels on my car. I just sold my Style 66's and I found a great deal on a set of e38 37s near my folks house. I'll also be visiting them in about a week anyways, so I could pick them up. It's probably best to wait though. I have great tires on it currently and I don't need to spend excess money on myself before the holidays. However, my 3 options for the wheels would be:

    1.) Bore the centers out to 74.1 - I had to do this when I was fitting a set of Panasport G8-C5C2 to an S14 240SX. Nobody wanted to touch automotive wheels for some reason. Nobody. Luckily I had access to a lathe, and the swing was like 1/4" big enough to clear the wheel faces with the lip and barrels removed. I would hate to buy the wheels and not be able to bore them out or have it done. I might have to call around before the purchase.

    2.) Run wheel adapter spacers with the step-down center hub bore. I like a nice semi-flush (still inset) fitment and currently run 17.5mm spacers on all four. Could easily be 20mm and I'd still be happy. It looks like the smallest spacer that still has enough meat to allow a hub bore change is 13mm. With the widths and offsets of the E38 37s, do you think this would be a good fitment option. I don't want to start a debate on wheel spacers here. I know everyone has their own opinions on them.

    3.) Pick up the hub bore conversion kit from somewhere like ECS. I'll have to dig through the maintenance records to see if wheel bearings would be coming up for replacement anyways. At almost 250k it might be a good idea to go ahead and do them. The conversion hubs are around $550 bucks which is pretty much the same as replacing them with OEM e39 hubs/bearings. This would also open me up to a whole new world of wheel options (especially the ARC-8) and I could still run my E39 32's with hub-centric rings. This might be the way to go. I really really like the ARC-8s but I know they quit offering them in the 74.1.

    Here I am talking about wheels, when I should be taking care of a few maintenance items haha. Decisions. Decisions.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2013
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    2002 BMW E39 530i (UK)
    Quote Originally Posted by Beebo311 View Post
    Uuggh, I was hoping to wait until the beige interior swap to do the door-cards. At least I can snag some free mastic strips from work. I actually made a spot in the garage for it this past Friday. My wife and I have a three car garage. She parks on the single side, and the Datsun I'm building and all the associated tools takes up the 2 car side. I hate it, but the Wagon has been parked outside for 6 months. Anyways, It was raining real hard last Friday, and luckily my wife was not home because I saw a single piece of hail hit. Ohhh F***! I ran out there and whipped it into my wife's spot not 20 seconds before it started actually hailing. Luckily it was light and my truck was just fine. I promptly shifted the Datsun over and moved the rest of the crap out of the way. It's tight and I have a lot of stuff to rearrange and get rid of, but it feels great knowing its out of the elements. Won't see any more rain for a long time. Maybe the door cards can wait till the swap afterall!
    20221111_125538.jpg



    That's what I've gathered from my readings. What I want to know is how to best get the E38 spec wheels on my car. I just sold my Style 66's and I found a great deal on a set of e38 37s near my folks house. I'll also be visiting them in about a week anyways, so I could pick them up. It's probably best to wait though. I have great tires on it currently and I don't need to spend excess money on myself before the holidays. However, my 3 options for the wheels would be:

    1.) Bore the centers out to 74.1 - I had to do this when I was fitting a set of Panasport G8-C5C2 to an S14 240SX. Nobody wanted to touch automotive wheels for some reason. Nobody. Luckily I had access to a lathe, and the swing was like 1/4" big enough to clear the wheel faces with the lip and barrels removed. I would hate to buy the wheels and not be able to bore them out or have it done. I might have to call around before the purchase.

    2.) Run wheel adapter spacers with the step-down center hub bore. I like a nice semi-flush (still inset) fitment and currently run 17.5mm spacers on all four. Could easily be 20mm and I'd still be happy. It looks like the smallest spacer that still has enough meat to allow a hub bore change is 13mm. With the widths and offsets of the E38 37s, do you think this would be a good fitment option. I don't want to start a debate on wheel spacers here. I know everyone has their own opinions on them.

    3.) Pick up the hub bore conversion kit from somewhere like ECS. I'll have to dig through the maintenance records to see if wheel bearings would be coming up for replacement anyways. At almost 250k it might be a good idea to go ahead and do them. The conversion hubs are around $550 bucks which is pretty much the same as replacing them with OEM e39 hubs/bearings. This would also open me up to a whole new world of wheel options (especially the ARC-8) and I could still run my E39 32's with hub-centric rings. This might be the way to go. I really really like the ARC-8s but I know they quit offering them in the 74.1.

    Here I am talking about wheels, when I should be taking care of a few maintenance items haha. Decisions. Decisions.
    The smallest E39 wheel spacers (hubcentric) you can get are generally 15mm, but there are 12mm ones that fit over the length of the central hub (TPi do them here in the UK) and they work fine (ran them with my previous Style 37s for my current 540i); but the issue is you'll not be able to run the right sized tyres as you'll get rubbing, rear offset would be 10 (15mm spacers) or 13 (12mm spacers)

    Personally I'd just get them bored out and then they fit perfectly; much less faff than swapping all 4 hubs etc
    My car: 2002 E39 540i Sport - Japanese import - the new project!

  10. #10
    Join Date
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    '99 2.8&Mcoupe, '03 Mini
    If looking at used 37’s, make sure they are genuine. When I picked my car up, it was a bonus that it came with Style 37’s, only to find out they are aftermarket reps. I’m still looking for a pair of 9” Style 42’s to make a staggered set of my collection of 42’s. I also have a two sets of Style 66’s, so may run square 9” all around.
    I picked up a low mileage set of E60(E90?) 72.6 front bearing hubs at the U-pull yard. I need to bring a puller in to get a pair of 72.6 rear hubs. These, with hubcentric rings is probably in my wagon’s future.
    -Donny
    Last edited by KeysCoupe; 11-14-2022 at 03:34 PM.

  11. #11
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    2000 Biarritz 540iT/6spd
    That's a good point about Reps. I've inquired on a set of 65s that turned out to be replicas. Price was too good to be true, but they didn't mention it in the ad.

    I dug through all the service records on this car, and I saw no mention of wheel bearings/hubs (or vanos believe it or not) so doing the adapter hubs/bearings might not be a bad idea anyways. But as I was thinking about this, Is there anything stopping me from just machining down the oem hubs 1.5mm? Seems easier than machining wheels and wouldn't have to be repeated to fit yet another set of wheels.

    So the adapter hubs are just e60/e90 hubs? I've been a Nissan guy for the past 18 years, and I wish I had the BMW version of knowing you can just throw on Z32 brakes and S14 hubs onto an S13 for a 5-lug and 4pot conversion. Part interchangeability is awesome. I've been looking at the E60 M5 LSD. It looks like you could possibly put the E39 diff cover on it and mount it in the E39 subframe. Could be a cheap LSD option, but the final drive ratio is like 3.6something.

    I'll have to keep an eye out for E60s in the local yards. I've got pullers.

  12. #12
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    So not a major update, but I had a couple hours free this weekend, and decided to spend them finally cleaning up the engine bay. It was always quite dirty since the purchase, plus the coolant that sprayed everywhere when the upper radiator hose blew made it look like total crap. I didn't super detail it, just sprayed and wiped down what I could reach with some 10% simple green and some blue shop rags. It looks so much better, and now I won't be ashamed to pop the hood at the gas station when I need to see how much oil has disappeared.

    Now I just need to take care of those valve covers...

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    20221120_155252.jpg

    Cheers,
    Wade
    Last edited by Beebo311; 11-20-2022 at 06:39 PM.

  13. #13
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    So I've got a lead on what would be a GREAT parts/donor car. Its a 2002 540i sedan with a 6spd. 85,XXX miles. Salvage title but has been rebuilt with M5 front and rear bumpers, real style 65 wheels with good tires, and a decent looking sand beige interior. I've been wanting to have a low mileage M62 on hand just in case, the style 65's would be almost worth the asking price, and I could use most of the sand beige interior for the swap. It would be an extremely hard sell to the wife to bring another car home, but my brother has a nice large property up in the Dallas area, and I could get a storage unit for all the parts. Between selling off the wheels on my car now and the original grey interior, along with the unneeded parts of the donor, I could probably almost come out even. I have a few questions though.

    When pulling parts, are there any parts that I wouldn't need that should be pulled and sold separately? Like anything that goes for an unusual amount of money on ebay and shouldn't end up in the scrap yard?

    I know the Sedan interior isn't completely usable. The rear seats and the rear door panels won't swap over. And obviously anything in the rear would have to be purchased from a touring. What about the carpet? Could I use the carpet from the sedan or does that need to be sourced from a touring? What about the B-pillar trim pieces and the rear door sill trim pieces? Just trying to get an idea on how much the rest of the interior swap would cost me.

    When pulling the motor and trans, would y'all recommend just keeping the long block and swapping that over, or grabbing all the accessories, harness, computer etc. I read something about all the mileages between the DME and cluster have to match. Most of my accessories have been replaced (per the service records) and I know it has been well maintained. The new car is a mystery.

    Any incompatibility between the 2002 M62TU and the 2000 M62TU?

    Anyways, This probably won't materialize, since I'm not ready to pick this up right away. But, if it is still around after the new year, it might be possible.

  14. #14
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    As far as interior parts, the carpets are similar between sedans and wagons. I think the sedan carpet can be made to work with a little trimming. The rear door panels are the same and interchange between the two models. The C pillar is unique to the wagon, but you may be able to recover your originals, especially if you redo the headliner. The rear seats and side bolsters are unique to the wagon.
    Everything behind the rear seat would need to be found as none is the same as a the sedan. Grab a beige roller shade/net if you can find one.
    -Donny

  15. #15
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    That is excellent news about the door cards and the carpet. I was having trouble finding a definitive answer on that. Thank you! The previous owner did the black alcantera headliner conversion that you see all over Ebay. I really like it.

  16. #16
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    2003 525it 2003 X5 4.6is
    I thought you could not get a stick shift and V8 in the wagon.
    Am I incorrect?
    I will always own a BMW.

  17. #17
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    750IL/540iT/R53/E46Vert
    Not in the US - I think you could in Europe. Here all we could get stick is the I6 tourings

  18. #18
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    All of the manual V8 tourings in the US are swaps. Unless someone imports one from Europe/Japan, swapping is the only way. That is why they go for a premium when they come up for sale.

  19. #19
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    I finally committed to doing all the intake mods. My Turner Motorsport intake kit that I ordered for my birthday back in November finally arrived yesterday. It was on back-order forever. It's a pretty nice looking kit. I threw it on the car just because I wanted to hear what it sounds like. It sounds amazing, but as expected, the car ran like crap due to the 4" MAF housing. I already have the larger N62 throttle body from a 650i, and I just ordered both the M60 manifold and the stage 3 mail order tune from DUDMD. Hopefully I can get all this done in a week or so. I also have a Vibrant Ultra-Quiet resonator from a previous project, but it will be a while before I have the time to do any exhaust fabrication. In the meantime, I'm going to throw the OEM Intake back on there. That is probably about the extent of the modifications that I'll be doing this year. I need to focus on some maintenance items in the front suspension/steering department. Lots of creaks and pops going on. I'll get some videos for y'all when I complete the mods and get the tune in there.

  20. #20
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    Nice work, and I'm glad to hear these engines can go past 200k! I'm nearly 170k and I'd like to keep this wagon for another decade if possible.

    You're also lucky you live in a state where you can do all the mods you're planning. I can't do much in CA other than a CARB approved CAI and a catback exhaust, both of which are done.
    '98 M3 5spd - '03 540it 6spd M-Sport

  21. #21
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    My Cars
    2000 Biarritz 540iT/6spd
    Take good care of it and you can definitely get another decade out of it. The way my car runs right now, I could likely get another decade out mine, but it will require a good amount of money to keep it driving nice. I feel yah on the CA mod stuff. A couple more years and my car will not require emissions testing upon inspection, so I'll be thinking about headers and MAYBE a cat delete. You could probably get a DUDMD tune and get away with it. I couldn't see that raising any red flags or hurting the emissions output. Are you 540, or 6cyl?
    Last edited by Beebo311; 03-13-2023 at 11:46 AM.

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Jan 2022
    Location
    Austin, TX
    Posts
    57
    My Cars
    2000 Biarritz 540iT/6spd
    Before I got my tune cable in from DUDMD, I decided to test the N62 throttle body to make sure it functions. It was then that I realized the plugs are not the same, and that I would need to order an adapter. With the adapter harness in the cart, I went ahead and ordered plugs and valve cover gaskets. I know the valve cover gaskets had been done recently, but the paint used is already peeling off. May as well paint these again and replace the gaskets while I have everything pulled apart.

    Any other maintenance items that I should do while I'm in there, please let me know.

    I have more comfort and confidence working on cars than I do time to do it, so nothing is out of my wheelhouse unless it takes too long. This isn't my primary vehicle, so I don't mind having it off the road for a while, I'm just at a point in life where if I don't finish it in a weekend, it may be months before I can get around to finishing it up.

    So far, I plan on doing:
    -Compression test
    -Spark Plugs
    -Valve cover gaskets
    -Paint valve covers
    -Late M60B40 Intake manifold
    -Intake manifold gaskets
    -N62 650i throttle body
    -Bore match M62TU throttle body plate
    -Turner Motorsport 4"MAF CAI
    -DUDMD Stage 3 tune


    Just got the Bentley manual and ready to take on anything this car needs. Is there any fuel system, PCV or EGR crap that should be replaced while I'm in there? I plan on cleaning everything that goes back on the car.

  23. #23
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    San Diego, CA
    Posts
    1,743
    My Cars
    98 M3, 03 540it M-Sport
    Quote Originally Posted by Beebo311 View Post
    Are you 540, or 6cyl?
    '03 540 M-sport. Previous owner did the 6-spd swap, now it carries two car seats and Costco groceries.
    '98 M3 5spd - '03 540it 6spd M-Sport

  24. #24
    Join Date
    Jan 2022
    Location
    Austin, TX
    Posts
    57
    My Cars
    2000 Biarritz 540iT/6spd

    Compression Test Results.

    Well I began the intake upgrades/maintenance today. I still have some parts on order, but the wagon can sit for a while as it is not my primary vehicle. I only had a couple hours to dedicate to it today, so I took it out for a nice drive and got it nice and warmed up for the compression test. All the covers and cabin air filter boxes were removed to make accessing the coil packs easier. Upon removing the coil packs, it appears the spark plug extension parts had been recently replaced. I actually found a receipt for the valley pan and associated cooling gaskets/o-rings having been done by a previous owner as well, so the decision was made to just leave it be. For some reason the rear spark plug on each bank was extremely hard to thread out of the head. I don't know why, but I hope it's not an issue with the threads.

    After removing the plugs, I pulled the intake to verify that the throttle body is opening during the test, and then I pulled the two fuel pump fuses (19 and 31) in the glove box to ensure I don't flood the engine by cranking it W.O.T. The numbers were absolutely fantastic for a car with 247k miles on it. These results give me so much more confidence in owning and caring for an older V8 BMW. This car was loved by the first owner for sure. From the service records, it looks like he owned it from new all the way to 2020.

    Anyways, The compression test results were:
    Cyl #1 - 173psi
    Cyl #2 - 177psi
    Cyl #3 - 184psi
    Cyl #4 - 181psi
    Cyl #5 - 175psi
    Cyl #6 - 175psi
    Cyl #7 - 165psi
    Cyl #8 - 193psi

    Average - 178psi +8.4%/-7.2%

    That's a healthy motor!

    20230324_173321.jpg

    20230324_173333.jpg

    20230324_173344.jpg

    20230324_174217.jpg

    Cheers,
    Wade

  25. #25
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Beaverton, OR
    Posts
    82
    My Cars
    79 242, 99 528iT, 11 TSX
    Neat! Take it to your local drag strip soon

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