The UNOFFICIAL E39 Touring Thread!

[DennisCooper]

Hiya

Yep! me too! they slam the tailgate and I'm like 'hey, this is a BMW not some tin can' then also show them you can easily lower the tailgate and gently drop it and they then watch the soft close!

Don't know if they then remember for other cars, but thankfully not very many people are in my car to always be slamming it etc!

I STILL want to retrofit the power tailgate though! .. but it's toooo much £££s

Cheers, Dennis! West London UK!

[repandpresent]

Exactly what I did!!! In fact I will be looking for another bulb/series of bulbs to use to highlight other parts of the touring..shame to have that energy put to waste.




I'm still looking to pick up a set of the tailgate ones...just being cheap right now

man how I would love to have my lights look like that haha minus the tailgate. My brake light is always on because the low voltage of the LED sends a false bulb out notice to the lcm which in turns lights up the brake light so you won't be driving illegally with out driving/parking lights.

I know there are other touring owners that did this. Jo did this as I think his car was pre2000. He is extremely busy right now so I won't ask until I make a trip to DDM. I read that I could just get a used GEN III LCM and flash it to make it work with xenons and celis tails. What I'm not sure is what month/year of production I will need the LCM out of. I hope this is the fix I've been looking for. If I can't find a legit fix I'm going to remove my celis tails and buy clear euros.

[oekundar]

Man I get mad when folk slam my rear tailgate , They dont relise it has the soft close function. The funny thing is I then give them a demonstration on how to close a e39 touring tailgate correctly .

Do any other touring owners feel the same?

Agreed which is why I'm the only one closing it now.

[ZRATED]

Man I get mad when folk slam my rear tailgate , They dont relise it has the soft close function. The funny thing is I then give them a demonstration on how to close a e39 touring tailgate correctly .

Do any other touring owners feel the same?

That's funny I just got mad at my wife and kids this weekend cus I kept showing them how to close it properly and they kept slaming it. Now they just leave it open until I go and close it.

[BoardEm]

No one touches my tailgate. I had to get all over this guy at the car wash once AFTER I asked him not to slam it. I explained that all you do is lower it and it'll close after he slammed it once. Then the same guy turns around and slams it AGAIN. I had to ask him if he was deaf or stupid because after what I had explained to him not 5 minutes before he forgot or didn't hear me.

I know some of you will say, "Well if you washed it yourself, that wouldn't happen." Yes that's true but when the temps get cold, I don't like to freeze my ass off washing my car.

[dclifford]

I had an airport valet slam my trunk several months ago, it was about 5 AM. I almost lost my sh*t but kept my cool and explained to him how cool the car is and there is no need to slam the tailgate like a 18 wheeler.

Even my wife knows how to close the tailgate.

[Eric Clark]

So many great Tourings here in this Thread. I am about to take delivery of my second Touring next week. I will be posting Pics of it as soon as I can. I found a 1999 540iT (Individual Red) with 74k miles on it. The owner I bought it from did the Dinan improvements. It has the Intake Manifold; Throttle Body; MAF; Cold Air intake; Dinan Exhaust; DME Software; Transmission Software installed. It also has NAV; Sport Package; and DSP Stereo.

Like I said when it arrives I will post pictures and start to replace all the bushings and control arms; Rear Control Arms and Rear Balljoints just so I dont have to worry about those any more. Zionsville Radiator already on Order! Best - JT

I showed you mine now show me yours.

[Amnesiac]

Hey Guys

Finally get around to taking some "after" shots. Exterior and suspension mods are now down save for some paint correction I need to do and a repaint of the hood but that will wait until next year.

Next year's $$ allocation will hopefully include a redo of the audio and an M steering wheel!

These pics show the gloss black window trim from BMW Shadowline. I'm real happy with the way it turned out and the material is great. It exceeded my expectations for sure. Application was a little tricky around the back window causing me to run out of material. However, they were gracious enough to send me the extra material to finish at no extra cost. I highly recommend the upgrade.

Enjoy the pics!

[oekundar]

Hey Guys

Finally get around to taking some "after" shots. Exterior and suspension mods are now down save for some paint correction I need to do and a repaint of the hood but that will wait until next year.

Next year's $$ allocation will hopefully include a redo of the audio and an M steering wheel!

These pics show the gloss black window trim from BMW Shadowline. I'm real happy with the way it turned out and the material is great. It exceeded my expectations for sure. Application was a little tricky around the back window causing me to run out of material. However, they were gracious enough to send me the extra material to finish at no extra cost. I highly recommend the upgrade.

Enjoy the pics!

Looks clean!...I was afraid that I'd run out as well with the shadowline product...did you remove the trim to do them or on the vehicle?

[DennisCooper]

Hi Amnesiac!

The car is looking very clean and shiny in the pics! looks fantastic!

Is your's a pre March 99 model or a later one?

If it's a later one, then you'll be able to fit the later M steering wheel which really uplifts the interior ! - oh, and I have some of those steering wheels...

If it's an earlier one, then you'll have to make do with the earlier M steering wheel with the more 'oblong' airbag.

I 'dechromed' my car using Vinyl from the same guys who did my roof. Gloss finish and I also had my door pillars, and the top strip along the door cards done as well for a total blackout and update

Cheers, Dennis! West London UK!

[Amnesiac]

Thanks guys! Yeah, I took these immediately post-wash so extra shiny.

oekundar: I got about 1/8 of the way through removing the first trim piece and thought better of it. It was gonna be a real hassle and time-consuming so I gave it a go on the car and it came out fine. There are a couple little spots that could be better but I'm the only one that would notice.

DennisCooper: I believe my car is an Oct. 99 build. I def. prefer the rounder type airbag so thanks for the info. Is this a direct fitment or is there some extra stuff to fit it?

I think I'm gonna do the interior top door chrome the the vinyl as well - mines a bit oxidized so it'd def improve that.

Thx.

[DennisCooper]

Hey Amnesiac,

I 'believe' the later Sport style steering wheels will directly fit as you'll have the correct slip ring already on. If not, then 'normal' slip rings can be had on Ebay certainly in the UK for like £10-20. If you want to do the SMG conversion like I did to mine, I can help there as well. I have some SMG steering wheels, I'm able to get the SMG slip ring's at a price lower than the cheapest ebay seller and I can make up the wiring loom using original BMW connectors. The loom is the last piece of the puzzle and I have a contact who'll be making them for me.

Let me know if you'd like to know a little more!

cheers, Dennis! West London UK!

[Fortis]

I will be doing my suspension soon and would like to know the best lowering spring,strut combo.
Thanks in advance for this upgrade.

[DennisCooper]

Hi Fortis,

Depends on how you define 'best' !

I'm lucky that my touring has springs/shocks all round, so I'm eventually going to go with coilovers, i think they'd be 'best' for me to acheive excellent ride quality and that look of having my wheels tucked up further into the arches. i'm currently on H&R springs all round on standard SE shocks and I think these are 'best' for the price I paid and just 10% (if that) reduction in ride quality, with a significant increase in body roll.

So depends on what you want really, however, out of all choices, I'd suggest and urge you to perhaps stick to the higher end of the manufacturer's out there, as their products are better designed and tested and performance is well reviewed by many of us who use them. The cheaper stuff will 'work', but how well and for how long etc could and probably will be a factor. Don't forget to look at EAC Tuning's solutions as they're a board sponsor and have some new products for E39's!

Cheers, Dennis! West London UK!

[Fortis]

Thanks Dennis, I will stick with the better stuff, My wagon also has springs and struts all around. What I don't want is to sacrifice ride quality. I just want to lower it a little mostly the front and keep the handling and smoothness. I'm considering Koni or Bilstien for struts not sure on springs.
Thanks,Felix.

[oekundar]

I will be doing my suspension soon and would like to know the best lowering spring,strut combo.
Thanks in advance for this upgrade.

Hi Fortis,

Depends on how you define 'best' !

I'm lucky that my touring has springs/shocks all round, so I'm eventually going to go with coilovers, i think they'd be 'best' for me to acheive excellent ride quality and that look of having my wheels tucked up further into the arches. i'm currently on H&R springs all round on standard SE shocks and I think these are 'best' for the price I paid and just 10% (if that) reduction in ride quality, with a significant increase in body roll.

So depends on what you want really, however, out of all choices, I'd suggest and urge you to perhaps stick to the higher end of the manufacturer's out there, as their products are better designed and tested and performance is well reviewed by many of us who use them. The cheaper stuff will 'work', but how well and for how long etc could and probably will be a factor. Don't forget to look at EAC Tuning's solutions as they're a board sponsor and have some new products for E39's!

Cheers, Dennis! West London UK!

+1,000,000

I wholeheartedly agree with Dennis. I recently embarked on the same thing and in the process decided to go with B&G springs and Koni adjustables all around.

From the install, I could see that my rear shocks were gone as well as one of the front, and I was at 150K, well 1000 miles later I can say that I went with the right decision, make sure you don't skim on the cheaper parts while doing this work, IE the spring pads, strut mounts, linkages. These parts add up to what can be a really comfortable ride. I fell in love with my Touring again...and she now sits how she should have come from the factory...


*side bar* I did lose my temperature sensor somewhere this weekend...sigh

[cbouchez]

Man great pics! I can't wait to get my suspension done... A lot of research to do here. Wife will be driving the car more than I will...

[Alpine6And7]

Sad day My Touring Was envolved In a Hit and Run a Corolla pushed me into the center divider now My Driver side rim is scratched tire is cut and sideskirt is smashed along with the Floor the driver ran from the scene And I chased him for about 45 minutes On the phone with CHP telling them were he was which In 45 minutes not ONE officer showed up/attempted to help all they told me was not to follow him.... but would do nothing to help.... so now I have around 1.5k to 2k in damages to my poor touring I know the guy bought the car from roseville toyota(no plates just a paper) older white, Male, wearing glasses, balding on top, driving a white, 04-08 ish, Toyota Corolla, Roseville Toyota paper plates, had suits hanging from the driverside rear roof handle.

[325icintn]

File a police report first, including a description of the car and driver with the details above. Contact your insurance company and file a claim.

By paper plates, you mean the cheap dealer plates with the dealer name or do you mean official temp tags? If the latter, Roseville will be able to provide information to your lawyer on recent sales.

If the former, check the Roseville Toyota website for Corollas. Save the webpages of the matching cars. Go the next day and ask to see each one that you identified. If one is missing, ask what happened. Then when you sue, you can ask for proof of what happened with each of these cars. You can also eveball if a saleman was the driver.

[nmclay]

Very clean looking! Very stylish. Nicely done!

[oekundar]

Sad day My Touring Was envolved In a Hit and Run a Corolla pushed me into the center divider now My Driver side rim is scratched tire is cut and sideskirt is smashed along with the Floor the driver ran from the scene And I chased him for about 45 minutes On the phone with CHP telling them were he was which In 45 minutes not ONE officer showed up/attempted to help all they told me was not to follow him.... but would do nothing to help.... so now I have around 1.5k to 2k in damages to my poor touring I know the guy bought the car from roseville toyota(no plates just a paper) older white, Male, wearing glasses, balding on top, driving a white, 04-08 ish, Toyota Corolla, Roseville Toyota paper plates, had suits hanging from the driverside rear roof handle.

Today must have been the day as my Touring was backed into as well...got her info though...right smack in the driver's side door.

[Alpine6And7]

^

Yeah I'm off to the dealership today to look at all the corollas and salesmen it was a cheap paper thingy not an actual plate

[mc68k]

did a few things. added an afe filter myself. replaced cracked taillight from previous owner. replaced grilles, replaced both logos. got custom cat back system with remus exhaust

[repandpresent]

man, I really need to get on my mods. I feel left behind

[BaltimoreBimmer]

man, I really need to get on my mods. I feel left behind

There is no shame in keeping it stock Sir.