aja540i

Hmm, that is my flavour but i already 3.5 bottles on the shelf so i probably shouldn't.....

So the M5 failed its WOF on excessive play in a lower front control arm, Continental cars sent me a video showing significant movement of the front wheel (by hand) due to the rubber bush giving up. I replaced the front control arms a few years ago with new Meyle HD units and i am aware that big heavy BMW wagons like to eat suspension bushes, but i am seriously considering changing to a spherical bearing type set up using the Turner motorsport kit to try and get a bit more life out of them. Has anyone done this conversion, and if so what are the pros and cons? My main concern is putting more stress on the chassis at the suspension mounting points as they were designed to work in conjunction with rubber bushes not spherical bearings, but i suspect i am being overly cautious and they will be fine, thoughts? Price wise the kit for both sides is within a few dollars of 1 new genuine BMW control arm, but considerably more that 2 new replacement rubber bushes, so i am happy to spend the money if they last a decent amount of time.

Spent an hour or so at greasy hands replacing the 2 front exhaust gaskets in the M5 and recovering a torx key that ended up on the under tray when I replaced a coil 2 weeks ago, cost about $43, guys seem pretty good, they are car guys and they operate the hoist for you, basic tools are provided but I recommend taking any special tools you might need, and a light of some description. There is a H and S induction and forms to fill out before entry, but they keep them on file so you only have to do it the first time, hoists are all new and there are 4, as a bonus they are only 5 minutes from home!! Recommended for servicing or basic jobs that are a lot easier on a hoist, suspension bushes, exhaust stuff, driveline, etc. Edit, you need to wear good shoes (no jandals, duh!). They also require you to wear a high vis vest, safety glasses and gloves, if you don't bring your own you can purchase them on site.

I'm there now to do the exhaust gaskets In the M5, so far so good, I will report back when I'm done...

Ah, so its your fault it is raining!

Good thing there's not much stuff in the drivers side of the engine bay, they will spot a leak no problem!! If it is a crack in the manifold and you want to get it welded PM me, I do special rates for fellow E61 M5 owners....

We have a huge amount of trouble hiring staff that are licensed to drive our manual work trucks, just something he might want to consider as being beneficial on a CV.

Nope! Don't have to look far to find a more messed up country, I'll stick around and see how it turns out....

Have you got a battery charger? The first thing to rule out would be a flat battery.

You were also sold an E61 M5, you may have an issue!! 😉

Did you fill it with gas? 😀

I would think that towing a caravan with a nose weight of 265kg would be a nightmare, surely you would be better off balancing the Caravan properly so the nose weight is a bit more reasonable?

Don't think its my old one, if it is they have changed lots of wierd stuff, mine had M5 front bumper and wing mirrors, sliding armrest, Msport steering wheel, body colour interior trim, silver rocker covers, etc etc...also, just noticed, mine was M62tu, fly by wire throttle body / cruise control, so probably not mine! Strangely i did see another 540i touring the same colour today locally, they're everywhere!!

Yeah, but it lasted waaayy longer than the warranty period so makes good sense from a business point of view.

I recently got a red cog of doom on the centre display of the M5, not the first time but last time it was the clutch and I have done that, soooo... A bit of googling and I discover a common failure point on the SMG 3 box is the insulation on the small wiring loom that connects the shift control solenoids to the main harness, long story short, heat + years = warning lights! As luck would have it there was an E60 M5 box on trademe so I bought that with the intention of putting it into my car while I give my box a good refresh, and then swap them over again. First issue, the replacement box also had the wiring loom issue so I did a practice run on that box to sort it out before it goes in the wagon. box as it was when I got it, approx 140km on it, insulation is hard and crumbly.... Disassembled plug, unpinned one wire at a time and scraped old insulation off, then 4mm twin wall heartshrink and repin the wire, repeat as necessary.... wrapped the whole lot and replaced the loom clip, then covered the end in liquid electrical tape to keep water out.... Oil changed, oil strainer cleaned and refitted, new crush washers on all the plugs and filter...

When I worked at Fraser cars it was very common for an unnamed garage that did WOFs not far from us to do a large handbrake slide right outside our factory as they got to end of their test drive, they also did not have brake rollers...... Hope that helps!! 😉

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/523i/listing/3314731371?bof=LKijDPLK 3.5 star fuel economy, but should be less rattly than a Ractis! Or something a bit different... https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/toyota/crown/listing/3693693621?bof=LKijDPLK I hate myself for saying it, but this is probably more suitable and there seem to be plenty around https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/toyota/corolla/listing/3761413987?bof=LKijDPLK

Mine was doing this when the heater motor hedgehog resistor failed, the fan was staying on and stopping the car from sleeping, easy enough to unplug it and see if it changes anything.

If you pay for the gas i can bring the M5 down so you can have a look!!

I found out today that a piece of metal tube longer than 200mm is considered a no go, shorter than that is fine, but no sharp edges involved....

SD European might be worth a shot, I haven't had any work done by them but have purchased parts off them a few times.

I had EBC discs on a Legnum VR4 many moons ago and they were complete garbage, I will never buy their stuff again, go for stock discs and upgraded pads and fluid as above.

100% The exact same things will break on all of them, if you are lucky not at the same time though. But budget more like 5-7k a year for maintenance and factor in the eye watering fuel consumption, if you can live with that do it!

Not sure why you are assuming i don't have a good relationship with my local BMW dealer, i do, but it wasnt because they spent a whole lot of money and somehow deserved it, but because they hired good staff and management, and put good practices and systems in place, and worked hard to earn my support. If they change things and that relationship falls apart i will take my business elsewhere and stop recommending them to others no matter what brand they represent or how invested they are in their business.