hunter

Digging out my service history today, there were no alignment records provided prior to my ownership, had asked Coombes too, none there....

Yeah mate. It’s always been off spec one way or another. Here is an old sheet from after new suspension install. Last November. But they’ve always made a good job of makin it even in the past. Might be worth replacing the steering knuckle on the left too as the main areas mentioned in what could be wrong was knuckle, too hat , shock

Yeah I mentioned it’s been looked at by someone in the know recently but they said they were wonky so I had them adjust it. wasn’t mentioned if the camber pins have been touched. concern now is the report above says it’s different left to right. So not happy about that and now being able to adjust it other than putting the right side back out of spec. But then atleast it would equal.

Having alignment issues. Left is out whilst right is now in spec. Went to get the car aligned this today. To make sure steering was straight after the work above. worth noting that In my ownership I’ve never had an alignment go well first time. There’s always been corrections that need doing to ensure the steering wheel is “straight” on the road. in this instance It was noted by Coombes that the front shocks weren’t installed properly as they were out of rotation (how it was described to me)and needed to be set right before the alignment could be done. This was done and the car aligned. Now the left remains out of spec. Possibly due to “something bent “ FML. 🤦‍♂️ the left has more camber than the right hand front Advice from the tech is it’s possibly something at the top of the strut (strut top, replaced last year) or perhaps the wheel carrier, causing this or even the shock itself (also replaced last year) I haven’t had any accidents I’m With no real way of telling what could be wrong im left with the proposition of replacing more bits. It’s stressing me out tbh. Any advice or experience would be appreciated. I’ll upload the alignment sheets a bit later.

Big week for the car this week with a new wheel carrier, right lower control arm, rear carrier ball joint and integral links and Vanos oil line. Turns out my clicking was actually coming from 2 (TWO!) busted sleeves in the carrier. one on the lower control arm and one on the Thrust arm. massive thanks to @Eagle for the installation help. some other niggles have presented themselves such as the DISA needs a rebuild and worn sway bar bushings. Parts on order! in other project new, I have all the bits for my headlight rebuild on the Xenon’s, just need some free time to do it.

WTB - good condition e39 wheel carrier, front Right-hand side. part# 2 in the pic. have seen a few crappy ones so if you have one please send pics of it.

Yes. I’d like to take a ballpoint separator to their squishy bits as a lesson on the right tool 😆

Nick doesn’t have any either. There is one locally here in hams on TM. just saw a response from the seller. might go check it out this week.

Nick doesn’t have any either. There is one locally here in hams on TM. just saw a response from the seller. might go check it out this week.

Mosens has nothing sadly. BMworld has one so might have to mission up for that. Else new ones is ~500 landed from Pelican.

Massive Thanks to @Eagle who gave me a hand this weekend to diagnose the clicking from the the front end. removal of the lower control arm showed a broken sleeve in the steering knuckle. With a piece missing from the bottom of the sleeve and the rest of the bottom of the sleeve falling out onto the driveway it was obvious to see where the noise was coming from. So am now looking for a good condition steering knuckle (wheel carrier) as I don’t want to muck around with re-sleeving.

Awesome man. I’ll pm you to tee up a time.

A while since my last update. few mini projects on the go; - Driver seat refurb is holding up well and is super comfy - Xenon project is bubbling along. new lenses arrived yesterday. still need to buy butyl sealant & a heat gun. - Style 66 project. I have a full set of 5 wheels now after buying individual wheels from all over the place, worked out much cheaper than a full set all at once from recent sellers. you just have to be patient. these will eventually be repainted and have new tires. - Suspension - to finish this off, I need to do rear Integral links and carrier bushings, have the parts & saving for some time to pay someone to do it as its fiddly. Not urgent will do before Christmas.

This is an interesting observation. i noted when i replaced mine in the E39 i noted it sits higher than the original height. I also noted that the strut mouints removed form the front where different in design. this was due to one being replaced at some stage. i would say its 5-10 mm difference. did the arcticle mention if the OEM ones were still the same design (lower profile). i love how my car rides but still think the front end sits too high when compared to the back end. I think they are the same between various models too (3,5,1 series) as long as you dont have EDC

Hundred percent Olaf, I can vouch for this approach this is exactly what I did for my E39 drives like new, handles like new and it’s all OEM spec.

Nah, what's that

Apart from what you've mentioned, there are internal differences albeit slight, for the paddles and wiring, clock spring is also different, and extra pins for paddles, (same as heated wheel), other than that it is all the same I've got an SMG paddle one wired into my E39 530i, it's cool in the twisties with paddles

Epic as always.

Hey Boston.. Regarding the suspension kits from FCP I can recommend them I bought one for the E39 and it turned out to be really good just make sure you get a reputable brand and all the brands on there are. I’d also recommend getting the most comprehensive one you can I didn’t and I’m gonna have to go back in and do integral links and rear wheel carrier bushings are before Christmas But it’s also easy to go front and rear separately so that helps

Check you intake boots for splits. My e46 used to do this when I had a split in my intake boot I couldn’t see. also check intake cam sensors

Sweet. I thought they were no longer available. Will give the boys a call tomorrow.

Sounds good @Eagle keen to take a look and you can try my refreshed seat out.

Cleaned up and tested the xenon’s today they work well aside from the adjusters which have turned to shrapnel inside the light bodies. need to fix some stuff in the Toyota then will start buying parts for the lights. looking at adjusters on eBay there are 2 different kinds listed for 2000 on e39. Anyone have any advice on what kind to get.

Will do mate. Will be a while away as I slowly rebuild these xenon’s.

In impromptu project news some xenon’s with broken adjusters came up in FB today I snapped them up. this one might be a slow burn, I might be kidding myself about that. But goal is to hopefully pull them apart, fix adjusters and replace lenses too. not the easiest job in e39 lights but far cheaper than new ones.