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Arma

e39 530i tidy up + mods

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So today I took my spare out and swapped it with the front left wheel. Spare had less curbing and pretty much a brand new tyre (~7mm tread). Also got a new tyre front right (re002), as previous one was pretty badly worn.

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where did you get your radiator kit from? Im looking at doing the 540 soon.

PS, you should look into doing the SMG paddle shift set up on your car. Works pretty fantastic in the ute

Edited by FrancoisPV

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where did you get your radiator kit from? Im looking at doing the 540 soon.

PS, you should look into doing the SMG paddle shift set up on your car. Works pretty fantastic in the ute

Ordered it from ECS tuning. :)

Doesn't the SMG paddle shift set up require smg trans? You're ute's getting really far along, been following it. I was thinking of going more towards a manual conversion at some point however. Key words: at some point. I don't have the skills nor time to do something like that!

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Ordered it from ECS tuning. :)

Doesn't the SMG paddle shift set up require smg trans? You're ute's getting really far along, been following it. I was thinking of going more towards a manual conversion at some point however. Key words: at some point. I don't have the skills nor time to do something like that!

Well im keeping the auto tranny in mine, and getting the lads at Jerry Clayton to tune the gearbox ECU. They advised they can get it to .7-.9 second gear changes through the SMG wheel. Its basically wired into the manual shift change.

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PS, thanks. The ute is getting into the detail stuff now as the structure and panels have all been done / cut. So its taking longer then expected haha

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So today I took my spare out and swapped it with the front left wheel. Spare had less curbing and pretty much a brand new tyre (~7mm tread). Also got a new tyre front right (re002), as previous one was pretty badly worn.

How old is the tyre on the spare rim that was in the boot?

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How old is the tyre on the spare rim that was in the boot?

Not sure exactly. They are RE001, so definitely not recent (since that model got replaced with RE002). But can't be too old.

So far definitely feels nicer to drive. Tempted to replace the rears with S001's now, but they still have about ~5000 (RE002) and ~10000 (RE050A) kms to go.

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Replaced a blown number plate bulb. Pretty sure that gave me +10hp, car feels faster now.

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Not sure exactly. They are RE001, so definitely not recent (since that model got replaced with RE002). But can't be too old.

So far definitely feels nicer to drive. Tempted to replace the rears with S001's now, but they still have about ~5000 (RE002) and ~10000 (RE050A) kms to go.

Check for date code, should be a 4 digit number, usually in an oval sort of recess on the sidewall. first two digits are week, second two are year.

cfge008.jpg

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Yeah not good mixing old tyres with new. Especially on a big heavy sedan renown for good handling.

True. Would it matter much if the tyres are a year or so old though? How drastically do they change? They seemed to be in really good condition and the grip and all seem way better now. I'll check the dates on them next time I'm at the park. Worst case scenario could always just get a new tyre up front - the RE002's @ 235 45 17s are pretty cheap.

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Have added shared link to my maintenance/inspection spreadsheet on the first post. Putting a link here too. Dunno if it's any useful for other e39 owners. It doesn't cover everything, but lets me record my maintenance history.

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Check for date code, should be a 4 digit number, usually in an oval sort of recess on the sidewall. first two digits are week, second two are year.

cfge008.jpg

Ok so the closest thing I found that was formatted like that was a section saying 'JMK4610'. No idea what JMK means, but perhaps the 4610 is week 46, 2010. Thats a good few years old. But is it too old?

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Did an oil and oil filter change today. Put in new Castrol Edge Titanium 5w30

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yeah itll be week 46 year 2010. In terms of age theres some general consensus that 5-6 years is about the limit before the performance degrades too much.

Some info here from a quick google http://www.bridgestone.com.au/tyres/passenger/care/age.aspx

You should be OK for another year or two provided you dont have sidewall cracking etc.

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yeah itll be week 46 year 2010. In terms of age theres some general consensus that 5-6 years is about the limit before the performance degrades too much.

Some info here from a quick google http://www.bridgestone.com.au/tyres/passenger/care/age.aspx

You should be OK for another year or two provided you dont have sidewall cracking etc.

Sweet. They seem to be fine at the moment. Guys at bridgestone seemed to agree too. Will keep an eye.

Maybe if my OCD kicks in, I'll just end up replacing it when I do my rear tyres.

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Had a transmission service done at Glenn's (Botany Motorworxx) today - been long overdue as the oil had turned pretty black and there was some build up of tiny metal pieces on the magnet.

Replaced the filter, pan gasket and put in 6L of new oil.

Also had a diagnostic scan done with no errors, yay.

Found some things to add to my to-do list - some of them I was already aware of but just needed confirmation:

  • Oil filter remote housing oil leak (the gasket I believe)
  • Vanos supply hose oil leak - could do this at the same time as the remote housing job
  • Small coolant leak @ water pump

Happy to get the trans job out of the way for now though. Thanks Glenn / Wayne.

Edited by Arma

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Great read Adeeb. Good to know you take care of your car and I recall how clean it was at the monthly coffee meet. Great stuff man. :) did you flush the torque converter also when you did the fluid change? I highly recommend this. I flushed mine last year and did the torque converter also. It's piss easy to do and well worth doing for the longevity of your gearbox and the shifts are so much smoother :₩

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It was good that you changed that transmission oil, mine was dirty as too.

10,000k later and its still working fine too, some people say that servicing it can cause it to fail, but I suspect that's unusual.

I think I'll get it done every 60,000k, if I keep the car that long, i've got a bit of a history.

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Just realized that one of my rear tyres is like 9 years old... better change those

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It was good that you changed that transmission oil, mine was dirty as too.

10,000k later and its still working fine too, some people say that servicing it can cause it to fail, but I suspect that's unusual.

I think I'll get it done every 60,000k, if I keep the car that long, i've got a bit of a history.

Yeah I read that somewhere too.. though not sure why servicing it can cause it to fail. Not servicing it can also cause it to fail :D

Great read Adeeb. Good to know you take care of your car and I recall how clean it was at the monthly coffee meet. Great stuff man. :) did you flush the torque converter also when you did the fluid change? I highly recommend this. I flushed mine last year and did the torque converter also. It's piss easy to do and well worth doing for the longevity of your gearbox and the shifts are so much smoother :₩

Hey, I don't believe the torque converter was flushed - I didn't ask for it. So yeah, there is still some old oil left, whatever was in the TC and probably the coolers etc. The transmission oil is fairly expensive as well - makes doing a full flush cost a bit more than I'd want!

In other news:

  • Going to go in to replace both my rear tyres the coming week (hopefully) - with Bridgestone Potenza S001's. My current rears are 255/40/r17 - was going to ask whether it would be silly to fit 265/35/r17 instead. I like wider tyres..
  • Also need to get myself a good jack + stands to do some DIY at home. Previously used a friend's hoist.
  • Order a waterpump + BMW coolant (to replace the green sh*t I have in there at the moment) - within the next 2 weeks
  • Order a Vanos oil line, for the oil leak there - within the next 2 weeks
  • Sort out my windscreen washer pumps. The plastic hose going from the pump to the washer became brittle and broke. Need to hook up some new hoses between those points now. Though, saw that the damn fender liners have been riveted back on, so will need to pull those out before I can reach the pump.
  • Contemplating whether to replace my front left tyre as well, which I took from my spare. Has 7mm+ tread but is like 5 years old.
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Got the two S001 rear tyres today. Haven't taken it for a 'proper' drive it but definitely feels better than my 9 year old, side-wall-cracked RE050a. Acceleration seems smoother / no unnecessary loss of traction, especially during turns. Also finding them fairly quiet and 'flat' - previous tyres were worn out unevenly causing them to be slightly bumpy at slower speeds.

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Put in a new water pump this morning, and flushed out all of the old green coolant and replaced it with some nice blue BMW coolant. In the process, had an idiot moment and snapped the expansion tank hose connector for the hose that goes above the radiator, as seen in photo below. So now I need a new expansion tank.. guess it was due for a replacement anyway so I will have to do that on Monday. Have currently used some super glue adhesive magic thing to hold the hose in place. Did a pressure test with that and found it not to be leaking - also did a small drive, seems to be all good, so hopefully it will hold til Monday at least. I'll just avoid driving it much.

mgnqLUl.jpg

Old pump

Pump looks fine.. guess the seal must have failed or something

16411621799_e10121497c_b.jpg

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Installed a brand new expansion tank this morning, along with new hoses that connect to it (e.g. tank to auxiliary water pump etc.). Think that concludes my entire cooling system overhaul now.. except for the fan clutch, which is still fine. Peace of mind.. and feels good to be coolant-leak-free. :)

Driving to Coromandel area for the weekend so will get a good feel for the new rear S001's then. Liking them so far!

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