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Took an x6 offroad once......

The needle moving means it IS hot (At least 115C), if it getting up to red, it getting hot hot. E39 gauges are VERY buffered. To BMW's credit, the coolant temp sensor is low in the cooling system (on the M54 at least), so at least it does still read as the level gets low (most cars have them mounted high, so coolant loss means the gauge doesn't even SHOW the temperature increase!). The fact it crept on the gauge up makes me wonder if it was already getting hot (the gauge won't move remember, until 115C) and the radiator let go from the additional pressure, rather than the radiator causing the overheat. Bleeding the M54 is piss easy. Open the bleed screws (top hose side of thermostat housing and top of radiator/expansion tank). Tipp in correct amount of coolant. start adding water. When it dribbles out of a bleed screw, close it off (not tight). Then do the other. Next, turn the heater up to max, fan onto low, leave ignition on, but engine off. Secondary pump will run. Coolant will squirt out the little orifice in the top of the expansion tank opening. Keep the level up in the expansion tank by adding water. Gently open the thermostat bleeder and let any air out, then check the expansion tank one. If you get a lot of foam at any time, shut it off, and wait a while for it to settle. Once the coolant stream is constant/bubble free in the tank, and the level is nearly up to normal, start the engine and leave it to run for a while. Once you're happy, put the cap on (important), make sure the bleed screws are snug (they're plastic, DON'T overtighten!) and go for a drive (round and round the block is good, take your phone! Leave the windows down too - leave the heater at the same settings it was on). When you drive it, watch the KTMP (http://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/47848-e39-obc-secret-menu-ktmp-coolant-temperature/) and watch for anything funny. The temp can fluctuate, but it info is in that thread. If all is well, keep it running for a bit to get the engine properly "hot" (as in normal), then go home, shut it down and leave the bonnet up to cool down WAY faster. Once it's cold (overnight is good, but at least 3 or 4 hours) check the coolant level (it may need a little bit added). for the next couple of trips, I always check the coolant before leaving, and then once it's cold again. That's a lot of words, for what is really very simple on the M54 E39's

This is E39 specific, but it MAY work for the E38 and E53 too - not sure, probably best to find out, before you try it. I made this from info collected off the net, and use it quite a bit, so thought I'd tidy it up and sort it out to hopefully make it of use to others. Because of the high number of problems with cooling systems, and the HUGELY buffered gauge on the E39, I thought I'd make a "How to" to read the KTMP (Coolant Temp) your E39. NEVER trust the gauge - there are a lot of E39's out there with faulty thermostats and are consuming copious amounts of fuel because of running too cold. Also, on those with "map-control" electronic controlled thermostats, they can run too hot if the thermostat heater is burnt out (It logs a fault code in the DME fault memory, but does NOT bring up any warning to the driver). The E39 temp gauge seems to read "normal" (12 o'clock) from about 75C up to at least 115C. High OBC is a text display under your instruments Low OBC is a picture of a car under your instruments Test 7 displays the KTMP figure, in degrees Celcius. This is the coolant temperature that the ECU is measuring in the engine. I've not confirmed it, but some people report change in the KTMP display depending on key position - Position 2 (with the engine running or not) appears to be the side of the coolant sensor used for the ECU temperture readings, and position 1 appears to be the temperature the gauge uses - The sensor is called a "Dual Temperature sender" because it has the two readings. If one side is faulty, this should show it up. To access the "High OBC Secret Menu" and KTMP (Coolant temp) add up last 5 numbers of your vin (mine are 59439, so 5+9+4+3+9 =30) turn ignition on 1 or higher (or start engine) Hold right side button until test appears( 5 seconds?), repeatedly press right button until test 19 is shown, then repeatedly press left button until it says Lock: 30 (or whatever your VIN added up to) press right button press right button until test 07 shows press left button and it will show KTMP - coolant temp. press left will cycle through KTMP, RPM and something else. It will stay there until you turn the car right off (key position 0). To access the "Low OBC Secret Menu" and KTMP (Coolant temp) The 'low' OBC, with your one button is a bit harder: There are three actions you can use with the button: short press, long press (1 second+ish) Wait turn ignition on 1 or higher (or start engine) Press and hold the button until "test 1" appears (5 seconds?) and immediately release the button. quickly start "short presses" on the button, with a short pause between keep up the short presses until you get to "test 19" (if you go past, you can keep going up to 21 and back to 0...) While "test 19" is displayed, "wait" - it will enter test 19 after a short wait (If you accidently drop into another test, Easiest way is to start again - key off and back on) Display should show "Lock ON/OFF", where on and off will alternate between one and the other. short press while it says "Lock OFF" and as soon as it display changes to "test 0", start the short presses again, until you get to "test 7" When "test 7" is displayed, "wait" to enter the test, and it will then display your KTMP. It will stay there until you turn the car right off (key position 0). Thermostat ratings: M52 = 92C, Mechanical thermostat M52TU and M54 = Map Control, Mechanical rating 97C (generally run at 92C - 98C at cruise, may drop down to high 80's briefly under load) M62 and M62TU = Map Control, Mechanical rating 108C (generally run at 92C? - 110C at cruise, may drop down to high 80's briefly under load) S62 = 79C, Mechanical thermostat Diesels = I think 88C, Mechanical Thermostat The Mechanical Thermostats should generally stay above the Thermostat rated temperature, unless going down long gradients using no throttle (lot's of airflow, but no fuel burned) - though that will usually only drop slightly and come backup quickly once fuel is burned in the engine. They may go higher, if the cooling capacity is exceeded - the viscous fan, or auxilliary fan should pull the temps down before "the China Syndrome" The Map Control ones will function like the mechanical thermostats above, except the ECU controls a small heater built into the thermostat. It can heat the thermostat up, forcing it to open more and pull engine temps down during heavy loads. The engine temp can vary a lot, but should never cool down much, for very long. Most of the time you should be in the ranges I stated above. Do be aware, with the Map Control ones: The small heater can burn out, and the ECU loses it's temperature control mechanism - it will them run at the High temperature that is the Thermostats mechanical rating, and should be replaced, ASAP. It will NOT bring up a warning of any kind, except when scanning the DME (ECU) for codes. Diesels may have an EGR thermostat too, which can cause warmup issues. If you have any cooling system issues - use the KTMP reading to see what's really happening - because of the bufferd gauge, it doesn't tell you what's going on, and if it does move to the red, it may already be too late! High OBC cars (only) will give a loss of coolant warning. Low do not. If the coolant suddenly escapes, you can cook the engine without the gauge even moving - the sensors only work properly when they're IN coolant.

Where abouts are you located?? What type of Bridgestone tyre is it and roughly how many mm tread remaining???

Broke off the rear view mirror... and glued it back on. Couldn't find black mirror adhesive anywhere though had to go with clear.

Nice. Even has the "cheap" gearbox Hmmm... Violet is kinda blue... You should be allowed into the "Blue BMW with Style 42 wheels" club

^ This. If it been parked under trees or something, they clog. There are little duckbill things that fill up..... actually, Even E30's had the same issues - I remember doing Dads 15 or so years ago wait there.... From Bimmer forums: But also, as mentioned above, it is supposed to drain in a similar fashion to the E46 the other Allan (tim 325) speaks of.

Oh yeah... for coolant... I couldn't decide, so got BMW stuff. It's not that expensive. If you go aftermarket, be wary of the long life ones and fancy labels. Some of them are not suitable. If it were me, I'd go to the warehouse and buy the "autohaus" basic stuff (I use it in the Model A), or something similar. People waffle on about what coolant is "right", but at the end of the day, BMW specs say their coolant and just about any water (Most NZ tap water complies). In reality, most workshops (not speacialist) use the coolant they buy in the big drum (whatever it is) and tap water. You can always run straight water for a week or so, to check for problems, then drain it, put in BMW stuff and re-bleed.

Hmmm... ever seen the crash test results of a Great Wall ute?????

Whilst I don't want to count my bridges until they're hatched and am driving around whilst touching wood... I seem to have inadvertently solved my hesitation/miss concerns... I think. It didn't happen all the time but the symptoms were annoying and frustrating. Idle would occasionally bounce around and I had more and more hesitation under mild load. * I got a smoke test and replaced 4 vacuum lines - problem got worse. * I removed and cleaned the ICV - no change. * I swapped my carbon airbox back to stock - no change. Then, last weekend I removed the TPS and tested it - readings were fine. I then reinstalled the TPS and re-tested and got different readings from one set of pins but these matched a known good M3 so great. Since putting the TPS back in I've not had a single idle or throttle problem! The car runs like new... As I say I'm hesitant to claim victory yet but the last week has been promising. If that is the cause then I can only conclude that either the contacts were fouled or the TPS is on the way out (and benefited from a shake). I'll keep an eye on it but at the moment I'm pretty chuffed.

Mate, seriously, there will be some people that do a very good job, any useful advice, I really don't need the banter right now.

Remove cabin filter housings, and you'll find some rubber drains. These block up with leaves and General grime. Check them and the openings they drain in to. If they block, you'll get a footwell full of water. Common e39 problem.

Hi, if it is of any help on the e46 the water runs off the windscreen either side in to a channel /duct formed by plastic panels into a collection piece which has a rectangular outlet does a 90 degree turn this then passes through the inner metal guard and is dumped into the space between it and the wheel arch liner in the same area as you have noted Yellow arrow . The size of the outlet is not very large and could easily get blocked with accumulated rubbish if not cleared and a sudden rush of water would not help your situation. Also if any of the joins on the channel are weak or leaking further trouble for you. Would remove the cabin filter housing and check the channels are clear as well it might give you a bit more space to check the complete drainage system out for any possible trouble.

Very nice! Welcome

Finally found the menu to play the songs from my phone in "random" sequence - hoo-rah!

looking good luke

yep, depends what your goal for a M5x swap is. If you want a nice street car with options, start with a 325i If you want a track weapon, start with a 316i remember the power difference between M20 and M50 is pretty small, although there is a better power band on the latter. If thats worth it to you then sure. I don't think i would bother swapping a car that is already a 325i. Going to an M52 or S5x of course is much more attractive, considering you are half way there as you should be able to flog the M20 for a bit of coin the 316i weigh about 400kg less too (according to wiki etc) because no sounds deadening, less options etc chuck in a 325i rear subframe to get the bigger diff/axles/disk brakes. they are really cheap chuck in 325i struts. still really cheap go to town

broom broom go vroom vroom

I offered $15K and he told me where to stick it. haha

My gearbox has an infinite number of shift tables;-)