Leaderboard

Too good not to share https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=2897224674

I would buy a 540 touring. Swap all the good bits from yours into it.

And done! Didn’t do the steering linkages as they were ok but put a tear in one of the outer tierod balljoint boots 🤦‍♂️ Something to worry about next year. Hopefully get an alignment next week..

Not my project so don’t really want to spill...

Managed to conquer the rear axle today. Much like the lhs the shock and control arm balljoint were f’d. The lower swingarm balljoint was looser than the lhs one. Made a start on the front too. So far the lhs shock and control arm are f’d. The thrust arm balljoint and bush (x5 item swapped out 3 years ago) are fine, along with the drag link and tie rod ends still feel ok so may leave those and replace when actually needed. In the last pic I forgot to fit the strut mount bearing. Was a sign to finish up for the day. Hopefully wrapped up tomorrow.

The fun actually began today. Thought I could do the entire rear axle but only managed to sort out one rear corner before getting too tired and over it. After 21years and 197k kms the larger control arm balljoint and the shock was F’d. The rest was actually ok but since I only ever want to do this sort of job once, may as well do it all. Hopefully get the other rear corner sorted tomorrow then on to the front, which I think is alot easier in terms of access to nuts and bolts.

B30 swap and supercharger. Much easier, good power, maybe half? the cost and better to drive.

It's been a while since I visited this site. It's almost 2 years since I posted this thread. So far we still have the car, and I think we will be keeping it after what has happened in 2020. We have replaced the rod bearings at 61k kms. Here is the laundry list of things that was done along with it. rod bearing set, and connecting rod bolts vanos pressure hose timing chain guide engine mounts lower control arms tie rods drive belt pulleys (idler and tensioner) tensioner (a/c and auto belt) drive belts coils and spark plugs air filters wheel alignment Clutch, pressure plate Dual mass flywheel Release bearing, release bearing guide Clutch fork pivot, clutch release arm spring Crankshaft bolt, Crankshaft rear seal SMG relay Driveshaft flex joint, Driveshaft center support bearing, Driveshaft end bushing Transmission mounts Exhaust pipe gaskets, hex nuts, torx bolts Gear box oil Jon of Auto38 has been great in serving the car, his craftsmanship is top notch. We are very happy with car, knock on wood that it doesn't blow up in 2021... otherwise we have to file for bankruptcy 🤣 . I wasn't planning to do these things in 2020, the plan was to do this over the next few years. It was only to check for a misfire in July, one thing led to another. I also have some bits and bobs that maybe some owners of E60 M5 would be interested on. 5 old coils, 1 new coil, new release bearing, clutch alignment tool, input shaft seal, old driveshaft flex joint, tire rod, etc. Just message me if you are interested on these parts. We are still breaking in the rod bearings, so far just 300+ kms only. Some of you probably have seen the car over the past few weeks, usually we go for a milk run at Te Horo and some vegetables and strawberries at Penray. So the things in internet about the E60 M5 is true and not true. Happy to share our ownership experience to anyone that is interested. I also would like to thank @Olaf and @TermiPeteNZ for help and advice.

Sorry for the potato quality but saw this 650i/105i/Carina/ICantQuiteReadTheBadgeOnTheTopLeft the other day. Very rare.

oh, you mean this one then???? (all kudos to Ray and his team at HellBM......but I am super happy to be the lucky current custodian.)

Well this weekends idiocy saw me careful dismantle the gauge cluster again, even using the melt and drill method instead of removing needles that would just not budge, carefully clean the contacts, install a new LCD screen, reassembled again and tested to find the same dull screen on the right side... experience is hard fought and of course the problem was two blown backlighting bulbs... A rookie mistake and I feel an absolute twat... anyhow, it all ended well and the dash is now all good, except for one pesky column of pixels that is hardly noticeable... one can say I'm a bit more savy with clusters now... I also installed a replacement heater valve and all good, splicing in another connector as mine had broken. A bit of cleaning in behind the oil filter housing is bring the engine bay up pretty good now... A bit of a drive in the arvo, followed up by sanding down a spare rear bumper I acquired today, to replace the one on the car. My spare parcel tray is in getting retrimmed and I fitted another motor to my spare blind, ready for the changeover. This week I hope to get my painted up 66's back and get them fitted up. Pleased to say the 540 is now at "operational" status now

Today's update, Started off with a mate dropping by in his M5. Three things to sort; Airbag light on, fault was in drivers side airbag, disconnected and cleaned contacts, reset the fault and the light goes out... sorted... hopefully... Next up the HVAC control panel was rather secondhand with missing buttons etc... Fitted a replacement I had and all good... Then upgraded the cabin air filter boxes and tubes to the later type as the rubber securing straps had perished. Then spent the afternoon sanding back the filler in the style 66's. Then applied a layer of etch primer as plenty of alloy had been exposed. They are looking good. A coat of primer, and light sand back then colour (Reflexsilver metallic) and clear they should be back to as new. Also sanded and primed the left wing mirror cover as that was looking rather sad. The aftermarket towbar came off and boot floor holes bogged up. I have the proper fitting BMW type bar to go on when I address the rear bumper. Engine wise I've fitted @adro's spare MAF (cheers) and engine is now running smooth and as it should... just waiting on the arrival of coolant hoses etc before getting into that and gaskets etc...

Having just got the car back I was keen to spend the day pottering over it for a few quick cosmetic wins. So I tackled the windscreen cowl replacement first. Removing the wipers is always fun on an e39 and this car was a doozy. Ended up modifying a puller to suit as the little one was just not up to it. While doing this I gave the cabin air filter boxes a good clean plus all surrounds. Then on to rear windscreen trim and roof rails, followed by boot hinges.. I removed these one at a time to get behind them etc.. Then the rear lights... in need of a bit of a clean.... Finally the rear seat I had been leather restoring got fitted... time for a beer...

take $600 from each and flip a coin.