hotwire

From your description it could be one of many things causing the original coolant leak. Radiators, hoses etc all fail & one of them would have been the likely culprit. Why did you original mechanic not pressure test the system to diagnose it? Did he confirm the head gasket? Did the repairers pressure test the system? Presumably they did & confirmed the radiator at fault? A slightly leaking/seeping radiator is not going to cause the engine to overheat, nor consume large amounts of coolant. That said, any loss needs to be identified. If the repairer did infact confirm the radiator as the fault & repaired/replaced accordingly & fixed the leak then I don;t blame them for not accepting responsibility. They fixed the problem on hand. 1900km is plenty of distance for a fault to develop. Why was the car required to be towed to recover - did it run out of coolant/ overheat? Did the car stop on you/ did you stop it, if so why? If it had overheated then - i would suspect that was when the head cracked. Also - had it still been using coolant after the radiator repair?

Have done plenty of R12 - R134 retrofits. All i have ever done is evacuate the system, fit R134 retrofit adaptor ports (they screw on to the old R12 ports), pressure test, if good then replace the receiver/drier & attached o rings (not all the rest) vac down & regas with R134. Simple! May be cheating somewhat but it works fine.

Over the top yes but i can certainly see it selling for over a quarter of his asking

New module or S/H? New unit unlikely to be faulty If new - did it initially fix the issue? If not - it must have been miss diagnosed If S/H it could still be a faulty unit. They can fail in multiple ways - no fault codes, incorrect code, or a book of incorrect codes. Have seen them all. Power Stop in Tauranga can test/ repair the modules

But the owner says it runs & drives well. It can't have a blown head gasket I'm tempted for shits & giggles. Not that i need another car...

^^^^ Well put, was thinking exactly the same. Sounds like a very dubious service history. Also - you must have a very understanding mechanic if you can rock up with all the parts & get him to fit them...

Dunno on the Tourings having less appeal or being priced cheaper than the sedan, Decent examples that i have seen have had a premium over a sedan. Even though having a sedan, I think the touring has better lines & is more practical.

^^^^ Well maybe get FCP Euro to work on a PC then

It certainly doesn't look like a well loved car, condition described as "average" which looks to be that at best. Gabe - whats the issue with the Msport?

Yes that hose connects to the top centre of the battery case. The hose has a right angle plastic piece that pushes into a hole in the battery case. As above - it is there to vent the battery to outside the car - it should be in place. All DIN batteries come with this port. They come with a bung in the hole, this is taken out & the hose inserted when the battery is installed. Can't say I have ever seen an E39 leaking water there. Other modules you mention: The front silver box (blue & white plugs) is the video module - produces TV (well it did) controls screen graphics if no Nav unit is installed, & controls the reverse camera that you are going to fit Other silver box on the left is the radio tuner & yes the black unit is the amp. Edit - the white socket is not used unless a Nav unit is in the car. It will be utilised when you fit that camera though:- The video module functions (apart from reverse camera) all operate from the blue connector.

Easier for the E39 as well - camera clips in - as long as you have factory monitor

So you're over car issues. No wonder i have little to no motivation for working on the cars around home. And after all week & virtually 24hr AA duty, that i do have is getting less...

My Karcher is about the same age as your Dynamic & probably the same spec. It too cost $900 from memory. About the same weight too... I also got one of those dirt blaster attachment nozzles - transforms the machine & hasn't had the original lance on it since. I have also had it to bits a couple of times over the years, new pump housing at one stage. Has been a great machine though. Graham - I do recommend you up your budget if you can.

Bet if you price at the steelers here you will find them about 1/2 that price for the genuine one. Adding to - the Repco ones are Ryco & the fit is crap too! Have used them on customers cars.

As Andrew said above - check the flow specs. Cheapy water blasters boast on their pressure output, look at their flow specs & it is minimal. From memory our old Karcher water blaster is about 9 or 11 (can't recall) L/M. It is years old & was expensive at the time & bought on it's spec. Pressure is nothing without flow.

Nice write up. I must admit the E60 has grown on me but i still think the E39 can sit amongst any modern car & not look out of place/date. One comment from the summary above - the E39 steering wheel too has the recirculate button on it.

Agree with you on this one Michael. Without any bias too...

Do the plastic heater pipes (out of the head) too while you are in there. I have replaced them on cars at work after they have failed. Had to replace my CCV last year, while doing that i did all the breather pipes, manifold/throttle body seals, above heater pipes & thermostat all as preventative maintenance.

Yes to the E39. Makes the six steering more precise. Dunno on the E60

Failing coils - not necessarily, They can cause many different symptoms. Have an E39 in at work atm with two intermittent failing coils. The owner swore he had a driveline issue...

Otherwise, because they are like rocking horse sh*t, if you have a 240 box shaft - you can get it shortened to suit the 260 box in the 325i From memory they are 37mm shorter - been there done that!

You're not thinking of selling the vert are you Jon? You'll need a new name then

Seriously, without proper scanning first - you/we are simply guessing. It may be a seeping head gasket/water into a cylinder It may be an ign coil It may (likely} be a sticking lifter

But look guys - it's got a battery! Must be worth the asking price

The Nav unit will be programmed to German, From memory, go into settings/ press & hold menu button for about 8 seconds. This takes you into service mode. From memory language settings are in there. The Nav unit can hold 3 languages.