barracuda83

Hi guys recently my top radiator hose cracked with leaking coolant and I replaced it. Bled the system and refilled coolant.

Since then as soon as I hit 35-40km/h, my ABS DSC and brake warning lights are all orange comes on all of a sudden everytime. however car drives fine but i dont think ABS is working ? :S

people say its the abs module but how is that related to leaking coolant , is beyond me.

I dont want to take it to mechanic and pay $140 to find out it could have been just cleared.

till now i have managed to do these

checked tyre pressure

tried to reset steering angle sensor.

checked the fuses inside glove box.

anything else guys ?

thanks in advance.

Hi guys "Check brake linings" has just come on(e38) on my way home last night.

I have not taken the car out since. Few questions -

1) does this automatically mean I need new brake sensors + new rotors along with new pads ?

2) I have received quotes from $600- $1400 after market and OEM mixed

what is a more realistic price for just changing the pads.

Is there a way i can check the rotors myself for damage ?

I not that mechanically inclined to do it myself and cause more damage so dont want to touch it.

Any good aftermarket pads you can recommend that is similar to OEM or better ?

Any thoughts on Mintex pads ? MAg and turbo offering really good price for these

Too many questions i know but sick and tired off googling and getting no where

thanks in advance

Hey guys just thought i should report back to Docile and 3padels YES you guys were right it was the different tyres causing the misalignment problem.

Got all 4 tyres changed new Toyo PROXES C1s. And steering wheel is dead straight again.

Just a pointer These Toyos are a lot heavier than the Continentals I replaced feels double the weight.

Also while they are comfortable and silent, looks wise the sidewall looks roundish and bland.

Even though same size and all , the Continentals used to look fatter (because of their extra half inch of rubber as rim guard) and the sidewall used to look thinner and flat. if you know what i mean.

now moving on to the next project - sort out the free play on the front wheels...... WHEN DOES THIS END......wrong car to fall in love with i guess.

thanks swordfish i have been looking at some m5 forums as well they say the same thing.

hmm some very good suggestions.

thanks a lot.

Im getting 4x new Toyo Proxies C1S put on tomorrow or the day after by Advantage tyres. (awesome deal at $275pp)

Will report back after a test ride.

Just while I have all your expert attentions here, I am also looking at change my brakes looking at Akebono(i think thats the name) or Brembos they say they are the best. How do i go about putting them on? thanks.

well spotted

passenger side has continental contisport contact 235/50/zr18

drivers side has dunlop sport sp 01 - 235/50/zr18

dunlops a loan tyre while the other continental is ready for use however the car has been sitting low on that side even before it has been put in.

thanks heaps.

Thanks huff3r for the tip.

Passenger side rear matches the overall height of the car

Drivers rear side sitting lower than others.

Not sure if its noticeable from the pics but very noticeable in reality.

I constantly have to keep my steering wheel tilted to the right while doing 80km - 100km. steering used to be dead straight even a month back

no noise over bumps

no judder effect on heavy braking or while stopped

regardless of road curvature or gradient

checked tire pressure

just had alignment done

Also drivers side rear end of the car seems a bit lowered than the passengers rear. No noise anywhere and its not affecting the drive as such but just a bit anxious since i have noticed it.

there is nothing heavy in the boot on any side.

checked when parked on a level surface still same tilt

My driveway where I normally park my car has a slope from the side when parked. Does this affect my suspension or springs ?

Can the rear springs make any difference in the steering condition and am i looking at any suspension damage?

any help will be appreciated.

I wanted to attach some photos but for some reason it says "Upload failed. Please ask the administrator to check the settings and permissions"

thanks in advance guys.

Yeah i agree K110s are older model, good reviews, but im sure thats not the model going OEM for BMW. Newer ones are likely to be better.

Thanks for the feedback guys also one of these tyre sale person actually said the new BMWs will be shipped with Hankook tyres as OEM because they are so good.

It sounds a bit odd to me but who knows...

Hi guys any views on hankooks vs toyos for a heavy e38. these toyo C1S are newer model and not much available on the net in terms of reviews. Can i go wrong with hankooks ? However the toyo's all round steel plate means more thread life does it.

Even though people say toyos are better a tyre,these toyos are actually $30 cheaper than the hankooks. Why is that does anybody know?

Thanks in advance

Thanks guys i think you are actually right.

Because now i can see that the tv is running in color mode before it was black and white when nav was working.

so the nav unit at the back can be diagnosed as STUFFED even though

i can hear it spinning the disk and its trying to eject ?

Ah also and no power lights.

Ill actually try to unplug from battery and check.

BTW guys i wont have to worry about recoding the computer or anything on e38s if i disconnect battery right?

thannks will get back after i try your suggestions.

yeh sorry man my bad its actually a mkiii with 16:9 screen. yeh so even the sc id getting stuck but even so why would the navigation system not work?

Mk1 nav? That's the first generation unit. Could be a crook nav unit or as mentioned above - disconnect the battery & see if it resets

Hey guys i have a e38 mkiii navigation system with 16:9 screen. I upgraded the software where its shows the bmw logo when the doors are opened.

Recently the screen would all of a sudden flicker a bit on and off..

now the screen has gone back to really scrappy graphics

no navigation option anymore.

cannot eject the navigation cd out of the unit from the back.

displays OBD stuff fine though.

i have checked the navigation unit at the back has power and spins but doesnt spit the cd out.

any ideas?

hey guys im back after a few months again.

Just got the e38 repaired and back on road. after a total of $950 - (YES after claiming the warranty) she is all good and running

Thermostat changed

radiator cap replaced

new coolant

viscous fan wasnt locking on so had the couplings changed.

NOT heat related but had the cam shaft sensor changed as well -because was having a hard start issue

done from Motor Service ltd.

no other issues at this time.

I dont know if I should bad mouth lumleys for making me pay for excess for each and every thing even though few are part of the cooling system, but im just happy to have her back on the road.

Thanks everybody for your help and special thanks to Glen at Motorworx for taking the time to talk to me and looking into my issue, sadly due to our availability issues I had to go somewhere else.

btw why is my AC fans making this growing noise on high rev when the ac is on---- GOD kill me.....

Hey guys sorry for my late reply, just busy calling around to get my car booked in.

My usual mechanic (who does my other toyota cars) replaced the top radiator hose as that had a split, $130

after a whole day sitting there, car still overheating so he said its the thermostat, - this kind of random guessing was pissing me off so now i have decided to book it in with some bmw specialists and claim the warranty excess - $200 (why didnt i do that in the first place)

Now im looking for mechanics place who charge reasonable money for a good service as well, planning to book the car in there and have all done there.

what do you say guys? thanks heaps

sounds like a plan. Im not a bmw tech person myself most important i dont want to touch it myself cuz my warranty could be void. any reasonably priced authorized bmw service people you would recommend?

also my e38 did not come with a service history booklet, how do we go about getting the history in nz and where do we buy a replacement booklet ??

thanks guys

Hi guys I have been getting this intermittent overheating issue. It happened all of a sudden once on the motorway and going from Panmure to Manukau city my car overheating and temp. went back down again randomly quite a few times.

Next day checked water level and refilled, only about 10ml was required to get the stick up. Coolant looks clean and no rust at all. And left the car for a day. Then onwards it has been running fine no issues. So this was around 4 weeks back.

Now it has happened again. Overheating 3/4 way up (not reaching the red yet) RANDOM overheating is how i can describe it. Overheating then going straight back to middle and over again while starting and stopping at the lights. This is just on my way to office today. Dont knows what will happen next time im on the road.

Any ideas guys? i mean i have dealt with japanese car overheating issues which just either overheat or they dont. but very troublesome diagnosing this issue.

Just another thing, when i pullover in this situation, i can feel very unusually hot wind underneath the car which makes me feel, the guages,thermostat and all are working and it is definitely overheating.

If you feel i need a mechanic would you recommend any trustworthy bmw service people? as this is the first time i had problems after buying my first bmw.

Thanks in advance.

ok thanks for taking the time to respond guys appreciated. will post back if i find anything else.

Hi guys any idea about the situation below -

*car struggles to start in short distance start stop situation.

*at times all of a sudden the engine will stop just when trying to reverse or coming off reverse gear

*car starts first click if it has been left sitting for 4 hours or more; for eg start beautifully first thing in the morning.

I think all above is battery related. correct me if im wrong

*in case you guys think a new battery is required, any ideas where to get the oem 800cca batteries from ?

*also can i just chuck the new battery in or do i need to code the car and the immobilizer and stuff like that ?

thanks in advance

hi guys can anyone help me find a glovebox handle for a e38. This thing you cant buy from ebay as most will be from a left hand drive car or would be $150 plus.

Also is it same as the e36 handle?

thanks in advance.

Sirius is for satellite radio and is a separate unit that can plug into the dice even if it does work here which I'm not sure it does you wouldn't get any NZ stations on it.

Here are some photos altho they don't really say much, the install is very easy, the hardest part (which isn't exactly hard) is running the lead from boot to glovebox where i have my unit.

Nice post. Another question where do you place the external mic in the cockpit? does it come with enough wiring to be able take all the way to the front?

Sirius is for satellite radio and is a separate unit that can plug into the dice even if it does work here which I'm not sure it does you wouldn't get any NZ stations on it.

Here are some photos altho they don't really say much, the install is very easy, the hardest part (which isn't exactly hard) is running the lead from boot to glovebox where i have my unit.

Nice post. Another question where do you place the external mic in the cockpit? does it come with enough wiring to be able take all the way to the front?

thanks heaps for the link Matt. Have already emailed Richard.

Do you have any pics of your setup? Do you know anything about the Sirius setup? that looks pretty flash too.

Cheers.

ive got a Dice Mediabridge 1500 (w/ Bluetooth)

Works well, has AUX, USB/IPOD and Bluetooth connection methods. Comes with a External mic that you mount for the handsfree. The unit itself i just have sitting in the glovebox.

Sound quality is good.

It is not the best thing in the world to navigate around, you are pretty much limited to Fwd/back track, answerphone and volume, unless you want to memorize some stupid button combination's (however this maybe better on a monitor setup i only have MID.

Firmware on this model is upgradeable.

Got mine from http://www.gadgets4u.co.nz/ the guys name is Richard he is really good to deal with.

If you want to see it working you can have a look at mine ... however I've got the standard stereo ... no monitor.

No it wont give you the OBC functions, do you have a factory monitor setup or a standard MID/Radio? if you have factory monitor i wouldn't even consider replacing it with this unit (even if it does work in a E38 which i'm not 100% sure it does).

Ah yes it comes with a widescreen nav monitor.

Ok now my second query:

I want bluetooth functionality. I have checked already my car is not prewired for telephone.

I am reading about these Sirius and Dice kits that let you integrate ipod BT and other stuff to your factory computer to have all of them in that BMW screen along with the usual functions.

Do you know anyone in NZ who does these, or has anyone successfully hooked them up? surely there would be a few people out there.

PS. Not that i have not considered a parrot system a tomtom gps with bluetooth but i just want everthing in one piece rather than bits an pieces hanging out.