Allanw

Sent the link to my sister I've been telling her for ages that she should have a V8 though...

Did you read the comments. Some people have too much tme on their hands. And too much STUPID apparently.

I stand corrected! You're more resourceful than I thought! My keys are all programmed now - was easy :-)

How many watts (or VA) is your telly rated at? I have a surprising number of UPS's sitting in my garage! All are online types. Kinda heavy to ship, but I can probably get one to the North Shore (Glenfield) on the Friday after Anzac (when I'm at Car Folie ). Pretty sure I've got a small/flat rack mount one, which might be big enough, prolly $100. Will have to check its specs though. I was going to use it for my phone, but I've got a bigger one now.

The UPS should help ONLY if it is constant online - most cheapish ones flick over to batteries when the power goes off. An online one is continually running of the batteries and continually charging them at the same time (in effect). With online, your next issue is ually the noise of the fan :-( Surge protectors are generally useless, but usually offer a warranty/insurance of some kind, so all you're really buying is the warranty. You may have quite a number of outlets connected to the same breaker or RCD, or mutliple breakers connected to one RCD in the house, so many of the power points maybe reasonably closely tied.

Yep, I get all my parts there pretty much, it's just the Vanos seals which are oddball to get hold of Beisan has them, and some eBay sellers. I trust Beisan more! It's all on the beisan site. On the products page, it states the engine type (M50, M52, M54 etc) for each kit. On the procedure page for your engine, It has a list of required parts, and optional parts. The rocker cover gasket and plugs can always be done some other time anyway - not too big of a deal. Sweet! This thread got made a sticky

I got it at Ripco, because my usual doesn't have the right oil I used to be a Wurth rep, so have a LOT of contacts, mostly up this way though. I also managed my brother in laws rental car fleet (120 vehicles) Plus I've been in the VW scene for years (aircooled and transporters). My other brother-in-laws are a Wurth rep still, and the other owns a diesel and turbo repair shop. One neighbour works from home as a engine reconditioner (and aircooled VW specialist - he's a long time mate from before I moved next door!) and the other has a large marine business and slipway. BOTH of them have hoists at home! I'm in a perfect spot for my hobbies! Annoyingly, I could have got us facelift Hella Xenon lights (ballasts, self levelling and EVERYTHING - a full retrofit kit! Brand new) for only $100 more than we paid for halogens, BUT would have to ship them from the UK which would have been a couple of hundred probably. Plus customs charge GST etc on the way in. The REALLY annoying part, is that I have a pile of VW parts coming over in a van belonging to a mate of a mate, and could have got them in there Grrr! Anyway - Sorry! Tangent over

yeah - it's on the Beisan procedure page for our engine. as the BARE minumum you'll need the seal kit. STRONGLY recommended (especially because they are CHEAP) is the left hand thread torx bolts and the vanos cover gasket. May as well do the rocker cover gasket, as they're a common leak. The spark plugs are RIGHT THERE, so may as well do them.

Boy... there's a can of worms! The extended interval type oils are VERY expensive - The castrol I use retails at $100 for 5L at repco... I get trade though through a mate To the original poster, a decent service isn't required very often, so if you aren't comfortable doing it, get someone like Glenn to do it - he's VERY familiar with BMWs. If you want advice on what oil to use - everyone has a different opinion. Mine is right though

I got all the other bits from Milland.co.nz Beisan only does the seal kits. (and rattle kits, but I didn't need one)

Vid says "removed by user" Could it be the dreaded Vanos rattle (which is ANOTHER vanos problem, apart from the seals). Apparently it affects the M54B30 more than other models.

Ha, It was a CRV - apparently still full of camping gear or fast food wrappers... There's not too many "SUVs" you want to take around there... A lot of the far more impressive cars got quite squirelly on that corner, the CRV had no chance really! Probably on under-inflated tyres as well!

+1 I had ongoing problems. One conncetor was a bit melted/deformed. I tidied that up, and STILL had intermittant warnings. I replaced all the brake bulbs, and the warning has stayed gone. Bulbs to age, and can start running super hot too.

Dude, that looks AWESOME! I need the new E39 bumper done at some point, and it could use a few touch ups too! Have to wait until I have money though :-( Going back on one income soon and the Mrs is in the UK spending the savings

Cheers, nothing to dread then! I still have to fit a new drivers door lock mechanism - I'm dreading that! It looks to be a pain in the arse.

US$17 - totalled a bit under NZ$100, plus I got the vanos gasket and left hand thread bolts from Milland - not sure what they were, maybe 20 or 30???Not too bad anyway. Cheaper than a tank of gas!

it sure would have killed them! The design, using an o ring it a little bit cheap for a BMW anyway - I'd have thought a spring or square section rubber ring. I think the cold idle problems are caused by the car trying to control the vanos with lower (idle) oil pressure, while trying to heat the cats up fast (apparently it uses more overlap to pump some fuel into the exhaust of heat them faster). It's funny the problems that emissions gear causes too!

Yeah, I always wonder if it's a real problem in all markets when it comes to stuff like this - Like nikasil engines having no issues in NZ because of our fuel always having had sulphur removed (for fertiliser!). Yeah wave if you see me - I haven't actually been out much though I'll be the one driving everywhere at 2000 to 3000 rpm

Typical, Bloody BMW drivers!

The bolts are worth getting (few bucks each I think???) I put new ones in because the thought of snapping them didn't appeal AT ALL! Shame it had no effect on yours. At least you know they'll stay good now!

*groan* I still have to do that... it's just a touch weepy - leaves a drop or two a week, but I want to do it soonish (next 6 months). At least I have the Vanos done already . Was it all pretty straight forward?

You'd assume yours would be worse than mine with double the kms, though it probably depends on the type of driving and oil type etc a bit too. The double Vanos engine seem to suffer the most - I suppose because of the infinite variability factor. It's not too tricky! The fan is the hardest part - that was another tool I had to borrow - Dad has a bunch of giant spanners, so had to wait for him to bring it over! That's very handy to remember! a couple of good blows with the hammer will set it free... or smash your expansion bottle or shroud if you miss . Check the bottom of the radiator too - they're known to expand downwards sometimes, getting ready to pop Also, If you are planning on doing a thermostat* or water pump, do them at the same time. I have the water pump, but didn't want to do it this time as I have a plan for the thermostat, but it's all OK at the moment. (*check for codes regularly on the M54, as the thermostat doesn't put on the fault light! It then runs very hot, but the gauge doesn't show it either!) I just drove it from cold again, and I'm still impressed!

Mine was just slightly unstable, mostly when cold. It only hunted up and down by probably 50 rpm. If you eased the clutch out, then pressed it in, the idle would hunt for 5 or so seconds. It was also super easy to stall - reversing out of our garage it would shudder and almost stall initially. You'd have to rev it up a bit, or slip the clutch a LOT. It's very easy to reverse out now, without throttle. No special tools (they are listed in great detail on the Beisan Site I mentioned earlier - after starting, I realised I didn't have the right torx bit, and a small torque wrench that worked backwards for the two torx bolts in the mechanism. No, I wish I'd got plugs to do them, but it was a bit of a last minute decision to do it this weekend! My valve cover gasket seemed very fresh anyway, certainly no leaks or weeping. You may as well do them all - especially if it's leaking! I say: Do them! I thought I posted this bit last night, but it must have not worked (I have some weird network problem!) I've just been for another drive of 1.5 hours to get my sick little boy to sleep! - I'm home alone, the Mrs is over in the UK! I drove out along the coast road, turned inland over some hilly country with LOTS of corners and ups and downs, then along a big long straight, through suburban fringe area and back through the country to home. Only done a total of about 65 kms so far still. I've noticed a few things: The torque is HUGELY increased from 1500 up to 3000, it also seems to go a bit better higher up than that too, but I could be dreaming. I used to feel a sudden drop in power as I lifted my foot up for corners when going up a nearby hill, almost like the throttle closed, when I only closed it half way. It doesn't do it now - it's VERY smooth. It seems to hold the revs more between gear changes, where the revs used to drop a bit sudden, they drop less quickly, making gear changes much smoother. There are no sudden increases in torque or power anymore. The low end has improved so much, it feels quite linear from 1500. OBC is showing an economy improvement, but it's not a long enough distance to compare. I put all the fillups in Fuelly, so I'll see if there's any distinct change in the economy (just filled it up after the work was done). The Mrs mostly drives it, so the economy won't improve - she'll just go faster! For the small cost of it, I'd very much recommend it for the double vanos 6 cylinders for sure! Even without any signs now, they may still be somewhat poked. The slow deterioration may mask the fact that they are worn for some time.

Certainly NOT on the M54 - I just did it this morning: My Vanos Post