Allanw

+1 Quite possibly a sensor - you need to scan it to know which one, otherwise you'll spend craploads of money chasing it. Get someone like Glenn who knows what they are doing too.

Hmmm...some of them do - about 2002 to 2006 - the early 3rd gen ones. Some are Jaguar or Ford powered! Get the right one! (or an X5 ) GLWS!

Apparently so!

A buttload of his "skill" seems to involve other drivers paying attention and getting out of his way... His car placement in nothing like Ken Blocks, in his "safe" videos (which I realise have multiple takes sometimes. This is WAY better to watch: but isn't a BMW of course

OH yeah! I had a big but simple tubular rack on my VW van. I was doing a manky 80's look for a show..... It is all small diameter tube, no flat areas or panel/mesh areas. It increased fuel consumption 30% on a 700km trip!!! What is the actual fuel consumption? The Galant may hold 20L more, so half a tank means nothing. I had a car that only got 450 km to a tank.... but it only took 25L to fill it back up If it's really hungry, it may need a really good check over - there is a lot of possibilities. Putting it on a sniffer to check fuelling/mixture/emmisions etc might help

Yup - or US$24K for a 1970 VW Beetle, in the 90's

Oh sh*t... Someone just started up my calculator... Who wrote that story??? Wouldn't you try to format the drive or steal some bank account logins to show how much of a threat it was??? I mean it might have been nearly as dangerous as Windows

Report him to trademe for dealing outside of trademe. He contacted you, and you went along, not thinking about it. HE initiated the deal outside of trademe.

while doing the manual conversion

The Jap 525i was the same as the 523i everywhere else. You can also hunt for 323i upgrades. They weren't a particularly grunty motor though. Most cheap ad ons don't acheive much, although they have quite a restrictive intake (the plenum and runners, NOT the pipes and filters), which you can swap, but it sounds like most people report a low down torque loss to acheive more top end. My sisters old 525i used to go ok, but it was low down that it suffered a bit - It always needed a fair few revs on board to get anywhere. I'm not sure what could realistically be acheived to help that for not too much money. If I wanted to improve performance, I'd seriously look at a manual conversion - not super cheap, but you will make the car a lot more fun to drive AND get rid of a potentially expensive auto repair. Our manual 525i is the later M54 engine, but it is actually pretty quick.

Wierdly, it could easily end up registered as a 2006 - Perhaps it was first registered in Japan in 2006 - that's what it's registered as. There is a 2001 528i motorsport on trademe too. The 528i stopped production when the 530i came out in August 2000, so it certainly wasn't produced in 2001. BMW starts production of August in the year prior. and yet, My car was registered in Singapore in 2001, but was actually made in november 2000, as a 2001 model year (M54 engine). By the rules above, it would be registered as a 2001 (which would be correct according to BMW). But it's a 2000 on the sticker There is nothing consistant about the years the cars get registered as, it seems!

Car with poked engine calculation: Take approximate value before engine failure, halve it. deduct cost of replacement engine and labour. Then halve it again. That's about it's value

Pretty much any E39 or E46 you buy probably needs 3 grand spent on it to makes things "right". Most owners drive around on poked suspension and don't even realise it, plus most low milage cars won't have had the "cooling system rebuild" done yet, and WILL need it doing at some point before it pops and ruins an engine. Vanos seal, transmission service (both autos and manuals are supposedly "lifetime filled"), cabin filters, proer service, air filters etc, dash pixel repairs, etc etc. Just because a car is BMW serviced, it doesn't mean that everything that needs doing has been done - they only do what the owners are willing to pay for, and Kiwi's are notorious for doing stuff on the cheap! That's why most of our old cars are poked! Particularly lease cars only get the absolute minimum done (the 4 I had all were anyway). Look at each cars on it's merits really.

Ok I assume the vanos seals were done too... Are you sure it's pinking, not a heat sheild vibration or some kind of valve train rattle?

I guess a vacuum leak could cause it, but I would have thought it would log a code of some kind before it got lean enough to cause preignition that the car can't adjust for, like fuel trims or O2 sensor issues. If it was running hot, it could do it too, but usually the cause is the Map-control thermnostat going open circuit and that should log a code too. I've heard of Vaons problems causing cold running issues (common as!) but I don't know if it usually causes pre-ignition. Probably best to have someone (who knows what they are doing!) look at real-time data while it's doing it and see if anything stands out.

Haha - lots of people say that about parts and costs etc, then have to buy parts that cost even MORE for their toyota, but believe that a BMW part is more based on a stor they heard once. Some parts are expensive. Some really aren't! A lot of "faults" are also from poor maintainance, or poor repairs. An E39 with HEAPS of safety features and gizmos etc SHOULD break more than a corolla with one airbag and manual windows. The E39 is complex, which is why it handles so well and rides so well at the same time (when well maintained anyway). The corolla is going to handle like a 3 legged goat forever (mine did from new, and it was the same year as my E39!). Dad used to have fords holdens and toyotas - not interested now, he's had his BMW for 14 years - the same one! Regarding the door lock, did you know this (LHD shown): If you mechanically turn the lock until the key is flat it should unlock the door mechanically - probably all that needed doing. Door lock actuators have been known to crap out, but sometimes the mechanism just need a good clean and very light lube (probably more likely a actuator though!) I've heard the locks are not designed to be used manually all the time - they seem to crap out faster. Dunno if it's true though. If the remote doesn't always work, try to re-sync it - google it for your key type - although I'm not sure if that even works for the Jap import type - If your car is a Jap import, it will have an IR remote instead of RF, and will only work from about 2 metres away half the time anyway, I hear. ALSO, if you have convenience opening and closing enabled you can press the button to unlock, then press and hold it for ages and all the windows (and sunroof) will open up. You can also use the first position of the door lock to do it, and the same idea works with the locking button to close everything Regarding the mirrors, they can have a hard time - they get hit and repaired dodgily and may not work right, or you could have a switch fault - if the door gets wet while it's open, or the window is left down, water can creep into the switches and cause all sorts of problems, because they are flatt, they can soak up a fair bit of water if they stay wet a while! Obviously this can affect the windows AND mirrors as they are all the same switch. Also, as said in previous post above, the wiring can break in the door or pillar where it moves all the time, or if it's been accident repaired (even minor) the wiring or door jamb connector could be iffy too - especially if clips were broken and not replaced. Also, be aware that the auto tilting mirror in reverse ONLY works with the side selector switch in the passenger position (or is it drivers? I always leave it off anyway) OK, that's my words used up for the day.

Brent - Wurth probably visit you - They sell the glue to do it yourself, if you want to.

Thinking about this... I might be wrong, but someone will pipe up... Isn't that where water would leak OUT of the well under the scuttle panel??? The rain gets in through the vent under the windscreen, that rust hole is where it's rusted as some water has been sitting and the battery has leaked at some stage, and there will be ANOTHER hole inside the scuttle well, where the water is getting into the car - you need to get inside that well and find the hole that goes down into the car. I think.

NOT silicon (RTV), if you ever want to paint anywhere near it! You can buy proper seam sealer, like the factory would use, PU is usable, but the paint won't stay on it forever. Seam selaer is a bit harder and less flexible/rubbery. You can get brush on too.

PA SOFT BMW Scanner 1.4.0 is the easiest way to do it, although it can be done in NCSexpert I think (I only do it via BMW Scanner though). BMW Scanner will reset the lights (although you can do it via the cluster too) and can be used to change the litres of fuel between oil changes.

Good to hear! Prolly don't (shouldn't) spend much time at 1100 rpm. I wonder if it's from the high pressure combustion pulses of the diesel at such a low freqeuncy? Hopefully I get a lot of time to decide, before mine craps out! I assume it would be a bit less noticable in a 6 cylinder petrol anyway - higher frequency and lower combustion pressures... Dunno! Thanks!

Hope everyone has a great day tomorrow! We're having a damp subtropical Christmas it seems - it's about 1045 PM currently, Still 20C, and 98% humidity - fortunately the easterly wind is keeping it bearably cool feeling. At least I've managed to get about 12,000L into the water tanks. I've had the Christmas pork in the oven for 14 hours, only about 12 to go The poor E39 is going to get messy heading to Dads family lunch and then the in laws place out in the sticks. I wish everybody a safe and happy day! Be careful if you're traveling. Season Greetings,

Hi David, I wouldn't recommend an oil flush - if the engine is dirty, it may release crud that blocks the pickup. If it even works! The ones that did work used to cause havoc on some cars when the crud blocked off the oil pickup or things like oil spray bars. Better to use a good oil that may help clean things VERY slowly. The M54 motors seem to collect sludge under the filler cap. I thought ours was a bit grubby (firm brown very small lumpy bits) and that it may have had a lack of oil changes in the past. When I did the Vanos seals, I took the rocker cover off and was actually stunned at how clean it was inside - seriously shiney with just a very light clear golden coating on the non-moving parts etc. The plastic cover itself was a bit grubby, but I assume that's a "cold" bit too. Same when I did the oil filter housing gasket too. I brought a new oil cap and fitted it just after the oil change, and it's done about 6500 kms and already has some tiny brown lumps - I guess because it's a "cold" part of the engine, the oil vapours condense there. And for Qube: I think the 5W-30 is A3/B4 anyway (or can be purchsed as such anyway). It may not meet the BMW LL-01 spec, but it's obviously not a bad oil. I don't like the 23,000 or so kms our car would run according to the standard SI interval!