jeffbebe

Impeccable finish but zero taste. Grey interior with red piping and black and white check floor... The 80s just got stuck in my craw. Spew.

Interested to see how you go with this... I have been considering options to change the lower timing cover gaskets and chain guides and not sure I've enough skill for a DIY (will most likely be calling on Ray for this).

Perfect!

I've seen this, it's a tidy car.

Will affect any car with rubber windscreen gaskets. They deteriorate after a few years in the sun. Not really an issue as the are purely cosmetic but does make the car look tidier. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I've pulled apart a set of PFL and FL angel head lamps from an E39 and they are identical in every way except the housing for the xenon bulb. All the electronic adjusters are there in the PFL lights, the reflectors are identical the only problem is they didn't come from the factory with xenons and it is therefore illegal to fit them aftermarket. If you found an OE xenon bulb housing and ballast they would be identical to an OE xenon lamp so would be impossible to identify at warrant time. That said, it'll probably cost about the same to get those parts as a full lamp assembly. Go figure.

Yes, was me and yes, was from Schmiedmann. Very cheap. Their shipping is weight/size based though so if you start adding large items like seats the shipping will go through the roof and if the order exceeds NZ$400 you'll get hit for import tax too.

Looking good. They'll transform the car... Now, what about that bonnet!

I've got a DICE rip off that is adequate. $45. Boom.

Agreed. Seems strange since Lux flakes are just soap flakes. I have scraped off the black rubberised paint on the buttons on a steering wheel before to reveal the black plastic below - if the black plastic is deteriorating you must surely have had some other solvent in the mix.

Don't think it would be too hard to fit in the E39 lights, Martin. Will they work with OE ballasts? Otherwise I reckon you'll still get pulled up for retrofitting the HID kit at WOF time. The rule is they must be factory-fitted so even though your light assemblies are identical to the factory-fitted xenons apart from the bulb housing, they'll still fail it if it doesn't look OE!

Found what appears to be an oil leak from the lower timing cover. Cried a little inside.

Yep, going to work out how to code out the SAP check (since it's not there any more) and would like to remove the cold start procedure - but that may be more complicated.

NICHT_MELDEN

Couldn't have said it better myself... Ray, can you open a place in the city?! haha

Hear hear. Top blokes and highly knowledgeable.

Coding all done thanks to assistance from Josh, Martin and Google. Was able to retrofit code the LEDs with GT1 DIS but had to clear the reporting and cold checks using NCS Expert in the end. Bit of a mission (especially as it's in German) but got there in the end. No faults and no ballasts required. In hindsight it might have been easier to do the whole lot with NCS Expert but it took a lot longer to suss out than the much simpler to use GT1 app.

I know where to bring my splitters if I hit the kerb, Tom!

Thanks Tim. Fitting was no problem and I've ordered new gaskets so I'll put the new ones in when they show up to ensure no future leaks. According to Google my LCM version (and yours) can be recoded to operate properly with the LED retrofit so no capacitors are required, which is certainly my preferred option. That said, if I can't recode it I'll definitely get the capacitors to ensure the LEDs don't burn out.... Until it's sorted I'll avoid driving at night!

Something very minor has bugged me since I bought the car. Every time I accelerated in any kind of spirited fashion (or less-spirited up a hill) the sunroof shade panel slid open... Not because of the immense torque, because it was too loose. Finally got round to fixing it with a bit of padded tape in each corner to provide a bit of friction. Time will tell how long it will last.

Yep. Can be done: http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e39-m5-e52-z8-discussion/173233-my00-folks-us-facelift-celis-no-ballasts-diy.html I've got LCM III so in theory all is possible (and required or risk burning out the LEDs) - now to attempt it!! Thanks in advance to Martin and Josh who will be providing the technology (and the brains).

///M is exactly where it was when I bought it. Only on the other side if debadged which were mostly 530s. Otherwise it would be an M540i which was an E34 only released in Canada, I think. EDIT: Here it is when I got it and 100% certain the ///M badge was OE not aftermarket. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Took advantage of a day off and installed a set of genuine Hella FL LED tail lights that I picked up from Matt (Ahmedsinc). Followed the retrofit instructions to the letter but found the lights still didn't fit. The issue is the small amount of filing/grinding shown here (blue arrow) on bmwdiy.com: I don't know whether the retrofit lights are different to the factory-fitted ones but this didn't work for me at all and I had to resort to a bit of good old fashioned hammering to get them to fit. No big drama though, it's out of sight and used some touch up paint to seal any bare metal against rust. Before Quick test fit Stealth Two new holes drilled and a bit of hammering Old and new connectors Testing out my rarely used soldering skills My helpful assistant Done and modernised. Just a bit of LCM coding to go. Even restored all the original badges and got rid of the black and white badboi emblems. EDIT: Oh, and filmed a quick test (hard to test the brakes lights on your own!) with a couple of gratuitous revs at the end... The exhaust is sounding pretty adequate.

I think it's only perception because most people only get to own one when it's old and been through the wringer. If they actually thought about the number of 10,15,20+ year old bimmers on the roads they'd realise just how good they are. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sorry, it is the surround not the actual central reflector. I guess that part doesn't get too hot so you can use ordinary chrome paint. What paint have you used, Jason? Looks like he/she got glue on it (probably when he cracked it open) and the tried to sand it off or something.