jeffbebe

Ideally do it myself but I think rebuilding a diff is way beyond my limited expertise. I think sourcing an M5 diff will be tough too unless I buy from overseas but then it gets very costly. Hence why I was looking for cheap alternatives (e.g. pulling the guts out of something cheap like an E32 LSD) but obviously that's much easier said than done.

I'd love a cheap(er) option but it doesn't sound like there is one for the E39.

I'd feel like a fraud if it looks like a pretend M5. If you fancy cutting up the wheel well and giving me one of your exhaust set ups I'd consider it though!! haha

I think that's a bit beyond my capability. Yep, so Google is telling me... Rather than swapping the whole diff is it possible to rip the guts from the stock diff and replace guts from from a large case LSD (e.g. 3.23 or 3.64 M3) or would they have to go into LSD case and require subframe/driveshaft swap? Forgive my ignorance, I know next to f*ck all about differentials. Will do.

I do love a project... Though my wallet is not as fond. Think I'd be better off painting mine red!!

LSD - yes, but don't have the cash at the moment unless I can make a E32 diff fit or something like that, so will probably drive it with the open diff for a while until I can afford the conversion. The guy I bought the sc from said he drove his for a year with open diff and it was fine - just felt a bit sketchy on the track. Have to fit drive shaft safety loops for a cert which I now have but haven't found the time or the mustard to pull out the interior and try and fit the f*cking things.

Few bits and pieces to sort out before the SC can go in, Suresh, but will keep this updated. Hoping it'll be done by the end of March.

20s would be a bit rollerskate and $8K for a set of wheels seems a bit extreme too!

Anyone know if a 3.64 LSD from a manual '88 735i would fit an E39 540iA without too much fiddling about?

Saw it yesterday... Love this car!! Looks superb on the F10 M5 reps (thought given your feelings on reps, Ray, does that mean you'll have to source some genuine M5 wheels?

Saw a very nice blue E92 335i Coupe on the way to the airport. Dove grey interior, I think... Looked very tidy. Had some sort of Nürburgring emblem on the back. Not sure if it was a limited edition or badged post-sale.

Lost.for.words.

Great looking car. Have a permanent search for a red 540i on TM... Just in case!

According to whom? I'm guessing BMW are pretty happy with it. Have you driven one? They're pretty epic! Surely the M cars are simply variations of the road cars modified by the Motorsport division, so it's no less an M than an M3 or M5? It just has a shorter history. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I haven't driven any of them but on looks alone and interior styling it would have to be the R8 for me. Porsche's look like mid-life crises and R35s look like boy racers. Considering your mate clearly likes a bit of muscle, for less money he could an M6 gran coupe. Looks amazing, Euro muscle, four doors, decent boot, goes like stink, isn't tiny.

Had a day off so did some cosmetic stuff. Repainted the bumper and door trim (thanks to Martin for the 'Forever Black') and did one of the cheapest but most effective interior upgrades so far. Picked up an old beige sliding arm rest with flip lid and coin tray (mine came with the sliding arm rest and coin tray where the phone would go but no flip lid). I'd previously bought a leather arm rest cover from Top Gaiters along with my brake boot and gear stick gaiter. Nice and cheap, think it worked out around $50 for the lot - black with dark red stitch to match the trim. Removed the arm rest pad from the sliding mechanism and coated with urethane glue. I then dampened the suede side of the new leather with a wet cloth and stretched it over the glued surface. Once I'd stretched it as tight as I could I taped it up with painter's tape to hold it for 3-4 hours while the urethane hardened. Took all the tape off and reassembled on the sliding mechanism (the back plate and handle help hold the leather in place around the edges). It looks a little wrinkled still but as it dries out it should tighten up before the glue fully cures. Installed in the car... Pretty happy with it for $50 in leather and $30 in paint for the trim!

Very nice and well maintained car. $18K's getting up there though.

The double vanos procedure is pretty complicated. Mine was the first 540 Ray's boys had done I think. Took them 20+ hours. Ray was very generous with the price but you can imagine with that much labour... It ain't cheap!! Worth it if you're planning to keep the car long term though. Do the chain guides at the same time. I didn't as they looked okay but wish I had for peace of mind. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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If it's peaking and going back down I'd hazard a guess that you need to bleed the cooling system. Sounds like you've got air bubbles trapped in there. Does the cluster temp gauge register the spikes or just the KTMP on the hidden menu?

540's have a cold start procedure which can be quite noisy - usually for longer though (30-40secs) - especially if the secondary air pump valve has a bit of carbon build up and exhaust gases are getting into the pump. If it is this rather than vanos then you can remove the SAP and code it out. SAP is designed to lower emissions by pre-warming the cats on cold start. EDIT: Ask to try it from cold and video the engine bay and noise when you do. Post that vid on the Beisan systems forum and Raj will tell you within 24 hours if it's Vanos or not - and if not, he'll probably know what it is.

They look good. Didn't fancy trying yourself? Shouldn't be too hard with decent 3M wrap.

I did... Painted them light grey so as not to stand out too much. Got it off eBay - got a good deal because I bought a Mazda one for our other car at the same time. Think it was about NZ$120 for both and shipping was free (from China).

Busy couple of days... Was planning to fit new pads and rotors so took advantage of my mechanic's hoists being clear on Waitangi and whipped off the calipers last thing Wednesday so I could clean them up and gave them a lick of paint (weirdly the previous owner had part painted one caliper red - which riled my OCD) while the car was resting on the hoist for the holiday. Note to self: Remember to charge drill prior to starting clean calipers. Spent a long time trying to clean the calipers by hand with help from Martin (breakmywindow) which was a massive PITA. Discovered that the drill with a wire brush fitting made short work of it and got them looking sparkling once the battery had charged. Gave them a quick wipe with some acetone to get rid of any dust, etc, masked the pistons and rubber poots and blocked the brake line plugs (rather than draining as I was a bit low on spare brake fluid). Clear coated them to make the calipers easier to clean in the future. Was all going well until the sh*t cool humid weather prevented the clear coat curing in time (was on a deadline because my mechanic wanted his hoist back first thing on Friday). Had to bake in the oven on low heat to stop the brake fluid going everywhere for a couple of hours... (the wife's in Q'town luckily). Anyway, all looks good though think I should have done something about the new red pads - they look a bit chintzy. Also got new rotors fitted at the same time so I should be able to stop when the sc goes in. Also installed a knock off DICE type thingy. Works fine, although haven't worked out how to control playlists and shuffle properly from the monitor - you can flick through tracks from the steering wheel. Had to wire it in the boot as the 17 pin connector it uses is on the radio module, inconveniently placed behind the rear seat back panel in the boot (took me a while to figure that out). Currently got the iPod where the CD changer was but will probably run the wire under the back seat and up into the centre console at some point.

It has 4 cats, I only removed two and the resonators I replaced the cats with could easily pass for high flow cats - don't think that'll be an issue for the certifier.