BreakMyWindow

Trademe's latest douche-mobile http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/...n-498020867.htm

I had one of the heater hoses split on the way to a new years eve trip in mine. Was luck enough that the split developed right by the hose clamp, so i was able to cut that bit off and stretch the hose back on. A good way to tell if the plasticy cooling system bits are old, or are ready to let go is if they are discoloured. i.e brownish or greyish colour.

Shocks/struts should be replaced in pairs. You could try www.ecstuning.com or www.pelicanparts.com

I thought i'd never say this, but having both owned a 528i and a 540i, id recommend the 528i or possibly the 530i. The v8 power is nice, but for nz roads it's pretty much overkill. Even playing traffic light grand prix, the dsc will kick in too easily, or you will get tonnes of wheel spin.. all subjective to what you enjoy i guess. If you're lugging extra load along on longer journeys, the 528i's passing abilities become that of a 520i with no luggage or passengers. Watch out for higher mileage v8 examples, especially the sep 98' onwards models. Timing chain guides/rails and all the associated parts/labour will run u up in to 4digits very quickly. Don't be fooled by low priced m-tech II examples..

It's looking like it will go bust by the end of the month. Apparently events for 2012 at the ring won't be affected. Fingers crossed.. $377 for a ring taxi ticket down the drain otherwise.

Can anyone recommend a good company to use for car hire in Frankfurt? Im in need of a car for 2 days while over there. Ill be driving to the Nurburgring from Frankfurt to go and experience the bmw ring-taxi hot lap. Would love to hire something like an e39 m5, but being an older car, the big car hire companies don't have them in their fleet. This is not a car for use on the race track, just for a spirited drive on the autobahns to get from Frankfurt to Nurburg.

I'll be in Germany from 22nd September - 28th Will be going to Nurburgring 22 - 24th Sept Stuttgart - 24th - 25th Sept Munich - 25th - 26th Frankfurt - 27th - 28th. Will be doing a lap in the Ring Taxi, and visiting the Porsche and BMW Factory's/Meuseums. Can't wait! PS Booking a date for the Ring Taxi is a total PITA :-S

My dream car. But those tyres look about as old as the car itself, i'd want brand new tyres if im paying over a million bucks for it.

I Have taken both different springs in to a suspension specialist. The spring with the top half coated in a rubber like material have a spring rate of approx 160 pounds/inch. The other, approx. 130 pounds/inch. The spring with the lower spring rate sits approx 20mm lower with 500pounds of weight placed on them, compared to the spring with the rubber type coating with 500pounds of weight on it. So my thoughts at first are that the spring with the lower spring rate, that sits 20mm lower should be the sport spring (since I know that sport model e39's sit lower than non sport models) However, the springs with the higher spring rate, which sits higher seems to fit better in to the spring pads that are specified with cars that had the m-sport suspension II option. The spring pads accomodate for the slightly thicker spring coils... hrmmm.. I wonder if the rubber type coating on the rear springs of e39's is only for m-sport suspension II cars, or if this was something that BMW did for later model e39's. I do know that there were various spring rates used for cars based on their options. So a car with lots of the options carries more weight on the springs, thus the spring rate needs to be higher. This I think is represented by a coloured marking on the springs. This adds to the fun. Ray - do you have any late model 540i rear springs that are out of a non sport model, that have the rubber type coating in the yard?

For most cars, the suspension geometry is designed to induce negative camber as the suspension is compressed. So a lowered car will appear to have negative camber as it's suspension is compressed from it's factory intended ride height. Your problem could be a 'mushroomed' strut tower. Where the strut tower has been bent upwards from forces on the stiffened and lowered front suspension. See this link for more details : http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=592819 The threads and nuts which connect the top of the front struts (guide supports) to the strut tower are bent outwards. This is what I bet will be the cause of your tire failing it's wof on inner tire wear. I have the same issue in my e39.

Anyone know of a place in Auckland that has equipment to be able to work out what the spring rates are?

Thanks for your input. The ones in the pic on the left have an extra coil, but the guage of the wire is about 3mm thicker. So it's a bit contradictory.. extra coil (softer) thicker guage (stiffer)... The more research I do about m-sport suspension II the more i found out that alot of the components are the same as the e39 m5. i.e the rear top mounts, the upper and lower spring pads, and the shocks themselves all share the same part numbers. I'm wondering if the springs are the same too? I've noticed that the springs have paint on them, I've seen white paint, red paint, and even orange paint on the rears from different 540i models. I'm wondering if this paint colour represents the type of suspension used.. The saga continues.

Here is a pic of 1 of each rear spring sets I have. The one on the left i suspect is the m-sport II spring, and the one on the right, I am not sure. The one on the left also has an extra coil which seems odd if it's an m-sport II spring, and thus should make the car sit lower.. I really wish the springs had part numbers. Can anyone with an e39 540i that has the m-sport suspension II option chime in here?

Hi All, I'm in a bit of a pickle, and need some clarification before I go ahead with my suspension upgrade. I recently picked up a set of rear springs which are supposedly out of an 01 540i with the M sport II suspension. I was also given another set of rear springs from a 540i that could also be M sport II springs. The springs themselves have no part numbers, and the bmwfans site is of no help either, as the pics of the springs are generic, and have a coil count of 8. The springs that I suspect are the M sport II ones have a coil count of 11, and have a rubber type coating on the top half of the springs. They look identical to the ones in the following link, which is an ebay ad for 03 540i oem sport rear springs and struts. Furthermore, the top mount part number in the pictures matches that of the rear top mount for an e39 540i with m sport suspension II. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2003-BMW-E39-OEM...T-/180581648353 The coil count appears to be correct, and the rubber type coating is there. However, I found another pic of some 01 540i oem sport springs, which have a coil count of 9, and don't have the rubber-type coating on the top half of the springs : http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showt...d.php?t=1723030 Can any one please help with identifying the correct rear springs for an e39 540i with m sport suspension II? Anyone with m sport suspension II in their e39 540i be able to confirm if there rear springs have the rubber type coating in place, and 11 coils? I will post up some pics of the springs I have shortly. Thanks in advance!! Martin

Bump stops cheap? haha well for the rears they are about $40 each!! (the msport II suspension has its own unique bump stops, along with rear shock mounts. Am doing the whole lot, (Springs, shocks, spring pads, pockets, bumpstops, strut mounts etc). Will look at getting a front strut brace.

The M-sport 540i's have slightly thicker sway bars (1mm thicker in the rear, and 0.5mm thicker in the front). I have ordered a set of Bilstein HD's, after doing some research, they seem to work well with stock m-sport springs. At the same time, i'll be installing the m-sport sway bars I picked up. Hoping for the excellent balance between ride and handling the m-sport 540's have. The sturt tower on the passenger side is slightly mushroomed, will be sorting that out as well.

Those cheap and nasty wheels spoil an otherwise beautiful car.

In the next few months i'm looking at getting some new shocks for my 540i and am wondering what the best set to go for is.. Currently it's running on what look to be H&R or Vogtland lowered springs (there is a slight rake where the front sits lower) The front shocks are either Koni of Bilstein, and the rears look to be standard non sport.. I have picked up some M-sport springs from an 01 540i, as I'm completely over being able to feel every bump/road imperfection through the steering wheel and seat, but am not going to install them until I choose some shocks. I'm wondering what shocks are best paired with these springs apart from the standard m-sport ones (they are too expensive) I'm leaning towards Bilstein HD's or the Bilstein Sports, but am not sure which will give me the more comfortable, yet somewhat sporty ride character. Any ideas? Cheers, Martin

B10 Bi-Turbo. Do want! http://exchange.goo-net.com/usedcars/BMW_A...5004/index.html

Am running falken fk452's on all corners. 225's on front, and 255's on back. Great tyres, but they get a wee bit noisy after the first 5,000kms.

Have done this in mine as well.

The top radiator hose in this example looks like it's ready to burst at the plastic connection to the water pump any day now. The plastic shouldn't be brown like that, well only if it's very old. Based on that pipe I'd say the rest of the cooling system should be looked in to immediately. Common issues on the 540i are well documented on the net. This one looks to have the m62tu which seem to be more prone to timing chain rail failure. The repair is not a cheap fix, expect little change from 4 - 5k if you take it to a professional to get done - They will probably find numerous other parts while they strip the entire front of the engine down that will need replacing. These motors also rattle on idle, and slightly above. It's normal, but expensive to repair if you're sick of the noise (new vanos gears) I've owned my 98' 540i (with the same engine) for nearly 4 years now. Bought it with 220k on the clock, now done just over 280k. This is what I've serviced so far : 1.) Reaction rod bushes (steering wheel judder at approx. 80km/h) 2.) Front brake discs and pads 3.) Centre link(drag link) 4.) valley pan gasket, along with valve cover gaskets, vanos solenoid gaskets, intake manifold gaskets. 5.) Both oil seperator valves 6.) Timing chain guide rails, deflection plate, new timing chain due to worn guide rails. 7.) Radiator, water pump, thermostat, Heater hoses. 8.) Windscreen washer jets, hoses and fittings (go brittle and leak over time) 9.) drive belt, and associated pulleys. Next service will be all shocks and springs, along with new spring pads, pockets, strut mounts. The example you're looking at seems to have standard suspension. Ones that have been lowered on stiff springs and shocks can 'mushroom' the strut towers - look it up on google and you'll see what i mean.

No wonder they're so cheap second hand...

Same here - Loving my Dice Silverline DUO kit.

Apparently there is a repair for the vanos knock, It seems quite promising, but also rather labour intensive. Lots of info on Bimmerforums.com about it.