lemusa

I did a google and didn't realise that the M5 brakes are quite a bit bigger. I guess bigger brakes + bigger wheels < ducks

That is a bizzare engineering decision by our German friends. I'm guessing it's the same for US models as well as FCP would be supplying US spec parts.

Grill swapped. Was much more of a pain that I anticipated but got it done. The M5 grill supplied by FCP has the brake ducts blocked except for some small holes, not sure of the reason but it's not a race car so I'm not too worried. It was also a good chance to clean some of the grime off the bumper but that just revealed even more stone chips ? Also removed the rear badges. I've got more M badges coming in chrome and in black. I think I'll wait until I see them before deciding which to use. My plan for the car cosmetically is to black out as much as I can so leaning towards black.

So apparently the ballast has to go back to the supplier before they can release the replacement. They offered to sell me a replacement and then credit it back once the warranty process is complete but I'll give it a week and see what happens. Cameron at BM Parts has been super cool to deal with though so they get my recommendation. Also going to take the car to Eurocare next week for a scan and see if they can nail down what's causing the ABS trifecta. I'm assuming the ABS module but my speedo etc are still working fine so I'm not 100% sure. I have a spare module from my old car so hopefully that's compatible if it is the module. Pic was taken about 10mins after the low beam headlight warning came back on ?

I drive a diesel daily so had to check out this magical 100+ and see what it's all about. Are there any annual meets up in Welly? I don't have any close contacts there so would only drive up with a mate for a decent weekend of cars and beers. Have a long to do list to complete first though. p.s. The new headlight ballast died on the weekend so have sent back on warranty. Would of had less than an hour on it. Hopefully they can diagnose and replace with no drama.

I have a few different types of foam tape at work that have accumulated over the years. Widths vary from 12mm to 200mm and it's between 18m and 50m per roll. They are destined for the skip eventually, unless I find another use for them, so if anyone wants to give them a go I'm happy to fire a few rolls out for courier cost. It's not 3M but a Chinese "3M equivalent" so take that for what it is. We used to to use if on aluminium extrusions and panels in exterior applications and had no problems. PM me if interested.

Car looks mint! Don't tell us what the right price is for your E39. I'm justifying my spending on the E39 with the knowledge that it still cost less than your original asking price haha. As soon as I pass that point I might start pestering you again ?

That's a weird one. I didn't know that the facelift headlights came with halogens. Does the housing still have the mounts for the ballast?

Fairly productive evening tonight. Got the oil and filter changed as well as plugs, air filter, cabin filters and windscreen seal. Plugs didn't look too bad but just idling in the garage I noticed a significant change in throttle response off idle. Enough that I'm convinced there is no placebo effect anyway! I filled it up with 100 plus from NPD prior as well. Not sure if I'll see any gains but I hadn't put any petrol in it since I got it so I have no idea what was in it. Hoping to get fuel filter done tomorrow, in hindsight I should have done that while I had the fuel light on ?‍♂️ Cylinders 3 and 4 had a bit of oil around them so looks like I'll be in for a new gasket in the not too distant future. Bit weird cos they were very recently replaced so maybe something got pinched. The history with the car only had 1 coil replacement recorded but looks like 5 have been replaced. While I was changing oil I pulled the undertray and had a good look around for sources of my leaks. There was more fluid than I hoped to see but the main source appears to be power steering. I trimmed the hoses down at the resovoir as there was an obvious leak there which was running down the hoses but I think the banjo seals are buggered so I'll probably add a line kit to my shopping list. It doesn't look like that will be much fun to replace... There is an oil leak on the front somewhere. I can see some out of the cam sensor on bank 2 but I don't think it's bad enough to explain the build up on the undertray. I've cleaned the undertray with degreaser so will pull it again in a month or so and see how bad it really is. I think rear main is also leaking but I have no intention of tackling that. Oil's cheap enough haha. The windscreen seal went in ok. Wasn't the easiest job but soapy water helped. Found it was a lot easier to position the glass side of the seal first then push it in. I'm also happy that the new seal covers the shitty masking line from the roof respray. Forgot to take a before photo but the rubber was probably 50% missing. Also fitted the center console box thing. The colour isn't a perfect match which was a bit of a disappointment but looks tidier than what I had. Also full transparency...my fix for the quarter window sunshade didn't hold up to my 3 year old daughter who was "supervising" from the back seat ? It at least has enough tension left in it that it will stay clipped in place so I can live with it for a while. And she now knows that Daddy's car is fragile.

All set for the weekend. Still can't get over how reasonable priced FCP is. Also brought one of these, thought I'd have a crack at an M5 bumper conversion.

I think you're over estimating my upholstery skills haha. I'm a little bit torn on the badge. I like the M only and 540i only but not the combo. Seeing as the M is faded I might take that off first.

I only made this thread because @adro said I should ?. As far as the forum goes I quite like the small community. Obviously I'm fairly new but the people here all seem civilized and there's a reasonably high standard of grammar used. Unlike Facebook for example. Thanks. So I should keep the faded badge for the purity? Thanks but shipping would be a killer. Perhaps you could cut out a square of the area I need? ?

Cheer up fella's! If I spot a good seat prior to doing something about it myself I'll go that route but I'll let you know what I end up doing either way so someone can claim victory. My FCP order is currently stuck in Honolulu. Hoping to have before the weekend but losing hope. I've also decided I'm going to order a chain tensioner as I've watched too many scary youtube videos ?

Will see if anything comes up. The two cars at pick a part both had rubbish rear seats otherwise I would of grabbed one. Learning is half the fun and I have no experience with leather care. $100 of product and I can repair my current seat and have the gear on the shelf to patch up any future problems.

There are few how to's out there but basically just remove cluster and split it to get access to the needles. I didn't remove them, with my hand propped against a flat surface I could very carefully run the paint pen (like this one) down each needle. I was aiming to get it in one pass so it didn't show any uneven spots with the lights on. If you muck it up just wipe off and try again. From start to finish it was a 15-20min job. Others have used red sharpies which would probably be easier as you don't have the risk of paint dripping on the instrument decal! Just spotted your comment about FibreNew. I'll check him out. Cheers!

But then I wouldn't learn anything ?. Thanks for the tip on cup holders. Are the febi ones stiff enough to hold a maccas cup? I've always found anything more than a coffee is asking for trouble.

@Olaf It's just scuffing. There is no cracks anywhere that I've found. I think the pic below is fairly colour accurate but from what I've googled it might be the Anthrazit F046. I'll do some more Googling. Thanks for your help! Today, instead of re-pailing the fence, I took two photos of the car parked in front of it ?

Thanks man! Are you familliar with what colour matches the E39 leather? Maybe F029 or F038?

From what I've read there's 3 different armrest types but only one has the storage underneath. I hope you realised it was LHD before you had it all dismantled! I'm looking at cup holder options, the stock ones are just too useless. I can't find any RHD ones though so I might have a go at something like jeffbebe did here:

Made a trip to pick a part today and grabbed these for $38. Nice straight forward upgrade to get rid of the redundant mobile phone. There is just enough room under the center console to feed the plug and antenna back down. I've got a new box coming from FCP and that will complete my centre console repairs. While I was there I replaced the cigarette lighter tray thing. Mine was stuck open. I could of possibly fixed it as it's just a little rod missing but seeing as I had a good one I just threw that in. I also fixed the rear quarter window privacy screen. Forgot to take photos but basically I just bridged the broken plastic at the bottom with the hot glue gun and sealed it in place with super glue. Time will tell if it holds up but at least for now the screen isn't hanging loose. And finally my crued fix for the cabin filter duct. Was suprisingly easy to remove the duct so I could tape right around it. There was only one at pick a part but it's a 96 model and the clip is different. My tape held up for the 20km round trip so should hold up until I can find a good duct. All completed with the company of Supercars. Man I've missed this.

Thanks. I got one off BM Parts. It's aftermarket, it had Hella written on the cardboard box but nothing on the unit itself. It works though so all good!

I do like the M badge but mines faded so I'll remove them all and see if I like it.

Tonight I gave the interior a decent wipe down and gave the leather a quick once over with some conditioner I had on the shelf. Happy with how it came up except for the back seat having a bit of a worn patch. I'll have to get googling a patch up for that. Also did a quick dash mod. I did this on my last one as well and quite like how it cleans up the dashboard. I had a set of rings already but lost the little ones ?‍♂️. This will do for now. Used a paint pen for needles. Probably thicker than it needs to be but it came out nice and even with the lights on. Maybe not to everyones taste but I think it's an improvement over the white. Now I'm basically waiting for the FCP order to show up. They reckon I'll have it on the 18th.

Yeah badge delete is on the cards. I actually still have the ABS unit from my old wrecked e39. Not sure if they're the same across all years though as my last one was a 98. I'll start with bleeding them first and go from there. Euro plates would be nice but that's down the line.

Hi All, Here's my newly aquired e39. I had a 98 540i many years ago but a Corolla sent that to it's grave in Easter 2014. Since then I've only owned another commodore which was then sold when company cars came along. I've been passively looking for a weekend toy for a while and this one came up in Christchurch, originally the seller was asking $3800 but with no wof or reg and a list of things required. I initally gave it a miss but it came back up with most of the work completed so I gave it a second chance. In the end I purchased it with no wof on Thursday and, one ballast replacement later, it passed it's first wof since April 2018 this morning. 205k's on the clock. The Good: Drives quiet and smooth. Interior is in reasonable shape. Exterior is straight and only minor scratches. Full service history up to 2016. Trans rebuilt at 152k. Minimal oil leaks, the power steering reservoir is the main culprit I think. The Bad: Bonnet and roof were recently resprayed. Kinda looks like they did it in a corn field during harvest... Unknown service history from 2016-present (except what previous did to it which included manifold gaskets, PCV, couple of suspension pieces and steering arm.) Car had sat for at least a year. Exact details on the last couple of years are a little vague. Plenty of small trim items to repair/replace. ABS light comes on occasionally. Brakes are a little spongey so hoping a full fluid replacement solves this. Passenger's side cabin air duct is broken at the filter housing so it's sucking from engine bay. Timing chain guides haven't been touched (tensioner has been replaced though). I've got a few things on the way from FCP including a maintenance kit. The oil was last changed at 178k (that I know of) and I'm not sure if it's been touched before or after it sat. Will do a full service excluding trans. To Do List (in no particular order? Full service including brake bleed/ Replace cabin air duct. Fix power steering leak. White "angel eyes" (low beams are already 6000k). Fix seat twist problems (driver and passenger!). Fit new windscreen seal. Replace stereo unit with aftermarket. Most likely a Chinese Dinan knock off. Remove car phone and replace with something that provides storage. M5 Grill Get sun visor lights working Dye parcel tray back to black Get decent radio reception back Respray bonnet and bumper Fix ABS trifecta I'll get some better pics once I've given it a proper clean up. A couple of the pics attached are the seller's from FB. Cheers! Sam My old 1998 e39 540i. Had done around 155kms at time of death.