Arma

Yeah, looks like e60. Meh. I'll grab some oem ones tomorrow. Thinking of plasti dipping them - do I need to sand them prior to plasti dipping or can I just plasti dip directly on top of the chrome? Assuming it will need at least a few coatings of plasti dip on the chrome.

Turns out i ordered the wrong grills, doh. Will just buy some oem ones now and paint them. And then probably sell these ones after i figure out which model they are for..

Second box of toys have arrived.

Have always referred to this guide for my engine: http://www.beisansystems.com/procedures/vanos_procedure.htm I mean, I'd love to be able to do the job myself but it looks pretty involved so feel a pro should do it instead. Taking the vanos unit apart just sounds risky to me (noob). The reason I want to get it done is because there seems to be oil leaking from the Vanos. Perhaps it is just the gasket, but perhaps not. So may end up getting it done by a pro. Also, does Besian systems still sell the kit? It's on their website, just wondering whether they are still operating. Are there any alternative seals kits?

Yeah I know what you mean. I got little bits of oil falling on my exhaust cps, but not sure whether it's from vanos or something else. I replaced the valve cover gaskets couple months ago as it was dripping oil onto exhaust manifold, but that's sorted now so can't be that (I hope ).

So I know a lot of m54 (and m52, m62 etc.) owners do the Vanos seals job to deal with the leaks and Vanos rattle and I hear it's a pretty expensive job labour-wise. My question is, I've seen a lot of rebuilt vanos units that be bought and shipped here for ~$300-400 total. Is it worth buying a completely rebuilt unit and installing it or actually getting the Vanos seals job done (by a mechanic, assume you have no mechanical expertise)? How hard of a job is it to just install the Vanos unit? So no taking it apart to do the seals or anything since it's already rebuilt. Example rebuilt unit: https://www.turnermotorsport.com/ShoppingCart.aspx?add=true&ReturnUrl=showproduct.aspx%3fProductID%3d5776

Just ordered an OEM radiator. Figured may as well go ahead and replace that while everything is out - can't be stuffed having all the cooling parts taken out so many times to replace 1 part at a time... Yep, mine is pretty much black as well, and the gasket is probably bad too cause there seems to be oil leaking around that area slightly.

First box of toys arrived this morning.

Took a few pics this afternoon. Removed most of the nose and drained the coolant. There was some coolant leak (based on missing coolant) but not much - couldn't figure out where it leaked from... maybe the drain point. Radiator looks fine though. Noticed some coolant seaping from one of the small hoses under the radiator on the right side of the car (undamaged side). Not sure which hose this is exactly but perhaps needs replacing. But from the looks of it, i might be able to actually drive it after the panelbeater repairs are done. Though, will probably take it to get all the maintenance stuff done straight away, including replacing all the parts I bought recently (refer to my project thread). Have taken some photos of chassis damage. Haven't had this much of a clear view of the chassis damage until now, so here it is for those that are curious: And here's the bumper shock area where most of the impact force probably traveled through: Didn't think I could fit everything in the car (apart from bonnet ofcourse), but turned out I could: Estimated to take a couple weeks to fix - hopefully earlier but we'll see. Miss driving her!

Yeah :S. They pretty much said it wouldn't be under 1000. Schmiedmann quoted similar. Ebay was a 100 bux for shipping and arrived in under 2 weeks. Yeah I'm trying to get involved where I can (when not at work!). A good lesson. Shane will be hiring the jig for Monday, so going to drop off the parts today. No idea how long the actual repair is going to take.

Ah, actually I should try that before ordering. Waiting for the inpa cable I ordered still but might end up pinging you for setup help at some point. Yeah, I was told by some other peeps I know that these fit well. But yeah you never know - might end up getting some genuine ones here if those fail.

Apart from the crapload of stuff I had to get to fix the crash (http://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/50725-e39-530i-crash/), ordered a few parts for maintenance/cosmetic stuff from ECStuning: Upper and lower radiator hoses (kind of due to crash... upper one looked squashed. Lower is fine from crash but aging and hasn't been replaced) Parking brake shoes. Been due for a replacement for a while, they barely hold and I need hulk strength to get clicks when pulling the brake lever. Dunno if I need new cables for this? Can get new ones here if i do Hawk HPS 5.0 Performance Brake Pads set (rear) - will likely need rear rotors too so will order genuine bmw ones locally Hawk HPS Compound Performance Brake Pads set (front) Platinum White H7 Halogen Bulb - Pair (High beams) HB4/9006 Super White Halogen Bulb - Pair (Fog lights) .. just to match the white car, never liked the yellow/amber Gloss black kidney grilles from ECS that I'm told actually fit well unlike a lot of aftermarket ones Other thing(s) I will get in the next couple weeks: Transmission filter kit (filter, gasket and whatever else required) - transmission oil is currently yuck so pretty much needs a serviceThings to do in the very near future: Diagnostic scan (perhaps will do it myself once my inpa/ediabas interface arrives) Fix small oil leak coming from the Vanos area and falling close to the exhaust cam position sensor - perhaps a full Vanos seal job? Replace rain sensor behind rear-view mirror. Doesn't sense anything atm. New tires

Oh cool. I was planning on just doing it all on a VM running xp in one of my laptops. I've ordered a INPA/Ediabas cable so waiting for that to arrive. Have read quite a few docs that say that most of the stuff can be down on 64 bit win7 running the appropriate apps in XP compatibility mode. So will try that out. If all else fails I might get in touch with you! On another note - how painful is the setup of the software?

So apparently my m5 bumper (and aftermarket mesh w/ brake ducts) have already landed in NZ awaiting the courier. Kind of faster than I expected... Also just ordered a bunch of maintenance stuff off ecstuning but I'll leave that for my project thread.

Woah that sounds like a pretty awesome increase... Although I've not done a remap, a lot of people have recommended Gavin @ Hi-Velocity (assuming he's till doing remaps)

Think it's the same one, used to be up for like 75k earlier in the year. Very awesome, apart from the wood trim : http://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/49514-bmw-alpina-b5-e60/

Yeah have been meaning to get more serious into the stuff, but just haven't got around to it. I'm a programmer so figured that may help.

How does the steering/handling feel in the e31 compared to the e39?

Sweet thanks. I was actually tempted to go down the NCS Expert route at some point, so might end up doing that instead .

That is so sexy.

Hey, For anyone that's interfaced with e39 (using whatever software) - do we have to use K-Line cables or can D-CAN work as well; I know e39's are not d-can but I hear that d-can cables are backward compatible to K-line? Anyone have experience with this?

Yep that will have to be the plan. Yea, don't think I've got a 32 bit OS running anywhere though. I believe that scanner relies on 32 bit OS, specifically XP. Or can someone confirm it works on 64-bit Win7 fine? Thanks for the help guys.

My 520 has the manual headlight adjuster with the little wheel, but my 530 seems to have to automatic one (I only assume this because whenever I turn the head light low beams on, after 2 seconds they adjust automatically and move slightly upwards). From what I read, there's not too much of an issue if the car comes with the headlight adjusters, so am hoping mine will just work plug and play. Still not sure whether I need to take it to the dealership to recode it to know i'm using Xenons.

I have a pair of Xenon headlights, so would replace both of my headlights. These are the entire headlights, not a retrofit kit.

Will there be problems with the leveling when I install Xenons? Since my halogens are self leveling - will the leveling work with Xenons, or do they behave differently? Just dont want to hook them up and then have one headlight pointing up and one pointing down, with no way for me to adjust them.