Arma

If it ever drops down, or isn'tsolid at 12 after about 5 minutes, there is something wrong with the thermostat - Like I say - for it to read 11 oclock, it would only be running at about 60-70 degrees - it will richen the mixture at that point. It's a common E39 thing.

Scanning won't show anything, unless the thermostat electronics are poked (which is common too).

Check the OBC - you can't screw anything dramatic up - especially if you follow the instructions.

I'd be looking to replace the thermstat based on what you've said. They crap out one way or another pretty often anyway!

Thanks. Will try monitor the secret OBC menu temperature values to see if it looks a bit off.

Can the thermostat in e39s be changed without removing the fan?

Even doing 30k trip you should be getting better fuel consumption than that mine did no worse than 735k to a tank of gas 95 oct and 750k on 98 open road running and not being nanny

From cold start up how long, distance wise does it take for the temp gauge to reach it's normal reading? The thermostat on my old 2001 530 had electrically connection to the DME and this failed so instead of operating temp being reached very quickly, less than 2k it took some time to reach operating temp replaced the thermostat and problem solved.

Have you checked the idle control valve these get sticky and can jam.

Vacuum lines/ air lines, I found two rubber plugs at the back of the inlet manifold one of these had gone hard and split open plus the take off from the main air intake has a plastic plug outlet for a couple of hoses check their just a thought.

Engine breathe tubing had one split down by the dip stick.

Just a few other items if not already mentioned

MAF on the way out, air filter, spark plugs, crap in the air box, inlet ducting.

Thanks for the info. It took between 20 and 30km before the temp gauge was at normal reading (12 oclock). Probably should make a list and take it in to check the few possibilities out - haven't got the tools (nor the experience for some of the things) to DIY at home.

If your commute is stop/start and low speed (and low gears) it'll use a fair bit of fuel but highway cruising should be better than 12L/100 unless you're driving up hill the whole time!

Definitely worth checking some of things suggested above. Does it idle rough when cold? Quite a few folks reckon perished vanos seals can be responsible for poor consumption and other issues. I never got to them on my 528i but worked my way through all the cheaper stuff first - thermostat, vacuum hoses, injector seals, etc. Would have done Vanos too eventually if I'd kept the car and plan to do it on the 540i in the next couple of months as I need to replace valve cover gaskets soon anyway to fix an oil leak.

Hopefully the complete vanos overhaul and replacing all of the gaskets recommended on the Beisan website will give the engine a new lease of life. Not cheap to do but worth it IMO to give the car the best chance of doing another 200,000+ mms of trouble free motoring!

Nice , best keep that big engine happy!

I usually drive at 930 in the morning so theres almost no stop-start traffic from my place to the city (about 95% of the way I am doing 100 without having to stop) - so I should really be getting better than 12L/100km if others get so much less on open road, with thirstier engines. Not sure if this means anything but the temperature gauge on the dash takes quite a while to reach the 12 oclock position. I drove a whole 30km from my place to city and it stayed on or just before the first mark on the gauge (which is located at about 10 oclock). Once I drove around the city a bit, it finally reached 12oclock position. Maybe it's just the cold weather?

I asked all the same questions when I got my 528i. Turns out after a lot of analysis and a fair bit of expense, that nothing was wrong. They're just really thirsty if you do a lot of stop/start city driving. I'd be lucky to get 18L/100 around town as I was doing a lot of short 5-10 minute drives from cold starts. As soon as she was on the open road would get 7-8L/100.

Just got to go with it if you live in the city, I'm afraid. I only really use the 540i now as a weekender. Don't really need a daily anymore as work is 2mins walk from home and would rather not have to worry about fuel consumption because I want to enjoy my drives!!

When I had the car I was thinking the same thing, really high consumption.

After thinking about it a bit, I was always doing short drives to work/uni from cold so it chewed through the fuel.

I drive from Flat Bush -> City for work and back everyday (about ~30km one way) and even on highway cruising I seemed to be getting 12+. No way have I ever gotten 7-8/100 on open road. Maybe it's just the way it is - moving to city soon anyway, so might get higher but gotta travel a shorter distance so would be spending less .

You may find the thermostat is poked and it's not warming up correctly (the dash gauge won't reflect this is most situations - it shows normal from about 70-75C, upto 115C at least).

Our 525i manual gets 10.4 in our normal around town commute stuff (Kindy, library etc) and I can get 7.0 on a run (though usually more like 8L/100kms with the family and all the gear.

You can check the coolant temp (KTMP) on the secret OBC menu. An M54 powered E39 should be running in the 90's most of the time, generally mid to high 90's, but as low as high 80's if being driven hard.

You can Google how to do it, depends on whether you have high or low obc (text display or picture of a car under speedo)

I have high obc and have yet to try to unlock it (scared of destroying something). Might have it scanned properly soon and have a look at the spark plugs (even though that's just one of many things that could be causing this..). I've noticed sometimes the temperature dial isn't always at the centre (12 oclock) but sometimes slightly less (around 11 oclock) - but I don't know if this is even related as this does not always happen (e.g. it stayed centred the whole way home this evening).

Note car has done about 98xxx km's now.

Come to think of it my 520i has been getting some pretty high fuel consumption as well...

get it scanned. Hopefully that should tell you something.

But from memory the ECU uses inputs from the MAF & 02 sensors to trim fuel maps. But anything from old spark plugs or crap fuel could affect.

But you are right. I regularly get 10l/100 in my M5 cruisin @ 100kph on the motorway, 14-15 on average when i hammer it and usually 600km out of a tank.

Have had it 'quick scanned' (not the one that lasts 20 minutes or something) less than a month ago and only fault was the exhaust cam sensor, which I replaced. Had no faults since. Ray did a quick scan at the CSL meet, no faults there either. I guess I should have a full diagnostic scan done (that covers everything) to be able to pick up on this?

You getting 10l/100 on your m5 - yeah something's got to be off with mine . Hope it's just spark plugs..

What kind of fuel consumption (litres per 100km) are e39 530i's generally supposed to be getting, because mine seems to always be higher than what most people say I should get with this car. To test I filled my tank up, and for the next couple weeks I drove as calm and softly as I can with no crazy acceleration etc. and I still never seem to get under 12L/100km. I used an app to keep track of my fuel usage by recording my odometer readings and how much I refuel to full tank each time and it has always stirred close to, if not over, 13L/100km and occasionally close to 14L/100km when I drove a bit more spiritedly. Here are some of my recent fuel ups:

8/06/2013 - Refuelled after travelling 309km - 12.94L/100km

31/05/2013 - Refuelled after travelling 322km - 13.87L/100km

26/05/2013 - Refuelled after travelling 92km - 12.87L/100km

25/05/2013 - Refuelled after travelling 469km - 14.02L/100km

18/05/2013 - Refuelled after travelling 325km - 14.93L/100km !

Those close to 14L or over 14L are when I drive a bit more spiritedly but only slightly. It is not even close to thrashing or anything - generally shifting at 3k-4k rpm. Those under 13L are when I drive calmly in 'D' with shifts at 2k-2.5k rpm.

Most people have been telling me fuel consumption should be better than this - should they? Or is there something that might be causing my fuel consumption to be higher than usual (MAF sensor, spark plugs etc. etc.) ? The only non stock part of the car I know is one of the mufflers (located near the centre of the car) has been taken out and straight pipes put in instead, and there are twin exhaust tips, opposed to the single stock one - not sure if this would effect it.

That sync tray sounds like it would be a good solution to this, although you may need a few for so many iPads.

If you are referring to updates to iOS then this [rather old] guide below might be useful if you end up having to update the iPads one by one. I'm not sure how accurate it would be relative to the latest iPad/iOS. Idea is to not download the update for all 80 iPads but instead download it once, save the update file and re-use it with the other iPads - you'd be surprised how much time this can save especially if the download size is large:

http://ipadacademy.com/2011/04/ipad-tutori...sion-of-the-ios

I can't promise a lot of my time but can have a look at the issue if you need an extra pair of eyes. I'm a web developer and have experience in PHP as well as IPB forums.

Nice one, that looks pretty neat now!

I saw some people had used Neffy Wrap for that CF look so was considering doing that to one of my e39s, but not sure how good they are (photos looked good). Perhaps the silver neffy wrap would be a decent alum trim alternative. Black one looks cool too. Can get the wraps here:

http://neffywrap.com/

Drive shaft coupling I think and yes, pretty common after 100kms+. I got a brand new one for my 528i from Milland for about $80 delivered.

But I haven't reached 100k yet!

Sweet thanks. Hopefully it will last a bit longer until I do my next service.

i have a few sets 16" 17" 18" 19" from $400-900 a set

No intention to hi-jack the thread, but, Brent, you wouldn't happen to have any photos of some of those 17/18/19 wheels would you?

You could find better things to spend your money on than pod filters and intakes for these two cars; whether it's on car-related things or not.

Agreed.

Although if you are still adamant about getting a pod filter, turner motorsport had some non-oiled (dry) aFE ones I *think* from what I had a glimpse of last time I was browsing. Never used one of these and no idea of what outcome you would get from installing them other than a slight change in sound.

Replaced the brackets for the sway bar. Replaced both brackets (1 was missing anyway, disappeared after breaking off): 1 bracket ordered new (by Glenn) and 1 used (from Brent). Also got a pair of new links from Brent and had those fitted in by Brock at Botany Motorworx. Apparently disconnecting the link was a tad bit annoying since the axle was in the way.

Took it for a drive afterwards and can definitely feel an improvement during cornering. Body roll reduced a lot so no more hugging the door cards during left turns etc. Car feels a lot more flat during faster turns (took a drive around Whitford road between Howick and Beachlands). I'm sure it would improve a fair bit with thicker sway bars but I think this is good enough for me, for now.

Pics:

While the parts were being fitted, noticed this donut thing (what's it called? Is it the prop-shaft coupling thing) starting to split/crack/damage (apparently common):

That would need replacing during next service advised by Glenn.

Been meaning to call you regarding the mirrors. Will try give you a call tomorrow if you still have them and can come pick up anytime between 11 and 2 if you are free.

well currently your rear bar wouldn't be working very well, if at all.

I'd tend to agree, get yours fixed then see if it doesn't meet your requirements.

I've changed sway bars for racecars for about a 1.5mm change because they were getting too much understeer. But we are talking a racecar & on the limit handling, chasing lap times. That was a cheap fix comparatively.

I doubt you will really feel this on a road car, but it depends how you drive it I guess.

Cool, thanks Darren. Probably will take it in somewhere just to make sure it is only the links/rubber mounts I would need then decide on whether to get the original or after market ones.

Think the best option for now would be to get some new brackets. Ray suggested sticking with the same sway bar as well. Only decision to make is whether to get the normal BMW ones again (new) or some stronger aftermarket ones . Would there be much difference in driving experience (around turns and what not) once new brackets are put in place of the broken ones?

Great photos ... do you mind if I share these on other forums?

Thanks, go for it

This belong to anyone in the community?

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/...n-599897461.htm

Since I had a bunch of photos, figured it'd be better to make a separate thread than to spam so many images onto the original meeting topic. These are the ones I managed to take while at Cornwall park. Feel free to post your photos as well, I know many of you took some.

Originally, your car had S705A M sports suspension II, which has the 15mm rear bar. Same as mine. I see no reason why it would have been changed previously.

Ah I had no idea. Thought the M Sports suspension II only came for 2002-2003 e39s. Yeah in that case I'd have the 15mm. Gonna make some calls to see what options I have to getting the 16.5mm bar and parts.

As title states, looking for the 16.5mm e39 m5 rear sway bar to install into my e39 530i msport. Would be awesome if it came with the brackets and rubber mounts (in good condition) as well.

Also looking for some bushes to suit these if anyone has.

Cheers

BM Workshop quoted $550 (or something close) + GST for all the parts (new) required - bar, rubber mounts, brackets, not sure about bushes. Seems a bit more expensive than what I've seen elsewhere.

you'd probably be better PM'in Ray from Hellbm he's a sponsor on this forum.

I'd say he would have a better price on a second hand bar. It's not like you really need a new rear sway bar. Anyone old 16.5mm one will do.

Then you just need to replace the bushes. I have some new(ish) brackets if you want 'em.

Yup. Went to BM Workshop cause I was at repco (which is right next to the Grey Lynn BM Workshop ) so went in to find out how much new parts would cost. Probably will give Ray a pm regarding the parts. Would probably be a good idea to get new brackets though wouldn't it (seeing as they can break).