aja540i

Thanks, I have a decent stack of slightly bent rims here already, but if I run out I'll get back to you!

When I did the clutch in my 540i the whole clutch kit and DMF was about 4k from BMW, they were a bit reluctant to supply it as it was manual converted and they couldn't guarantee it would fit, but it was all good.

I solved this on mine by popping out one of the plastic bungs in the drain holes in the bottom of the boot, I coated it with cavity wax and haven't had any pooling water in there since. I have also cleared the sunroof drains and removed the one way valves from the end of the tubes that clog up with crud over time.

1. Now, I don't have a lot else on today! 2. Once I have done a bit of tweaking and finishing off. Basically done, need to tidy up the front and trim it a bit to fit smaller rims, then powder coat it. Tested with my 4T pump and got this rim within 1.6mm of perfectly round without heat, I suspect a bit of heat and/or a larger pump will take care of the rest!

one of many projects I am finally getting time to work on in level 4 is a wheel straightener that I am putting together. I started about a year ago but have actually made some progress now. Starting point was a front hub from an e39 at pick a part, then a 5mm aluminium spacer to take the place of the absent brake disc, the frame is 150 x 75 PFC ( parallel flange channel) and this holds a small hydraulic ram from a panelbeating kit, I think it is a 10T unit. I cast an aluminium block with a radius to suit about a 14 inch rim, and drilled it to fit the end of the ram. At the back of the ram I have a series of coach bolt heads to hold the ram in place while allowing for vertical adjustment, the front of the ram is held in a pipe saddle clamp that will move up and down in 2 vertical slots and be secured with plastic hand nut things. Behind the back of the ram I have a flat steel surface to attach a magnetic holder for my dial indicator so I can check progress as I go. I am hoping to straighten 3 rims from 3 different sets that I currently have in my driveway, including the one I am using for testing (in the photos) and I am hoping to be able to do it without having to apply heat, but that remains to be seen!

I'm very happy to be in that sub section, it means I tend to prefer more interesting cars, not necessarily better, but more interesting.

What else would you get, really?

I have one on mine, its from a wrecked E60 and bolts straight on, its the Westfalia detachable type and the polystyrene foam inlay in the boot has a slot for the tongue so I assume its meant to have a towbar!! It tows fine if you use manual mode, mine burnt up a bit of clutch but it was moving away from a stop up a steep driveway with a 1.8 tonne digger behind it, its absolutely fine with my small trailer with half cubic metre of builders mix in it.

I would say this is good buying at that price, assuming it is as described. BMW only made 222 of these in rhd so its an opportunity that may not come along again for quite some time, and it is not beyond saving ( get rid of that terrible looking towbar and replace the front bumper) Yes it is more expensive than a sedan, it should be, it is a lot rarer, and yes you could get other arguably better cars for the money, but what you can't get is another naturally aspirated 500hp V10 rear wheel drive station wagon!!

You will need a flywheel on it to start it, i personally wouldn't run an engine on a stand not designed for that (like most cheap engine stands) it is likely to tip over and do some serious damage! You will need a starter motor, ECU and AFM and loom to connect coils etc, it should start and run without an alternator. It will be cheaper to use a standard ECU but is that what you want long term? If you are going to upgrade to a standalone ECU anyway, save the money and use it towards that.

There are design compromises in these motors that contribute to the short lifespan of the bearings, it makes correct servicing and carefull running a bit more important than usual but that won't totally prevent the issues from occurring.

I think mine was about 160k when I had them done, would have been damaging the crank if I had left them any longer.

I have my connection point in the engine bay, a bit easier to do without cutting anything.

Lets say for sake of discussion that the usable life of the battery pack is 15 years, how much would you spend on an old fashioned petrol powered car over that time frame, factoring in all servicing, running, and repair costs? Now how does that compare to the cost of a replacement battery? The difference is that the battery is one big cost, borne by the owner at the time, the petrol running costs are a lot of smaller costs, possibly borne by several different owners. This is one of the things to consider when thinking of going to an EV, but it is not a reason to never do it, although I will forgive anyone for not choosing this particular EV, there are nicer looking KIAs!

Sport suspension and LSD were standard on these i believe.

https://www.ecstuning.com/News/ECS_Insider_New_Bolts_26887/

I got a full set of titanium replacements from ECS tuning, very happy with them, if you want my original ones you can have them, but they are very rusty.

They tow very well, I usually use manual mode or turn the SMG up to a more aggressive setting so it's not riding the clutch as much, and of course put it in P500 to compensate for the extra weight,!! 😉

Seems like a reasonable price, check those receipts for a clutch, it's 5k and if it hasn't been done it will need doing soon, I assume it's a UK import like mine so a good underbody check is sensible and don't buy it if the purchase price is your total budget, these still have supercar running costs, but.... If it is what will make you smile then that's got to be worth something right,!!

yes a faulty regulator could possibly cause a battery drain, depending on how it has failed, you also need to consider whether the faulty regulator killed the battery, or did a knackered battery kill the regulator?

I've left mine in so far, BMW put it there for a reason and its not that hard to keep it working.

Does it have an egr system still in it? If so, there should be a thermostat that controls it which can give up, might be worth doing .

Hmm, I take mine to Whangarei regularly, I should probably expect to get pulled over for the same reason!!

The numbers in the middle column are what they are aiming for, first number is the perfect number, second is the acceptable range either side of perfect. Green means it is within that range, red means it is not. I can't tell you if those numbers are "normal" for your car, but they are outside the manufacturers recommended range!