aja540i

More new goodies, $470 worth of gas struts for the tailgate!! Investigated the handbrake issue, the shoes have plenty of meat on them, but have big grooves all the way around and cracks across the surface so it will be getting new ones, also found a boost gauge in storage, so it will get that as well More cleaning inside, starting to reassemble the interior, still needs a new drivers seat belt, but have started the wood grain delete...

Gave it a good wash and it came up very slightly less terrible... Also some new pollen filters arrived

Not if I wanted the redline to actually mean anything!!

If you need to cut it give me a yell, I have a plasma cutter that will make holes in it!

did the rounds of Pick a part this afternoon, got a replacement steering wheel for $29, same 4 spoke wheel but MUCH nicer condition, a few bits of trim, and a donor instrument cluster to change the original from MPH to KPH, I'm leaving the MPG on the economy gage to trigger those who prefer their miles In metric!!

Just grind some notches in the sway bar, will be mint as bro!

Diesel leak sorted ( hopefully) also removed all the crud from the fuel cooler and its pipe, vacuum cleaner is earning its pay on this one!!

Just cleaned 22 years worth of shite out of the egr valve, seems to still be working, I will hook it up to some vacuum tomorrow to make sure the diaphragm is intact, chuck a new vacuum hose on it and it can go back in. Also found the diesel leak, inlet hose to the high pressure pump, so will sort that before the manifold goes back on, slow but good progress!

So swirl flaps are not an issue, doesn't have any, never did! thick, black, gunk on the other hand, it has plenty of!!

Its seems they are either quite slack or far too over the top, it would be nice to have more consistency. I have been using Continental BMW and they do a great job on WOFs.

It appears that it has had a set of shocks, but about 10 years ago! No evidence of any other suspension work....handles like 22 year old suspension. I will start on those bits once it is road legal.

Old vs new! At some stage I will replace it with the cyclone type, but this will do for now.

no, the 540 was Biarritz Blau, this is Orient blau, quite a bit darker. Yes the Mrs is distracted by her Lamborghini for now, but I suspect this will come up again in the future!! Have you finished the Defender yet?

Definitely the old type, possibly the original part from1998, black, crunchy, foul smelling mess! 2ill upgrade to the new design part. Still has the egr and I can't see but I'm guessing the swirl flaps as well.

Started on the most pressing issue, there is an issue with the selector / key link cable and it won't release the key when in park, so the key can't be turned off and removed, removed centre console and steering column covers to sort it. Bonus cassette in the stereo!! Plays right through, both sides! Interior is absolutely filthy but not in bad shape otherwise. Edit: fixed, interlink cable adjusted, keys turns off and can be removed!

E60/61 M5 clutch and flywheel done by BMW was $5k.

I am aware they can die, but it is doing everything it should at the moment so I will give it a service and hope for the best!

awesome thanks, when its all legal you can take it for a spin!

Thats what I am assuming, it has had a lot of oil changes but not much else in terms of maintenance. It will also be interesting to count the swirl flaps.....

Not sure that fun is the best choice of words but something will begin! Just reading through the service history, came to nz around 2003, has had 4 sets of front brake rotors and 3 skims!! Will start with basics, wof issues, polish headlights, slow leak in tyre, etc, then check on swirl flaps, egr, and turbo. It smokes like hell when its cold, nice blue oil smoke, so that will need sorting....

Picked up my newest old toy today, 1998 e39 530d touring, ex Ireland import, 197k Miles, no wof, no reg, started a list of what needs doing to turn it into a road legal, reliable tow mule, 1) EVERYTHING!! will start with a thorough cleaning inside and out and go from there....

Keep an eye out for a second hand BOC branded machine, they pop up on trade me from time to time, we have 3 BOC machines at work and I have 2 at home, they just don't give any problems. Consumable parts are also easy to get for them. Higher duty cycle is worth paying a bit more for, it is a good indicator of how ruggedly built the machine is. I haven't got experience with any of the combo mig / tig machines but 180 amps should be plenty for what you want to do, it will run 0.8mm mig wire and you will be able to make holes in things!! Any machine that size will need a 15amp plug to output full power.

You will need a pressure pump to supply water to it, so the filter should be on the intake of that pump, flow is a bit on the low side, but still far better than any diy electric job!

Didn't fail the WOF on them, just mentioned it on the check sheet.

Took the M5 for its WOF last week only to be told the rear brakes disc's were on the wrong sides! Continental offered to swap them for me, for $300! 1 hour on Saturday and they were back where they should be. They must have been like that for the whole time I have owned the car because I haven't ever had them off! Before... after...