aja540i

I have been thinking and i have a theory about why these units fail like they do.... In my old school e36 (with an accelerator cable) as the throttle butterfly starts to gather a bit of oil and scum it starts to bind slightly when fully closed and it takes a bit of a kick on the go pedal to free it up and get it moving... Now imagine 5 sticking butterflies and you can see why the motor trying to move them starts to draw more current than the driver board was designed to handle and poof the magic smoke gets out!!! It is my intention to remove and thorougly clean all 10 ITBs, i believe this will extend the lifespan of the actuators quite considerably.(at least i hope it will)

I dont think BMW have much of an opinion about this, the unit has worked far longer than the warranty period of the car so its hard to see why they would care...they are in it to make money after all. They did seem quite happy to sell me 2 new units

Update, got the offending actuator out this afternoon, and opened it up....gears are worn as expected, but it also looks like one of the semiconductors on the board has gotten a bit hot under the collar so i will be buying at least one brand new unit.

So, i can get a set of replacement gears for about $250US, or a replacement actuator for about $1500NZ new from BMW. Problem is replacing the gears only seems to fix about 75% of failed units, the rest die electrically, and there doesnt seem to be a reliable way to test the circuit outside of the car, so the replacement gears is a bit of a gamble. I think i will order 1 new actuator and a set of gears so i know i can get back on the road. On the plus side it looks fairly easy to get the units out so i have a good excuse to get elbows deep in my V10!!

I have a roll of that black sticky crap that goes around taillights but doesnt set, you can pull it apart and push it back together, might work for this.

Its not because the adjuster selector switch is in the wrong position? It will only dip when the switch is on one side , not sure which side it is though

Not sure I have enough tape!

Have to disconnect the battery to get actuators out so will probably do at the same time.

Sooo, went to move the M5 this morning and when i started it the dash and hud lit up some some kind of demented christmas tree of doom! Engine in limp mode, reduced power, dsc, start assist, everything with a 3 letter name not working!! Had to move it onto the lawn so i could get the trusty old e39 out, and it felt like the brakes were on, no power, didnt want to rev etc. After i had a little cry i did some internetting and plugged in the bluetooth dongle to read any fault codes, and it looks like probably a dead throttle body actuator, so i am going to have to pull them both out and perform autopsies on them. Has anyone on here done this?

Nah, you probably wont like the sound of it, the M5 will ALWAYS sound better!

I have just ordered the new grilles for this, apparently one side is available in NZ, the other one has to come from Germany, even the guy at BMW was laughing!

Apparently if you start mucking around with the ecu and turbos etc, these will leave the M5 behind.

No sorry, sold it.

Nice.

If you pay for gas and a flight home, i'll bring it down to you, no problem!

The time has finally come to part with my precious, will go on trademe in the next few days... 1999 NZ new e39 540i touring, M62b44tu, 6 speed conversion approx 2 years ago, motor has had new timing chain and guides / tensioners, rear subframe bushes have been done as have both rear air springs. new monroe shocks all round.new radiator. Not a motorsport but has a m/sport steering wheel, front bumper and M5 rep mirrors. 18 inch alloys with good falken tyres, no spare.towbar, xenon lights. Have just done brand new dual mass flywheel, clutch, pressure plate and release bearing. bonnet has just been painted, will have new grilles when sold, will be sold with wof and rego 305XXX km black leather, steel sun roof, tints by tint a car, just had oil and filter change, aftermarket sony cd stereo with pioneer sub (hidden) and jbl speakers, bluetooth, usb aux in, steering wheel controls. $12,000 o.n.o.

Not too sure if its the same but in the e39 if you hold the dsc button for 20 seconds it turns the dsc half on, meaning it will apply the brakes to prevent a skid but it doesnt cut the engine power.

Picked the 540i wagon up from the painter, nice shiny new coat of paint on the bonnet! Something else for the new owner to enjoy now to spend the weekend cleaning it and putting it on trademe....

Does the headunit have a cooling fan in it?

So, everything is back in and tightened up, just waiting for the battery to charge so i can fire it up and see what happens....

Mine did something similar, i replaced the rubber diapraghms in the heater control valve and it fixed it right up.

Cough turbocharging cough!

Got carried away over the weekend and pulled the starter motor out, stripped it down, cleaned, lubricated, and put it all back together. Gearbox went back in this evening with some help from my faithfull assistant/ wife!

It looks like the kind of project i usually end up with!! Probably only worth tackling if you can cut out sheetmetal and replace it yourself, not economical to pay someone to do it.

No, they are blind holes. I used a bottom tap to clean the threads then blew them out with compressed air, probably a bit ocd but its not much extra work.