charles28

So finally got around to giving the car a wash and taking a couple of pics showing the new front bumper. Can tell that I need to line it up a bit better on the drivers side, but its not too bad.

Not actually sure sorry, as my method of payment was a 24 pack of Heineken.

Front Bumper painted, sitting in the spray booth.

hehe, usually the total claim payout doesn't exceed the price / value of the car anyway... I might look at E60's perhaps, but they seem to be 20k + for one I want

I guess its only an option if I purchase a mechanical warranty with a generous claim limit. Of course they would probably argue that it was a wear item, due to it being suspension related.

These W211 E500's seem rather cheap. Ie: http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=811268790 (cheapest) http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=811269991 (Newer 7 Speed autobox) http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=819602137 (Lowest K's) Most also come with Harman Kardon Logic 7 Audio in these models.. But..whats the catch? these seem like a lot of car for the money. for some reason the same cars in Christchurch at 2x the price too, infact I could get an E55 Amg in Auckland for the price of one of these E500's in Christchurch. The E55 AMG is tempting, but I do 400-500k a week, and read that the normal model is a lot more economical. I'd imagine the handling isn't as good as my E39 530i Motorsport, but straight line power would be a lot more impressive, thanks to the 225kw V8. ie. http://www.zeperfs.com/en/match986-1125.htm

Its quite common on newer cars. Even the old Mk3 Golf VR6 has a plastic valve cover, (which I removed today due to the useless plastic timing chain guide breaking, which then caused the chain to jump a tooth or too resulting in the engine sounding like: Yes.. cars come with plastic timing chain guides too sometimes, what a clever idea. Basically.. the plastic parts are always the first to cause issues with any euro car i've owned.. whether it be the cooling system, valve cover..oil separation valve and associated hoses.. a lot of the rubber parts also become hard and stock working correctly, but i suspect a lot of newer japanese cars now feature a lot of the same plastics. I have replaced ALL of these items on my E39 now. (not the timing chain guides, not sure if they are even plastic on the E39 530i)

Yes the actual valve cover is plastic, its a silly design. I had to buy a brand new one at a cost of $500 as mine was warped.

The Valve covers are crap plastic and crack if you try and tighten the bolts much over 7 foot pounds. Its likely a vacuum leak. Did you put Sealant on the 1/2 Circle bits?

I think you would have regretted selling it for 10k, its worth more than that.

Its all good, I used the part numbers on my parts to ensure I got the right models. A bit expensive really.. I ordered some new spark plugs, oil filters, air filter etc along with the bits shown (some new mounting screws etc), the shipping was $71 USD The guard liner piece is quite an awkward size though, which probably didn't help.

I'm also going to replace the lower bumper lining, along with the fog light frames. Its the right hand side, I have ordered a replacement. Which will look more like Fog Light Frames (One of mine was missing and the other looked a bit worn out) at $13 USD each it seemed silly not to get these at the same time.

Removed the Front bumper last night, as I am talking it to the panel shop to get plastic welded and painted. I was then worried that I was not going to be able to fit it in the MK3 golf to take it into town. But.. it just fits..

Mine are DLS, my model is end of life now, they are expensive and made in Sweden, a few years ago there was a local supplier of them, just before they closed down I got them for a cheap price. Infinity Kappa are meant to be good, but the tweeter is too big to go in the side mirror location, but you can install it in the door panel where that small mid speaker comes installed from the factory.

A month later and 3000k's clocked up, no error codes have come back (Replaced cam sensor, intake side). Today I replaced the factory amp with an Alpine MRX-F35. Its a small efficient class D amp. As you can see its not much bigger then the factory Amp and I got it to fit on the factory bracket (using Zip ties for now until i tidy up the install). I have DLS MS5A components in the front which use these crossovers. (I'm not using any of the factory speakers). I have a small subwoofer for 80hz and under noise. Finished, as far as it all working well. I will tidy up the installation when time permits. The difference between the stock amp and this is night and day.

Hmm it can cost me near $200 to do it myself, due to needing 2 packs of oil at $85 each + filter

This place might have them in stock and they are in Dunedin http://www.milland.co.nz/

Welcome, the e39 sure is a nice open road cruiser, am taking mine to Queenstown this week and then to Nelson on the weekend. Out of interest, what sort of fuel economy did you get?

I'll book my 530i in sometime soon (in about 2 weeks), after my road trip to Queenstown and Nelson, it'll need a good clean after that. Will the $249 cover my car for the full groom? being that its a large ish Car. Cheers

Replaced the Thermostat, Waterpump, CCV System (All pipes and the unit) Waterpump bearing was shot, so glad I changed that, thermostat was leaking badly.. as was the sensor on the bottom radiator hose (replaced 0-ring). Scanned for errors before hand. 18 EWS Signal or Camshaft Sensor (MS43) 123 Map Cooling Thermostat Control (Thermostat now replaced) 227 Mixture Deviation Bank 1 228 Mixture Deviation Bank 2 203 Lambda Regulation Bank 2 Post cat 202 Lambda Regulation Bank 1 Post Cat 244 Crankshaft Interval timing 227, 228, 203, 202 I suspect were from the CCV system being shot. (Vacuum Leaks, Valve Cover Gasket Leak etc that's been fixed). Car is running better then it ever has now. The CCV parts were all shot, the CCV unit itself was broken into 2 pieces. Will drive it for a few days and re-scan and see what comes back.

yeah that could be the vanos gasket (Vanos unit to head) that's the issue perhaps. I have a new vanos seal kit I can sell you (I ordered an extra one as it was taking too long to arrive). But you will still need a new vanos gasket and the 2 washers for the vanos oil line (about $10 on ebay all up).

Mines had so many oil leaks its hard to know whats what sometimes hehe. but a lot of mine was due to the CCV Valve, it caused a chain reaction of problems, which started with the valve cover cracking. Its probably a good idea to replace all those bits sometime.

Just did mine, the so called lifetime fluid was black pretty much, but no metal shavings as such, so a good idea to do that. Be sure to use the correct tranny fluid Esso LT 71141 compliant.

Changed Transmission Oil and Filter etc, Lifetime fluid was Black.. but nothing sinister as far as metal shavings etc. Replaced Brake Fluid, who knows when that was last done. Ordered new Oil Separator Valve and all related hoses, Thermostat, water pump. In the next 3 weeks i'm doing a trip to Nelson and Queenstown, so am trying to get the car going 100% The car feels a bit flat power wise, but some of that is thanks to borrowing a mates Manual V8 Holden with about 300kw But considering the Oil Separator and hoses are covered in leaking oil, i'm driving around with a big Vacuum leak, so its probably down on power.. I imagine the CCV failed ages ago, which also caused the problem with the Valve Cover cracking (too much pressure) in a way its lucky the hoses etc are leaking, otherwise my new valve cover could be toast again..

Why not just get yours rebuilt? I got the one in my Golf Rebuilt for $300 ish I think