charles28

Yeah there's a little bit of oil around it, not sure that there's enough that its the main issue, but for the sake of $2 its worth trying. I guess some of it could be left over from fixing the other oil leaks too. I'll keep a close eye on the oil level and see what else drops onto the garage floor and where from exactly. I'm fairly certain my valve cover is no longer an issue.

The last owner was a complete muppet, drove it around leaking power steering fluid, coolant, oil from Oil Filter Housing Gasket, Oil leaking around valve cover onto exhaust making a burning smell, all while claiming the car was in excellent condition and well serviced.. The odd thing is I never noticed the burning smell when I test drove it and he had just driven it from work to Lyttelton, and claimed he used it for work everyday. I suspect he steam cleaned under the engine on his way home before I look at the car too, as within 2 days of owning it I could tell it had some serious oil leaks going on, I failed to check over the car carefully and it drives very well. When i looked at the car it was almost dark, (the only time available to view) hehe I guess it was all a setup. He's a shady car dealer and works at a big dealership in Christchurch too, owned the car for a year and claimed it was his partners car, the ownership details showed that he was correct as far as that goes.

Some more pics, hopefully its from something else. I don't get the oil smell from the valve cover anymore, at least no where near as bad, I can't see any fresh oil leaks onto the exhaust. The jack pad under the car is wet with oil. I changed the oil and filter after doing the OFHG, lost a bit when I did the vanos seals, topped up with about 500ml at that time, today topping it up with another 500ml seems to have it near the full mark again.

I have already replaced the valve cover, oil filter housing gasket and had cleaned the bottom of the engine.

So, after all my hard work, the car is still leaking oil.. I noticed some drips of oil under the car in the garage, it also came up with a warning about low oil level on the way home from work. Time to take it to the Waimak and set it on fire perhaps? To my untrained eye it looks like the Oil Pan gasket? Which is one hell of a job for me to do at home I'm assuming. There doesn't appear to be any CCV (Oil Separator) issues, plastic bag test passed (didn't suck into oil filler at all.) Thumb over dipstick hole, didn't try and suck my thumb in at all.. (Yes the engine was running

Good choice, they have enough power for an everyday car. I do 400-500k a week, I did look at some 540i's but struggled to find a good one here in Christchurch, or one that wasn't 4-5k over priced. It seemed like it was going to cost me 2x what I paid for the 530i to get a Facelift Motorsport. 530i vs 540i http://www.zeperfs.com/en/match1125-501.htm

I have the Cage, it has the Silver finish, I'll post up a bit of it later and work out what its worth

Sorted.. got one at bmw today

The car finally runs again.. Installed new expansion tank after work, added new coolant, bled system etc. The only thing is now I have no coolant level sensor, as I assumed it came with the expansion tank. But i'll keep an eye on things anyway. Annoyingly my old expansion tank is already at he land fill..with the old sensor that still worked fine..

I replaced my expansion tank, didn't think about keeping the sensor from the old one and now its at the dump, doh. Any one got one to sell me?

Tonight I got around to installing a new cup holder. I was expecting it to be annoying in some way, but it took 2 Minutes. (2 Screws to undo) This was the condition of the factory one: I got a cheap one from Ebay for $35 including shipping that claims to be stronger and better made then the original. This was the condition of the old one once I removed it (Only 2 Screws) New one installed: Its not as dirty as the pictures suggest, the camera flash is rather unforgiving.

That sucks man, it really needs to go to a panel beaters for assessment though. Its hard to estimate the cost from the pictures, as you can't see whats underneath

I Ordered a new expansion tank from Jeff Gray, was none in stock here in Christchurch, so its coming down from AKL overnight. I'd criticize them for having no stock in CHCH if the company I work for didn't have the same problem of not having stock in Christchurch of what you need when you need it. So hopefully tomorrow night its a runner *Fingers Crossed*

I replaced the upper radiator hose, as the original was leaking a bit (did a pressure test). (Discovered this when doing oil filter housing gasket). Was no other leaks, so left it at that for now, well until I looked at the expansion tank wrong and it broke heh. The previous owner had replaced the radiator but nothing else it would seem. In the near ish future I plan to replace the other radiator hose, Thermostat and Water Pump. When I replaced the oil filter housing gasket, I noticed it had turned into a solid piece of plastic and wasn't doing its job at all. The goal for now is to have the car driveable so I can use it for a few weeks and see what other issues come up.

Thanks for that, makes me feel better about it being broken, i didn't even try and take the hose off it either, only at the radiator end.. probably pulled on the hose a little when I re-attached it to the radiator, looks like it doesn't take much to break.

Tomorrow i'll attempt to buy a new expansion tank from Christchurch BMW dealership. Its the original one, so its past its use by date anyway.. the giveaway is the factory hose clamp. Its clear to me that it can't be repaired, at least not for long..

Ohwell, hopefully CHCH Bmw have one in stock when I call them in the morning. Its the original expansion tank from new, the give away is the factory hose clamp, so it was due to be changed anyway I guess.

The metal piece showing can easily be pushed and pulled out of the expansion tank, I assume this metal piece showing is not meant to come out and that I need a new expansion tank. Its the one that goes from the tank to the radiator (Small thin hose) as per pic.

Well.. the car started.. But within a few minutes I had coolant all over the place. It seemed that the small hose that connects to the Expansion Tank is the issue. Ie: It can easily be pushed and pulled out of the expansion tank, I assume this metal piece showing is not meant to come out and that I need a new expansion tank.

My vanos seals finally arrived yesterday afternoon. When I got home from work I got into it, it took me longer then I thought it would, removing the old seals took more effort then I expected, the top one was no issue, it was the one underneath that kept giving me grief. But eventually I got those removed, cleaned up everything (that took a while, the vanos unit had all sorts of nasty sludge etc on it). Installing the new seals wasn't hard at all. By 11pm the car was all put back together, but annoyingly I cracked a piece of the radiator shroud, although its only cosmetic its still annoying. I just need check over it all and its ready to run finally. The new valve cover seemed to fit nicely compared to the old worn out warped one, so that's a good sign.

I got a 2002 530i Motorsport as it was cheaper and easier to find then a facelift motorsport 540i (most seem to be pre facelift). As long as the cars in good mechanical condition it should go well, but most will need a new Disa, Vanos seals, vacuum leaks fixed etc.

Hey man, it was this http://www.ebay.com/itm/221312247783?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Yeah been driving partners Mk3 Golf VR6 around, its not too bad, but i prefer the refinement of the 5 Series

Day 20 since I ordered the Vanos Seals from Beisan Systems.. still no sign of them.. Have just ordered more from the UK, another brand, but made from the same material as the Beisan ones..but with cheaper shipping and include new bolts and sealant for the valve cover. So hopefully I have one or the other turn up in the next week... I have owned the car for a Month and driven it for about 1 hour..

I got around to checking the Valve cover for warp-age. The picture shows the part that wasn't actually leaking as such, but you can see the gap under the ruler which should not be there.. I tried to take a picture of the other side, but not enough light and you can't see.

Interesting Issue.. I worried about the same thing and got a cheap 2006 Daihatsu Sirion. 2 Months later I hated the car so much I sold it again and daily drive a 2.8L V6 Golf.. or the 530i (when it works) I do 400-500K's a week, usually 80k a day.. $107 a week in the Golf.