tonylauno1

If you make $30million dollars a year, 1% of your salary is not much money

Another feature is the window will wind back down should something get in the way, there's a sensor at the top of the window frame.

With 540i, you only need to turn the key once and let go. Do not need to hold it there until the engine starts, it will do that for you

I see I'm actually a little late, so have you got it yet?

What everyone has been saying is true, there is no comparison. It's hard finding another car which handles as good as this and still have that much luxury.

One word of caution for people who has not owned a European car before, BMW do cost more money to maintain than Japanese cars. Ask the person selling for receipts if he has owned it for a few years to get an idea.

Watch out for the auto transmission, try driving when cold to see if it shift smoothly, see if it will hesistate before downshift. Any idea if a transmission flush has been performed?

Since it is approaching 200k kms things which might go wrong are, Cooling system (waterpump, tensioner, fan clutch, thermostat housing, new coolant) Others which might be a problem are control & trailing arm bushings, window motor. It's just a lot of little things which all adds up when keeping it in good health.

By the way, my experience with 2 BMW are all M52 engines, this would be a M54 so I don't know if it applies.

Just remember that European cars are made for a good time but not a long time, always buy quality.

Like the previous member said, the instrument cluster are all the same. The panel under the instrument cluster will have two buttons which has the cruise control sign, one on left of steering wheel is cruise control and on the right of steering wheel is actually the control for dashboard & instrument cluster lighting.

There is someone on here who has installed cruise control on his e46, maybe for a little fee he can help you install it on your e39.

If your friend would do it for free, who cares if it is not 100% or I would just call dentsplus.co.nz since there are no paint damage.

A friend gave me a bottle of Motorup, and now it seems like it only does it after 4-5 mins of idling. I guess when the engine switches from cold to warm, he reckons it might be the variable timing.

Anyway, thanks for the offer. Thanks for the offer, I'll wait till it gets worse or at least does it on every cold start then I'll come and see you. Would be easier to diagnose.

Get it scanned first Tony before you start fiddling... give me a call if you'd like me to do it for you

Sorry, but a slightly different topic here. Assuming you guys change motor oil yourself.

What do you do with the used oil?

I've been using either 10w40 or 15w40 depending which garage I go to for my M52 2.8L, both of these are specified in the BMW Handbook. I figure the temp never gets close to freezing in Auckland so I don't need 5w40. Is that wrong of me to assume?

I got an e39 with the tv so the instrument cluster actually displays every message in writing rather than a pic of a car to tell you which door is not closed or which bulb has blown.

Went to get the dead pixel fix on the e39 instrument cluster, and it turns out a chip controlling the error display is faulty. The mechanic recommended getting the other chip which controls the speedometer fixed too as he said from experience you can't replace one without the other.

Both of these chips were remanufacturer with 2 year warranty at $1000. The other alternatives were to buy a new instrument cluster which would required a BMW Technician to reprogram which would cost probably twice as much.

This was the problem on my car anyway.

oh boy, here comes another big repair bill. I guess this is common on all the M52 then.

It has always done it since I bought it and I assumed it was dirty since the pre-inspection didn't show any problems.

oops, always forgetting the most important part.

It's a M52B28TU - Westy had it correctly, Cheers.

Posted this in the wrong forum, can someone help move or close this please.

Posted this in the wrong forum, can someone help move or close this please.

Engine idles drop dramatically and picks up again when idling cold. It has always does this and one day when I let it idle for a long time, the engine just died.

Has anyone experience this before?

The inside of the engine oil cap has brown colored paste like substance on it with water droplets too. When going out for a drive to warm up the engine, more of these get stucked onto the engine oil cap. Clean it off and put the cap back to let the engine idle then it starts to form again.

There's no leak and compression is good, had done a full inspection as well when I bought the car 6 mths ago and I have only topped up the radiator once. Had done an engine flush when getting the oil change last week and it's still doing the same.

Anyone know why an engine would be doing this?

I decided to do an economy test in my E46 328 & with the cruise control on 105, and Frank Sinatra on the CD player, I managed 7.6l/100k on a trip from the Nth Shore to Cambridge and back. That's 37.1 mpg in old terms which I thought was bloody good. Avoided all the plain clothers coppers (Maximi, Camry etc) by Hampton downs too!

Mind you I have seen coppers in 03 XR6 Turbo, 02 Commodore SS, 99 540i. Got caught when the SS was pacing me after I overtook him.

I read (and hear) things like:

Only fill your car in the morning when its cold and the fuel density is higher.

Never let your fuel tank fall to sub 1/2 full, as the more fuel the less air is in there, therefore less evaporation.

Don't know how much of a difference these would make- if they're even measurable.

I reckon that once the gauge reaches under 1/4 it goes down way faster than if it were above 1/4. Maybe its my imagination.

I notice it too, the last 1/4 is used up much quicker than the first 1/4 but this happens on every single car I own. Maybe it's to do with the way the gauge is running or measuring???

Less fuel in tank creates more condensation but does that really matter?

Maybe less fuel in car (only fill up 1/4), lighter it is, better fuel consumption cos you have 45kg less in your car. Easiest way to reduce 45kg, I thought that petrol weights about 1kg per litre.

yep your on the right track.

those things will make a minor difference.

Driving style makes a bigger difference too. I saw an economy comparison in a BMW magazine between the auto writer, a BMW driving instructor and Seb Vettel. Believe it or not Seb won. He turned of all fans, radios, air con (in the middle of summer too!) and drove like such a snail that he was passed frequently by a lot of irate people... you can try drafting trucks, dont accelerate uphill, coast downhill, etc.

But what I'm after is something that will make a bigger difference without having to drive like a nana.

currently I can get between 9.5L/100km and 13L/100km, depending on how I drive. I'm trying to see if there's something that can regularly keep a big engine car under the 10L/100km, as a daily commute car.

not that I consider a 2.8L all that big... I was born in Canada and anything under 5L is tiny...hehehe

Could be fairly difficult in keeping a heavy car with big engine under 10L/100km unless there are less red lights and traffic jam. Fuel consumption for these cars are pretty good for what they are, I have a e46 328ci. All depends on your route and driving style. The easiest way to keep fuel consumption down is

1) accelerate slowly away from traffic lights, 90% of cars are slow off the line anyway so I keep mine under

2500rpm to match the slow car next to me.

2) release gas pedal early when coming up to intersection, no point in keeping it on the gas and stomping on the brake pedal hard.

3) leave some gap between you and car in front so keep a constant speed to reduce acceleration.

ECU remapping, chipping usually cost alot and you probably need to drive for years to get those money back even if it does save fuel.

wow, so that's what they look like when it was in the showroom.

It reminds me that I need to clean up my e46, it's looks old when compared to your e30.

ok, thanks for that

Thanks jochen

I got version 6.5 off ebay, came with cables and everything.

version 1 pro (covers Minis) is worth 1400 pounds, so i went with the cheap option (bmw only) for $140.

Almost all modules had fault stored except engine & transmission because mechanic reset it a few weeks ago.

Have tried erasing fault code for Aircon & Airbag but still there.

Is your fault description in English?

Have you tried erasing any fault code?

My mechanic told me that my e46 trailing arm bushes needs replacing at $347+gst each.

What are these and is that a fair price?

The receipt I got from previous owner was Control arm bush set (Vierol 20-7069) was replaced for $350 so I guess the trailing arm bushes are different?

Seen it too

Some one to ask Check this topic

http://www.bimmersport.co.nz/forums/index....&hl=carsoft

Does anyone know where I might buy a BMW OBD tools & software?

I search on ebay and all are from Shenzhen, China & Hong Kong. I'm afraid that the product I get may not be the proper carsoft hardware & software.

First problem

=========

Shifting from 1 to 2 is rough, it gives you a real jolt like being pushed from behind and a loud thump.

Only happens in medium acceleration. I could accelerate very very slowly to build up speed or pedal to the metal then it shifts better. Especially bad in the cold when going to work in morning and revs would climb much higher before shifting into second too.

It use to be fine and when this started to happen, I got a transmission flush, added a bottle of Wurth and it still didn't help. One morning I got "Trans failsafe prog" so the mechanic reset engine & trans adaptation, that help a little, the thump & jolt is still there but not as bad; you still feel it but it's not like being pushed from behind. Has anyone experienced this before?

Second problem

===========

Kick down used to happen instantly when I put my foot down or after I slow down to take a corner. Now days it seems to pause for a moment and let the revs climbs before shifting down. It has gotten better with a bottle of Wurth. I had the same problem with an old Honda and Motor Up's Transmission treatment solve it. I am wondering if that can go into a BMW's autobox. People say it's the seal which is leaking that is why revs climb higher to gain enough pressure in chamber to downshift.

These two issues really gets to me as it defeats the purposes of having the e39. Sure it is a luxury car but these two problems with autobox have made it less than comfortable. I even found myself taking a Japanese car with a smooth autobox over this e39.