adro

S O L D 

Inbound back to Auckland. 
 

The best part of owning this car was the interaction with other E39/BMW owners, thanks to everyone who helped me source parts and helped me trying to diagnose issues. What a trip it’s been. Sold to a non bimmersporter, but hopefully it’s gone to a good home. 

This one? 

20 minutes ago, Eagle said:

Brand new

Rear Sachs 556-882 msport shocks for E36's (excl Ti) and E46's

$160

Is that $160 for both or for 1?

9 hours ago, qube said:

@adro Is that E12 the one that drives around WLG? pretty sure I saw it around the CBD on my last trip down there

Yeah it woulda been.  

@Mikan old E12 

Nikon D750 + 85mm 1.4D 

Bump

Fresh WOF (1year) and a new rear left wheel bearing installed.

Car is now an auction on TM

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/listing/2825576632?bof=KZP9DfGZ

1 hour ago, BlackAngel said:

Just read through the 10 page thread. WOW! is there anthing left on this car that hasn't been done ? Alternator maybe??? although I see you had that out in the pulley saga pics. GLWS.

 

Nah, I have a receipt for a $900 alternator rebuild at 180,000km from previous owner as well as a similar figure ABS unit rebuild receipt. 

Asking $8000

Located in Wellington

2000 540i E39

232500km

Bluetooth and hands free installed via a GROM unit. This also has the USB charging port in the glove box.

Modlight2 module installed giving remote mirror folding, 3click courtesy indicators and follow me home lights upon locking and unlocking.

New DUNLOP sport MAXX tyres all around (done 1500km maybe) 235/45/17 and 255/40/17

New Din 88 Battery (1000km ago)

Rear end bushing and arm refresh recently done

New rotors all round.

New thrust arms & bushings.

New headlight adjusters

Diff oil just done.

35% 3M tints installed by wrap innovations

electronic rear blind

This is car is technically a pre-facelift being a march 2000 build however it is retrofitted with Celis rear tails and Xenon headlights.

$4000 transmission rebuild 1 year ago.

TIMING CHAIN & GUIDES REPLACED along with alot of other parts (waterpump, valleypan, upper and lower oil pan gaskets, vanos seals etc)

rear main seal was done by previous owner at 180ish km's

After market amp and sub installed

This car comes with a massive folder of service history.

I have documented my time with the car here:

http://bimmersport.co.nz/topic/58719-e39-2000-540i-msport/

Car is currently fitted with pro rack roof racks. These can come with the car for  an extra $120 (excl the thule bike rack)

Car will come on government standard plates, NOT the euro plate.

Things that need improved that I feel i have taken into consideration with the price

Recently it has developed a noisey rear wheel bearing (needs further diagnosing)  REPLACED for WOF

Few cosmetic scuffs on the rear bumper as in the photographs

https://flic.kr/p/2jRoDrt

2 minutes ago, hqstu said:

Bonnet switch for alarm which goes on cabin air filter box.   Switch probably thrown away by previous owner as they fail resulting in annoying alarm activations.

Yep, I have the same feature ?

2 minutes ago, KwS said:

Thought it was your car I spotted there. Looked great on the track. 

Oh you were there, woulda been keen for a yarn. Next time! 

Changed the brake fluid and headed up to Manfield for the MG CC / constructors CC Driver training/shake down track day at Manfield. Was a super fun day throwing the E30 round. Low drama day of redlines and yarns. Shout out to @skidz for the race suit. 

^ photo: Jarod Carruthers  

Looks great. I did my brake bleed today too and found my strut brace makes it quite fiddly to get the brake fluid reservoir cap off ?

232XXXkm

Replaced the thrust arms (again) . Once warm the shimmy on braking was terrible. Ordered the parts and when I got around to fitting them noticed the right arm was obviously leaking fluid. these arms have done 20,000km and the RHS was installed by a very experienced mechanic, so not sure if installation error or wear and tear....either way; new arms are in (replaced both left and right) and the cars driving silky smooth.

Felt like i was on a roll. Ages ago I bought diff fluid and drain plugs off @Gabe79. Problem was I couldn't get my fill plug loose, 4th attempt it finally budged. According to service history last fluid change in the diff was 60,000km ago.

Out with the old:

In with the new:

New fill and drain plugs:

Also replaced the drivers side headlight adjusters. Wow....what a fiddly job that is. Still have 1 broken adjuster on the passenger side but need another set of adjusters.

Also chucked in some new cabin filters which I'm also guessing I got off Gabe.

Those wheels ?

anyone know if i can update my GM module which is currently a GM3 'low' module to a GM3 'high' module. Does it need coding like the lcm or can I plug it in and use PA soft to change the options? My end game here is i'm wanting to retrofit an M5 steering box but the servotronic unit requires a GM3 high module according to the internet.

Cheers,

A.

Nabbed the stereo face plate from @Eagle 's E39. Still missing a few pixels but significantly better than what I had and cheaper (and 100x quicker) than a ribbon repair (i've already failed at this once).

Before:

After:

A while I ago I also swapped the LED interior lights out and put the halogens back in. I thought the LED's were a little harsh for the interior. I left them in for the glovebox, boot and puddle lights as figured the brighter the better in those locations

It's also been in at Hutt Automatics this week for a check up. I think my paranoia mistook a misfire @80km/h uphill for torque converter clutch pack failure. Pleased to say they couldn't find any faults with the transmission and I've replaced cyl 3 coil pack.

8 hours ago, Navin said:

PA Italy snow foam Lance. Think it's about $140, works great. I've heard the ones from detail depot are also pretty good and are about $80.

I have one of the ones from detail depot and it works great on my Karcher, although I have a similar issue to @Cammsport and it sits on a bit of an odd angle.....but not a deal breaker.

230,XXXkm

New Battery time. Din88 CCA 850. Local garage gave me a 'deal' on a Century, 3 year warranty etc...worked out cheaper than repco but...ouch.

No coding required on the E39 is my understanding?

I also got new tires but that's been abit of headache with the balancing.

Went with Dunlop Sport Max 050's all round 235/45/17 front and 255/40/17. Beaurepairs attempted to balance them twice since i had a horrific shimmy at 80-100 km. Resulted in being told both my rims are bent only to go to Bridgestone Miramar and have them tell me that the fronts had 30grams and the rears had 20grams too much weight on them...and that the shape of my wheels are fine. 80-100km shimmy gone........mostly

I still have a 50km and a100km little shimmy/high frequency vibration through the steering wheel and seat though which seems to get worse after 20mins of driving. It's small but annoying.

22 hours ago, lemusa said:

Car looks mint!

Don't tell us what the right price is for your E39. I'm justifying my spending on the E39 with the knowledge that it still cost less than your original asking price haha. As soon as I pass that point I might start pestering you again ?

Ha don't worry, I won't tell.

On 8/25/2020 at 3:30 PM, Olaf said:

Most of the play in my steering disappeared after we replaced steering guibo (and fasteners), inner and outer tie rods on each end.  There remains a little play, though it's vastly diminished.  I don't recall - have you replaced any of that lot?

Still looking for that opportunity for you to drive it again - it's a world away from what you drove on Alexandra Rd! ?

No i haven't done either of those yet. I was thinking it would be all in one hit when I decide what to do about the rack, although I hadn't considered the steering guibo. Good to know @Olaf.

8 hours ago, Olaf said:

Brilliant!  Sorting that exhaust leak is a great result.  You must have reached the admirable 'nothing to do right now' point on your list.  Other than just polish, drive, enjoy. ?

yeah, nothing pressing anyway. My WOF shop tell me there’s abit of play in the steering rack every 6 months. Would like to rebuild or upgrade that at some stage. Rear trailing arm bushings and subframe bushes are waiting in the parts cupboard but until The E39 cuts me some slack that’s all ‘would be nice’ stuff. 

1 minute ago, leichtbau said:

Stunning photography as always Adro! Seeing as you ended up keeping the E39, is everything for sale at the right price?

thanks! Ha, the E39 is still for sale at the right price ? I'm hoping to keep the E30 as long as I can. It's makes me smile everytime I drive it.

123,000km

Car had been in with Jon @auto38 because it started bucking and lurching at 2000rpm, it had always had quite bad drivetrain lash but this bucking/lurching made it very unpleasant to drive. Jon diagnosed play in the U-Joints as probably the main culprit.

I dropped the exhaust and heatshields (not that fun on your garage floor) and took the driveshaft out to Bryan Howatt of Howatt engineering in lower hutt for a rebuild and balance. 

This manual swap came out of a members black convertible 325i that was stolen and then recovered....so the drive shaft is high mileage

Found the hanger bearing's rubber casing to be broken. Also found my mysterious exhaust leak.

Bryan worked his magic and a week later the drive shaft was ready to be picked up

replaced the hanger bearing, both U joints, the little vibration damper, 1 exhaust stud (the bolt stayed on and I screwed out the stud) and new copper nuts.

Car was running much better, no clonks from the drivetrain when the clutch engaged and disengaged but the bucking/lurching was still there @2000rpm in each gear.

I thought it must be the diff as there was still rotational play there when I put the driveshaft back in. Called  @beemwr who I sold my original diff too and had a good yarn. Then called Kayne Barrie who had rebuilt the current LSD in it and he said it sounded like the engine was running lean and to check my tune. So I chucked the Turner Motorsport chip back in (I had taken it out to trouble shoot the bad  fuel economy) and the lurch is gone. Car is pulling nice and healthy and drivetrain is smooth, and no mysterious exhaust smell in the cabin. Happy days.

2297XX

Celis F/L tailights installed. I've been trying to do this for about 1 year now. After 2 dud sets off trademe I had sort of given up but then @BreakMyWindow came through with a set from one of his recent missions to A&E. These also had the plug adapters, major score. Then I was too noob/scared to use NCS to try and code them in and my ISTA P is still not working but @hqstu came through with an LCM IIIB off a late model 525 running all the celis and xenon goods. My PA soft 1.4 is working and so following the E39 source videos I coded the LCM to my car, was alittle apprehensive as to how the front Xenons and wiring were going to respond but everything works perfect so I went ahead and started drilling some holes in the the tailight buckets. I followed E39 source videos again for this and a forum DIY.

No hole saw but this stepped drill bit worked a charm

New holes

plug adapters

Before

after

Fitments pretty good, I did have to do abit of bashing with a hammer.

Since I've had it 3 years as of this month I thought some new plates would make a nice birthday present. TBH i was planning on keeping the plates when I sold it so went about remaking them while I was filling in the forms to make them mine.

I didnt drill the rear plate, I just screwed the surround (which is abit faded and could probably do with a refresh) and then snapped the plate in place.

The E39 community really helped me out with this one, thanks guys!

Update on the shimmy. Case closed. I've had 2 people drive the car now and they are more worried about my mental health than any vibrations. Tyres are still on the cards and a new Battery is in the not to distant future too.

Sorted. Thanks! 

I'm wanting to install some rear celis tail lights in my E39. Ideally looking for an LCM that was already running LED tailights so I can just recode it to my car using PA soft. OR if someone has the ballasts floating around I would take those too. Will need them/it shipped to Wellington

Cheers,

A.