adro

dramatic morning light

215XXXkms Car was feeling a bit sluggish and had a bit of a rough idle that didn’t feel very BMW (esp with new engine mounts) and it had a delayed throttle response. All liveable but had a feeling something wasn’t quite right. Scanned it and it came up with - Current at 2 or more cylinders and all these DME cylinder activation codes + a misfire code on cylinder 3. did some googling and found a thread about the same codes on E46 fanatics. Seemed 1 person swapped new coils which fixed it, others mentioned an issue where the older M54 head with the newer style valve cover can have the coils ground to the head giving the ground wire resistor in the loom a weird reading in turn pinging a code. ( I have older style block/head with my original engines intake mani/valve cover/ignition system) long story short they recommended running coils from the newer engines as they are insulated all the way to the bottom. old and new: I found these on FB market place out of an N54 and the guy reckoned they were running fine so as a bit of cheap test I went for it. Long story long, they work great. No codes. Throttle feels more responsive and the idle is smooth and the engine feels freer. This might all be placebo but posting this up incase anyone else has got the same codes after an engine swap. in other news I also swapped the grilles back to chrome as those double slotted ones interfered with the bonnet leaver meaning the grill would kinda pop out when you opened the hood which felt abit ghetto when filling up the washer system at the petrol station.

Any update on this?

I think so? What doesn’t look right to you?

Yeah for sure @E28E30

Clocked up a few km’s this week working in Upper Hutt and the Wairarapa. Gave me a chance to stretch its legs and put it through its paces on some twisty backroads. Compliant and comfortable...these sport seats are a treat.

Thanks. Cars just ticked over 125,000km I think. Isn’t seeing much use as the wagons running great now. Don’t think I have any photos I haven’t already posted so might be time to go shoot some new ones.

spotted in Wellington eastern suburbs this arvo and

213xxxkm Cosmetic update. 35% tints and chrome blackout wrap (satin) done by Wrap Innovations. Interior trim switched out for the 3D cube version. I sourced this from Weitz. I thought it was plastic but it's actually alloy. I think it adds a richer texture to the cabin than the previous plastic ones. I also got the antenna module from Weitz too but that hasn't fixed my remote key woes. Next up is some beefier spring pads in the rear and a wheel alignment. (edited these pics on my phone so the colour is abit weird)

@Driftit was this your one? I remember pondering this when I first started looking. Think they were asking 10k

Bump.

Wow, epic work!

man that sounds sweet!

+1 for RE003 I had RE002’s on the 16” ACS and now RE003’s on the 15’s and they are a great match. Daily duties or a spirited day at the track. + the sidewall looks sporty

Today I clay bar'd and applied chemical brothers 'jet seal' to the whole car, not sure how good this product is but I got it for the E39's headlights that i no longer have and it was pretty expensive so figured might as well use it. I feel like this is the cleanest this car will ever be so went and shot a few photos to document it.

yeah I did see those, they look in good condition but I'm looking for some nice clean silver ones. No real rush as the current wheels and tyres will be good till the end of the year , thanks for keeping a look out.

Thanks. I’m hoping to find something in better condition.

Hi, I’m looking for a set of staggered style 68 wheels. The ones that came on E46 Msport models. 7.5 front and 8.5 Rear - ideally in Wellington - ideally in mint condition. Any one have a set collecting dust they would like to move on? prefer without tyres but interested either way.

RIP M40

Oh ok cool. thanks! ...turns out there wasn’t a bulb in there. All sorted and no more lights out on the dash.

Facelift. almost 1000km since the engine went in. Had a coolant light on last week. Not sure if it did a big burp or if it's leaking but either way i topped it up and am keeping an eye on it. Xenons sourced from Weitz and coded in by @promo. Black corner lights also installed with chrome bulbs. Black grilles are also in and a few stone chips fixed up. I've just noticed looking at these photos that there is a little bulb on in the passenger side light. This is consistent with a bulb out light on the dash on the drivers side. Anyone know what this is? I haven't wired up for bi-xenon functionality yet or self leveling...they will come down the line. Suspension has also settled. Dropped the car into auto38 this week for a gearbox flush. ZF filter and 12L of ZF oil. 212K trans oil was very black apparently.

Nice. Yeah, great price too!

Suspension upgrade Before the engine went bang I had just pulled the trigger on some Bilstein Touring shocks and Eibach Prokit springs from Demon Tweaks. I already had rear sachs shocks I purchased from @Eagle which were for the motorsport setup so went with the B4's which from the looks of realOEM are the factory motorsport package shocks. New bits Lemforder front shock mounts Bump stops and dust covers Bilstein B4 front shocks #BLS22-139948, BLS22-139931 Eibach Prokit springs #EIBE2067-140 Meyle HD rear shock mounts Sachs rear shocks #556 882 I got a shop to do the spring compressor part but i DIY'd the rest to try save on labour (the rear is pretty labour intensive) the rear shocks were completely dead. rear spring height comparison bit of trim removal Found 1 random Monroe up the front. New fronts After a few KM's they are settling in. So far I'm really impressed with the quality of the ride. Comfort vs handling I think it's a great combo for the daily driver.

yeah, a bit of an introduction to the M54 for sure 🤪

212 xxx km. I ran into a bit of a problem when I dropped the disa pin into the intake and it found it's way to cylinder 6. No compression in cylinder 6, Jon at auto38 advised that an engine swap would be his preferred option. Plug in cyl 6 off to Auto38 Old piston cyl 6 Head off old engine. Bought an engine before Christmas, organized a mate to put it in. He didn't get to it till the new year where he found 8.5L of milkshake in the sump instead of 6.5L of oil. So the vendor kindly refunded and i got one off Nick Weitz. Nick compression tested it before sending and it was algood. Came out of a running car so confidence was high. This engine was the older coil style so the manifold and valve cover from my original engine was swapped over (since CCV had just recently been repalced meant it didn't need to be pulled apart), along with the loom and headers. New parts that went in while engine was out Engine mounts Sump gasket Plastic coolant hoses under intake manifold x 2 upper and lower radiator hoses water pump (graf metal impeller) Thermostat Valve cover Gasket Oil filter housing gasket Vanos seals Spark Plugs Electric Fan from @zero upper intake boot oil filter Penrite 5W-40 rebuilt Disa Valve Car was running rough and was throwing lean codes for bank 1 and bank 2. Turns out the 02 sensors weren't plugged into their corresponding bank. Car is now running very smooth and I'm waiting for the vanos seals to break in. I replaced the seals in my old vanos unit to make it quicker to install. Also my solenoids were cosmetically in much nicer condition. New engine looks really clean. No idea of the mileage as it had been swapped into the car it came out of. Up at mt Vic watching the hill climb today. The list of things still to do: Gearbox filter and oil - have parts. Fuel filter - have parts and have replaced the vac line. Xenon - have parts but need to code LCM and there are still some wiring to do. Bilstein touring shocks and Eibach prokit springs. (these were in the post when the engine went bang) Remote key still isn't working despite changing the FTZ module Tints soundsystem/handsfree bluetooth. So been a bit of a mission, I was completely stumped by the lean codes and was pretty stressed out that the engine was toast. I'm really enjoying having it back on the road.