Mad_Max

I'd be keen on the manual setup, if it makes it easier for you I'd also happily take what's left of the shell (once you've sold/stripped everything else of value off it) and pull the manual setup out myself. I'm in Invercargill so would be pretty easy to mission up and collect it, to save you the hassles of having to remove it yourself. Let me know if this sounds like a plan to you and we can sort something out.

Excellent, consider them sold. Do you want to confirm the freight price to Invercargill please, and I'll sort payment. I still have your account details saved (unless you've changed accounts) so should be pretty straight forward.

Have you still got these Arron? If so, would you be willing to ship at my cost? Thanks

Are the other headers up for sale, or just the log style ones?

I'd be seriously questioning your wof guy. The only difference is the direction of the internal vanes, and that is only if they are contoured vanes and not standard straight vanes. If the internal vents are straight, it doesn't matter what direction the slots or drill holes turn. 3 minute video from guys who make brakes to explain. The only time they would be on the wrong side is potentially if they are Brembo rotors with directional vanes. Next time you get failed on something so trivial, do a bit of research - at the end of the day, it is up to the wof guy to prove the car has failed, and what standard. If he can't show the standards or the precise measurements/reasons for failure, the car hasn't failed and he has to pass it.

All sorted now, fuel pump relay was the culprit - didn't even bother checking voltage at the pump. All the terminals on the 3 relays in the boot were showing signs of bad corrosion, so I swapped them for ones in much better condition, hit the key while the fuel rail bleed valve was held open, and fuel gushed out. 10 seconds later it was running fine. First time I've ever run across this problem with an E39, so something to keep in mind for future. Thanks to all for help/suggestions, my friend is grateful her car is now going again. And I am glad that the crank sensor has also been changed, when it was changed by the previous owner it had a cheap aftermarket sensor installed so that has been replaced with a genuine one for peace of mind.

I haven't checked that yet, messing with it yesterday bleeding the fuel rail I managed to get it to fire and run for around 10 seconds, so I'm thinking the fuel pump relay is shot - that would explain why no fault codes are showing. Will check voltage at the plug and swap relays out, see if that makes any difference.

So the plot thickens...... have swapped both cam and crank sensors, the DME fault code that was previously showing in ISTA has now gone away, but still no start. There doesn't appear to be a lot of fuel in the rail, so I'm back to thinking it's an EWS issue. Any other thoughts or suggestions? Cause this is getting frustrating. Everything that was swapped over has been swapped back to the original (fuel pump, MID etc).

Crank sensor was replaced within the last year after that failed, so I'm assuming that is fine. Wouldn't the cam and crank sensors show as faults in ISTA though? Battery is currently on charge as that was getting down, so hopefully a good charge and that will rule that out as well.

It ran for a few minutes, then sat for a few days before I did the rest of the work and the no start issue arose, so I don't think flooding is the issue. Gonna pull the plugs and double check what's going on, old school test for spark and will probably test compression too just to rule everything out. I'm still looking for that clip for ya too man, if you still need it. Have had a few searches but haven't emptied every box yet. If I find it I'll let ya know and get it on it's way to you.

A friend of mine has a '97 E39 528i, pretty straight and tidy. I checked it over for them before they bought it about 6 months ago, and couldn't fault it for it's age. Also scanned it at the time with ISTA, only minor historical fault codes came up. The only known issue with the car was bad fuel level senders. I've been getting a few small things sorted for them, to clean the car right up. Recently, swapped the drivers side sender and fuel pump over (having swapped the passenger side previously), swapped to the better MID display, and swapped steering wheels to one in better condition. After changing the fuel pump, the car was started and ran perfectly, confirming the pump itself was fine, so I then moved on to the MID and steering wheel jobs. Now, the thing won't start. Winds over sounding like it's low on compression. Scanned with ISTA again, all fault codes erased, then tried to restart. Fault code 000041 DME fault is showing, with no description in ISTA on what the fault will be. No other fault codes existing for it that will cause the non starting issue. I've confirmed the fuel pump works by pulling the fuel line at the tank, hooked up a hose into a container and turned the key - fuel flows - but will swap back to the pump that was removed, swap the MID and steering wheel back and see if anything changes. ISTA is saying (I think) that the EWS and DME are in synch, as it says all the numbers are matching - first thought was to realign the EWS in case I'd messed it up when the battery was disconnected to swap the airbag - unfortunately I can't do that in ISTA-D and (of course) ISTA-P isn't currently loading, so I can't check that. I am assuming ISTA would tell me if it was a crank/cam angle sensor, or if the EWS was out of alignment - is that correct, or is my thinking flawed? Does anyone have any other troubleshooting suggestions? I've got a parts car the same (with unknown state of the parts) so don't mind throwing parts at it, just really want to get it sorted for her as she's stuck at home atm.

I believe there are two different sizes, depending on the input shaft diameter, so it depends on if your input shaft is 12mm or 15mm. The outer diameter is the same, and the thickness doesn't matter too much. Just measure the input shaft diameter of the gearbox you are using and order the bearing to suit that. Make sure you get the bearing installed at the correct depth too.

Hey @Gaz, hope you're keeping well in these times. TBH not much has happened, I've temporarily moved it into storage (along with he B11, E34, spare E3, E36 Msport coupe and about 10 other cars) to build the workshop/home office area, so I'm needing to get that sorted first before really getting into it. I have got a good, old school panelbeater lined up - will get the E34 to him first (that's only minor work) to make sure he's as good as I'm told, before stripping the E3 and getting to work on it. Have been wondering what a twin carb M30B28 motor is worth these days, as the spare E3 is the 2.8l version. Will have to look into that. There may also be another long-term project to do with that spare E3, the body is a bit too rusted to be economically restored so it may end up becoming something a bit different....... but we'll see. First things first, I need to get this workshop/office done ☺️

Got codes 38 and 39, and 3 unidentified...... if you have no luck, let me know asap as will be going out to stored cars over the weekend and can go through them too. Worst case if you're stuck and need it done straight away, use a double hex socket, smash it over the outside. Just make sure it's a tight fit (can check what size I've used before, it's an imperial one). Has worked for me every time.

A couple of snails racing across the garage floor??

Trying to help a friend with an assessment but I don't have enough time to refresh myself with Visual Basic. It's an assignment for an Open Polytechnic course that has certain parameters, and a basic GUI. I can post/email the parameters and what I think is a part file that someone else had been working on if that gives someone a head start. I'm not sure how complete the file is or even if it is even within the guidelines of the assessment. Anyone out there willing to see what they can do to help?

Speak to Kiel at Kelfords (if he's still there), I gave him all of Cat Cams and Schricks specs 4 years or so ago when I was looking at getting mine done so he knows what is around. The problem is, the last I heard, is that no one is producing blanks for the M5X cams, there isn't a lot of material you can take off the BCD, and there is only so much you can do before the lobe becomes too large for the bearing ledge, as well as the lifter clearances becoming a problem. I'd have to look further into it but I do believe there is a VW? Audi? off the shelf solid lifter that drops straight in and reduces a lot of the problems with the lifters.

Couple of quick clamps from the Warehouse and a pair of vice grips, you'll get it within factory spec easily. Have always done Jap twin cam motors using only a couple of spanners and vice grips, it's not hard to get it within the spec using simple tools. Agreed they are mediocre in terms of lift and duration, better/faster gas extraction is definitely a worthwhile exercise though while the cam is already out and everything is open, especially given he is wanting to go FI later down the track. I do agree aftermarket is the way to go though. Hopefully you're only talking about getting a factory cam within "factory spec"....... sorry not trying to be a smarta**e, I've heard of horror stories before where people do this sort of thing to aftermarket/ground cams and end up destroying motors because they get the wrong advice. There are some small power gains to be had by advancing the intake cam and retarding the exhaust cam slightly from factory specs, all depends on how deep into the rabbit hole you wanna go and where you want to be making the power.

Surprised no one has chimed in yet....... my opinion? You won't notice much of a performance gain with an N/A engine by just changing the exhaust cam, but if you're planning on going FI in the future, it would make sense to upgrade the cams as well - both intake and exhaust - while you've got it out. Do some research into which cams and even if you need something reground to suit the FI. I don't believe removing vanos and swapping the intake cam is all that much harder to do than the exhaust cam.

There's a guy on TradeMe, under the user name racefx1 who's got an M52B28 there for sale, and he's in Christchurch. Not sure if he'd be happy me giving out his email address but will flick him a text later and see if he's ok with that. From memory it's a complete engine with everything still there.

I might be keen on the front pads and rotors if you've still got them. Can you please flick me part numbers so I can check they'll fit? I picked up my 2006 E53 3.0D for $3k, high k's (355) but full service history and first owner did a 300k round trip 5 days a week. Apart from some minor common issues (exhaust manifold cracked, front wheel bearing going, front LCA bushes worn etc.) it runs and drives incredibly well for it's age and high k's - drove it to Auckland and back early December with zero issues. They are around, this one turned up on post-a-note - not a place I'd usually look.

I actually saw this car in person while in Auckland, touring around. It looks fantastic....... from about 500m away

Hinds Classics is the name of the shop, has a basic website with contact details http://www.hindsclassics.co.nz/. @OP6 tankguy here may be able to help you with your latest acquisition too, and he's local - even easier. @tankguy I may also be on the hunt for some E3 parts, need to go through what's good and what's needed, do you have complete cars or just some random stuff laying around?

Here's the interesting question. You buy XYZ parts at $ABC + GST. Parts turn up damaged. Will you get a refund less the GST component? Or, more importantly, will the NZ Government refund the GST component to the seller? I bet not, I bet they haven't explained that part to the sellers, as I have been stung with that already - purchased something recently online from overseas. Paid GST. Goods were faulty. Received refund less GST. NZ Government wins again.

Hahaha slightly more impressive is the fact I was towing a trailer through it all too ???