Eagle

I've never had any issues with their suspension quality or longevity , the price difference between say Lemforder isnt that big for a lot of it (says to me the quality is good), they are easier to source like you said. Im running their front HD upper arms, HD sway bar links, lower arms and a couple of control arms in the rear with the rest being Lemforder. All done nearly 70,000km so far with no hints of failure.

Looks out of place to me but maybe he just threw them to keep his old ones, some weaves would probably look better.

Probably gone awhile ago but you know one mans stuffed is another man drives well. n saying that it costs 1000's to properly overhaul the suspension and steering on these so can't really blame people. How the rear end? because in my experience its usually worse in regards to stuffed joints.

Fold down sedan seats are very useful in a E39 sedan, one of the reasons i kept mine. Fuel economy depends on your traffic situation, but my experience driving them around Waikato, the 540i's average 2-3L more than the 528i\530i per 100km. I agree the E34 535i has terrible economy but all the other advantages outweigh that for me. E34 is probably the way to go if you want to keep costs down with decent reliability. I like E39's but they far more expense to get back to good mechanical condition when worn.

I definitely wouldn't be using WD40 for something like this, for example you can get a silicone grease from Repco that would be a far better job for sealing and lubrication while costing very little

Yeah i use a small wire brush, fine sand paper, brake cleaner and a rag to make sure its mint. If it has corrosion then i use a small amount of sealant wiped around to fill in the imperfections. Was it the genuine part? i know some aftermarket pipes can have problems seating correctly due to tolerances. I wouldnt risk re-using the o-ring again given what the job like, but if you have access to pressure tester then you can test it properly before putting the intake on if it needs to be re done. Throttle body and intake gaskets should be ok to reuse given they are new.

Are you talking about plastic pipe you replaced or the actual rubber hose going to thermostat? You need to clean with wire brush etc and lube those orings when installing those pipes and usually orings on hoses to reduce risk of damage There are 2 bleed screws. I blow into the expansion tank with thermostat one cracked to push air out before starting the engine, then repeat with expansion tank one, speed up process if you don't have pressure tester etc

Yep id be expecting the clutch\flywheel setup based on what you say and that sound. Some of these aftermarket\custom setups run the risk of this sort of thing in my experience.

Depends on what they are doing exactly?. Purely transmission removal and replacement should be approx 4-5 hr job.

What clutch\flywheel setup are you running?

All aligned and driving fairly good with airbag being ok also. I thought BMW spec'd a little toe in instead of 0, its not bad but it doesn't track quite exactly how i want it like my usual 1-2mm in per side setting, i will adjust it myself at some point. Main thing it thought it feels like msport setup should, firm but controlled with quicker turn in and reduced roll thanks to the bigger swaybars. A small increase NVH with the new springs but dampeners are matched\valved better with this setup, especially on the compression side. So it rides better or worse depending on your preference haha.

Pretty much the same performance as the R1\R3 but with arrows. Also useful for those smaller towns where police love to generate income, ie roads suddenly drop from 70-80kph to 50kph where i always just roll off the gas never braking The other night i picked up what was soon discovered as breath test check point, first for me.

Good point, they did the same to me to a degree or didn't specify currency, luckily DHL asked for confirmation in my case.

+1 NZAD. Never had any issues on all sorts of BMW and conditions +1 Micks garage if want branded items, probably cheaper

Good find, Eibachs arent cheap to land here. Most aftermarket bars are much bigger than stock especially when going from non msport, I went from a 22.5>27mm in the front and 13<18mm in rear with my Eibachs.

Id say timing chain if i had to guess but the video is a pretty poor regardless. As above it should be easy enough to pin point in person

Took around 30mins, half of that was probably cleaning. $150 at the local dealer here for the main cowl which is a good price and 75mm 2 jaw puller worked well to take the arms off

Finally got around to fitting my Sachs sport strut and ACS spring combo that i had pre-assembled with new hardware, makes the job much more relaxing. The drop is near bang on what i wanted which was said to be slightly lower than Msport springs based on info i could find. Haven't got a wheel alignment yet so no doubt the toe and camber are way out so can't speak for handling yet, I'll be booking one at the dealer since it still needs the airbags checked. Ride quality is much more compliant though coming from the Meyle's, they did handle well but had your typical high pressure gas characteristics. New windscreen cowl and side cowls finally done after 4 years too. Got some cooling system parts to refresh for piece then it will be mostly done mechanically

Sounds about right given the starting price is usually for 3.5-4L of mineral\semi synth and basic filter. They wouldn't get as good $ per L on the premium so its probably priced even higher. Changing oil\basic service is the easiest money around for workshops.

Ive never seen a E39 540i manual conversion kit in my life, you usually have to buy the whole car. Once you got the box you can adapt the rest, they do come up now and again or just import one like most do

Yes, straight forward and a fairly quick job on a hoist. While everything is off its usually a good idea to do rear engine seal, transmission seals and driveshaft parts if they need doing or are on their way out, saves money down the line if you are keeping the car for awhile.

Rebuild could be expensive but depends on what has actually failed and how far you rebuild it. A good second hand unit with new fluid\filter and probably a rebuilt torque converter is what id do. Jon @ Auto38 is recommended by many Wellington members here.

SCA been sh*t for ages, its the usual retail strat of starting off cheap and slowly ramp prices up. Repco is better and cheaper now for bits and pieces. I generally buy tools here in NZ as they arent too badly priced for common stuff and we get decent range. Car parts are the opposite.

Engagement point was just off the floor, clutch disc was starting to glaze at 10,000km from having to ride it to avoid stalling. I believe the taller E21 323i etc release bearing (15mm taller than std M20 one iirc) is the correct option to use to for correct pedal position. PO cut costs out\or was mislead and put a M20 setup in a E39 528i which is wrong on many levels, i just wanted the gearbox etc anyway. I sold the whole setup there was no way i was using a M20 clutch with M54 in a E39.

Problem with V1's is you can't disable certain frequency ranges within the bands like most of the good newer ones. Turning K band off (and X band which you probably have off anyway) will probably help since many assistance system run on that, you will loose camera van detection though. Different brands\model have better or worse filtering signals like these but given car manufacturers use all sort of frequencies so its hard to block them all. Given we only dealing a few radar frequencies and laser here in NZ its easiest just to only enable what bands\frequencies are required and disable everything else.