Eagle

Yeah someone already posted about this work of art awhile back

GL chap

You can retrofit cruise control easy enough if you get the parts off a wreck etc.

Reads to me like he spent a wad of cash on the upgrades, doesn't want to\cbf certing it or returning it to stock, so he's try to sell it before the WOF expires and its illegal. Can't see a cert it would devalue it either, you can revert it back to stock and get the plate removed when selling it. It devalued because it has none not one. The original struts\dampeners are likely to be tired at 150,000km which is why he likely fitted the Bilsteins in the first place, so fitting them would of waste of time\money.

That vacuum line should go the air injection valve below the MAF\intake boot. Never had much luck with spray testing myself, smoke tester is much better. Apart from what Glenn mentioned, intake manifold gaskets do fail on these, you can add the appropriate 2-3mm thick washer under the bolt head to help compress the gasket if they are leaking.

Wouldn't hesitate buying a M60 V8. They have a few weak points like any engine (mainly leaks and PCV system) but they don't have any major expensive failures like the later BMW V8's. They get better fuel economy than the M30 while being much more powerful. Not bad to work on but it can vary depending on what you doing. M50's are certainly the the most balanced choice, they like to rev but lack the torque of the M30. They don't have the ease of access compared to the M30 and aren't quite as robust externally with more things to fail being the of the newer design 6's.

Possibly torque convertor shudder. As above change the fluid and filter and reset transmission adaption. Ive had good results with Lubeguard for worn torque convertors along with the fluid change

Fair enough. I think the hardest part these days is finding one, not so many E32 and E34's for sale anymore.

Prices have changed a bit since then, highly unlikely you'd get a manual 535i that sort of money these days unless it was in rough condition. You usually up spending 1000's to get cheap ones upto scratch anyway.

Im sure they can read but never bothered to pickup the book in the first place so to speak. Im sure by now they are quick at reading that bottom corner of the invoice.

New pads always lack that bite until bedded in but doesn't sound like that is the case. Were the rotors still serviceable? I don't know what the dealerships procedure or tools are for changing pads or fluid so its hard to speculate. It's possible they may introduced air or forced contained fluid up steam causing an issue etc but i would expect a dealership to be able to check and eliminate all the basic variables before forming the worst case scenario (which they may well of done, obviously idk) Guess you either have to trust their diagnosis, get a second opinion or check it yourself. If it was my cars bleed to the system (power bleeder in my case) to make sure there was no air, clamp all the brake lines and remove them one by one to see if pedal improved. if it you can narrow it down to that specific caliper - sticking, trapped air. If it didn't then i would expect master cylinder bypassing, air in ABS or the actual ABS unit as they said (sounds like a rare occurrence to me)

Seems very odd a brake fluid change would that. What method was used to remove fluid? Was the pump modulated as part of the change?

I don't think ive even dreamt of owning 4 BMW's. At this point you may as well buy 5 so you can drive a different one to work each day.

Yeah these cars are in the cheap to buy pricey to get up to scratch category. They are the best in their class for the period imo, but most are just worn out money sinks with the min WOF work done unless owned by true enthusiasts with money . Ordering parts overseas when applicable (FCP euro etc) and doing your own repairs goes along way, otherwise you'd going need a bit of cash if you plan on keeping it long term. The cooling system and transmission quite critical to keep in good working order as you don't usually get much if any warning when they start to fail, they can lead to big bills. There is plenty of info on the net about all the common issues and good repair guides for someone unfamiliar with these.

These engines leak from everywhere like most '90+ BMW designs. The passenger side has most of the plumbing - hoses, gaskets etc, lots of things to leak on that side. Oil filter housing gasket usually creates the biggest leak, then you got vanos lines, crankcase vent hoses, power steering hoses which drip from above, things like the sump gasket, crankshaft seal, dipstick o-ring are usually leaking somewhat at this age unless someone has replaced them. Best bet is the take off the cover off, go under the car and de grease\clean the entire area. Check back after some driving to get an idea of what leaking (which will probably be many things as most people don't bother to fix them) The entire subframe\suspension is alloy on these cars

Im sorry but it doesn't look like a ACS kit at all to me. It's likely someone has replaced your front and rear bumpers and added those AC emblems after it came out of the factory. The side skirts are factory, ACS ones noticeably protrude with additional lines. It appears to have some sort of aftermarket replica M sport style front bumper. Rear bumper looks M sport with an extra cutout of the right hand side for the additional exhaust tips (has it even got a muffler connected to those?) In terms of performance increase, the best thing you can do besides usual maintenance items is replace the vanos seals, this should give you a noticeable amount of low end torque back below 3000rpm.

Sounds like it has multiply issues so you'd have to scan it first to see where you are at. Its likely has the original transmission fluid and filter can cause issues and accelerate wear on known weak points such as the torque converter. Brakes could be many things like an ABS\DSC unit failure,sensors, master cylinder or leaks\air in the system.

No legal requirement for pad level warnings. No idea about the service interval myself.

Id say it is and starts wearing immediately unlike the older type which only became truly worn once you ran the pads low enough to cut the signal. The low light does come on fairly early, i tend run my pads down fairly low especially if are expensive compounds.

2 threads discussing brake rotors not far below your thread

E90 has a 2 stage sensor i think - one stage for condition\k's remaining in the OBD service menu and the another to trigger the light on the dash when they are low. I suppose you could reuse it but the condition estimate probably wont be accurate im assuming, but it should reset in the OBD service menu I just cut the sensors after the plug, join and solder the 2 wire together and hide them where you can't see. It's an idiot feature really, no one who does their own maintenance work needs it.

Not M50 engines but ive come across a few older BMW's with hydraulic tensioners that were clearly fatigued (maybe leaked out fluid) . Is the belt is good and the correct size? What ive always done in a pinch is drop the belt size maybe 10-15 to compensate

No idea

Indeed. I do wind them out and torque them back in most of the way with my M12 ratchet once they are loosened

Seats are fooked anyway