Yuen

Awesome, looking forward to pics of your car with the new suspension Grant.

Very nice. More pics of interior and rear end?

If this does sell through TradeMe, they will be wishing that TradeMe Motors was commission based.

Good stuff, got to have a read. Good job with the referencing of the quote, too.

Sounds like a heater core leak?

Happy Birthday!

You have to knock the metal rails out from inside the boot. Look inside the boot, you'll see 2 holes for each headrest. Put a screwdriver in there, use a mallet/hammer to knock the screwdriver and they should pop out from the inside of the car. To install, notice the metal rails are held in by locking pins. You need to use a screwdriver to hold the pin back, and at the same time get someone to press the headrests down from the inside. Try to pull them out to make sure they're secure, and you're done.

Sorry, didn't buy it - saw it when I was browsing at the bookshop.

IIRC, the 2 adjusters are for adjusting the whole chrome reflector so any adjustment will affect both low and high beam. Hence why there's only 2 adjustment screws - one for vertical and one for horizontal adjustment. Been a while since I've looked at the E39 lights though so that's based off memory. As for putting HIDs in high beam, no that would not be good, because the ballast will likely die prematurely due to being turned on and off constantly from 'flash to pass'. But if your use of high beam is on back roads where you can turn them on for extended periods of time, then no problem. Cars that do use xenon for the high beam have bi-xenon where the same projector is used for both high and low beam.

hey w0lfy, I know that's what they look like but thought maybe I could spot any problems with your actual headlights through some close-up pictures

Comical cover, isn't it? Every magazine is talking about the E92 M3 right now.

Firstly, what is your personal perception of BMW? What makes the cars so good? What do you love about them? Cars that handle well and provide lots of driving pleasure. The cars are just so connected to the road, such a joy to drive. Given BMWs are the most expensive cars I've ever driven and I'm sure Porsches, Ferrari etc should be even better, I guess they are in a different class. I love how BMWs handle, how it's a driver's car. There's the heritage as has been mentioned, things like BMW Art cars... as a BMW driver you feel like you're part of this tradition. It's fun. Secondly, how do you think BMW is regarded New Zealand wide and partcularly by non-BMW owners/drivers? How do you think people in NZ see BMW drivers? Snobs, people who buy them for the badge (though I'm sure there is a fair amount of people who do just that). BMW drivers who drive them for the driving experience are victims of blanket stereotyping. But that applies to pretty much everything in the world. Thirdly, what do you think of BMW advertising/marketing? Did it have an effect on your car choice? How do you think they could advertise/market themselves better? I think the advertising/marketing is fine. It has not affected my car choice so far, but it may in the future. I think they could market themselves more as a driver's car. IMO, people really have to drive the cars to understand the passion for driving that most of us on this forum have. Many people stand by the sidelines and say BMWs are expensive to maintain, not reliable, expensive to modify compared to Japanese cars, but that's not necessarily true. Put them in the seat and perhaps they will understand why we are so passionate about our cars. To me, my car does not just get me from A to B, it's also the pleasure I get from driving it on the road.

Must have been done by BMW Individual.

Thanks for the update Grant!

By the way, the July issue of Total BMW has an article about replacing broken adjusters in the E39 headlights, have a look. It also mentions that the facelift Angel Eyes lights do not have replacement adjusters from BMW, but CA Automotive in the UK sells metal versions of them for 42 pounds per set in the UK. Someone mentioned to me before that the metal ones have led to too much head conduction and making the plastic bits that join up to the metal adjusters go bad, I don't know if that's true though. If you want to go with plastic, go for the ones sold at Odometergears.com: http://www.odometergears.com/subpages/bmw.html It's a little more pricey, but hey, I guess it's closer to the originals if you are more comfortable with that. As far as I'm aware, these are the only 2 aftermarket producers of the facelift adjusters.

You're welcome. Can you take a picture of your lights? It can only be the bulb, the projector, or the glass (or was it plastic on the E39 ones, I can't remember). Don't go for Arctic White lamps or whatever they call those things nowadays. Any halogen bulb with any form of tint on it (Arctic White is blue tinted to give out white light IIRC) will have decreased output due to the tint not letting 100% of light through. Your eyes may perceive them to be brighter due to them being more white, but if you look at the road surface you will see less output. There are halogen bulbs out there that are not tinted and claim to put out more light, such as Osram Silverstar, and they actually do... but the increase is quite marginal and is not worth the premium you pay to buy them. The only way to get a significant increase in lumens now is to go for HIDs, but beware of putting HIDs in a halogen headlight because the headlight was not made for that - the beam may be funny (certain headlights work better than others, I'm sure you've seen plenty of older cars with HID kits stuck in the halogen headlights and glaring the hell out of other drivers). That's how HID got a bad name. H7 puts out more lumens than H1 bulbs and my E36 has H1, and is putting out plenty of light. I have taken the lights apart before and cleaned the projector and the outside glass. I'm not sure if you've owned the E39 from new, but if you have, perhaps you recall it putting out great light back then? Those lights are good if aimed correctly. Glass can be a problem if it is dirty or scratched (while plastic lenses will go hazy with age), and block a lot of output and could also cause glare. Post up some good pics of both headlights and we'll see

It's surprising that you say that your mechanic has tested the angle and said it's OK. This sounds like a broken headlamp adjuster problem to me. The E39 headlights have 2 plastic adjusters in each headlight and they get brittle from heat and age and break. This causes the projector to lose support and point downwards so you get little usable light. On the pre-facelift lights the adjusters are available as a part from the dealer. However on the facelift (angel eyes) they are not. There are some aftermarket options available though but they are not cheap, but still much cheaper than new headlights. To test if the adjusters are broken, try adjusting the projectors using the adjustment screws on the back of the headlights. If the beam does not move it means they are broken. When you are driving and hit bumps/potholes they will also flop around.

Wow Ashkan, the wheels really make a difference! They look great on your car. Now give it a good clean, polish and wax to bring out that beautiful Hellrot.

Ah, just saw this thread... Josh, I saw your car about a week ago coming out of a carpark, I was walking on the pavement and the nose poked out, from the front bumper at first I thought it was an M3 then I saw the wheels emerge and I knew it was your car! Was going to ask you what exhaust you had because I don't recall your exhaust being that deep a tone on the last drive. It sounds great. Kinda sad to see the wheels being changed since they were so unique but it looks like the new ones will be just as rare!

Never heard of Kayma, but Bilstein and Koni are popular. In the US they usually run Bilstein shocks + H&R springs or Koni shocks + Eibach springs. FK is also another company but I've only seen coilovers from them, not sure about normal shocks. Tein and Vogtland also deal in suspensions for the E36.

Welcome! You'll be glad to know it's very simple. At the top of your headlights there are 2 hex screws. 1 is for horizontal adjustment, the other for vertical. Use an allen key or hex socket to turn them. Inside the hex screw there is also the provision for you to use a Phillips screwdriver as well so that could work. Note that the screws that go into plastic sockets/screws on top of the headlights that attach the headlights to the chassis are only for the purpose of lining the headlights up with the nosepanel, and not for adjustment of your projector. Also, there is an adjustment dial in the car to adjust your headlights vertically. It's located to the bottom left of the steering wheel, beside the dial for controlling the brightness of the interior lights (gauges, centre console, window switches). But the main adjustment should be done using the hex screws as mentioned above. Hope that helps.

Man, glad you're ok! Your car has taken you on some adventures.

Looking good, I like the way the stripes swoop toward the rear, gives the car a 'go fast' look (not that it isn't already I'm sure)!

The only thing that I can think of is getting a set of clears for the car if it doesn't have one already. Not OE BMW, just Depos will do. They look pretty good. But if the car doesn't have a Motorsport kit it won't have as profound an impact. Still, it will make the car look newer and you should be able to sell it for a bit more. Could probably sell the old lights for some $ too so your outlay would end up being right around $200. I'd say the most valuable option on the car now is the leather interior, if it's in real good condition I'd say around $5k. Unfortunately there's just too many E36s on the market nowadays so there is a fair bit of downward pressure on prices.

Good to hear... should work better as they wear in a bit! The tread pattern on the Adrenaline is pretty nice.