charles28 138 Report post Posted August 4, 2014 Yep, Terrible Picture, but as you can see I have 2x E39's in the Garage and taking pics at night time doesn't work so well with a Samsung Phone. The one on the left I purchased today, the one on the Right is a normal 525i that I now have on trademe for sale. I was impressed by how much better the 530i is to drive overall, infact in everyway.. However when I got out to Rangiora and drove into the Garage I thought i saw smoke coming out the front of the bonnet and could smell a strong oil smell. Sure enough, leaking valve cover gasket, got the Halogen work light out to confirm. Ordered new parts online. The car came with an NZ sat nav unit, Bluetooth, USB etc, so that's sorted. I am going to replace the front speakers with the ones I have in my other E39, (Much better then stock). Things to change on the car: Remove M5 Badge (Thankfully a normal M badge has been included in the glove box) Replace find wood trim with silver trim, (It was annoying getting the wood trim, most Motorsports had silver). Things to fix on the car: Repair front bumper, will need paint and plastic welding, doesn't look that bad though. Replace Valve Cover gasket set. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tmase 19 Report post Posted August 4, 2014 Nice, I have pretty much an identical one, except metallic interior trim and no wind deflector things round the windows. Bonus to have an NZ sat unit installed, is it a Mk 4 or aftermarket? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
charles28 138 Report post Posted August 4, 2014 Nice, I have pretty much an identical one, except metallic interior trim and no wind deflector things round the windows. Bonus to have an NZ sat unit installed, is it a Mk 4 or aftermarket? Its a factory one, assume Mk4, was pleased to get that Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KwS 2429 Report post Posted August 4, 2014 (edited) I miss my old silver Msport E39, such great cars. Is yours leather or the cloth(?) interior? I had to do the valve cover on mine when i got it, was leaking onto the exhaust manifold, made a hell of a stink. Easy to change, access is pretty good. Facelift too, keen for more pictures Edited August 4, 2014 by KwS Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
charles28 138 Report post Posted August 4, 2014 I miss my old silver Msport E39, such great cars. Is yours leather or the cloth(?) interior? I had to do the valve cover on mine when i got it, was leaking onto the exhaust manifold, made a hell of a stink. Easy to change, access is pretty good. Facelift too, keen for more pictures Its got swede part leather Sport seats. I'll take some pics on Saturday, its always too late when I get home from work (Dark) Its a lot of car for the money, I've previously had a 528i and still got the 525i, the difference is massive, a lot of it due to the transmission too, finally I have one with a proper ZF gearbox, rather then the Jatco. Yeah the oil smell comes through the cabin, so I'm going to sort that out asap, looks like a job that can be done in an hour. I'm going to get my mechanic to give the car a real good check over, to make sure I don't miss anything, but will still do the work myself to save money hehe. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Allanw 1072 Report post Posted August 5, 2014 Some of the performance difference is due to your prefacelift 525i really being a 523i in disguise - for some reason (and BMW let them do it) the Japs stuck with the 525i badges. Our 525 i ( a "real", facelift one , the little brother of your 530i) actually goes really well, but if I could have a manual 530i, i'd be happy! The M54 is a very good engine, especially with the problem parts fixed (Vanos, DISA and vacuum leaks, Rocker cover and oil filter housing gasket, old cooling system parts replaced). They have a tonne of torque down low, and don't mind screaming either. They have a really good shaped torque curve! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KwS 2429 Report post Posted August 5, 2014 good stuff, that interior is much better than full leather IMO. My old E39 was a 523i, and i concur that although a really nice car it was slower than a wet week really. The 3.0 is a beast compared. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
charles28 138 Report post Posted August 6, 2014 The M5 badge isn't fooling anyone..well at least no BMW enthusiasts. The old owner thought it was a good idea... I still can't take any worth while pics as such, but I'll get the proper SLR camera out on the weekend when I have some daylight to play with. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Arma 134 Report post Posted August 6, 2014 Its got swede part leather Sport seats. I'll take some pics on Saturday, its always too late when I get home from work (Dark) Its a lot of car for the money, I've previously had a 528i and still got the 525i, the difference is massive, a lot of it due to the transmission too, finally I have one with a proper ZF gearbox, rather then the Jatco. Yeah the oil smell comes through the cabin, so I'm going to sort that out asap, looks like a job that can be done in an hour. I'm going to get my mechanic to give the car a real good check over, to make sure I don't miss anything, but will still do the work myself to save money hehe. Nice buy! Love the e39s, and the 530i's are great cars - definitely enjoy driving it. Should be possible to do the valve cover gaskets in 1-2 hours (based on what ppl tell me). I had ones on my 530i replaced about a month ago.. the gaskets had turned solid, and oil was dripping down onto the exhaust and stinking! All good now Got brand new plugs in at around the same time. Take some more pics Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
qube 3570 Report post Posted August 6, 2014 (edited) Seriously i see this car so often. I live behind the high court and i always see you drive up and down near the quadrant apartments when im walking out or going home etc. Car looks and sounds good as! Edit: this is to arma lol op Your car looks good too. Cant go wrong with a nice 530 Edited August 6, 2014 by QUBE Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
charles28 138 Report post Posted August 6, 2014 (edited) Nice buy! Love the e39s, and the 530i's are great cars - definitely enjoy driving it. Should be possible to do the valve cover gaskets in 1-2 hours (based on what ppl tell me). I had ones on my 530i replaced about a month ago.. the gaskets had turned solid, and oil was dripping down onto the exhaust and stinking! All good now Got brand new plugs in at around the same time. Take some more pics Yeah, it looks like its a common issue, so I quickly found a video online showing how to do the job right hehe. I'll be sure to take some pics on the weekend. I did notice that there was a lot of oil under the car, so its been leaking a while, of course its possible its got other oil leaks too. I'll need to get it de-greased so I can check properly. This car seems to go really well though, I test drove one about 6 months ago and it was rubbish, so it must have had some issues I guess. Edited August 6, 2014 by Charles32 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Allanw 1072 Report post Posted August 6, 2014 I did notice that there was a lot of oil under the car, so its been leaking a while, of course its possible its got other oil leaks too. Most likely the oil filter housing (nearly as common as the rocker cover), and the power steering hose clips on the bottom of the reservoir, and the oring on the reservoir lid. All pretty common. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KwS 2429 Report post Posted August 7, 2014 ah thats right, i also had to do the oil filter housing gasket on my e39 at the same time. Looks like a big job, but it really isnt too bad. Should be obvious as there will be oil down the side of the block on the LH side. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
charles28 138 Report post Posted August 7, 2014 it was a long night last night. I decided to do the valve cover gasket. Got a genuine BMW one, wasn't that expensive anyway. Tried to set up the garage to have some room to work on the car. Started stripping it down.. you can see the oil leaking.. Started the cleaning process, had spent quite a bit of time cleaning it, but had more to go. Re-assembled, car still works, as far as I can tell its fixed the issue. However it was 11pm when I finished and I only took it for a 10 min drive. I did however notice the Oil filter housing was leaking and a small amount of power steering fluid, so I guess that means they are next on the list. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tmase 19 Report post Posted August 8, 2014 Now I see your licence plate I know that I saw this car on Trade Me last week. They were using a photo I took and posted on here on the listing of my car, made my heart skip a beat as I am not in the country at the moment, but Google must rank this site high on search results! Price looked pretty sharp, you must have moved quick! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
charles28 138 Report post Posted August 8, 2014 Now I see your licence plate I know that I saw this car on Trade Me last week. They were using a photo I took and posted on here on the listing of my car, made my heart skip a beat as I am not in the country at the moment, but Google must rank this site high on search results! Price looked pretty sharp, you must have moved quick! The seller wasn't that organised and I got in before he put actual pictures online. However I looked at the car at 6pm at night (almost dark) and struggled to check it out properly, however got it for $7000 which I thought was a good price, especially considering its got an NZ nav and USB audio 3.5mm , iphone inputs etc. even with needing to fix some minor problems. These don't seem to come up for sale often in Christchurch. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KwS 2429 Report post Posted August 8, 2014 I paid about that for my old 523i a year or two back (with 250k odd km on it), so id say thats a pretty good price for a facelift even with the minor work needed. Bet you'll be glad to be able to drive around without that lovely oil smell every time. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
charles28 138 Report post Posted August 8, 2014 (edited) I paid about that for my old 523i a year or two back (with 250k odd km on it), so id say thats a pretty good price for a facelift even with the minor work needed. Bet you'll be glad to be able to drive around without that lovely oil smell every time. Ohh i'm happy getting it or 7k for sure. Yeah the oil smell should be gone, I need to take it for a good drive and check. But i'm a perfectionist, the car will probably sit unused until I've fixed everything possible lol. Mean while I clock up 500k a week in a Daihatsu Sirion.. but it makes you appreciate a good car when you drive that all week for work. Edited August 8, 2014 by Charles32 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
charles28 138 Report post Posted August 9, 2014 (edited) Finally, a couple of day time pics, with poor lighting as usual. For some reason when I get time to take pics the lighting is useless.. one day I'll do this properly. One with really bad lighting. I also got around to swapping my good speakers in from my other E39. I messed around with the Parrot MKi9100 that the car has installed and worked out how to playback via USB, once I replaced the CR2032 battery in its remote. It seems to work ok and bypasses the headunit from what I can tell, but the sound is fine. Its one of these http://www.parrot.net.nz/mki9100.html After messing around with that I went to start the car, flat battery. The Battery is branded BMW, i assume its the one the car came with new 12 years ago. Its now on the charger, but suspect i'll be replacing that soon. Edited September 22, 2014 by Charles32 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Allanw 1072 Report post Posted August 9, 2014 After messing around with that I went to start the car, flat battery. The Battery is branded BMW, i assume its the one the car came with new 12 years ago. Its now on the charger, but suspect i'll be replacing that soon. You might be surprised - Mrs ran ours flat last summer, roll started the car, and I charged over night when she got home.... It's a warranty replacement that was fitted in 2003! Normally I'd have replaced it just to keep it reliable, but I'm tempted to leave it there to see how long it does go for! Dads E30 battery died after 11 years... though it actually turned out to be an alternator fault which meant the new battery was cranking slowly after 3 months use too... so the original battery lasted longer than the alternator! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KwS 2429 Report post Posted August 9, 2014 argh, please say you have plans to remove the chrome strips from the door edges. Looks good in the sun, pretty tidy inside too. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
charles28 138 Report post Posted August 9, 2014 argh, please say you have plans to remove the chrome strips from the door edges. Looks good in the sun, pretty tidy inside too. Yeah its in good condition for a 2002 car. Yeah the Strips are going, as is the M5 Badge, have a normal M badge for it (came in the glove box) Interior Trim found, not cheap at $300, but it looks tidy, hopefully collecting it tomorrow. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
charles28 138 Report post Posted August 10, 2014 So, i had a semi busy afternoon collecting the Silver Trim and installing it. Looks a lot better now that I am rid of the wood trim 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
charles28 138 Report post Posted August 21, 2014 Oil filter housing gasket replaced, old one is like a brittle piece of solid plastic. Power Steering hose re-clamped, now not leaking. M5 Badge, Removed. But I still seem to be having trouble with my Valve Cover Gasket, ie its still leaking, around the 2nd bolt from the back on the exhaust side. I didn't get new nut seals, so hopefully replacing these will help. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Allanw 1072 Report post Posted August 22, 2014 The covers can crack :-( Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
