The usual intro thread

[keltik 15]

Hey chaps,

Joining the BMW crowd this time. Will be picking up my car on Friday so no pics to share yet. Have been lusting after a luxo-barge since I sold my XJ6 so hoping an E39 540 will fit the bill.

Based in Whakatane, parts manager for the local Holden/Suzuki dealer. Have been a Subaru fanboy since the beginning but I think i've grown up a bit and would like some more sophisticated engineering. This will be my first daily driver in 8 years that isnt a Legacy. Not sure how I'm going to cope with the lack of AWD.

Have owned a decent variety of 2nd cars and a couple of bikes. Drove an E46 318 for a few months and was severely annoyed by how good it was. Had been a member of Clubsub for years, am still active on oldschool and can occasionally be found in other corners of the internet.

This should be interesting.

[hotwire 352]

Welcome Ben & a great choice.

E39 tis a great car & IMO will run rings around Subaru's. Hardly a luxo barge though - that's more the 7's.

Looks like there's no pressure to be seen in the "work" vehicles then huh

[Ugan 41]

my work hack, school run bus, weekly shopping trolley and for occasional track use is a 06 Legacy GT Wagon manual its a good car, brilliant in sh*t weather but the overall quality, fit and finish of the Beemer will win you over, also its much more adjustable (well E46 anyway) so you can play more. Congrads.

[qube 3570]

How is this 06 gt wagon you speak of? Looking at getting one to replace a 96 legacy

[Ugan 41]

Hey, BP5 legacy is a Hugh difference from the previous gen in all aspects, seems to be reliable too considering how much abuse it gets. ps.My wife's 330i will be up for sale in Feb next year if you keen.

[keltik 15]

Had a BH Legacy with the 3.0 flat 6 from a BP and the close ratio fancy diff gearbag from a type R WRX. Smoking the back wheels around cones at lots of rpms was a hoot. The BP is a much better handling platform to start with. Just gotta be weary of those Jap import turbo hand grenades.

No pressure here to fly the company flag, thank God. I briefly looked at a VY SS but you dont get much car for your money compared to the BMW. Couldve bought a Vectra but i still have a soul...and a brain.

Have spent the last 8 years in Japanese cars with the drivers seat set all the way back to give me just enough leg room. Cant wait to get back to the much better euro style driving position.

Edited September 17, 2014 by keltik

[qube 3570]

Hey, BP5 legacy is a Hugh difference from the previous gen in all aspects, seems to be reliable too considering how much abuse it gets. ps.My wife's 330i will be up for sale in Feb next year if you keen.

Could be keen around that time. Send me a pm whenever

[rowans17 19]

Welcome Ben, 540's are amazing you wont be dissapointed.

Hey, BP5 legacy is a Hugh difference from the previous gen in all aspects, seems to be reliable too considering how much abuse it gets. ps.My wife's 330i will be up for sale in Feb next year if you keen.

BP5s are pretty allround good cars, but that makes them kinda boring. Miss my bmws

[Allanw 1071]

Had a BH Legacy with the 3.0 flat 6 from a BP

Should have realised from the user name

I didn't take part on NASUbarus much, but have had a few of them... and still have an EJ25 in my VW bus... but that'll be an EZ one day too... hopefully a 3.6, but more likely a 3.0.

Welcome, anyway!

[keltik 15]

... but that'll be an EZ one day too... hopefully a 3.6, but more likely a 3.0

Give me a call when the time comes still have a 3.0 block and heads sitting in my shed.

[keltik 15]

Just drove it 600kms home. Wow. 9.2L/100km aint bad!

Will post some pictures soon because there are buttons that i have absolutely no idea what they do.

[keltik 15]

So this is the outside

This is the inside

This is a mystery button that lights up when you touch it. Located between the bum warmer and do skids buttons

And this i think is a button for turning on the pizza oven...but im not sure.

And there also seems to be a hole where one would normally find a cup holder. I received a bag of broken bits that I might be able to mash back together....but basically i think its f**ked and need a new one.

Edited September 20, 2014 by keltik

[beemn 50]

The cup holders suck...waste of time. The SEDC are to stiffen the shocks if they still work. The last button is for the rear window blind.

[Allanw 1071]

Yeah... so what he's saying, is those buttons are for the stuff that doesn't work anymore

The cupholders are retarded - buy a "cheap" taiwanese replacement, and they'll last longer than the OEM ones.

Then (after you clean all the dust from the AC temp sensor, as seen in your last 2 pics) you can put cold drinks in it, and have the heater go warm, or put hot drinks in to make it go cold, because some silly German person put the sensor right by where your drink goes.

Oh yeah, then the drink tips over, because the cup holders ar so short anyway.

Yeah - the V8's aren'tn't that hungry really. 9.2 is OK, but you probably weren't trying for your best economy on a run home in a newly purchased V8

[rowans17 19]

and this i think is a button for turning on the pizza oven...but im not sure.

Its quite common that the pizza oven fails on these cars. Could never get my pizza oven to work properly.

On a side note, car looks awesome man!

[keltik 15]

Chur, so the dust thing could be responsible for my heater alternately roasting and then freezing me?

Good car so far, great for slamming k's on. Needs a bit of v8 noise next, I'm not digging the scuba tanks

[Allanw 1071]

Chur, so the dust thing could be responsible for my heater alternately roasting and then freezing me?

Good car so far, great for slamming k's on. Needs a bit of v8 noise next, I'm not digging the scuba tanks

Maybe...

Also... for V8 noise, but very subtle and only when "required" the muffler with no exit can have a hole cut with a hole saw - aja540i did that on his 540i touring and it sounds REALLY good when he pulls away from my driveway. It's never loud or obtrusive/droney, but sounds purposeful. You can either just leave the hole there, or siamese the two outlets together, or make two outlets. I'd recommend the holesaw as a "free" trial at least.

[keltik 15]

Hmm, keen to see how that sounds. Will put it on my to-do list.

[jeffbebe 1559]

The cup holders suck...waste of time. The SEDC are to stiffen the shocks if they still work. The last button is for the rear window blind.

I've said it before and I'll say it again... I devised a very effective cup holder in my E39 and it didn't look too bad either.

[polley 916]

That's what passengers are for.

[keltik 15]

Holesaw muffler mod done. A+. Perfect level of subtle rumble and absolutely silent when cruising. Sounds 99 times more chur when doing "stationary full load cooling system tests".

New Taiwan spec cup holders are here, front and rear. Yup A+ again. Taiwan stuff is immensely better than the OEM design. Still f**king useless at holding drinks tho.

Fitted a small sub in the boot and discovered the remarkable acoustic insulation in these cars. Cant hear it at all. So popped a few plugs out in the rear shelf (i think the factory woofer goes through them) and redesigned the foam a bit so the boot vents through to the cabin much better. Tiny barely noticeable increase in road noise with the stereo off but now all the doof-doofs come through the vents at the base of the back window. A+ again.

Also in taking the rear shelf apart, i managed to fix the roller blind. Some compliance center muppet had put it back together backwards so the extendy bit was stuck inside the parcel shelf trim. None of the bolts were done up and a dozen fasteners were missing too. So a middle fingered salute to you, you lazy prick.

Next job, fix some oil leaks and do the bloody rocker cover gaskets.

[kiwi535 538]

Holesaw muffler mod done. A+. Perfect level of subtle rumble and absolutely silent when cruising. Sounds 99 times more chur when doing "stationary full load cooling system tests".

New Taiwan spec cup holders are here, front and rear. Yup A+ again. Taiwan stuff is immensely better than the OEM design. Still f**king useless at holding drinks tho.

Fitted a small sub in the boot and discovered the remarkable acoustic insulation in these cars. Cant hear it at all. So popped a few plugs out in the rear shelf (i think the factory woofer goes through them) and redesigned the foam a bit so the boot vents through to the cabin much better. Tiny barely noticeable increase in road noise with the stereo off but now all the doof-doofs come through the vents at the base of the back window. A+ again.

Also in taking the rear shelf apart, i managed to fix the roller blind. Some compliance center muppet had put it back together backwards so the extendy bit was stuck inside the parcel shelf trim. None of the bolts were done up and a dozen fasteners were missing too. So a middle fingered salute to you, you lazy prick.

Next job, fix some oil leaks and do the bloody rocker cover gaskets.

investigate the armrest in the back seat that may enable access to the boot.There is/was a ski bag option which lets you have long things come into the car but encased in a bag wg=hich pushed through from the boot.The bag was removeable i think.If that was removed then the sealing between the cabin and boot would be severely compromised

[keltik 15]

investigate the armrest in the back seat that may enable access to the boot.There is/was a ski bag option which lets you have long things come into the car but encased in a bag wg=hich pushed through from the boot.The bag was removeable i think.If that was removed then the sealing between the cabin and boot would be severely compromised

Nope no hatch there for me. Not even a perforated section or even a visible stamped place where it would be. I also didnt want the armrest down.

My car has the TV tuner in one lump behind the left seat and something else in a lump behind the right seat. If the current idea wasnt going to do the job, my next move was to relocate or remove those boxes and install a pair of 10 inch woofers in there through the panel with the face behind the seat foam. Would be fully hidden from inside the car AND from in the boot. Would look totally sweet. The Volvo C70 cabrio is set up like that and has a switch in the center console to disable the subs so your back seat passengers dont end up with collapsed lungs.

But luckily, no need. Its working great!

[allan 295]

Re your rear screen curtain be careful with the plastic guide clips that slid in the track and hold the curtain as it moves up and down . These are under a lot of force when operating and brake with out to much fuss, been their. In my case it was make some or a complete new curtain $$$$$ so I made some out of a plastic coat hanger a bit of messing around I will admit but they worked well. Best of luck with the car as you work through the issues that arise.

[evljat 1]

Big fan of your Legacy and gymkhana videos!