E38 750i refresh/resto log.

[kulgan 1042]

I just finished reading through the 21 pages. Interesting journey. Makes me want to go out and buy an old 750 :-)

Kulgan, You're not a fan of Raymond e feist are you?

Theres something special about the E38's. And I do like the torque from the V12. And being able to say V12 is kinda cool too.

I would have chosen "Thomas" as a handle but then nobody would know the difference..lol

[kulgan 1042]

Battery drain is sorted.

Rather than sit there with a amp meter and pull fuses one at a time I took a punt on it being the amp and just disconnected it and put in a fully charged battery and waited to see what would happen.

A week later and the battery is still going strong. yayy, no battery drain but trying to find another amp is going to be fun(again).

[Olaf 3317]

Hi Dave, you might consider getting your amp repaired? It might be worth calling Ashley Audio in Wellington (if they're still around), they specialised in fixing the really tricky stuff as well as sales/installation. Iain has always been excelent to deal with.

Come to think of it, it's time I had my MD deck looked at... I'll search them out.

[kulgan 1042]

Damn you Murphy.

What the heck. Had someone want to see the car so I start it up and drive to his place. Go for a drive with him to give him a feel for the car and all was good. Stopped for a while and talked about his nice e34 540i. Got in the 750i to leave. Started it up and it went poof in a cloud of steam on his driveway. Wow. Blew the top radiator hose.

if it wasn't so comical I might be annoyed..

[NUSTAD 243]

Your 750i shares DNA with Herbie and is making sure you don't sell her. Say nice things like you will love her forever and she will treat you right.....try to ditch her and expect payback.....,,

[kulgan 1042]

In my efforts to replace the radiator hose I've made things worse..lol

I've used the same method to remove the fan clutch from a 728i, 735i and a 740i.

https://youtu.be/l5nfnXFwk-4?t=3m29s

Not exactly kosher but it works a treat.

Till today anyway.

While the 728i, 735i and 740i all have metal fan belt pulleys it turns out that the top of the line V12 has plastic. WTF?

So I broke it in half...lol

[Allanw 1071]

While the 728i, 735i and 740i all have metal fan belt pulleys it turns out that the top of the line V12 has plastic. WTF?

So I broke it in half...lol

D'Oh!

Yep... lots of them do have plastic - I think there were even some earlier models with them, possibly some E34's? etc

I always use the long spanner and little hammer method, which has not failed me yet, otherwise the pulley holder with the holes for the bolts heads works, apparently.

[kulgan 1042]

I've got the radiator hose and the pulley arrived from Germany today so I'll get into it over the weekend.

Whats the long spanner, little hammer method.

I've made the pulley holder tool but that fan bolt is not budging.. I really dont want to do damage to the waterpump..lol

[KwS 2425]

+1 on the spanner and hammer method, used that on a couple of cars now with great success.

Stick spanner on nut, and strike the end of the spanner sharply with the hammer (in the direction of undoing). It uses the tension of the belts to hold the pulley in place, and the shock from the hammer to crack the nut.

[M3AN 4016]

And if the belts don't hold the pump use a long screwdriver to brace the pump nuts and try again.

Once you've done it once it becomes obvious and is easily repeatable.

Lots of YouTube videos also for guidance.

[KwS 2425]

And if the belts don't hold the pump use a long screwdriver to brace the pump nuts and try again.

IIRC thats what he did, and it broke the pulley.

[M3AN 4016]

IIRC thats what he did, and it broke the pulley.

If so he was doing it wrong. That's effectively exactly what the "special" tool does.

Lots of YouTube videos to show someone how it's done.

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2132]

don't forget the plastic is 20 years old and spun millions if not billions of times. its brittle plastic by now, just like the rest of a BMW cooling system (and intake manifolds too)

i always replace with aftermarket alloy parts, which are available for the M70, not sure about M73 e.g. if they have the same water pump??

[kulgan 1042]

If so he was doing it wrong. That's effectively exactly what the "special" tool does.

Lots of YouTube videos to show someone how it's done.

Thats the method I used and have done it successfully on many cars.

Andy was right. The plastic was old and brittle. Probably been on there since 1999..

[kulgan 1042]

I got the water hose fixed and the new pulley on and thought I'd change the spark plugs today.

Parked the car in my fathers garage as he has better lighting and tools.

I managed to do 3 on the drivers side but the boots on the other 3 were firmly fixed in place and wouldn't budge so I went to town to get a spark plug boot removal tool because I didn't want to break the wires on the V12 cause they're expensive.

While I was gone someone thought they'd have a try and pulled a wire out of the boot. Then tried to pull the boot off with a pair of needle nosed pliers and ripped the boot in half. Then had another go and broke the top off the spark plug.

So. Now I'm going to take the Intake Manifold off. Damn it all...

So unless I can find a good second hand set of ignition leads not only am I up for a new set of those but probably(definitely) and new set of intake manifold gaskets as well as new fuel lines and vacuum hoses cause I might as well do those while I'm in there.

Crikey. Not sure my wallets going to handle this.

The 740i needs new feet as well so in the interim I might swap wheels between the 7's as the 750i has good rubber on it.

So for the near future anyway, the 750i is off the market..ha ha I fell into this car after years of looking for one. Now it seems fate is conspiring to have me keep it.

[Breaker 980]

Bugger sorry to hear it's given pleasure and pain

[jonesrp 63]

I don`t get it Dave...while you were gone `Someone thought they`d have a try..?`

[kulgan 1042]

I don`t get it Dave...while you were gone `Someone thought they`d have a try..?`

Yeah. My father thought he'd be helpful. bless him..lol

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2132]

i think Milland will sell you the wire and cups/boots to make up your own.

an auto sparky might be able to as well.

think new genuine was 600 a side?? and will be newly stock i would have thought

[kulgan 1042]

i think Milland will sell you the wire and cups/boots to make up your own.

an auto sparky might be able to as well.

think new genuine was 600 a side?? and will be newly stock i would have thought

Sounds like a much better option than OEM new. Cheers Andy.

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2132]

i mean to say new old stock, not newly by the way, Mac autocorrects too much some times

[kulgan 1042]

So I delved into the 750i today. Not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be.

Started with this.

And got to this.

All in an effort to get this out.

Bonus for me was that someone has already been in there and replaced all the fuel and vacuum lines. It looks like the intake manifold gasket/boots are fairly new as well though I'll take them off and inspect them just to be sure there are no leaks.

[kulgan 1042]

Oh, and sitting on BBS RC's. I'll take some better pics when it's out of the garage.

[kulgan 1042]

12 new spark plugs are in. Just waiting for the new spark plug boot to arrive from Germany then I can start getting it all back together.. 

Cant wait. I've been missing it.

[Michael. 2313]

On 7/26/2016 at 6:17 PM, kulgan said:

Oh, and sitting on BBS RC's. I'll take some better pics when it's out of the garage.

PERFECT