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kulgan

E38 750i refresh/resto log.

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Great score! Has cleaned up nicely. That blue is looking much more appealing having been cleaned. I could certainly imaging it growing on you.

I would though - update the monitor to 16:9

Whoever has towed the car by the control arm deserves having a rope around them & being towed!

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Imagine cleaning the Alpina'ss though! The RC's are bad enough...

And that bent link! Alignment out much lol.

Agree Alpina softlines with a mild suspension drop would look the biz.

This would be my end goal.

So it could look like this

89JsS.jpg

Or this.

post-17205-0-46006500-1431473349.jpg

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My neighbour as a kid had that exact looking car. Was done by BMW NZ and he had it new. Was lush. Had 18" wheels when 16" wheels were considered big. I wonder where it ended up.

I knew that blue interior would look good all cleaned up. Keep up the good work.. Is it bad I am actually jealous that you get to clean it, its quite enjoyable taking years of crap off a car.

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How come the headlights are different in those two cars?

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How come the headlights are different in those two cars?

95 to 97 had the flat bottomed lights the 98 to 01 had the facelift lights.

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ah ha i see! i also just noticed (looking back at your pictures and your sig) that your two e38's have the different headlights too.

i cant decide which is better

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Spent most of today taking off the window tints as they were apparently to dark to pass the WOF. Went and saw a window tinter to ask if there was a easy way to do this and he said just rip it if then use paint grease remover to soften the glue and gently scrape it off the windows.

Did this on three of the side windows and got fed up. What a prick of a job.

I figured there had to be a easier way so I googled it. And there is a easier way. Much easier.

Get yours or your wifes hairdryer and heat a corner of the tint. Gently and slowly peel back the tint heating it as you go. 95%of the glue came away on the tint leaving me a very few small bits that were easy to clean. I'm so glad I found this before I started in the back window.

So, All the tint removed today.

Booked it into the local auto electrician for next week to get the steering angle sensor reset.

Edited by kulgan

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it doesnt look that dark in the pics? are you gonna get it re-tinted?

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it doesnt look that dark in the pics? are you gonna get it re-tinted?

The window tint guy said they were ok but the testing station failed them. They were old and looking pretty sad anyway.

I'll definitely get them tinted again. I think it looks good on the silver car.

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Agree Alpina softlines with a mild suspension drop would look the biz.

Better start saving! The last set of 18"+ deep dish softlines I saw for sale went for around US$4k. Plus... Get in line!! Haha

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Little update.

Had it in to the auto electrician today to have the Steering angle sensor reset. Cleared the codes and it immediately came back so the sensor has an internal fault and cant be reset. Damn.

Have to order a new one and it needs to be coded to the car and can only be done at a BMW dealership.

Bonus was having it out for a drive today in the cold weather and remembering it has heated seats. What a nice little extra. My passenger and I roasted our derrieres whist cruising around town. ^_^

Edited by kulgan
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Bonus was having it out for a drive today in the cold weather and remembering it has heated seats. What a nice little extra. My passenger and I roasted our derrieres whist cruising around town. ^_^

Best option ever on leather seats

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was that checker pattern inlaid in the door wood trim standard? looks very bespoke.

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Found this might give you some idea of what is required

These on ebay http://www.ebay.com/bhp/bmw-steering-angle-sensor best of luck.

Cheers for that. I found this one on amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/BMW-Stability-Control-Steering-Original/dp/B00KCXZM5I/ref=pd_sim_sbs_263_1/181-1686327-0781463?ie=UTF8&refRID=0ZEZB7R7V4BT723BFC64

was that checker pattern inlaid in the door wood trim standard? looks very bespoke.

It was an optional extra for individuals. Very rare in the E38's.

Good for keeping takeaways warm too.

ha ha. Hadn't thought of that.

Edited by kulgan

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Looks like you got a great car there Dave, cleaning it up and making it your own. There's an article in the April BMWCar mag on the very same model which is worth a look.

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Looks like you got a great car there Dave, cleaning it up and making it your own. There's an article in the April BMWCar mag on the very same model which is worth a look.

Cheers. That was a good read.

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3 Auto electricians later and none can reset the Steering angle sensor. Apparently the cars to old for their new computers.

It'll be a trip over to the BMW dealership in Palmerston north next week. Frustrating...

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3 Auto electricians later and none can reset the Steering angle sensor. Apparently the cars to old for their new computers.

It'll be a trip over to the BMW dealership in Palmerston north next week. Frustrating...

No one on the board near you with a cable and bmw diagnostic software? Does it stay on or does it come on shortly after driving? I had steering angle errors after changing control arms and the steering wheel was a few degress off until I got an alignment then it went away permanently, bmw e39 should be similar.

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No one on the board near you with a cable and bmw diagnostic software? Does it stay on or does it come on shortly after driving? I had steering angle errors after changing control arms and the steering wheel was a few degress off until I got an alignment then it went away permanently, bmw e39 should be similar.

It's on permanently. I have changed a bent control arm so I guess a alignment should be mandatory.

I'll book it in and see if it makes a difference. Thanks.

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Ah when I had steering angle issues the light would come on after a minute of driving each time. I've read about people with it permanently on just running the steering angle calibration in INPA and getting rid of it. Cheaper to get a cable and download INPA than a trip to the dealership and you get the cable to keep, as long as you have a laptop.

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Wheel allignment done yesterday after work. Drives nice and straight though to be honest it did before..lol

They couldn't plug thier machine in to reset the Steering angle sensor so it looks like it'll be a trip to Palmerston North after all. Not that taking the car for a long drive will be a chore..ha ha.

I'm going to look at getting a cheap laptop,cable and INPA. This ole dogs gonna have to learn some new tricks.

So far it's cost me at least $50 every time I've had it plugged into someones computer only to be told they cant do anything with it.

One place was able to see and clear all the codes but couldn't reset the sensor. Asked them what the other codes were and he said they didn't seem important so he just cleared them. Duh...

Makes a lot of sense to get that laptop and INPA now.

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