adro 1084 Report post Posted August 5, 2020 (edited) 2297XX Celis F/L tailights installed. I've been trying to do this for about 1 year now. After 2 dud sets off trademe I had sort of given up but then @BreakMyWindow came through with a set from one of his recent missions to A&E. These also had the plug adapters, major score. Then I was too noob/scared to use NCS to try and code them in and my ISTA P is still not working but @hqstu came through with an LCM IIIB off a late model 525 running all the celis and xenon goods. My PA soft 1.4 is working and so following the E39 source videos I coded the LCM to my car, was alittle apprehensive as to how the front Xenons and wiring were going to respond but everything works perfect so I went ahead and started drilling some holes in the the tailight buckets. I followed E39 source videos again for this and a forum DIY. No hole saw but this stepped drill bit worked a charm New holes plug adapters Before after Fitments pretty good, I did have to do abit of bashing with a hammer. Since I've had it 3 years as of this month I thought some new plates would make a nice birthday present. TBH i was planning on keeping the plates when I sold it so went about remaking them while I was filling in the forms to make them mine. I didnt drill the rear plate, I just screwed the surround (which is abit faded and could probably do with a refresh) and then snapped the plate in place. The E39 community really helped me out with this one, thanks guys! Update on the shimmy. Case closed. I've had 2 people drive the car now and they are more worried about my mental health than any vibrations. Tyres are still on the cards and a new Battery is in the not to distant future too. Edited August 5, 2020 by adro 17 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
necsis 27 Report post Posted August 5, 2020 Excellent work! The NZ New boot lid with the wider number plate section ties things in really nicely. Might have to find a bootlid for my Japanese import and swap over, much nicer look. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hqstu 780 Report post Posted August 6, 2020 8 hours ago, necsis said: Might have to find a bootlid Same, I was hopeful for a silver one at pick a part, but it was munted... 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adro 1084 Report post Posted August 26, 2020 (edited) 230,XXXkm New Battery time. Din88 CCA 850. Local garage gave me a 'deal' on a Century, 3 year warranty etc...worked out cheaper than repco but...ouch. No coding required on the E39 is my understanding? I also got new tires but that's been abit of headache with the balancing. Went with Dunlop Sport Max 050's all round 235/45/17 front and 255/40/17. Beaurepairs attempted to balance them twice since i had a horrific shimmy at 80-100 km. Resulted in being told both my rims are bent only to go to Bridgestone Miramar and have them tell me that the fronts had 30grams and the rears had 20grams too much weight on them...and that the shape of my wheels are fine. 80-100km shimmy gone........mostly I still have a 50km and a100km little shimmy/high frequency vibration through the steering wheel and seat though which seems to get worse after 20mins of driving. It's small but annoying. Edited August 26, 2020 by adro 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hunter 408 Report post Posted August 26, 2020 Try asking the tire shop to reverse mount the wheel for balancing. A local shop here had to do that for one on my e46 it sorted a shimmy out. Not sure why it made a difference but it did. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adro 1084 Report post Posted August 28, 2020 Nabbed the stereo face plate from @Eagle 's E39. Still missing a few pixels but significantly better than what I had and cheaper (and 100x quicker) than a ribbon repair (i've already failed at this once). Before: After: A while I ago I also swapped the LED interior lights out and put the halogens back in. I thought the LED's were a little harsh for the interior. I left them in for the glovebox, boot and puddle lights as figured the brighter the better in those locations It's also been in at Hutt Automatics this week for a check up. I think my paranoia mistook a misfire @80km/h uphill for torque converter clutch pack failure. Pleased to say they couldn't find any faults with the transmission and I've replaced cyl 3 coil pack. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Eagle 1678 Report post Posted August 28, 2020 Damn I thought was just the '2', maybe it didnt look hard enough. Ive got a AK speedo ribbon repair that i never got to try as i found a good one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hunter 408 Report post Posted September 6, 2020 On 8/28/2020 at 9:41 PM, adro said: A while I ago I also swapped the LED interior lights out and put the halogens back in. I thought the LED's were a little harsh for the interior. I left them in for the glovebox, boot and puddle lights as figured the brighter the better in those locations Less harsh light is alo good for when the kids fall asleep in the back and you need ot transfer them with out waking the little Angels up 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adro 1084 Report post Posted September 13, 2020 232XXXkm Replaced the thrust arms (again) . Once warm the shimmy on braking was terrible. Ordered the parts and when I got around to fitting them noticed the right arm was obviously leaking fluid. these arms have done 20,000km and the RHS was installed by a very experienced mechanic, so not sure if installation error or wear and tear....either way; new arms are in (replaced both left and right) and the cars driving silky smooth. Felt like i was on a roll. Ages ago I bought diff fluid and drain plugs off @Gabe79. Problem was I couldn't get my fill plug loose, 4th attempt it finally budged. According to service history last fluid change in the diff was 60,000km ago. Out with the old: In with the new: New fill and drain plugs: Also replaced the drivers side headlight adjusters. Wow....what a fiddly job that is. Still have 1 broken adjuster on the passenger side but need another set of adjusters. Also chucked in some new cabin filters which I'm also guessing I got off Gabe. 7 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adro 1084 Report post Posted November 2, 2020 (edited) S O L D Inbound back to Auckland. The best part of owning this car was the interaction with other E39/BMW owners, thanks to everyone who helped me source parts and helped me trying to diagnose issues. What a trip it’s been. Sold to a non bimmersporter, but hopefully it’s gone to a good home. Edited November 2, 2020 by adro 4 3 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TermiPeteNZ 1319 Report post Posted November 12, 2020 Thanks for sharing your journey with this Adrian- especially your fantastic photography! 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adro 1084 Report post Posted November 12, 2020 7 minutes ago, TermiPeteNZ said: Thanks for sharing your journey with this Adrian- especially your fantastic photography! My pleasure, thanks for tuning in! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
