6 speed e39 540

[thorburn 120]

Picked up this e39 a wee while ago. 

Has a bunch of ac kit on it, had the timing chain done, and is manual. 

Only known negative at the time of buying was that the sunroof might leak a little and the diff is starting to get noisy. 

Got about 8 months of enjoyment out of it. Then the brakes started getting very spongy. 

Got that repaired- it was the abs. Unfortunately the abs doesn't work, it now has a solid pedal though. I was also told they couldn't scan the car and they believe some wires have been snipped behind the dash. Had a few others try scan it (thanks everyone) but nobody had any luck. 

The car was parked up for some time after that, during that time the sunroof leaked into the drivers footwell. 

My current list of problems is as follows:

-replace windscreen trim seal (have a new one just need to install) 

-passenger brake light stays on

-passenger tail light wiring suspect

-not scanning

-airbag light not coming on

-coolant temp not correct on gauge 

-abs light not working

-abs not working 

-diff noisey

-front bumper grill drivers side broken

-lumbar support drivers-motor goes but no movement

-clunk in front suspension - possibly the garbage power flex bushes I installed

-oil change

-surface rust from water leak

-washer fluid bottle leaks

-needs a clean

 

Ultimately I'm looking to sell the car (too many cars). If someone wants to take on that list of problems I'd let it go for 8k.

Otherwise I'll slowly fix it up and try and sell it for a considerable amount more.

[zero 1160]

How many kms?

8k is a sharp price for a 540i with 6 speed box 

[thorburn 120]

Think it is about 260k, can check tomorrow. 

 

[thorburn 120]

Managed to complete some other jobs, so started digging into this again. 

Removed the dash so I could make sure the water hadn't got into anything else. 

Luckily it isn't bad. A little surface corrosion that I'll clean up next. 

Found the lighting control module while trying to sort the brake light staying on. It has had some water through it. Will swap in one from the X5 to confirm if it's the problem (quick Google says it's the same part, will find out tomorrow). 

Found these previous sins near the throttle pedal and the radio. 

The extent of the water damage on the floor-not too bad

The snipped wire on fuse 38. This will be why the airbag light wasn't coming on. 

And put in the new windscreen seal. 

Spent some time checking for continuity between the diagnostic port in the engine bay and where it's supposed to connect. I'm assuming I'm looking for a broken wire. 

[hqstu 780]

Interesting car you have there... you have a bit to do...

The sunroof is designed to "leak" i.e. pass a small amount of water through what is known as a seal, it's the drains that will be blocked which will cause water to overflow down A pillar etc.  Happened to me...

I'm local in Hamilton if you need to share in the joy of e39 m62 ownership...

[thorburn 120]

Thanks. I've noticed the drains going down the a pillars. I intend on putting the hose on it to check the seal and drains. Maybe send some mig wire down either side as well. 

You're welcome to come join the fun

[aja540i 1896]

Try a bit of compressed air first, makes a bit less mess!!

[thorburn 120]

I've just learnt the light control module would need to be coded to suit the car. So I'll stick to sorting out the diagnostic port

[thorburn 120]

Searched up the part number of the 7 legged mosfet(no idea if it's a mosfet but that's what I'm calling it) that I thought could be the problem. Found some possible data sheets and was able to confirm it wasn't functioning properly. 

Tried to figure out if there were any spares that weren't being used on the board e.g rear fog lights. Turns out there aren't. Managed to get a brief understanding of how the lcm works while reverse engineering it. 

Picked up another light control module to raid a mosfet from. 

Desoldered the failed mosfet

Here it is back together, apart from the clips and lid. 

Luckily the smoke stayed in and it all works. So another job off the list. 

Onto trying to make the obd port work next 

[thorburn 120]

Hopped up on confidence after fixing the LCM. I delved into repairing the dash. 

I failed miserably. Pixels are now unreadable. Return spring for the fuel level sender gauge is broken. The problems that were there probably still are. Only thing to note is the gauge cluster appears to be from an e38. So possibly could be contributing to why I can't scan it. 

Moved onto something back in my skill level. Removed the dash bar to check for anymore wiring that's been tampered with or corrosion. Only one bunch of wires that went to the boot and connected to nothing under the dash. They lead to the boot and don't connect to anything. Nothing else seems to have been effected by the rain getting in. 

While I was there I cleaned up the surface rust on the dash bar. Good for another few years

Cleaned up the footwell surface rust and started putting it back together 

 

Now looking for a new gauge cluster

Still haven't figured out why I can't scan it. Hoping a new instrument cluster will solve something. Then need to learn how to recode it. 

[KwS 2373]

Is this of the age where it needs an ADS and GT1 connection like the E36?

[aja540i 1896]

I have recently replaced the speedo and rev counter stepper motors in a cluster for my e39 530d and have a spare cluster ( or 2) without those if you want a donor one for parts? It is quite easy to replace the whole stepper with the spring attached.

I might be wrong but don't you have to be able to read the information from your old cluster before you can write it to a replacement cluster?

[hqstu 780]

4 hours ago, aja540i said:

don't you have to be able to read the information from your old cluster before you can write it to a replacement cluster

When I coded a replacement airbag module, I read information off the EWS of the car then pushed it to the airbag module.

I used NCS expert and this document attached.  The cluster would be similar but you may also have to write the VIN to it which is also described in document.

(I also just about cocked up my cluster when attempting pixels, but just saved it, will try again using the drilling method, not removing needles)

I supply this information to the best of my knowledge, but I am in the very early experiences of coding...

BMW Single Module Coding.pdf

[thorburn 120]

20 hours ago, KwS said:

Is this of the age where it needs an ADS and GT1 connection like the E36?

No idea. Is there a way to tell? I've had a guy that mentioned this when he was trying to scan it

 

12 hours ago, aja540i said:

I have recently replaced the speedo and rev counter stepper motors in a cluster for my e39 530d and have a spare cluster ( or 2) without those if you want a donor one for parts? It is quite easy to replace the whole stepper with the spring attached.

Thanks I'd definitely be keen. What's the trick for removing the stepper motors? The prongs going into pcb seem rather stuck. Do they crush the pin and push through?

Thanks @hqstu

[aja540i 1896]

Make sure you have taken the screws out, and then I think the pins are actually soldered albeit not very well, I just put a bit of heat on them with a soldering iron and they came out, be careful not to damage any of the traces on the PCB while you are doing it!!

PM me about the cluster, I can send it down your way with our truck driver from work.