Let me introduce myself

Hello everyone I just registered, figured i would say hi and share some of my experiances with this car.


Here she is

This forum has been really helpful in bringing the car back to a fully operational status. The second day I owned the car I fixed both seats tilt function. After that I went ahead and ordered new cup holders and new CCV from Bavauto (old CCV wasnt bad but was on the list of things to do). Next on the list was various oil leaks, I had one on the oil line that goes to the vanos and some larger ones coming from the VC and the gasket between the vanos unit on the head so figuered while I was at it i could do the vanos seals from beisan systems.

Here is what the valve train looked like

A closer look at the vanos

I had alot of coking on it but I guess it's to be expected after 150K

Im assuming theres not much oil flow in this area
Here is the final install, I tryed to clean it as much as i could

VCG was hard as a rock and Leaking oil on the headers bad. The smell was horible.

After all that work i dove into the next leak on the oil filer housing

old too new



Then I read up on the trans fluid hooplaa about life time fluid and promply ordered a service kit from http://www.ecstuning.com/BMW-E39-525...ion/ES2523327/
from the lookes of it it had never been changed (as per BMW rec.) but after it seems to be shifting a little more smoothly, possibly just placebo.

welcome to the forum, taking care of the important things first good man

Welcome, looks like you have already been very busy with your car.

Fantastic looking car and anyone who does their own work gets a thumbs up from me! Welcome!

Welcome aboard. Now you have most of them out of the way, inspect the cooling system for an overhaul.

Thanks for the welcome. Its been pretty enjoyable getting this stuff done and if it wasnt for this forum i would have been oblivious to some of these issues

I still need to fix one of the rear window regulators and look into some induction systems.

Originally Posted by tmvseattle

Welcome aboard. Now you have most of them out of the way, inspect the cooling system for an overhaul.

I have the maintenance records from the previous owner starting from 64k and she had the radiator, hoses, and pump done at 130k. Are there any other parts is the cooling system that may need to be addressed?

Welcome.
From the looks of your engine internals I would guess the oil wasn't changed until the light came on, 15K or more miles.
Change it every 7.5 K or less and it will keep the inside much cleaner.

Take the secondary air valve off and clean the carbon out of it so it will seal. this will keep the exhaust out of the secondary air pump.

I've changed my oil every 7.5K since new, here's what the inside looks like at 136K.

Originally Posted by Axialflow

I have the maintenance records from the previous owner starting from 64k and she had the radiator, hoses, and pump done at 130k. Are there any other parts is the cooling system that may need to be addressed?

These are what came to my mind: expantion tank, fan and fan clutch, thermostat.

Originally Posted by JimLev

Welcome.
From the looks of your engine internals I would guess the oil wasn't changed until the light came on, 15K or more miles.
Change it every 7.5 K or less and it will keep the inside much cleaner.

Take the secondary air valve off and clean the carbon out of it so it will seal. this will keep the exhaust out of the secondary air pump.

I've changed my oil every 7.5K since new, here's what the inside looks like at 136K.

Im the third owner, so im somewhat in the dark when it comes to the oil chage intervals. As soon as I got the car I did and oil change and found sand size pieces of carbon in the filter, I was concered to say the lest. After I got the VC off I was relived not to see large amouts of sludge in the valve train. The varnish and coking didnt seem like a deal breaker since I got the car for 5k.

I think im going to stick to a 3K oil change schedule mobile 1 0w 40

Originally Posted by tmvseattle

These are what came to my mind: expantion tank, fan and fan clutch, thermostat.

Sounds reasonable.
Whats the deal with repalceing the fan?

Originally Posted by Axialflow

Im the third owner, so im somewhat in the dark when it comes to the oil chage intervals. As soon as I got the car I did and oil change and found sand size pieces of carbon in the filter, I was concered to say the lest. After I got the VC off I was relived not to see large amouts of sludge in the valve train. The varnish and coking didnt seem like a deal breaker since I got the car for 5k.

I think im going to stick to a 3K oil change schedule mobile 1 0w 40



Sounds reasonable.
Whats the deal with repalceing the fan?

The plastic becomes brittle and cracks, and when it is subjected to high centrifugal loads (spinning up to speed), a blade will violently detach and blow through the hood. You’re then left with an unbalanced fan and probably tons of damaged parts from all the shrapnel.

Damn, maybe electric is a better option