e38 740i looking for advice

[owopeachy]

Hi all, new user here, I hope this is the right spot to post this, if not please move to the correct category!
so I got my dad's old e38 740i, and I absolutely love this car.. but it has some mileage on it, nearly 200k so looking to give it some TLC.

the main issue staring me and my wallet in the face now is suspension... rear shocks are shot, and just about everything is worn, front and back and also some of the body mounts at the back are knocking as well. This is my first car so I'm a little lost lol.

I'm expecting it to be a lot of money, but have you got any ballpark estimates? Im quite handy with mechanics and would be more than happy to do all the dirty work myself, so labour cost can be ignored, I just don't really know a) which parts I need exactly, are there any kits out there? and b) if so, where would I be able to get them? I'm located in the eastern cape so PE would be my closest "big city"

the other issue, is a bit of an oddity with the (lovely lovely v8) engine. after the first time you fire it up, (the purr it makes in the morning is heavenly) and take it for a drive till it warms up. once you stop it and turn off the engine for a little while maybe about 5-10 minutes, you can start it back up and head away fine but the engine starts to act up, sporadically dropping revs as if the ignition is cut and reactivated quickly. its quite insistent for a time but as you keep driving it does it less and less, but never fully stops, until you get home and leave it overnight again. it seems to be worse when it's hot. It also happens when idling, and once it even cut out while I was idling at the traffic lights, but it started right up again instantly. I have a INPA cable on the way from Amazon, and I was hoping to use it and my phone to try diagnose whatever it could be... but perhaps you guys have experience with this..

those are the two biggest issues with it at the moment, and the two more critical ones.. it used to have gearbox issues related to oil leaks, but we managed to get that sorted and gearbox has been ok for a while, and has fresh oil in too.

anyway that's the gist of it, I know this is a huge post lol but if you read it all the way through, thank you, proud to be part of the BMW club ??
regards, peachy

 

[cOlDFuSiOn]

Welcome, post some pics of the E38!

Sure there are many options for the suspension, there are forum sponsors which can help with pricing on that too, have a look in the Vendor section.

 

[Peter@AEW]

What year model is the car?

Order of repair priority is as follows given the Kms covered.

Timming chain guides and timming chain.
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=GG82-EUR-12-1999-E38-BMW-740i&diagId=11_7556
Front suspension control arms traction rods anti roll bar links
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=GG82-EUR-12-1999-E38-BMW-740i&diagId=31_0248
Rear suspension ball joints wishbones and guide links
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=GG82-EUR-12-1999-E38-BMW-740i&diagId=33_0444

Also check for a fuel tank rupture or leak normally drivers side bottom of tank.
If no leak visible change the following
Activated charcoal filter
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/showparts?id=GG82-EUR-12-1999-E38-BMW-740i&diagId=16_0195


Agent pricing for all of the above roughly 40k
Aftermarket suspension pieces roughly 50% agents pricing

I have some of the engine parts new which belong to an owner and forum member. If you are interested give me a shout and I will put you in touch with him.

Certainly a luxobarge with presence but also heavy running costs.
Enjoy

 

[owopeachy]

Thanks for the replies! Especially those links with the part numbers, i wondered where i could find them.
Thanks to my situation i dont really have to use it much as i work from home and rarely drive far, so i guess you could consider it a bit of a project car.

It's a 1998 model, (1 year younger than me!) dark green colour with grey interior. As we live out here in the sticks its had a bit of a rough time on the dirt roads. The paint on the bonnet flaked all its gloss off, and over the rear passenger side wheelarch its also starting to flake, the rear bumper has a strip thats faded to white and also has some broken plastic on the corners, rear light lens plastic is cracking too, and theres a dent in the drivers side door, one of the front kidney grilles has broken all its clips and is hanging in with a screw and cable ties, most of the badges have lost all their paint too and the interior really needs a good clean haha so with all this im a little embarrased to post any pictures yet, but perhaps when i can show a before/after, who knows...

a couple small things i fixed already was the windscreen washer pipes and tank which had a hole in, and i stuck the boot panel back on as it was loose (presumably from people letting it slam, since the boot shocks are tired it slams quite hard ) but mechanics comes first and as im almost finished paying it off i should be able to start getting the parts i need.

Where do you think i would find a vanos timing tool for the cranks?

Very happy to have a local BMW forum and i expect to be browsing around here quite a bit in future =)

 

[Peter@AEW]

Your engine is the M62 therefore no vanos.

 

[owopeachy]

Hello again folks, been a while. but im ready to make a start on the timing chain guides, just wondering if there is a kit i can get frm somewhere with all the seals/guides/chain/tensioner etc or at least a list of all the bits i will want to replace which i can then source myself. The internet doesnt really help to get stuff local most of the guides talk about ebay or amazon or other american sites which are rather inconvenient for South Africa plus with the whole lockdown disaster imports are pretty much out of the question...
Since i'm taking off the whole front of the engine anything that can do with a replacement might as well be replaced while it's all open you know. My budget is around R20k
(Also, that issue with the uneven idle was just the MAF i figured out)
Thanks!

 

[BeemerFanatic]

Try ABM might be cheap with the Fanatics discount

 

[owopeachy]

Try ABM might be cheap with the Fanatics discount

ABM? where can i find them?

 

[ChefDJ]

Hi and welcome (a bit late).

You say you're a bit embarrassed to post pics but why not take this opportunity to document and showcase the full restoration?

Even with the faded paint and cracked lights and dents and so on, we love informative and inclusive threads.

Good luck with the journey!

 

[FiRi@Rennzport]

Try ABM might be cheap with the Fanatics discount

ABM? where can i find them?

Abm is now known as BMW MIDRAND
You can chat to deago and give him your Fanatics username to secure our discounted rate

Sent from my SM-N975F using Tapatalk

---

Hi and welcome (a bit late).

You say you're a bit embarrassed to post pics but why not take this opportunity to document and showcase the full restoration?

Even with the faded paint and cracked lights and dents and so on, we love informative and inclusive threads.

Good luck with the journey!

What this man said

Sent from my SM-N975F using Tapatalk

 

[jcwdrop]

Hello again folks, been a while. but im ready to make a start on the timing chain guides, just wondering if there is a kit i can get frm somewhere with all the seals/guides/chain/tensioner etc or at least a list of all the bits i will want to replace which i can then source myself. The internet doesnt really help to get stuff local most of the guides talk about ebay or amazon or other american sites which are rather inconvenient for South Africa plus with the whole lockdown disaster imports are pretty much out of the question...
Since i'm taking off the whole front of the engine anything that can do with a replacement might as well be replaced while it's all open you know. My budget is around R20k
(Also, that issue with the uneven idle was just the MAF i figured out)
Thanks!

[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Disclaimer. I'm no mechanic. I have been driving E38s for the past 5 years and done a fair amount of reading on them.[/font]

[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]On the pre vanos M62, the timing chain guides seem to last longer. I would replace the timing chain tensioner only at your current mileage. Only look at doing the timing chain guides closer to 300k. To be on the safe side you should drop the oil pan and look for metal shavings.[/font]

[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]When it comes to suspension, do not do the work piecemeal (unless you are sure that much of it has been replaced). It gets expensive. See if you can get someone to bring in the Lemforder 20 piece control arm suspension kit. Do you have self-levelling rear suspension and EDC? [/font]

 

[Peter@AEW]

View attachment 7

You can buy the cam timing tools from ebay or amazon.
The tools sold invariably do not come with a chain tensioner tool which will present you with a challenge as the chain needs to be set and tensioned for the cams to find their correct place.

Above a pic with the tool tensioner positioned.

Not knowing your skill level I would propose that you undertake the task only if you are confident or after you have read the manual and other articles around how it is done.

 

[owopeachy]

Hi and welcome (a bit late).

You say you're a bit embarrassed to post pics but why not take this opportunity to document and showcase the full restoration?

Even with the faded paint and cracked lights and dents and so on, we love informative and inclusive threads.

Good luck with the journey!

Haha okay i'll get some pics later

Snip

[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]Disclaimer. I'm no mechanic. I have been driving E38s for the past 5 years and done a fair amount of reading on them.[/font]

[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]On the pre vanos M62, the timing chain guides seem to last longer. I would replace the timing chain tensioner only at your current mileage. Only look at doing the timing chain guides closer to 300k. To be on the safe side you should drop the oil pan and look for metal shavings.[/font]

[font=Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif]When it comes to suspension, do not do the work piecemeal (unless you are sure that much of it has been replaced). It gets expensive. See if you can get someone to bring in the Lemforder 20 piece control arm suspension kit. Do you have self-levelling rear suspension and EDC? [/font]

Ahaaa okay
I took the tappet cover off on both the driver and the passenger side and had a look down in there, (couldnt see much on drivers side cuz of the tensioner) i could only see the top bit of it but i did some poking with a screwdriver and it didnt seem to be too loose, the plastic bit didnt seem to be stuck to the aluminium it's up against but it didnt seem like it had broken further down, im not sure if thats normal or if it's supposed to be stuck to the aluminium. but it didnt look too worn, still a good thickness. From what i understood it was the fact that it gets brittle that was the main issue. I didnt see any indication that it was grinding on the aluminium on either side

I do have the edc and self levelling suspension kit installed yes. Will look for that 20 piece kit though

You can buy the cam timing tools from ebay or amazon.
The tools sold invariably do not come with a chain tensioner tool which will present you with a challenge as the chain needs to be set and tensioned for the cams to find their correct place.

Above a pic with the tool tensioner positioned.

Not knowing your skill level I would propose that you undertake the task only if you are confident or after you have read the manual and other articles around how it is done.

I have looked at articles and some youtube videos about how its done yeah. I've done a fair bit of work on engines, admittedly mostly smaller ones, motorbikes and quads etc, have timed them, replaced pistons, rings, ground valves and so on, but the principles stay mostly the same for all sizes so im confident i can put it back together that it works

 

[jcwdrop]

When the chain loses tension the steel chain grinds on the aluminum of the guides sending shavings into the oil. 


The shocks on EDC cars are expensive. I found that refurbishing the shocks made a big difference to the the drive. I can't vouch for the longevity of the solution though. For the rear suspension you have to replace the pressure accumulators. 

 

[owopeachy]

Hello again folks, i have a question about the MAF
Due to a mistake i made purchasing, i ended up getting the wrong maf for the car (i will attach the photo, new on top, original below it) now as you can see the plugs are different, and so are the part numbers (original 0280217800 new  0280217814)

My question is, is this redeemable and usable with an adaptor or a little bit of wire work or am i better off trying to sell this one and getting the original part

 

[owopeachy]

Little update, I have replaced the MAF and intake air temp sensor, as well as put in new plugs and fuel vapour purge valve, and Crank position sensor. 
All my hitching issues when accelerating or idling have gone away, however now it really struggles to idle when started cold, very low revs and a lot of misfiring, (the obd reader said cyl 1 and 8 with the generic codes) and only evens out when it reaches operating temp. Is this my coils? Or is there more to the cold start that i perhaps need to replace or repair? Its got almost 200kkm and it looks like the original coils so i probably will need to replace them but as all 8 costs quite a bit i'd like to know if theres anything else that might be causing it 
I also attached a picture, since some had asked for it before  :smilebounce:

Edit: i noticed some knocking as if it was prefiring, did some research and unplugged the ping sensors on both banks but the idle is still very lumpy, though far better than it was with them still plugged. is there any way to test those components? are they prone to fail? or could it be something else ...