Nice touches on the custom seats and the door handles really adds. The car is slowly becoming a 1 of 1
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Read the WELCOME ALL BMWFANATICS post.
E39 540i Manual project
- Thread starter Benji
- Start date
Benji
Well-known member
I should probably update this thread now that I have progressed on the path of emotional recovery...
We had planned a little George to Capetown roadtrip in the E46 touring as there are some accumulated car parts at a mates house that I wanted to bring back with me. I was focusing my time on the touring to get it ready for the long road, only to discover the week before it has a bearing knock due to a blocked oil pickup tube 🤦♂️
No worries, the 540i is supposed to be the roadtrip car anyway, so this is a bit of a serendipity. All hands on deck to finish the 540i after having received it back from the paint shop (again). I am still not happy with the paint, the roof and drivers side fender need to be repainted, but the paint shop is refusing any more work on the car. The ombudsman is now involved. Anyway...
The SO got involved helping me with "easy" jobs like cleaning up the interior, applying leather treatment and applying wax on the paint while I got on with "final polishing" the paint, replacing the windscreen cowling and replacing the auxiliary fan and air bleed pipe on the radiator which had a small leak and what I believed to be the cause of the disappearing coolant...
"new" bonnet liner
New cowling and windscreen trim:
New 02 sensors which fixed a bit of a hesitation the car developed after the paint shop - almost like it had turbo lag:
"new" mats and some M-sport door sill trims. Not technically correct, but I figured the old girl deserved more than one M badge:
I also got the windows tinted. Nice and clean, reassembled and ready for the long road
After a 5am start while making "swift progress" we had to perform an "emergency brake" due to an accident which caused a 30min delay. I let the car idle a bit with the heater on to allow the motor to cool down before switching it off. When I climbed out, I noticed a little coolant puddle under the car. Coolant was coming out the cap (which I had pressure tested and confirmed releases at 2bar). Oh dear. I started the car to let the system circulate and all seemed fine. About an hour later I get the dreaded check coolant warning but could not actually open the coolant reservoir as it was under crazy pressure and would immidiately "boil" which was strange as I had an eagle eye on the KTMP which never went over 97C as I am running a cooler 95C thermostat. We pushed on with one eye on the coolant temps and one eye on the road till about 2 hours from George while dispatching some slow moving traffic on a mountain pass - the suspension fully loaded around a bend doing 140, the rear of the car "lets go" in a spectacular and butt clenching fashion. With a lot of luck and a bit of skid pan skills (thanks BMW Club!) I caught the car and brought it to a safe stop. My first thought was that we had a blow out, but the tyres all looked OK. Weird. But even more weird, the left rear had about 30 degrees of rear steer...not something fitted to an E39. One of the suspension bolts had worked itself loose! Fucking hell! Luckily the bolt had not fallen out and after unsuccessfully trying to reinstall the bolt using the "widow maker" jack, we limped to the closest town 7km away and found a Oom who helped us reinstall the bolt and also check the other side which was also loose. At this point we properly opened up the cooling system to find it requiring a significant but not too alarming amount of coolant.
The unplanned pitstop at a garage in a little Karoo dorpie called Willowmore - very nice people who assisted us on a Saturday afternoon
We safely arrived in Wilderness without further incident except almost running out of fuel on Outeniqua pass...this thing drinks! We averaged about 10.5 L/100km on the drive down; considerably worse than I was expecting. Maybe it is the shorter diff ratio?
Many insects were sacrificed in the name of progress. Overall, besides the stress from the cooling system, this car is a dream on the open road. The seats are supremely comfortable with no aches or pains after 10 hours on the road.
We took the scenic route to CapeTown via Oudtshoorn, Ladismith and Riversdale. The difference in road quality in the Western Cape really took us by surprise. Tiny secondary roads in the middle of nowhere are in much better condition than National routes in the rest of the country.
We used about a cup of water to get from George to Capetown - not too bad, but did notice the cooling system was pressurized the next morning. Shit. Not ideal, but figured the car would make it back to JHB with a bit or nursing. Quick stop to check wheel alignment before the long drive home with the car suitably dirty:
We left Capetown at 5am, we wanted to do Bainskloof, but it was still dark, so decided to make progress and push on through the tunnel. The obligatory visit to the rev limiter in the tunnel with the windows down, resulted in a low coolant warning soon after. Shitty shit. Within a few km, I noticed the coolant temps rising so pulled over to find a very wet engine bay. Looked like the water pump gasket had failed. With a heavy heart, we decided to limp back to Capetown, averaging about 20km/L of water. Dejected, we left the car at a mate, ate some humble pie and rented a Polo TSI for a new journey start time of 10am. It was gong to be a long day. Luckily we could now make the Bainskloof detour, very well worth it and perhaps better to do in a small car as it is very tight and technical.
Beaufort West stop:
And made it home at 11pm, 18 hours and 1700km later, dejected, lacking confidence in my life choices and with a knackered back (the Polo seats are verified torture devices). To be fair, the Polo is actually a decent car (besides the seats) and really made me ask deep and meaningful questions about why I drive old BMWs. Are they really worth it, are they even fun at all, is the 540i specifically cursed, should I just sell them all, castrate myself and buy a Toyota. Also, I really shouldn't have had those edibles. Picture taken in Mexico, just before JHB:
Now to face the additional expense of getting the bastard 540 transported back to JHB. Making a mess on the tow truck in protest:
So there you have it, the other, less romantic side of old car ownership. The side you easily forget when you see a 540 manual advertised for 50k or a nice cheap L322 that would make an nice 8th car or that b30 swapped E46 touring that would make an ideal daily (when it works). And boy, do you need to have commitment, patience, alternative modes of transport and deep, deep pockets. Reminds me of that toxic relationship I once had, except here, I cant get out of it.
We had planned a little George to Capetown roadtrip in the E46 touring as there are some accumulated car parts at a mates house that I wanted to bring back with me. I was focusing my time on the touring to get it ready for the long road, only to discover the week before it has a bearing knock due to a blocked oil pickup tube 🤦♂️
No worries, the 540i is supposed to be the roadtrip car anyway, so this is a bit of a serendipity. All hands on deck to finish the 540i after having received it back from the paint shop (again). I am still not happy with the paint, the roof and drivers side fender need to be repainted, but the paint shop is refusing any more work on the car. The ombudsman is now involved. Anyway...
The SO got involved helping me with "easy" jobs like cleaning up the interior, applying leather treatment and applying wax on the paint while I got on with "final polishing" the paint, replacing the windscreen cowling and replacing the auxiliary fan and air bleed pipe on the radiator which had a small leak and what I believed to be the cause of the disappearing coolant...
"new" bonnet liner
New cowling and windscreen trim:
New 02 sensors which fixed a bit of a hesitation the car developed after the paint shop - almost like it had turbo lag:
"new" mats and some M-sport door sill trims. Not technically correct, but I figured the old girl deserved more than one M badge:
I also got the windows tinted. Nice and clean, reassembled and ready for the long road
After a 5am start while making "swift progress" we had to perform an "emergency brake" due to an accident which caused a 30min delay. I let the car idle a bit with the heater on to allow the motor to cool down before switching it off. When I climbed out, I noticed a little coolant puddle under the car. Coolant was coming out the cap (which I had pressure tested and confirmed releases at 2bar). Oh dear. I started the car to let the system circulate and all seemed fine. About an hour later I get the dreaded check coolant warning but could not actually open the coolant reservoir as it was under crazy pressure and would immidiately "boil" which was strange as I had an eagle eye on the KTMP which never went over 97C as I am running a cooler 95C thermostat. We pushed on with one eye on the coolant temps and one eye on the road till about 2 hours from George while dispatching some slow moving traffic on a mountain pass - the suspension fully loaded around a bend doing 140, the rear of the car "lets go" in a spectacular and butt clenching fashion. With a lot of luck and a bit of skid pan skills (thanks BMW Club!) I caught the car and brought it to a safe stop. My first thought was that we had a blow out, but the tyres all looked OK. Weird. But even more weird, the left rear had about 30 degrees of rear steer...not something fitted to an E39. One of the suspension bolts had worked itself loose! Fucking hell! Luckily the bolt had not fallen out and after unsuccessfully trying to reinstall the bolt using the "widow maker" jack, we limped to the closest town 7km away and found a Oom who helped us reinstall the bolt and also check the other side which was also loose. At this point we properly opened up the cooling system to find it requiring a significant but not too alarming amount of coolant.
The unplanned pitstop at a garage in a little Karoo dorpie called Willowmore - very nice people who assisted us on a Saturday afternoon
We safely arrived in Wilderness without further incident except almost running out of fuel on Outeniqua pass...this thing drinks! We averaged about 10.5 L/100km on the drive down; considerably worse than I was expecting. Maybe it is the shorter diff ratio?
Many insects were sacrificed in the name of progress. Overall, besides the stress from the cooling system, this car is a dream on the open road. The seats are supremely comfortable with no aches or pains after 10 hours on the road.
We took the scenic route to CapeTown via Oudtshoorn, Ladismith and Riversdale. The difference in road quality in the Western Cape really took us by surprise. Tiny secondary roads in the middle of nowhere are in much better condition than National routes in the rest of the country.
We used about a cup of water to get from George to Capetown - not too bad, but did notice the cooling system was pressurized the next morning. Shit. Not ideal, but figured the car would make it back to JHB with a bit or nursing. Quick stop to check wheel alignment before the long drive home with the car suitably dirty:
We left Capetown at 5am, we wanted to do Bainskloof, but it was still dark, so decided to make progress and push on through the tunnel. The obligatory visit to the rev limiter in the tunnel with the windows down, resulted in a low coolant warning soon after. Shitty shit. Within a few km, I noticed the coolant temps rising so pulled over to find a very wet engine bay. Looked like the water pump gasket had failed. With a heavy heart, we decided to limp back to Capetown, averaging about 20km/L of water. Dejected, we left the car at a mate, ate some humble pie and rented a Polo TSI for a new journey start time of 10am. It was gong to be a long day. Luckily we could now make the Bainskloof detour, very well worth it and perhaps better to do in a small car as it is very tight and technical.
Beaufort West stop:
And made it home at 11pm, 18 hours and 1700km later, dejected, lacking confidence in my life choices and with a knackered back (the Polo seats are verified torture devices). To be fair, the Polo is actually a decent car (besides the seats) and really made me ask deep and meaningful questions about why I drive old BMWs. Are they really worth it, are they even fun at all, is the 540i specifically cursed, should I just sell them all, castrate myself and buy a Toyota. Also, I really shouldn't have had those edibles. Picture taken in Mexico, just before JHB:
Now to face the additional expense of getting the bastard 540 transported back to JHB. Making a mess on the tow truck in protest:
So there you have it, the other, less romantic side of old car ownership. The side you easily forget when you see a 540 manual advertised for 50k or a nice cheap L322 that would make an nice 8th car or that b30 swapped E46 touring that would make an ideal daily (when it works). And boy, do you need to have commitment, patience, alternative modes of transport and deep, deep pockets. Reminds me of that toxic relationship I once had, except here, I cant get out of it.
Last edited:
Riaad
Events Organiser
Well atleast it's still a beauty to look at😍
Always enjoy your updates. Sorry to hear about the unfortunate events but I have no doubt, castration/Toyota ownership are not in your future.
I literally had the same thought this morning while bringing the E46 out of its 3+ month hibernation, question was answered on the way to work and old BMW ownership is the spice of life 🙃
I literally had the same thought this morning while bringing the E46 out of its 3+ month hibernation, question was answered on the way to work and old BMW ownership is the spice of life 🙃
Solo Man
Well-known member
Reminds me of a certain white BMW i owned in which i undertook a long road trip in shortly after i bought it. Must admit it never left me on the side of the road but would periodically bong and say "Drivetrain error" on the idrive with a momentarily loss of power and then back to full power. On the 4000km journey this perhaps happened about 8 times but would always revert back to normal power. On getting back home i by accident discovered the bottom boost pipe with a massive crack and a short tear along the underside (not visible from above) when replacing the boost pipe seals. I eventually got fed up with the car after spending literally hours searching for battery drain which would cause the idrive to message "Battery drain overnight". After spending a lot of money on spigot rings, gearbox and diff mountings, different tires, propshaft doughnuts and centre bearing trying to get rid of an irritating vibration between 100 and 120kph (my cruising speed on the open road) on my wife's advice i got rid of the car at a great monetary loss. And still it never left me stranded in about 20k kms of ownership thanks to my guardian angel. Was a very nice car to drive though! And it was also a beauty to look at! F10 520d M/sport! Even after all the effort and money i am still in a BMW and do not see myself driving anything else. If that happens might as well stop driving and let my kids take the car keys away from me!
As much as you say "old bmw ownership" I think the biggest issue ( for me especially) are the costs of new cars and also how devoid they are of driver engagement and driver feedback. So much emphasis has been placed on making cars so damn fast and electronic steering this and electric diff's that and advanced traction modes blah blah blah.... that it just makes a new car to me feel soulless.
Sabretooth tiger
///Member
THanks for the detailed and entertaining update. Say what you will but this car is such a a beauty
Benji
Well-known member
Just as well, it is going to be a garage ornament for the foreseeable future
lol my E46 is in an involuntary 3 month hibernation as well!
Maybe - blemishes bring character apparently...but being left on the side of the road after having refreshed the whole cooling system is maybe taking it too far
M3boi
Well-known member
When I didn't hear from you about how Bainskloof went, I had a bad feeling something went wrong
Fordkoppie
///Member
I did that in 2021 and had trouble free motoring for about 1.5 years before I realized I had become a bitter person.
Life is so much better after that joy sapping soul-less appliance is gone.
It made me realize that you need something enjoyable as a DD to make the commute an event instead of just a mundane commute
yes yes yes this gives me great confidence in fixing my project e39 M5 which has been sitting for almost a decade with no TLC let alone a mandatory oil change and a gentle start up! but hey what's life without a bit of drama and travelling with a tool kit and replacement water pump in the boot next to the coil packs.... trying to convince the madam " it will be all fine and dandy and oily hands are part of lifes journey and joys.. because life is too short to be certain you will make it to your destination with divorce lawyers being called! YOLO!!!
If you have issues again, try propshaft and cv joint empire in northring. Its a father and son outfit with loads of experience and is an all round super guy to deal with. He also does custom work no problems.
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