Nic_s - E34 540i 6 Speed (Update 07-08-12)

[Nic_s]

Thanks guys

So... according to the fuel gauge I've already used about 30L of fuel and I've not even owned it for 48 hours yet. :mmm: Must.... resist... loud ...pedal... :slap:


I have an issue though... I can't for the life of me figure out the air vent system. All I want is to let in air as it comes from outside, but it warms it up if the fan is off and it freezes it when the fan is on. So when the fan is off, it's like having the heater on with no fan blowing it. When I turn the fan on, it's like having the aircon on in my 318i. There's no middle ground. How do I turn hot and cold off so that air can come in "Unmodified"??? :thinking:

 

[Redline]

:drool::drool::drool:

:clap::clap::clap: Fantastic car, I'm very much of E34 fan, more the I6 but that's just me.

Can't beat the torgue of 8 though.

Enjoy

 

[Budleigh]

Thanks guys

So... according to the fuel gauge I've already used about 30L of fuel and I've not even owned it for 48 hours yet. :mmm: Must.... resist... load ...pedal... :slap:


I have an issue though... I can't for the life of me figure out the air vent system. All I want is to let in air as it comes from outside, but it warms it up if the fan is off and it freezes it when the fan is on. So when the fan is off, it's like having the heater on with no fan blowing it. When I turn the fan on, it's like having the aircon on in my 318i. There's no middle ground. How do I turn hot and cold off so that air can come in "Unmodified"??? :thinking:

It seems to be a needlessly complex system. Switch the fan on to let air in, and twirl the centre dial between the vents down to "cool".

 

[zaleonardz]

mine did not come with nannies, ABS was it....

 

[Jandre]

Yeah, mine has a loud pedal, pillow in the steering wheel, and a turnie wheelie thingie. No nannies on the auto.

 

[Budleigh]

540i/6 was a run-out special. Basically the same spec as the last 3.8 M5 in terms of suspension, and body kit. It had ASC and was a rather sportier beast with the sports seats and all than our 540iA machines.

 

[Sankekur]

Trust me, ASC is not much of a nanny, unless you are pulling away it does practically nothing.

 

[Redline]

540i/6 was a run-out special. Basically the same spec as the last 3.8 M5 in terms of suspension, and body kit. It had ASC and was a rather sportier beast with the sports seats and all than our 540iA machines.

Actualy the the 540M has exactly the running gear has the 540 Auto, except the diff & gearbox.

If the test that I read on in Car Magazine is to be believed anyway.:dunno::thinking:

I lost the Magazine:banghead:

But for those interested it can be back ordered from their offices in Pinelands.

 

[Nic_s]

One of my friends decided to come visit last night to have a look at the car. So we cruised to the shops as I had to get a few things anyway and then cruised around a little more as I wanted to be sure the engine was nice warm... then I put the fear of Zeus in him and all I did was go in a straight line in 3rd gear. Then again in 2nd gear, but this time he kinda knew what to expect and we both burst into laughter. So all my super nice driving from yesterday was destroyed last night :nono:


On another note, I had to drive the 318i again after work yesterday. Firstly, the clutch in the 540i is REALLY heavy. So when I got into the 318i I almost pushed the clutch pedal through the floor and I always thought that the 318's clutch is a bit heavy.:mmm:

 

[ZED1]

Congrats buddy, been looking at a couple of bimmers recently and I must say the 5s are looking pretty impressive. I'm seriously considering giving my 3 sseries to my wife and getting one of these animals!

 

[Nic_s]

Congrats buddy, been looking at a couple of bimmers recently and I must say the 5s are looking pretty impressive. I'm seriously considering giving my 3 sseries to my wife and getting one of these animals!

Thanks.

As awesome as it is, it is a bit big. I'm still not used to the long nose and the boot hangs out every parking I park at (Should actually take a pick). I try and make sure that I don't put the bumper on the sidewalk and sometimes I find I could have moved a bit closer. But rather safe than sorry. :thumb:


I also think I've finally got the vents to stop making hot or cold, although I'll play around with it more this weekend. As well as everything else that I've not had any time to look at.
I also want to see if I can turn the Sub in the boot down a little as It's a bit much for me.

 

[zaleonardz]

Lol..... told ya... not even 36 hours, one cannot stand not flooring a 540, its just the way the cosmos works....

As for the clutch, thats odd, mine was super light....

 

[Sankekur]

Are these clutches adjustable? That should explain it.

 

[zaleonardz]

Clutches are not adjustable no...

I would perhaps replace the dot4...

 

[Sankekur]

Then I a guessing it probably varies from car to car, as clutch on my car is also much stiffer (I can feel cramps in my leg if I just think of stop start traffic ) than the one in our 328i which used pretty much the same setup.

 

[zaleonardz]

Fluid, remember there are two cylinders, pressure plate tention ect ect... All of those will of course play a role.

 

[Sankekur]

Yup, like I said varies from car to car

Personally I prefer a stiff clutch.

 

[Nic_s]

The 318i's clutch was pretty worn and quite stiff when I got it. After I replaced it it was super light. As time went on it got a bit heavier, although it doesn't seem to be getting any heavier since. Thursday I was doing a lot of stop, go, stop, go, ect. and yesterday my left leg was a tiny bit stiff :uhoh:

Maybe a fluid replace is the answer.

Don't think I've mentioned this, but the rear left window's rubber was loose and if you take the window down and then back up, the rubber would end up outside the window. The guy I bought the car from said I needed to replace it... BMW wanted R1600 something for a new rubber :spit:.

So this morning I pushed the rubber back in it's place, although I couldn't get it perfect. I then went to town to find new setscrews for the wheels covers and I found Allan key replacements for like 60c (And BMW wanted R24.00 each and I would have had to wait 3 weeks :spit. I ended up replacing all the screws in all the wheels. So now all the covers are fitted and the car looks awesome. I thought my brother was green before... you should see him now I haven't taken picks yet, sorry :mmm:

I then went to PG Auto Glass and explained that BMW wanted a million for new a window rubber and the guy said they will take a look. Now the rubber is seated properly and I'm leaving the window close so the rubber would set back to the shape it should be. It's difficult to explain what exactly the problem was, but it wasn't anything major.

Something else I noticed today was that there is a lot of heat under the dash where my feet are. I have no idea what it could be as I haven't taken a look yet. All I wanted to do when I got home was take a cold shower as it was very hot today. Although the 540's aricon seems to work fine, a stronger fan would have made it much better. :mmm:


All in all the car is not perfect, but that's the case with any second hand car and I knew there would be things that need work. :thumb:
If all goes to plan then I'll wash and clean the car from front to back tomorrow morning after which I'll take some proper picks inside and out. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

Then I need to see if I can do something about the 318's exhaust. The last people to have worked on the car (2 years ago) did not tighten one of the nuts that hold the exhaust to the manifold and it's now leaking quite bad. I thought it was the engine as I could not find anything wrong with the exhaust. But when it was on the lift at Speedy the guy said it was indeed the exhaust and that it is cracked. I asked for a torchlight and had a look myself and found that the one nut wasn't even near tightened (No cracks in sight :bs. I also need to service my mom's car and get it a new battery. And I have to finish 2 of my projects this coming week as we are going on Training the 27th (Flying up to Jo'Burg).

So much to do.............

 

[WyKiD]

Something else I noticed today was that there is a lot of heat under the dash where my feet are. I have no idea what it could be as I haven't taken a look yet. All I wanted to do when I got home was take a cold shower as it was very hot today. Although the 540's aricon seems to work fine, a stronger fan would have made it much better. :mmm:

The heat below the dash does not sound right, I dont have this issue with mine - you should take a look at it. The pollen filter might need to be changed on your car this could be restricting the airflow through the vents, the fan seems to be pretty decent on the cars...:dunno:

The clutch on the 540i M does seem to be a touch "beefy" not very heavy but not quite as light as some of the later model cars out there, I quite enjoy the weighted feel of it but if you in traffic for extended time you do feel it. I drove Uber's 540i/5 and the clutch does feel lighter than mine maybe the 5 speed boxes have a lighter feel to them, with LZ confirming as well.

 

[Budleigh]

The heat thing is apparently one of those design quirks with the E34. you can't send cool air to the footwells, as I understand it. If you switch off the auto setting, you get heat being pumped onto the front footwells.