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BMW E39 530i Sport

221K views 640 replies 77 participants last post by  Andyblue 
#1 ·
Hi All,

Well...finally managed to sort myself out a car that I've been longing to own for some time. I owned a 1996 520i SE quite a few years ago which I actually really liked but it had no toys, no power and was pre-facelift. So always said I'd get a facelift with some power and better trim.

This is a treat to myself as I'll be turning 30 this year, it's a proper project and will be a labour of love. Not like my bangernomics thread!

This is a 2002 530i Sport Auto, 138k Full Service History.

Auto Lights and Wipers
Auto Dip Mirror
Xenons
Sat Nav (with Aftermarket GROM Bluetooth adapter that works through the nav unit)
Electric, Heated, Memory Sports Seats.
Electric Adjustable Steering Wheel
Sunroof
Front and Rear Parking Sensors
18" M Parallel Alloys

Being the sport it comes with dark headliner, sport front and rear bumpers, sport steering wheel and sport suspension.

This has a rear muffler delete which is very loud and... awful. First thing on the list is to get a genuine BMW rear silencer for it.

I checked the car over as best I could, got to have a decent test drive in it, no smoke, no rattles, no overheating! No rust bubbles or anything. No dings or dents. Paintwork needs a polish and obviously has some stone chips and scratches but we shall sort them :buffer:

As far as I can see...an honest car.

240 Miles home and it didn't miss a beat, didn't make any funny noises, didn't overheat and surprisingly got 30mpg out of it.

I did notice it needed new rear tyres. They are at the tread level indicator and probably a little past it tbh so I did negotiate money off the price and we came to a deal we were both happy with.

The Risk...MOT is out on 7th of March. Oh so very close, more on that below, let's have a looky...

Pictures















The BMW and my friends Kia we went up in.



Yes, I know. The Alloys.

I thought I was a fan of them, I saw the same colour combo on a black Z3 and thought it looked nice. I think they work well on a black car with the black middle and polished rims but I want this to be an OEM+ type project so they will be restored to OEM. They look a bit drug dealer on the 5.

Also maybe I'll get some spacers as they look a bit tucked in on that photo.

The biggest issue for me and is the first non MOT related item I'll sort, is that rear muffler delete. The back box has been cut out, a pipe welded in with tips welded on the end. A tidy job welding wise actually but...it drones, drones, drones. I want to hear the straight 6 not that racket and whilst cruising on the motorway I don't want to hear anything, not a constant drone!

Left yesterday morning at 9am, got back at 11pm, with stops and playing with the car at service stations etc.

So...as of today...

I have ordered 2 new tyres to be fitted tomorrow afternoon, 265/35 R18s are not cheap ha and MOT is booked for Saturday morning.

I have joined and spoke to the Local E39 club and sourced the MOT at near trade price via club discount and hopefully thanks to the club will have exhaust sorted quickly too.

Thanks for reading :thumb:
 
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#77 ·
Well.... just done an 800 mile round trip! Apart from being thirsty she behave impeccably apart from one small thing.

The day after I put the number plate lights in...it kept throwing an error up, check number plate lights whenever I turned the ignition off. I just thought oh well they're LED so voltage isn't quite right. (even though they should be error free).

Well...on the way back home on the motorway...I got warnings for every light...Check Rear Brake Lights, Check Rear Fog Lights, The indicators were flashing really fast like a bulb on them had even gone, then it started with the fronts... Check High Beam...Check Front Fog Lights.. :wall:

It was about dusk so I needed the lights on but couldn't tell if they were actually on or not! So pulled over and had a look...all the lights were on and working fine...except one of my new LED Numberplate Units was off. :lol:

So I swapped both of them back to the originals made sure the :censored: bulbs where rotated in the right way and all was well...

Such a small thing but caused such a palaver on the motorway as I was worried I had no lights on! :lol:
 
#81 ·
Well.... just done an 800 mile round trip! Apart from being thirsty she behave impeccably apart from one small thing.

The day after I put the number plate lights in...it kept throwing an error up, check number plate lights whenever I turned the ignition off. I just thought oh well they're LED so voltage isn't quite right. (even though they should be error free).

Well...on the way back home on the motorway...I got warnings for every light...Check Rear Brake Lights, Check Rear Fog Lights, The indicators were flashing really fast like a bulb on them had even gone, then it started with the fronts... Check High Beam...Check Front Fog Lights.. :wall:

It was about dusk so I needed the lights on but couldn't tell if they were actually on or not! So pulled over and had a look...all the lights were on and working fine...except one of my new LED Numberplate Units was off. :lol:

So I swapped both of them back to the originals made sure the :censored: bulbs where rotated in the right way and all was well...

Such a small thing but caused such a palaver on the motorway as I was worried I had no lights on! :lol:
a bit unlucky - most of these LED units are China sourced and can be a bit hit n miss on their spec and lifetime. Personally I thought they were too bright (esp given you're not supposed to show white light at the rear except for reversing lights). Perhaps a small rubber o ring on the terminals would prevent the previous leds from rotating ?
 
#84 ·
Small update...

The LED reg plate units were replaced no hassle, so now have 3 working ones..not sure what to do. I was going to use them as puddle lights on the bottom of the doors but they aren't the same connection...I would be able to modify but not a priority at the moment.

I ordered a 2018 Nav disc...they stopped producing genuine discs for them for this unit I believe in 2015...a seller on eBay makes them somehow with the latest maps but...my unit won't read it. It already has a 2011 'copy' in it so I messaged the seller and he sent a replacement and it still won't read it. I think I'm going to need to do a laser replacement in the Nav Drive. Ageing laser and the rumour is that BMW made these units with a lower powered laser so it'd struggle to read copied discs as the reflectivity on a burnt disc you or I could make is quite a bit less than a stamped disc. Something else for the list!

Got my first new bulbs from Classic Car LEDs that Fentum recommended turn up today. I much prefer the 'warm' light but now I'm not too sure if they're too yellow. Hopefully the middle Festoon bulb will turn up from them tomorrow and will see what's what.

Lower shutter speed so you can see the diodes..



With the cover back on and normal photo..



Don't know how many times I'm going to say it but really hate those blue/cold bulbs. If anybody wants them though, sling me your address and you can have em :thumb:
 
#86 ·
I'm willing to bet if the car is blue smoking it's the CCV valve, rough idle is also an indication.
I'm right there with ya :thumb:

The thing is it's definitely white smoke, doesn't do it all the time and smells of petrol.

I will be doing the CCV and pipes anyway because it doesn't appear to have been done and I do have a little bit of oil consumption. These M54 3.0 engines for some reason have the reputation for drinking oil compared to the other CC variants of the same engine.

I think the white smoke is over fuelling because the Cam Shaft sensor is intermittent. I might be wrong on it causing the smoking but it is playing up and is important, so that's what I'm gonna try and replace first.

LED Update

Sorry if I'm boring you all with these LEDs, so I had an advertised as 'crisp white' festoon bulb delivered, apparently one side is a warm white and the other side a crisp white. Thought that'd be perfect as at least the warm side would match my new map lights...Annndddd what a load of crap. Both sides blue tinge, warm side is about as warm as inside my fridge freezer.

So back to classic car LEDs. I have now ordered their warm version festoon to match those map lights, but...I have also ordered a set of their white map lights and festoon. See how they come out. So I'll have 2 matching sets in warm and their version of white too see which I prefer.

I think 5000k colour temp is where I'm going to want to be and OSRAM seem to make them...they are however £15+ a pair not £3 so they add up to a significant amount with 11 or more bulbs to change so if I want to go that route, I will but later on.

I'm holding off any expense at the moment as I have 2 cars to sell both requiring work so are taking funds up, mrs on maternity leave etc so just being careful that's all.

As soon as the cars sell, I'll be able to start on big stuff. Sensor, CCV, Exhaust, Wheel Refurbs etc
 
#87 ·
Classic Car LED's came through and sent me the sets I mentioned in the previous post.

So this is a picture of all 3 colours.

Warm, Cheap Blue Tat, Crisp White.



and now all white :thumb: :D



They are so much better, make the car look fresh inside and not chavvy and give off a nice amount of light too.

Next onto more important things and bigger updates for you all!
 
#92 ·
Sounds to me like it's a temperamental sensor. If it's occasionally smoking, the faulty sensor may be fooling the car into over fuelling. If it was something like a valve stem oil seal leak, it would be burning oil with the petrol all the time.

If you're not losing coolant, it's definitely not coolant lol.

Cooks

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
 
#94 ·
The straight six is bombproof.

I highly doubt it's HG

Have you had a code reader hooked up to her yet??

Faulty 02 sensors can/will cause a rich running condition.

Whats the MPG like??

Lovely car BTW :)
Thank you, yep I have, it's throwing an intermittent camshaft fault hence my thoughts on it over fuelling and I've checked the fuel trim and it's way off what it should be. Normal range on these is +/- 3.... It's at - 11....... +/- 20 though is max trim and when it'll throw the EML on.

MPG.... It'll average 30 on a run, town and country driving which is what 90% of my driving in it is.. Early 20s haha.

Having said that, the faulty sensor causing that fuel trim will be hurting that figure and I think new plugs wouldn't go a miss either. I'll do a major service on it when I get the new sensor.
 
#97 ·
Feeling a bit sorry for myself at the moment. As we have ended up with 4 cars, we had our insurance renewal on the 1st of April, so unfortunately it's sat on the drive not being able to be driven anywhere. I thought best to keep the 2 that will be for sale driving daily.

The original plan was to sell 2 of our 3 cars, then use that money for the BMW purchase. However, I got a bit ahead of myself and ended up buying this...so I did it the wrong way round. :wall:

The private number from the previous owner has now come off and has gone back to him.

I've started compiling a list of what I want to do, both cosmetic and mechanical.

- Pressed Plates - Never had any and want to give them a go.
- New Badges - Ones on the car are flaking.
- Outside Detail to include paint correction - Just Because!
- Full Interior Detail - Shampoo Carpets, Inside of boot etc.
- Leather Seats Restoration - although in good condition, the drivers mostly is showing it's age. Never done this before, so want to give it a go.
- Steering wheel re-trim - Royal Wheels, padded, nappa leather top and bottom with perforated sides and M Stitching.
- Exhaust Bracket - Hopefully I can stop the squeaking when hot. Will have a look see which one it is and buy new.
- Exhaust Rear Silencer - I've sourced one, I hope he's still got it!
- Gearbox Service - As it was serviced around 25k ago, I assume safe to do.
- Camshaft Sensor - Is broken, it's the exhaust side.
- Full Service with Spark Plugs - Due a service and no recent history of plugs being done.
- Brake Lines - Replace all the steel brake lines with Kuniper ones and get braided caliper lines.
- Alloy Wheel Refurb - I want and hope I can have them diamond cut like they came from the factory. If not I'll be looking for sort of semi-shiny paint to get it to 'look' as close to OEM as possible.
- SAT NAV Repair - Need to investigate cleaning the laser or replacing the laser. You can get fully rebuilt internals for about £150 I think.
- Digital TV Upgrade - Currently Analogue so picks up no TV.

That's all I can think of at the moment :thumb:
 
#98 · (Edited)
SORN her and take your time to work your way down the list - it'll undoubted grow as you go.....;)

More enjoyable that way and saves you 'stressing' about it. :thumb:

EDIT: Remembered she's an autobox. If you don't know the correct procedure already [not trying to 'teach Granny' ] it's a little more complicated than some realise, car has to be level [either a ramp or axle stands all round], oil at a certain min temp etc.

Keep the reports coming.
 
#99 ·
That's OK, I was wondering if I should have put that in the post. I had a 520i SE a few years back and did a service on the autobox. I've got INPA etc for the gearbox temps and got the full ZF Manual I followed. In all honesty....I've fancied doing an autobox rebuild before so as I want to make this a total gem I may get my opportunity in the future.

I'll be honest though, I've seen plenty on forums using the wrong fluid, not following procedure etc and all seem to have got on fine, (Yes I know the story may changed a few thousand miles down the line) I do wonder if the fragility of these boxes is over exaggerated....BUT and it's a big BUT....I'll never be one to take the risk. Only OEM Filters and the correct LT71141 oil for this box of mine :D:D
 
#102 ·
At the weekend I thought I'd get my Cable and Software and do a full diagnostic check on the car. I pulled the code for the Cam Sensor using the Torque App on Android and a Bluetooth ELM327 reader off eBay but of course the proper software, tells all! (You can see readings for the individual parking sensors, gearbox faults, reset adaptations etc).

When I owned my previous E39, I bought a cable and software off a company that...no longer exists. As it was a few years ago...I found the cable in a cupboard...but not the software! After a bit of reading online, as they've disappeared, you need their servers to validate the install or get some of the patch files, so I couldn't install it if I wanted to.

The software I had was INPA. Which was the dealer software for back in the day when these E39s were new.

So I bought a software package off eBay, advertised with the latest programs...install all went fine...but could I get the thing to talk to the car. I was downloading all sorts of different drivers for cables similar to mine...but nadda.

Turns out that wasn't the problem. The new software needs a D-Can cable...mine is a K-Line cable. It doesn't know how to use my cable basically.

A company called Cable Shack sell both cables along with the older INPA software, so I will buy a switched K-Line/D-Can hybrid cable...so will get the best of both worlds and be able to use ALL the software available, old and new. Woop!

Last night I did a 70+ mile round trip to meet an E39 Club UK member that lives reasonably near. He had a genuine 530i Sport rear silencer, just what I needed to undo the rear box 'delete' mine's had.

The chap was incredibly knowledgeable and I've seen his work on the club page, for example he did a 300 mile round trip and gave his weekend up just gone to fit an M5 S62 Engine (same as what's in Neilb's car on his incredible M5 Thread) into a touring E39.

He's also done a manual conversion on his E39....which really got me thinking...

The offer was also their from him to help with the brake lines and anything else I needed (including a manual swap if I choose to do so in the future).

Kev is indeed a top guy and his love for these E39s is undeniable. After a while talking and him showing me things he's done on his E39...I went away with this:



:D

Very happy. As it's genuine, it's stainless steel so the whole box will polish up nicely...now..I've never polished stainless before so any pointers/advice is greatly appreciated!
 
#106 ·
Well the weekends sunshine made a pleasant visit didn't it!

With the 5 'Off the road' currently, I have been itching to give it a 2BM wash since I got it and I have missed spending time detailing so thought I'd give it a quick going over.

Before:







After a rinse off and 2BM wash and dry. I did absolutely nothing else as I'm going to order some new pads and give it a full machine correction ready for the summer.









Looks smarter and less abandoned with clean paintwork. Unfortunately due to my absence from owning a car I actually like for a couple of years, my detailing enthusiasm went out the window too, so lots of my stuff has gone a bit manky, so I need to get some new stuff.

I need some new Fallout Remover, Tar and Glue Remover, Snow Foam, Wheel Cleaner, Tyre Shine and Polishing Pads for my DAS6 Pro. Going to try some different brands for everything but will stick with Hexlogic for the pads.

I also need to restore all the black trim on the car, the rubbing strips, door pillar covers and rubber trim on the car....any suggestions on what will last? I've had various things before but none seem to last.

I cannot wait to machine polish this...as you can see there are plenty of years of swirls to remove but as you can also see...it looks like wherever the previous owner had it washed, they used those blades to dry it...look at those lines of scuffs. :censored:







Also these goodies turned up for the weekend but didn't get chance to do it.



If you know your stuff, the fluid is the correct and the only recommended fluid for the automatic gearbox. I've only bought a couple of litres so far as I want to first off check if it's the right level in the box to make sure there's no leaking as a common problem on these is for the bushing in the gearbox pump to wear away causing fluid to leak out of the main box into the bell housing area. So if there is a problem, I won't be shelling out £120 on fluid alone for a gearbox service, I'll be either rebuilding or doing a manual conversion.

With the new cable I will be able to do it properly and get some idea on the real condition of the auto box. Plus see if there are any gearbox ECU faults :)

Hope you've enjoyed the update, any recommendations on the black trim restoration is welcome :)
 
#108 ·
The gearbox stores faults (if there are any) that you can't read with a standard generic OBD reader and doesn't throw the EML on unless it's deemed catastrophic failure.

It should have a code if its slipping at any point for example. Slipping mainly caused by worn friction material due to no servicing/had a hard life or low on fluid which it shouldn't be.

I have my doubts and my earlier comment about a rebuild or manual swap may end being done sooner than I thought, but hopefully not. :wall:
 
#112 ·
After some fiddling, I got the new cable to work. Had to edit a file to force the program to use a specific com port, it was set at 9 and I needed it to be 4. I tried changing the COM Port in the device manager first but it didn't go up to 9!

Did full vehicle identification and boom! It worked! :D

So I started a full fault check on the vehicle. This scans all the modules on the car and I got this back. :mad:





I about :censored: myself seeing all those faults. Thankfully...most were historic.

Was very impressed that on a car of this age, it even logged faults with the seats and interior lights etc. I know this is one of the first mass produce cars to have so many modules etc and depending on which way you look at that, the start of the 'modern' car. In my opinion a good thing as it means diagnosing problems becomes much easier, where as of course...modules go bad, especially with age and could cause headaches and cost.

So I cleared them off, and re-tested, leaving me with this.



The top one relates to the thermostat circuit, it could be opening too soon or something, or the plug that goes into the thermostat housing could need a clean up.

The second one is one of the parking sensors. I believe I can somehow do a specific test on them to diagnose which one is bad.

I did notice the camshaft sensor had been cleared too, but when I checked into that before I retested, it did say intermittent so it will come back.

However. I do have a genuine cam sensor to put in :)

3 day weekend coming up, I have ordered and all been delivered, a new orange hexlogic pad, some 3M masking tape and quite a lot of wet and dry, so praying the Sun gods bless us this weekend so I can get to work on the paint, headlights, camshaft sensor and check gearbox level! :thumb:
 
#113 ·
"....The top one relates to the thermostat circuit, it could be opening too soon or something, or the plug that goes into the thermostat housing could need a clean up. ...."

Does your code reader do live data? On the e60 you can access the 'hidden menus' and get that info on the cluster - not sure if the e39 allowed for that, although I suspect not.
 
#114 ·
Hi :wave:

You can get quite a lot of live data on the instrument cluster on mine as it has the 'High' OBC, the E39s, have 2 different clusters depending on the spec of the car, one with just an image of the car (Low OBC) and mine has a wide text display which shows written specific info instead of a single light and as your E60, there is a hidden menu, I've looked at the temp before and all seemed OK.

Just for info in case anybody is interested or comes across this thread...these are the 2 types.



The software I'm using on the laptop has full dealer functionality apart from dialling off to BMW servers to get the latest ECU updated software and service history etc, I however am yet to have a full play with it but it will give all live readings. This is what I'll use for the gearbox check/service for temp etc.

It's funny, as I'm writing this...I can't actually remember seeing that mine has an electronic thermostat on it currently, beginning to wonder if one of the previous owners did the coolant system refresh but used a standard thermostat housing and thermostat, would explain the fault code for sure. More investigation needed. :lol:
 
#117 ·
"......I can't actually remember seeing that mine has an electronic thermostat on it currently..."

My e60 has the 'normal' [i.e. 'old fashioned'] kind. My Indy tells me that the electronic thermostat for the LCI models etc costs c. £600 from BMW !!! :wall:

Narrow escape there.....:D

Your e39 ought to be the earlier one which costs MUCH less.
 
#119 ·
To right, 87 quid doesn't sound bad compared to 600! Still damn site more expensive then a 5 quid thermostat :lol:

Great car and thread,best of luck with it.

Just after picking up an E39 myself,can you recommend any good forums or sites for aftermarket parts?
You're making a smart choice haha, on Facebook join the e39 car club UK page and they have an e39 car club buy/sell page too. Join both, fountain of knowledge, help and lots of pats, cars and breaking cars available :thumb:
 
#120 ·
"....To right, 87 quid doesn't sound bad compared to 600! Still damn site more expensive then a 5 quid thermostat....".

Have a look here scroll down]. I had great service from this guy when I had my e39 - genuine parts and FAST service. Looks like the therno/housing is about half price from hin. He's approachable too, I phoned him on a couple of occasions to clarify things, delivery was usually next day

To right, 87 quid doesn't sound bad compared to 600! Still damn site more expensive then a 5 quid thermostat

http://www.c3bmw.co.uk/StockItem.asp?categoryID=116&subcategoryID=0&productID=1591&oRef=-1&section=2&Item=unassign
 
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