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My BMW E39 528i touring

PranK
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joshuaho96 Veteran

joshuaho96

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Posted
3 hours ago, soviet_merlin said:

It's flawless.

(Except for major maintenance bill that non-car people would feel salty about for years afterwards)

:D

Just kidding. Life's too short to be bored driving a Camry.

Honestly, for a daily I would gladly rock a Camry. The more disposable the better. People drive horribly out here and road conditions are awful.

  • 2 weeks later...
PranK Grand Master

PranK

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Ok, so first round of maintenance done. I didn't get much history with the car but I know it was well looked after. That isn't enough for me though, so ... 

I had to do the oil filter housing gasket. It was leaking a lot, and also as part of that I did the anti-return valve and the VANOS oil line (from HEL). 

But, then I got hit with the while-ya-in-there's.

Did both accessory and A/C belts, tensioners and pulley. The accessory belt that came off had a huge hole in it, like somebody hung it up with a nail. The pulley and tensioners seem ok, so I'll keep those just in case.

I did water pump and pump pulley. The water pump had a small bit of play so timing was good. 

I also did fan clutch. I don't know how to test the old one but between the water pump and the fan clutch the car is running a little bit cooler (not much ~2 - 3 degrees maybe) so good result.

Unfortunately the thermostat and housing didn't turn up in time so I'll shelve those. I have no concerns at all on the current ones. 

Then I spent what seemed like 40 days and 40 nights bleeding the air from the cooling system.

She also got new air filter, fuel filter and did a Mobil 1 change with oil filter.

Hilariously, not an hour after telling my wife how proud I was of myself to be going slowly and meticulously and making sure everything was torqued and nothing missing I went and started it without the oil filter in. The car complained immediately of no pressure and after only a few seconds I turned it off and discovered a shit tonne of oil on the driveway. Sigh. I've driven it since and thankfully doesn't seem to be any problems.

AND THEN during the test drive a ratchet extension fell into the battery area in the boot and JAMMED right next to the positive terminal and the car body. Like, just touching it made sparks and it was jammed in there.

So, almost killed the engine and then almost burned the car to a crisp. Good start.

This was the rails under the splash guards. So stoked, she's straight as and super clean. No rust anywhere. There was a heap of caked dirt that I removed but otherwise looked great. All 4 jacking points are perfect.

PXL_20250405_060818931.jpg PXL_20250405_060813261.jpg

Next I want to service the gearbox. Sometimes it's a little reluctant to shift up and I'm hoping a fluid change will sort it.

I also have 4 new rear subframe bushes. They're as big as a toddler. I'm renting a tool to help put them in. I can't wait for this because its a bit crashy back there at the moment.

 

  • Haha 2
  • 2 weeks later...
PranK Grand Master

PranK

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Posted

Massive ups for MTHire also. Could not have done the subframe bushings job without hiring the tool from them. Process was super easy and cost me around 25% of the cost of the tool. If you need a tool to do a one-time job, check them out. (Paid for the rental myself, no sponsorship here.)

 

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