Greetings folks,

I've been lurking for the past week or so while searching for a 540i and now that I bought one, I guess I better atleast say hey before I start asking questions.

I got a black/grey '99 540iA with 75K on it. Its got Sport pkg, xenon lights, comfort seats and DSP.

Previous owner already went through replacing most of the common ailments of the car: radiator, fuel filter, new ventilation filters, rear window regulator, AC compressor. He also had the wheels refinished, which look very nice (when clean).

Car also came with some really poor conditioned tires, rears cupped on the inside, fronts cupped on the outside. Car vibrates around 15-25mph from the cupping on the front.

I ordered 4 new contis and will have a 4-wheel align done to solve this. I've read about the feathering in the rear, what can I do to combat this problem? And why did the fronts feather on the outside? Everything I've read so far points to really bad alignment. (old tires were Toyo T1-S if that matters)

So I guess my first question is what do I need to be on the lookout for?
I've been reading about control arms and bushings but don't think I need to replace them yet from symptoms described so far.

The headlight covers are really dirty, I'd like to replace them at some point, how difficult a job is this? Since I'm such a noob, I thought getting a car with xenons would have the angel eyes, oops. What am I looking at to get those installed?

I'd like to do as much of the maintenance as possible. From what I've read, the car will tell me when its need an oil change? Do I have to have a dealer reset that light? Can someone shed some light on this area?

Loving the forum so far... :)

as for maintenance, i just recently bought a 00 540i about a week ago. and asked a few of the same questions.

for maintenance, if you plan on doing everything yourself, best bet would be to invest in a service manual of some sort, bentleys makes good ones i hear, and they're about 100 bucks and up.

u also need a code reader, like a peake code reader or something of the sort to read codes and to reset the service lights when they come on. they cost about $150 or so.

as for the alignment problem, i would put the new tires on, get a 4 wheel alignment, then go from there.

thanks for the info, that code reader will be really helpful and will save $90 diagnostic trips to the dealer (what a rip!)

That manual seems worth the price as well.