As the title says, should this be a Do It Yourself session thing, or is this something that I should take the car into a shop for?

I want to flush my tranny and rearend, as well as perform an early oil change and possibly a coolant flush (no idea when it was last done). Am I better off doing this myself, getting together with you guys (if/when you would be willing), or taking it to BME or someone else to have it done? I have time to do any of the above.

Also, I want to get my M5 calipers powdercoated/painted, and I don't know of any places out here to do that, anyone have any suggestions? I would also like to have them rebuilt, as my dad says that it would be a better idea than trying to do them myself while never having been taught how. I have no idea how many miles are on them, or how long they have been sitting, so a little money in prevention will give me quite a bit of peice of mind.

TIA for your input!

Tranny and rearend should not be a problem, but you'll need to do some homework first on any special tools necessary to open the drain and fill plugs. Also you may want to wait until your warranty expires if planning to switch to non-BMW fluids (just remembered you have an auto tranny, might want to consider leaving it alone)

Oil is no problem. Coolant is messy but should not pose a problem. You just had radiator work done yes? Maybe its already been done.

For brakes: I think thrlls knows a powdercoater.

I was thinking to continue using BMW fluids until my warranty expires, but I am not willing to let them go without a change. I've been told that older cars had a reccomended 30k mile interval for both the tranny and rearend, so I was going with that. I'll call and ask the dealer if they did a full drain or just refilled. I'm going to be ordering a Bentley manual for my car this week (along with the brake parts), so I'll look at that. I figured that this weekend is a 3-day, so maybe I can get this stuff done. Thanks for the input!

Ok, just ordered:

BMW Motorsport 2-Piece rotors (f&r)
2 liters ATE Super Blue Brake Fluid
Stanless Steel Brake Lines
Brass Caliper Guides
Bentley Manual

From Turner Motorsports. OUCH on the price ($1500), but I'll live. Now to get the calipers rebuilt/powdercoated and find a decent set of pads.

EDIT: Forgot, I also ordered a Peake Scan/Reset tool :)

..this weekend is a 3-day..

really..?! :buttrock

Hi Tech Coatings in Kapolei or Sunset Powdercoating in Pearl City.

Colonics? You're a kinky guy, Tom. :biglaughb

I'm confused, unless you are talking about how much I am spending on these upgrades. On a side note, I talked to Dinan today, and they told me that they are looking are working on a set of cams for my motor, and that they are also looking at releasing the S3-M5 oil cooler and associated parts (air scoop) as a standalone kit (I wanted one). They also gave me really good news, that their tranny chip prevents the car from self-shifting in manual mode! Worth the money right there for me!

Just got off of the phone with Andie at Cobalt Friction, and he was interested to hear about my brake upgrade. Said he had never heard of that before, and is going to give me 20% off of a set of their GT Sport pads as a special interest type of purchase. Basically, he wants to know what kind of temps and the like a 530i will be running with M5 brakes, and what kind of braking torque they will give. Also, for those of you interested in those pads, he let me know that the MOT for them will be increasing next year to the 1200 degree range without any change in driveability or the like (from the current 900 degree MOT). They are changing the pad compound in the first quarter of the year, so look for that if you are looking for a street/auto-x pad. This makes 3 companies (Dinan, Turner, and Cobalt) who have never heard of anyone actually going through with this upgrade instead of StopTechs or Brembos. All they could tell me was that all E39 BBK's are identical in mounting and the like, so there is no reason it shouldn't work. Guess I really am going into uncharted territory.

I'm confused, unless you are talking about how much I am spending on these upgrades.

i think he was referring to your "rear-end flush" :lol3

Ok, looking for a bit of advice here. Nothing major, just getting ready to prep my calipers, and wondering what color I should paint them? I was going to take them to get powdercoated, but it's quite a bit cheaper to paint them myself, and I like doing things myself. So, what color do you guys think I should do? If I was going to get powdercoating, I would go with a gunmetal color, but I can't seem to find any high temp paints in that color. DupliColor has some spray cans of MANY different colors for 500F tolerance, and 6 colors for 1200F tolerance. Here's the link:

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/engine.html

They also have some paint on colors meant for brakes (I would assume they are identical to the spray cans, but in a non-spray form):

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/caliper.html

The wheels are either going to stay silver, or be recoated gunmetal in the future (depending on caliper color). I am personally leaning towards the aluminum spray, and having the wheels polished.

They also have some paint on colors meant for brakes (I would assume they are identical to the spray cans, but in a non-spray form):

http://www.duplicolor.com/products/caliper.html

The wheels are either going to stay silver, or be recoated gunmetal in the future (depending on caliper color). I am personally leaning towards the aluminum spray, and having the wheels polished.

i used G2 brake caliper paint, extremely durable, temp and chemical resistant. a google of "G2 brake paint" should give lots of hits. i got mine from tire rack as part of a bigger order, so shipping was negligible. i haven't really looked around here so i don't know if they sell it locally.

Did you rebuild the calipers?
Not sure if you really need to worry about that since the calipers are fairly new and quite frankly, I've never really seen a bad BMW caliper unless the brake system had been sitting unused for a very long time.

I have not, but would like to for piece of mind. My dad says not too, since I haven't before. Do you know how much it would be to have it done? BTW, he says they won't need it, too. If I keep hearing that, i'm gonna have to believe it.

I have no idea how much it would cost.
Just do it if it needs to be done. Otherwise, better to leave it alone.
But if it ultimately gives you peace of mind, do it.

Rebuilding the calipers is not a very difficult task. It does require some patience however.

Well, my goodies shipped from Turner this morning! 102lbs! Anyhow, they are scheduled for delivery on the 13th. Time to see if Cobalt will have my pads ready this month.

Well, my goodies showed up today. My first reaction: THOSE ROTORS ARE HUGE! My second reaction: MY GOD THAT BENTLEY IS HUGE! My third reaction: I hope my parking brake parts work with the M5 rotors, or else I have more parts to order... Pics to come soon, but they aren't that special too look at, not even a little ///M on the rotors...

Well, ALMOST all of the parking brake parts are identical between the cars. It seems that the shoes and the springs are the only different parts, all other part numbers match. Another set of parts to order, and another $100 or so to go... Maybe I'll just pick up the OEM pads while I'm at it, since Cobalt Friction is being rather difficult to work with on this.

Well, ALMOST all of the parking brake parts are identical between the cars. It seems that the shoes and the springs are the only different parts, all other part numbers match. Another set of parts to order, and another $100 or so to go... Maybe I'll just pick up the OEM pads while I'm at it, since Cobalt Friction is being rather difficult to work with on this.
Hahahaha! Cobalt is a PITA. :D

Hahahaha! Cobalt is a PITA. :DWho the company or the forum member? :stickoutt

Who the company or the forum member? :stickoutt
:lol

You know, if a car company(any)says you have to use their brand of anything to do anything to your car... IE: Fluids...They have to give you all of it for free. :)

Who the company or the forum member? :stickoutt

First thing I thought when I saw that post, too! Anyhow, I don't want to use the factory pads, as they are known to chew up rotors when used aggresively (10-20k miles on a set of rotors at 1K a set doesn't work for me). It's looking like, if I can get the pads soon, 1 week from saturday for my time to do it. I have a volunteer from work who is inexperienced but wants to help, and I have my Bentley now. I'm debating on trying my parking brakes with the M5 rotors, but I need to measure the drum diameter. The LOOK really close, so I may be able to get away with it. Since it isn't a big safety issue (that's what an auto is best for, PARK) I might be willing to try it. I can always replace them a week later if they aren't working out.

jeepers, you should have just bought some StopTechs. Anyway good luck with getting it all sorted...I'd love to help or offer my garage but I am heading for the mainland for a bit.

If its not done when I get back you guys are free to do it here. Also remember to be careful on the pedal if you are bleeding the "old fashioned" way.

My total investment is STILL way below even a front set of StopTech's or Brembo's, but this is for all 4 brakes:

Calipers: $500
Rotors and pads: $1250
SS Lines: $100
Brass Guides: $125
Various small crap: $25

Total invested: $2000

If I have to redo the parking brakes: $200 (pessimistic, looks to be more like $100)

This is for a 8" diameter upgrade up front with bigger calipers (M5 calipers are basically 750il calipers redone for heavier use, also used on 4.8is X5) and a 1.2" diameter upgrade in the back with bigger calipers (E46 M3 calipers). These are all 2-Piece floating rotors as well (cut about $400 off for 1-Piece rotors). I think it was a better investment than StopTechs, seeing as how these do fairly well on a much heavier car (~500-600lbs heavier) in light to medium track use. Anyhow, I know you were more kidding than anything, but I think that these will have 80% of the fade resistance of the StopTech's (rotors are both floating, calipers are the issue) and 90% of the stopping power. The tradeoff is a lot of legwork and research on my part, along with some higher maintenance parts (brass guides). Also, the pads are about the same price between the StopTech's and the M5's, but the M5's are a special order item at most places. Anyhow, I know you were only half serious, but I just felt like typing all this out. Got a writeup to plan after all (not that I think anyone on the 5er forum's will care, they'll go for the easy StopTech/Brembo upgrade).

Ok, just ordered:
BMW Motorsport 2-Piece rotors (f&r)
2 liters ATE Super Blue Brake Fluid
Stanless Steel Brake Lines
Brass Caliper Guides
Bentley Manual
From Turner Motorsports. OUCH on the price ($1500), but I'll live. Now to get the calipers rebuilt/powdercoated and find a decent set of pads.
EDIT: Forgot, I also ordered a Peake Scan/Reset tool :)
Ohh... you getting the ATE Super Blue...
I'm not too much of a dedicated tracker so I ended up just ordering 4 bottles of Motul 5.1.

But yea... his stuff is a lot cheaper than going BBK.
Mine was just... :eek: Add 3x the cost Cobalt spent... :eyecrazy