dchec
09-11-2007, 01:49 PM
Hi Guys,
first of all I am a noob so please please, no flaming...i have taken all the steps to avoid all the usual noob forum pitfalls, so have that in mind. I recently upgraded from a 93 beat up honda civic that the club civic forums helped me maintain, till it was totalled in an accident, to a 2000 540I/6 (pics attached). Its a great car and i havent regreted this buy since i picked it up from NY and drove it 900 miles to columbus Ohio. Also got a sweet deal too...under 12.5K, with 108000 miles brand new clutch, water pump and maintenance records. The guy who sold it too was pretty cool...you could tell he loved the car. Thanks to the forums, i figured out several things like the outside temp sensor location and what the deal is with that and all other miscellaneous things, than new E39 owners should look out for. i have wanted this car for a while and although i always wanted black, the color i got is growing on me and not a lot of pple have it. However i do have some questions that the forum searches haven't really addressed. so here they go in no particular order.
1.) the current wheels have some bad curb rash adn scrapes even though its not very apparent in the pics. I like them, but also like the M5 and M parallel rims. I live in ohio and we do get a fair share of snow. Not sure if i should get winter tires sometime this month for the current rims, then over the winter save to get new M-rims and tires for spring/summer (want to stay stock with 17" so let me know if you have a set to get rid of). Do most people have 2 sets of tires? its kinda expensive now but is it worth it in the long run really? and for anyone living in ohio or in the area will some good all seasons do the trick?
2.) Whats the deal with the headlights. I want the 2001 and up style headlights, and i want it to be as stock as possible. I saw different postings about fake xenons and all other kinds of variations. is there just a plug and play i can buy, unplug the old one replace the new one with real genuine xenon lights that have the same performance as stock or better? i have seen some how to's on here but it seemed like too much stuff going on to try to make it fit.
3.) What about the exhaust. I'd like something that performs as good or better than stock, but thats not obnoxiously loud, and looks good. I like the double exhaust tip look. Are there any plug and play mufflers anyone will recommend?
4.)The light on the dash that shows i guess when to take the engine for servicing...how accurate is that? i am down to the last 2 lights, teh car seems fine to me. i am trying to find a BMW mechanic that is honest and good and will not rip me off like a dealer. So any recomomendations around columbus will help...but do i have to worry about that right away?
5.) I also seem to be getting the check coolant often and that scares the shit out of me. i have topped it 2 times in a month...once when i got it, and once yesterday..is that normal. sometimes it comes up when i park on a slope, but i had to top it off yesterday. it never comes on while i am driving. just when i turn the car off, the obc shows check coolant level. the little red thing that floats confuses me a little. i dont know if its at full level when its all sticking out over the opening of the radiator or if its full when the tip is level, but not sticking out.
6.)one day i noticed the floor on teh rear passenger side was wet. came on here searched around and found a couple of likely things. it hasnt happened again since and its been 2.5 weeks and we've had rain since so im just hoping maybe that was a mishap and i left the door open without realizing it or something....
I will stop here for now. any help or input will be helpful. I am feeling there are other pple out here lurking like me who have some questions about their new cars so maybe this will help others too. And the sticky note about helpful E39 links has really good info. that guy Dan whoever he is knows his stuff...apparently he's banned...hmmm...weird for such a great contributor.
PS: I guess i cant post images because im new :-( so i'll have to upload pics later.
first of all I am a noob so please please, no flaming...i have taken all the steps to avoid all the usual noob forum pitfalls, so have that in mind. I recently upgraded from a 93 beat up honda civic that the club civic forums helped me maintain, till it was totalled in an accident, to a 2000 540I/6 (pics attached). Its a great car and i havent regreted this buy since i picked it up from NY and drove it 900 miles to columbus Ohio. Also got a sweet deal too...under 12.5K, with 108000 miles brand new clutch, water pump and maintenance records. The guy who sold it too was pretty cool...you could tell he loved the car. Thanks to the forums, i figured out several things like the outside temp sensor location and what the deal is with that and all other miscellaneous things, than new E39 owners should look out for. i have wanted this car for a while and although i always wanted black, the color i got is growing on me and not a lot of pple have it. However i do have some questions that the forum searches haven't really addressed. so here they go in no particular order.
1.) the current wheels have some bad curb rash adn scrapes even though its not very apparent in the pics. I like them, but also like the M5 and M parallel rims. I live in ohio and we do get a fair share of snow. Not sure if i should get winter tires sometime this month for the current rims, then over the winter save to get new M-rims and tires for spring/summer (want to stay stock with 17" so let me know if you have a set to get rid of). Do most people have 2 sets of tires? its kinda expensive now but is it worth it in the long run really? and for anyone living in ohio or in the area will some good all seasons do the trick?
2.) Whats the deal with the headlights. I want the 2001 and up style headlights, and i want it to be as stock as possible. I saw different postings about fake xenons and all other kinds of variations. is there just a plug and play i can buy, unplug the old one replace the new one with real genuine xenon lights that have the same performance as stock or better? i have seen some how to's on here but it seemed like too much stuff going on to try to make it fit.
3.) What about the exhaust. I'd like something that performs as good or better than stock, but thats not obnoxiously loud, and looks good. I like the double exhaust tip look. Are there any plug and play mufflers anyone will recommend?
4.)The light on the dash that shows i guess when to take the engine for servicing...how accurate is that? i am down to the last 2 lights, teh car seems fine to me. i am trying to find a BMW mechanic that is honest and good and will not rip me off like a dealer. So any recomomendations around columbus will help...but do i have to worry about that right away?
5.) I also seem to be getting the check coolant often and that scares the shit out of me. i have topped it 2 times in a month...once when i got it, and once yesterday..is that normal. sometimes it comes up when i park on a slope, but i had to top it off yesterday. it never comes on while i am driving. just when i turn the car off, the obc shows check coolant level. the little red thing that floats confuses me a little. i dont know if its at full level when its all sticking out over the opening of the radiator or if its full when the tip is level, but not sticking out.
6.)one day i noticed the floor on teh rear passenger side was wet. came on here searched around and found a couple of likely things. it hasnt happened again since and its been 2.5 weeks and we've had rain since so im just hoping maybe that was a mishap and i left the door open without realizing it or something....
I will stop here for now. any help or input will be helpful. I am feeling there are other pple out here lurking like me who have some questions about their new cars so maybe this will help others too. And the sticky note about helpful E39 links has really good info. that guy Dan whoever he is knows his stuff...apparently he's banned...hmmm...weird for such a great contributor.
PS: I guess i cant post images because im new :-( so i'll have to upload pics later.