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Friday, the 13th of April 2012, I finally received the keys to one very special E39.
We were using our trusty 2000 Mazda MX-5 as our daily driver. Fantastic little car, but it was becoming too much for 100km per day on the highway for work commute.
My 2001 Le Mans Blue M5 is my dream car. I do not want to use it anymore on daily driving activities and with 200,000km, it is time to save the car a bit.
It was time to find a comfortable replacement… a car that would be safe, reliable and that could match our future family plans
As soon as I saw this Touring up for sale on Autohan.nl I knew it was the right car for us. I called Janek and booked an appointment to see the Touring.
Drove it. It looked and felt like new, I have never seen an E39 in this condition. It is absolutely pristine. It is originally a german car, first registered in Frankfurt on 10/2004.
But lets go for some details!
BMW E39 530i Touring Automatic Speedtronic M Package - Individual 10/2004
. Carbon Black + Cinnamon Nappa Leather + Anthrazit Birch Trim
. 77,000km
. Build Date 48/03
. OEM M Bumpers + Style 66 17'' Wheels
. Bluetooth (works fine with my iPhone 4!)
. OEM Window Tint
. Mk4 Navigation - 2012 European Map
. Automatic Headlights and Automatic Windscreen Wipers
. Partial full leather - it has Leather on the central Console and door handles in a deviating colour stitching.
. ISOFIX baby seat mounts
. Cinnamon Nappa Leather Carpet Borders
. Covered removable trailer hitch (never used)
. Etc etc...
This Touring is absolutely loaded and I love it
From my analysis, this car belonged to a mother of one child. Someone bought this touring to serve as a family cruiser for this lady, but it was barely used for all these years. The interior is in pristine condition, there are no marks on the leather, not even on the back of the passenger seat.
Why do I suspect it belonged to a lady? The steering wheel is absolutely smooth, no rough hands were using it. There are no marks anywhere in none of the plastics and the seat bolsters are like new. There are two very slight marks on leather from pressure/weight, on the rear right passenger seat, made by the baby seat. But for me the dead give away, besides the pristine interior, are the curbed wheels(sorry to any lady drivers out there!)
Lets go for some pictures!
At Autohan, delivering the MX-5 and getting the keys of the Touring!
Some pictures of the Touring on next morning on my driveway, feels like christmas!
The Interior
It is hard to make justice to how gorgeous this Cinnamon Nappa Leather looks, the light on the pictures make it look a bit off, it is so smooth and elegant. Perfect for the Carbon Black exterior.
The deviating stitching is awesome
The carpet on the trunk is like new, no marks and no ingrained dirt in the carpet fibres.
But… the fun starts when I can engage happily in my hobby, Detailing!
Always like to start with the interior, its where I sit and where I spend the time. I want it clean, disinfected and with the leather ready for many years to come.
The whole process started with brushing all vents and button surfaces.
Afterwards just vacuum clean the whole car.
Time to start scrubbing out all the dirt and smells out of the car!
Nice and clean, no odors.
Detail of the carpets with the Nappa Leather borders.
Yup, never used.
With the new net and my girlfriends umbrella (she is already but deservedly taking possession
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The First Aid box was removed and cleaned.
The interior was cleaned with Meguiars APC 10:1, scrubbed with a MF foam pad and removed with a clean MF.
Scrub the buttons properly, no stone is left unturned. You have to understand, this entertains and relaxes me
Buttons cleaned properly.
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B]The Cinnamon Nappa Leather[/B]
It was a priority for me to clean the leather properly and assure I leave a layer of protection to keep the leather clean and protected from dirt.
For years I use the LTT Leather Care products and I absolutely recommend them, super easy to use and so good.
Prime the foam pad with the Cleaner.
Scrub gently with the foam and then remove immediately with a soft clean Microfibre.
Here are the results, I love this soft nappa leather and the color is amazing in person:
The different colour stitching on the door handle is a superb detail by BMW.
Leather on centre console.
The bicolor steering wheel, in nappa leather and the stitching is in the same cinnamon color as the leather!
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The Trim - Antrazit Birch
The finish of the trim was a bit punished on the centre console, so I decided to remove it all and give it a polish, so it can have some depth and gloss.
Start by removing the little storage and pulling down the vents, to expose the screws.
Then just keep on dismantling carefully.
Ugh, time to clean the area underneath the ashtray.
Found one Euro!
The trim date.
Time to polish it. Polishing pad with Menzerna 3.02, to remove the swirls. Worked the polish until the end, to leave a finish ready for sealant.
Shinny!
Trim was protected with two layers of Trim Coat.
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New handle was bought, its just a 5 euro part and it makes so much difference, since the rubber gets hold and scratched.
Old on top, new on bottom.
The results:
But I was not done with it!
Time to bring out HD Cleanse and Dodo Supernatural!
Gently rub it and remove with MF after working in HD Cleanse.
Supernatural had to be applied with fingers.
The end results, this is a beautiful trim!
B]The iPhone 4 Cradle Installation [/B]
Since I have the OEM Bluetooth, which works just fine with my iPhone 4, I wanted to have the cradle, so the iPhone could be sitting there perfectly and be able to charge and use the car's antenna (I think it does this!).
The Parts required are:
84212199389 Snap In Adapter
84212222122 Eject Box
84109205271 Adapter Cable Eject Box
The cost was around €130, with 15% discount at my BMW dealer.
It is very easy to do this upgrade:
1. Remove Cradle
2. Remove rear centre storage/rear centre cupholders
3. Slide down the vents
4. Remove screws
5. Remove centre armrest
6. Remove eject box
7. Unplug everything
8. Place new adapter cable
9. Slide in Eject Box with cradle
10. Assemble back everything!
Took the opportunity to mount missing screws.
In place!
Broken Trim Pieces
There were some broken trim pieces on the car, so new trim was ordered from BMW.
Broken one on top, new part on bottom.
Broken tips inside, grrr!!
Everything back in place and ready to be assembled.
The trim of the passenger seat was broken on the left back side and the right side was missing completely.
New ones were ordered and installed.
Last edited by Tiauguinho; 06-23-2012 at 07:00 PM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost
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The Wash
Nothing better than giving a car a good scrub on a sunny saturday morning!
Here are the before pictures of how the car looks after some driving around here in NL.
Always start with the wheels, so the nasty dirt that splatters is always washed away afterwards.
Wheels were cleaned with Wolf Chemicals Brake Duster.
And so the magic of Brake Duster begins, "melting" away all the iron particles.
Give it some agitation with a brush.
Tires were washed with Meguiars APC 4:1
The license plate also took a scrub.
After the wheels and license plates were washed, it was time for a Foam bath with Meguiars Hyperwash.
Let it lift the dirt and slowly help in degreasing.
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Then with a bottle of APC and a gentle brush, I went around and cleaned all plastic trims and rubbers.
Gave it a rinse to wash everything away.
Then off with some Auto Finesse Citrus Power, to degrease even further and clean properly the door shuts.
No area was left behind.
Another rinse and the car was ready for a wash.
Two Bucket Mode, Wolf Chemicals Nano Shampoo and Dodo Juice Supernatural Short Hair Wash Mitt (I mention all the products so people don't ask me later).
The car was then rinsed again and it was ready for the clay.
Not bad for 8 years old, these are the "after" pictures of the most problematic areas.
Touring was then rinsed.
Wolf Chemicals Brake Duster was applied to the whole and gently agitated with a MF mitt, to remove all remaining iron particles.
It was then washed again, rinsed and dried (phew!!)
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Ready to see what is really on the paint in terms of defects.
Hmm scratch.
I like the trailer hook that is hidden away! Will prove to be useful someday!
Swirls…
Ugh.
Scratches.
The Polishing
I have barely started with this…
The M5 has been receiving all the attention lately, so the Touring has been waiting for its turn.
I did however proceed to test my pad and polish combination and see how far it would go to remove the defects. It was problematic.
The paint is full of Random Deep Scratches and Swirls, which is a shame, because Carbon Black is a beautiful color, that deserves to be properly polished.
So here are some pictures of me testing run on the rear quarter panel.
Oh boy…
Working Menz 3.02.
Measuring what I have to play with.
The results after some hits with Fast Cut Plus, Menz 3.02 and 85RD. Still not happy with the results, there are scratches and defects that still stayed behind and the paint is proving to be hard as nails.
Messed up the color in this photo, sorry.
Carbon Black.
What was left after all the polishing.
Hard work to get there, but worth it
This is why I love detailing
I will continue with the polishing very soon and the Touring will then take three layers of Gtechniq EXO, ready to be a well sealed Daily Driver, easy to wash and looking good for a long time!
Last edited by Tiauguinho; 06-23-2012 at 07:01 PM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost
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Sealing the External Trim
Trim was cleaned beforehand with a mix of water and Isopropyl Alcohol (50:50) + MF cloth, to remove any oils or dirt that escaped the action of the APC.
It looks faded from the Sun…
Time to restore the trim and seal it. 3 layers were applied.
Looks new!
Left is as it was. Right is restored with Trim Coat.
Looks great to me, very happy with the outcome.
B]The Engine[/B]
First thing that was done, was to take the car to Frits at Performance Shop Geel and have some maintenance done:
. Castrol EDGE 5W30 + BMW Oil Filter
. Air Filter
. Console Filters
When the car was on the hoist at Frits, the underneath was like new. It does appear to have the Webasto for the engine when it is cold, still need to figure out how this works. The stickers with the barcode on the driveshaft were white and without any dirt. Impressive car this one! What a gem!
The engine was also given a tidy up, it was already so clean, only a small scrub with APC and a rinse. Plastics were then protected with 303 Aerospace Protectant.
It looks and drives like new.
What is left to do? How is it to live with the 530i Touring?
I have a clear list of things that I want to go through in the coming months:
1. Finish polishing + seal with EXO
2. Replace Transmission Oil + Filter
3. Replace Differential Oil
Maintenance items will come as budget allows, but everything is working perfectly
The Touring does now 120km per day on my new work commute. It drinks an average of 11l to 100km, on what is 80% highway and 20% urban slow traffic. After 6000km done, this car is the best daily driver I have ever experienced.
It is quiet, comfortable and the old automatic 5 speed transmission shift smoothly and without any shakes. You barely notice it! The speedtronic works just fine, but then again, if I feel like some fun, I have the M5 for that sort of adventures.
This is such a practical car. The Self Leveling Suspension is really cool. The M suspension still makes it fun to corner a bit, but this is surely a comfortable experience. And the bootspace is big enough for our needs. For some fun, here are some pictures of a garden shopping run my girlfriend did. I took care of placing things in the car
This weeks important run to my local BMW dealership, was time to pick up my M5 OEM full Suspension setup!
This is a great car and I cannot wait to have her serve us during many years to come. I already even have an eye on a BMW baby seat to start on thinking on for late next year… future will bring fun things!
I know that you are probably thinking now that I am completely insane and that is probably very true
From being garage queens...
To drive through the snow...
Or through the mountains in Portugal...
I love to drive and I love great cars. For me, the E39 is all I want from a car, what a legend it is for me!
Hope you enjoyed it! Will keep this thread updated!
Last edited by Tiauguinho; 06-23-2012 at 07:14 PM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost
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I think I love you
satisfied my e39 cravings for a while with all the pics in this thread
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Wow! What an amazing car. I couldn't think of a better owner.
Reason|Science
Holly hell. My index finger almost fell off while scrolling down on the mouse. But well worth it. It's beautiful.
License Revoked
That's some very very nice touring and such in good condition, well done.
Nice to see e39 still in this pristine condition and well taken care of still in 2012.
If I may suggest, on the leather cleaning, don't just wipe it dry after the cleaning, wipe it wet with plenty of water, then wipe it dry. Then apply your sealer.
Post this on the Detailingworld.com forum too, if not already done
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BMW CCA Member
I wanna live in your interior! I noticed it's a BMW INDIVIDUAL. Your a lucky man. That iPhone mod looks great. Does it just snap and fit in nicely to all e39s with phone cradles?anything you had to do to make it fit right? Did you wire it up to charge your phone? Beautiful touring and glad it went to someone who'll keep taking care of it right.
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Beautiful touring, you're doing everything right. I love meticulous people.
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X2 and this is absolutely incredible, jaw dropping and just gorgeous!Originally Posted by gjVah
spoolin'
I'm usually not a touring fan, but that is a gorgeous ride! Congrats and well done on the amazing detail!
1985 325 - 5 speed - LSD - M50NV - MS2/extra - AEM UEGO - TiAL MV-R - 750cc injectors - HX35 - Blunttech Manifold - 3" exhaust
1991 318i - 5 speed - M50NV - e36 rack - Smileys
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for me, this was epic. i mean i had an alan silvestri orchestral soundtrack going on in my head while scrolling through all the pics. you sir are what we should aspire to in caring for our E39s.
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Your comment made me LOL, thanks for that!
Glad I could help with those cravings for what is an amazing car that the effort of a lot of people at BMW made possible
Thanks, doing my best!
Heh, now imagine what it was to write all that with the links and stuff, phew!
Of course you may suggest, but this is the way I like to work with the LTT products.That's some very very nice touring and such in good condition, well done.
Nice to see e39 still in this pristine condition and well taken care of still in 2012.
If I may suggest, on the leather cleaning, don't just wipe it dry after the cleaning, wipe it wet with plenty of water, then wipe it dry. Then apply your sealer.
Post this on the Detailingworld.com forum too, if not already done
The product comes out in a foam not only to help out on lifting the dirt, but to also I believe to avoid soaking the leather with water. You just rub gently with the foam pad the foam and remove instantly for with a soft microfibre.
If an area is more ingrained, then you may use a soft brush, work it in gently and let it dwell for a bit, removing it before it dries.
The shampoo is efficient in cleaning the dirt and the lubricity keeps things friendly to the leather surface.
Yup, it snaps in perfectly, its a BMW part made for this car, it is as it should be. You just plug in the adapter and connect the cables, thats the only thing you need to do.
Thanks, I love to pay attention to what makes the whole so perfect!
Thanks!
LOL, will keep that in mind for next polishing session
Last edited by Tiauguinho; 06-24-2012 at 02:04 AM. Reason: Automerged Doublepost
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Dang, your interior combo looks fabulous! I am quite jealous!
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Excellent...
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most amazing and thorough cleaning job i have ever seen.
When i saw the first few pics of the wheels i thought, "damn, no way is he gonna get those clean"
so i scrolled and scrolled and scrolled...and scrolled...and scrolled
and then my mind exploded.
what an amazing interior color as well!
congrats.
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Looks great, be careful - this is the land of dirty worn seats and depo replicas
Nice to see somebody taking decent care around here.
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When I first went through the thread I was thinking, Man this guy has OCD. But when I kept seeing the before and after results I was thinking, Man I need to do this to my car!! Great touring there my friend!! Definitely car show worthy. As a matter of fact mine wil be in one next week and I will use your detailing and trim methods to get mine ready!!
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congrats!!! beautiful car. envious of the interior. it has a great new owner.
cheers,
larry
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