First anniversary with my 540i - Guttershark's running build/maintenance/mods thread

[guttershark]

***EDIT This is now a continuing maintenance thread***


So I've had my 540i for just about a year now, and I wanted to make a thread about what I've been through with her.

Born in May 2002 as a (892) Titan Gray Metallic 540i Sport 6 speed, with a black interior, sport seats, DSP, rear sun shades, and staggared style 32 wheels, she was imported in '03 and lived in Massachussets and New Hampshire for her first two owners.

I picked her up in Brooklyn, NY in September 2010, when she had 121,000 on the clock for $9500. I immediately fell in love and could not imagine myself driving anything else. I guess once you go german, you never go back. I dont want to make this a "how awesome this car is to drive" thread, because we all already know we have the best sedans ever made. So I'll use this thread more so to display the maintenance she's required in my first year of ownership, and the few simple mods done.

I've got a tall stack of reciepts and will group my maintainance monthly:

September '10 (121,000 miles)
Oil change
ZHP knob
New BMW floormats

October '10
CDV delete

December '10 (Waterpump takes a dump)
cooling overhaul:
Waterpump (Needed replacement)
Drive belt (Preventative)
Radiator (Needed replacement
Upper/Lower hoses (Preventative)
Thermostat (Preventative
Fan clutch (blades were in good shape) (Preventative)
Coolant
other small parts, bleeder screw etc

March '11 (126,000 miles)
Oil change
Rear tires were bald, replaced with Continental DW

April '11
M5 rear sway bar
Rear sway bar bushings (Replaced to match with thickness of new sway bar)
Rear sway bar end links (Had some loose play, replaced for the new sway bar anyways)
Muffler delete
Battery (Worn down by dying alternator, needed replacement)
VW T-clamp for battery ties
Bosch water-cooled alternator $$$ (Needed replacement)
Brake and clutch pedal pads (Very worn, needed replacement)

May '11
545i short shifter
Diff fluid change
Manual trans fluid change
Wheel spacers (15mm front and back)
Extended lug bolts

June '11 (131,000 miles)
Oil change
LF Wheel bearing (Some slight play, no noise)
Wheel bearing bolts
(chasing down a sound which was my brake dust/heat shield in the end - Free fix!) See here: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1673159
Front tires were bald, replaced with Continental DW

August '11
Air conditioning belt (Needed Replacement)
(I know, should have been done when Waterpump belt was done, rushed myself and cracked a fan blade and the top radiator nipple)
Fan blades (Needed replacement)
Radiator nipple (Needed replacement)
RF wheel bearing (no sound, just had some play)
Wheel bearing bolts
Oil filter mounts (Needed replacement)

Sept '11 (136,000)
Oil change
Gas tank evap vent (was throwing a code & wouldnt pass inspection)
Bearing in the Diff took a dump, gears whining like a banshee. See here http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1704045

edit:
Nov '11
Mountain Run- pics here: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1746823

Dec '11 138.5k
Chain tensioner (Best preventative I would say for the V8's)
Front sway bar end links (Ball joints had some play, but preventative)
Dice silverline installed

Jan '12 139.5K
New rear tires Conti-DW 255/40/17
(last rear set lasted 10 months/ 13k miles, I drive hard and love them)

Mar '12 140.8K
New water pump. (Needed Replacement)

Died like this:
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaDXays_EqM&feature=g-upl[/ame]

Apr '12 142k
Replaced spark plugs (started chasing a no-code occasional misfire) (Needed replacement, Original plugs!)
(Passenger bank valve cover leaking a bit, Powdercoat and gasket replacement in the near future)
New Lemforder thrust arms. (Needed Replacement)
(Left side was on for 6 years and 80/90k miles. Right side was original 10 years with 142k! and still wasnt as bad of a shake as I've felt in other cars)
Another Mountain Run: Videos here http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum....php?t=1830551

May '12 142.5k
Spec Doc in ashtray
3M 1080 Brushed Black Metallic Vinyl'd interior trim
5/20 Mountain Run with some BF.c guys & others. Pictures start on page 2, Videos start on Page 3.
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...1825318&page=3


June '12 143.5k
Main belt tensioner / Pulley (Needed Replacement
M5 ebay painted trunk lip spoiler
New low beam Xenon headlight bulbs (originals replaced with Philips 85122+)
BC BR Coilovers 8k/6k, Koyo bearings, extended rear adjusters


July '12 145k
2 New Coils, cyl 3 & 7. Fixed my misfire issue.
New (to me, aka used) ballast for passenger low beam headlight.Headlight Kept going out, burnt spots on headlamp connector where it meets the bulb)

Sept '12 147k
2 New front tires- Conti DW (last set lasted 16k miles & 15 months)

Coming up-
3M Headlight refinishing & headlight adjusters.
Radiator replacement (occasional drip).

2013- New wheels & tires

2013-2014- M bumpers, LSD

Hope you guys enjoyed reading and seeing my experience so far.
I think I've covered it all. All the work was done by myself with the help of the board! The only exception was the cooling system overhaul in December '10 done by my indy. Noway I was doing that in my driveway or on the street with snow on the ground.

First year's expenses in this post: http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...2&postcount=49

Thanks for checking out my past maintenance thread. I'll be adding to this as I make monthly changes.
Now time for a beer!

[edjack]

First anniversary gift is paper. Appears as though you've been gifting the car well, but you're supposed to wait for the anniversary date to start throwing money.

[leeuga11]

Wow! I'm coming up on my 1 year mark w a 530i. List sounds very familiar except for water cooled alternator, what's the advantage of that?

[guttershark]

Edjack, what can I say, she likes to spend my money! Haha

And I'm not completely sure why BMW designed it with a liquid cooled alternator, as they're only on the later V8's. I believe they have a slightly higher voltage output rating than air-cooled types. I guess the difference was worth changing the design. But it sure is a pain to replace, and expensive! Mine was around $400 after a $200 core refund if I remember correctly.

[edjack]

leeuga11,

BMW must have had some heat problems with the air-cooled alt. The cooling duct can get clogged with debris. Also, since the cat is up very close to the engine, there's more heat buildup on the later cars.


guttershark,

I doubt the voltage is any higher. What does it measure on the cluster? S/b 14+ at 1000 RPM. The '97 MY had a 140 A air-cooled alt, according to sales lit. Realoem says 120 A. The water-cooled alt is rated at 150 A, probably needs water cooling at that level.

[guttershark]

Yes that was it, I meant to say amperes not voltage. It's been a long day. 150A for the water cooled!

And yes mine runs 14+, although when it died on me, I saw it go pretty low. It's a very scary thing when it dips below 9 and things start shutting off! Ask me how I know.

[guttershark]

List updated. I think I'll end up keeping this as a running log.
When I have some free time i'll add in the cost of parts! Yikes.

[filon102]

Did you guys wondered, like you wont see such a thread like on honda civic forum or any other car forums? lol

I'm guessing that there is a bond with e39s after all

[guttershark]

Original Post updated.

[HiLandR]

That's a solid busy year!

[guttershark]

Updated OP for April so far.

Maybe when one of the mods gets a chance they could change the Title to "First 540i anniversary and beyond"
or "Guttershark's running build/maintenance/mods thread." Something like that

[kswist24]

I've had my car for about a year and a half now. 01 530i with 89.5k on the clock. Had to do the came sensors both inner and outer. Belts. Expansion tank. Oil Sep and tubes. Alternator. And a new tire. Some mexican't cut me off and slammed my rim. And slashed the tire. But other then those things its an awesome car. Cooling system is next. Ohh and the Cdv is long gone .

Congrats on the year anniversary! More money to be dumped! GoodLuck!!!!

[guttershark]

Congrats on the year anniversary! More money to be dumped! GoodLuck!!!!

Thanks buddy! You've got quite a list of replaced parts too.

It's been about a year and 1/2 now, I've got tons of pics from doing all this but didn't wanna clutter up the thread. Maybe one day I'll add in all the pics. There's a thread around here somewhere about your last years cost of ownership/parts, and the first year rang up about 4 large. Scary stuff but I couldn't be happier keeping her in great shape.

A good friend of mine just picked up a dark gray 528, we're practically twins on the outside.
He's being a bad influence on me, because we'd love to see our cars both dropped and with m-tech bumpers there goes more money!

[kswist24]

I want to do the same. Hopefully if I get a better job I want to super charge it.

[ianclements]

Did you guys wondered, like you wont see such a thread like on honda civic forum or any other car forums? lol

I'm guessing that there is a bond with e39s after all

http://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/

You're welcome... by the way, that 1st year list looks expensive. All I had to replace on my car was a little plastic tube behind the MAF.

I have had my car 18 months.

As an E39 enthusiast, this makes me think only an M5 would
have the engineering to stand up to over a decade without too
much of a fuss.

[guttershark]

http://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/

You're welcome... by the way, that 1st year list looks expensive. All I had to replace on my car was a little plastic tube behind the MAF.

I have had my car 18 months.

As an E39 enthusiast, this makes me think only an M5 would
have the engineering to stand up to over a decade without too
much of a fuss.

My post from the 2011 expense thread.
http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum...2&postcount=49
Not everything needed immediate replacement, but I prefer to stay on top of maintenance, so I can tell when theres a new sound or feel and hunt things down easier.

Maybe one day I'll step into an M5.
Hopefully you'll have another 18 months worth of problem free driving

[ChargedM3]

Tires every year is right!
These are Great cars and i can not stop fixing everything making it perfect.
Major sickness!

[guttershark]

Tires every year is right!
These are Great cars and i can not stop fixing everything making it perfect.
Major sickness!

I was JUST reading your thread! How long was the time span of you buying all those new parts?
That's quite a list. I think researching, finding, being anxious about when they arrive and installing new parts is half the enjoyment of owning these cars.

And I don't think Ive ever, for any car I've owned had tires last more than a year. Granted I like to take turns fast and they are always higher performance tires.

[guttershark]

Original post updated again. Finally new thrust arms!
Some pictures









new ones going in


As long as she keeps treating me as good as she has been, I'll be ordering some coils for her this summer! And I've got a plan for wheels in the near future.

Thanks for looking guys!

[sealbeach740]

Just curious - any idea why you needed 2 new waterpumps in less than 1.5 years (& around less than 20k miles)?

Something up there?

[auaq]

On your second anniversary, send a gift with your keys to my house.

[guttershark]

Just curious - any idea why you needed 2 new waterpumps in less than 1.5 years (& around less than 20k miles)?

Something up there?

Beats me. Really no idea.

[jamesdc4]

Updated OP for April so far.

Maybe when one of the mods gets a chance they could change the Title to "First 540i anniversary and beyond"
or "Guttershark's running build/maintenance/mods thread." Something like that

How about both?

[guttershark]

How about both?

Much appreciated!

On your second anniversary, send a gift with your keys to my house.

Sorry buddy, I think this one's gonna stay around for a while

[auaq]

Much appreciated!



Sorry buddy, I think this one's gonna stay around for a while

Noooooooooooooooo ... Monicaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!