Do It Yourself (DIY) Guidepost

chowdah · Jan 30, 2007

Introduction

I would like to take a fresh look at reorganizing the Do-It-Yourself threads here, by:
1) finding/identifying the best ones
2) providing a dedicated thread for nominations of newer/better ones
3) adding rudimentary keyword tags above each link (which may not be in the title)

If you know about a post that is superior/complementary to one already listed, or if you know about a new one, please post here with:
- the link
- some keywords for reference

Better yet, if you are motivated to create a better-written / more-accurate version of a DIY here, please do so, and let this thread know about it.

Gustav has added a "DIY" prefix which you can apply at the time you post your new DIY thread.

Thanks for the help.

chowdah · Jan 30, 2007

When to do it?

Note: The following intervals are meant only as very general guidelines, and may not be suitable for your car or your driving style.

Again, I’m seeding this with information I have cataloged for my own purposes, based on observations made about when owners addressed them. That starting point may or may not be correct. Please post replies with errors and additions.

General:
Air filter – every 15k miles / 25k km
Brake fluid – every 2 years, or less
Coolant – every 3 years, or less

Think about at 50k miles / 80k km, if not already done:
Belts
Transmission fluid
Pre-cat oxygen sensors

Think about at 70k miles / 110k km, if not already done:
Fuel filter
Thrust arm bushings
Power steering fluid
Wheel bearings

Think about at 90k miles / 145k km, if not already done:
Fan clutch, radiator
Fuel pump

Think about at 100k miles / 160k km, if not already done:
Rod bearings

chowdah · Jan 30, 2007

Blown03HD · Feb 27, 2011

I like this info, think it might be a good sticky!

BenTong · Jul 21, 2010

Subscribed

Mx5 · Mar 23, 2007

Subscribed as well. Thanks for the thread.

jrsuh85 · Aug 13, 2009

subscribed extremely useful

bimmerule · Nov 7, 2010

Thank you for spending time to put this together.

feeblebob · Oct 27, 2010

Absolutely, many thanks for this. I reckon a lot of members on here hold the DIY's in very high regard and they are extremely useful, they must be saving us £1k's in labour costs.

Great idea to sort them out a bit.

lugnuts · May 6, 2009

great thread, this should be a sticky.

palemud · Jan 7, 2011

+1 on the sticky...

When I was first lurking on this board, I must have hit the FAQ in the sticky section a hundred times. (It's not there anymore?) This would be a great read for all newbs like me looking for answers and information.

chowdah · Jan 30, 2007

palemud said:
It's not there anymore?

It's still there. Currently, the last of the 9 stickies.

jceg · Aug 18, 2009

Great thread.
Here are a couple more I didn't see on the list-
Detailing/paint correction - http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e39-m5-e52-z8-discussion/161427-paint-correction-noob.html
Radar detector hardwiring - http://www.m5board.com/vbulletin/e39-m5-e52-z8-discussion/169637-how-hardwiring-radar-detector-escort-9500ix.html

Also, are off site links appropriate for this list? There are some great relevant DIY's that exist on bimmerforums, beisan, etc.

Kinder · Aug 20, 2010

chowdah said:
When to do it?

The following intervals are meant only as very general guidelines, and may not be suitable for your car or your driving style.

Again, I’m seeding this with information I have cataloged for my own purposes, based on observations made about when owners addressed them. That starting point may or may not be correct. Please post replies with errors and additions.

General:
Air filter – every 15k miles
Brake fluid – every 2 years, or less
Coolant – every 3 years, or less

Think about at 50k miles, if not already done:
Belts
Transmission fluid

Think about at 70k miles, if not already done:
Fuel filter
Thrust arm bushings
Power steering fluid
Wheel bearings

Think about at 90k miles, if not already done:
Fan clutch, radiator
Fuel pump

Think about at 100k miles, if not already done:
Rod bearings

Is it possible to have this in miles and km please ? :biggrin:

chowdah · Jan 30, 2007

jceg said:
Also, are off site links appropriate for this list? There are some great relevant DIY's that exist on bimmerforums, beisan, etc.

I say yes. Anything that helps our owners do it themselves and do it right should be here. The more well-written, the better.

Thanks for your submissions. They have been added.

mailman · Jun 7, 2009

chowdah said:
How to do it?

(clipped many DIY's)

And if you could "host" this DIY topic list?
I mean that if somebody send nice DIY url to this topic, you add it to the yours "DIY list" post.

Maybe you should edit those mentioned DIY's to this topics first post? More easy to "find" them then

mailman · Jun 7, 2009

chowdah said:
I say yes. Anything that helps our owners do it themselves and do it right should be here. The more well-written, the better.

Thanks for your submissions. They have been added.

I think linking to other forums is not so nice. I mean that those other forums can change their bulletin softwares, requires login or etc. so then it is not possible to see those topics, or links are dead and etc. If you see what I mean?

But if somebody found some nice DIY from other forum, perhaps it could be really copied to M5b?

timmay77 · Feb 22, 2008

Just be sure not to list my clutch changing threads...... *eeps*

chowdah · Jan 30, 2007

Kinder said:
Is it possible to have this in miles and km please ? :biggrin:

Done.

mailman said:
And if you could "host" this DIY topic list?
I mean that if somebody send nice DIY url to this topic, you add it to the yours "DIY list" post.

I don't completely understand, but if you are asking whether I will try to update/maintain this list, then the answer is yes.

mailman said:
Maybe you should edit those mentioned DIY's to this topics first post? More easy to "find" them then

Eventually there may come a time when I can delete the first post. But to begin, I need to explain the purpose and ask for help.

mailman said:
I think linking to other forums is not so nice. I mean that those other forums can change their bulletin softwares, requires login or etc. so then it is not possible to see those topics, or links are dead and etc. If you see what I mean?

But if somebody found some nice DIY from other forum, perhaps it could be really copied to M5b?

This is a very good point. In fact, for the Oil Change DIY, I had to add back pictures I had saved in 2007, because the author of the post used outside links that became dead.

If someone chooses to copy (rather than link) something here, please be sure to give credit where credit is due.

Frye · Nov 3, 2008

I have been making something like this for the past week. It's a bit more organized than just a list of DIY's which (I thought?) we already have stickied in the FAQ. Most of it is preventative maintenance lists compiled from other people's threads. I would love you guys forever if you helped me finish.

E39 M5 Maintenance

Do It Yourself (DIY) Guidepost

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