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New '03 Owner | Roadtrip Story & Pics Inside

62K views 295 replies 59 participants last post by  hluthijr 
#1 ·
First off, I want to say that I've been doing a lot of reading and researching on this forum for the past few months and it's been a great resource. Lots of informed and helpful people on here. :smile

Now for the story...

Last March I flew out to New Jersey to get the last manual Cayman S in Sapphire Blue, then had it shipped back to Los Angeles. After 6 months of it being the daily driver, the itch for another car came back and I started looking to check off another box on the automotive bucket list: an M car. Except this time I really wanted to be able to drive it home. Always loved the E39 body styling, probably since there was a Sterling Gray 540i in the house during high school. So I started looking daily (sometimes multiple times a day) and finally decided on this 2003 Sterling Grey in Seattle.

3 weeks ago I flew up to buy it (pending a PPI) and do a fun road trip. Another friend flew up from San Francisco and helped me drive it down back to his place, then I was solo for the last leg of the trip.

So far it's been...eventful.

Here's the basic route:



I've been to Seattle a few times and Rainier's size never ceases to amaze me.



Rented a zippy Sentra and almost ran someone over with the throttle response in Sport mode.



Checked out the car for a while and went on a pretty long test drive. Overall the car's in good condition and in the past 2 years, the water pump, thermostat, clutch, front pads, 3 coil packs, and 2 MAF sensors have apparently been replaced. It's got the extended leather package and the seats are in good condition but dirty & dry with some cracking (I've already cleaned and conditioned them with Lexol). The finish on the wheels is peeling off so that'll need attention.







It's got the Dinan CAI plus MAF housings, throttle bodies, tune, strut tower brace, and the rear diff.



I'll be removing the E36 M3 wing but unfortunately 4 holes have been drilled for it. I may look for another E39 trunk lid instead of having a shop fill in the holes, but we'll see. A paint-matched OEM lip will be going on.



Headed back to the hotel, ate oysters & calamari for dinner and caught a show at Neumos.



Since the PO was only available for a PPI on the weekend, I made an appointment with BMW Seattle which worked out since the airbag recall still needed to be performed. It took me 3 weeks to coordinate getting an airbag in stock, ultimately needing to get the general manager involved, but it's all good. Plus the center of the steering wheel is brand new now. Dropped off the car at 8 am, picked up my camera and spent some time in the city.





PPI revealed several items, biggest one being leaky valve cover gaskets (no surprise), worn serpentine belts (something I noticed the day before), and the door mirrors being broken (I was aware of this). Nothing screamed "run away!" but I also didn't wanna drive over 1,000 miles back home with one of the belts possibly ripping apart, so decided to play it safe and get new ones installed after the PO offered to put them on. The Seattle dealership didn't have any in stock, but Bellevue had 1 of each left. The time was 4:30, they closed at 6. A race against time!

Ended up buying the belts, then back to the his place where they were replaced, mainly due to my excellent lighting work (I'm actually on the other side providing additional lighting as we listened to 90s hip-hop).



The tensioners were pretty stiff and the PO was pulling hard while his friend was trying to put them on when all of a sudden his dad walks into the garage holding a Costco-sized box of ice cream bars. "Hey you boys want some of these?" Ummm...kinda busy here but thanks! :laugh

Handed over the check, completed the paperwork, returned the zippy Sentra, then back to the hotel. These eyes...quite angelic.



On Sunday we headed straight down to Portland where I called AAA from the passenger seat, answered a bunch of questions, then saw my annual insurance premium decrease by $80. Multi-car policies are great.

Downtown Portland is interesting. Saw some dude walking around with a 6-ft tree branch in one hand, a bunch of leaves in another, wrapped in a Camry-beige toga, with a ****-eating grin on his face. I can only assume he was living life to its fullest.

I was there back in October and visited a previous photo location.



On Monday we stopped by Corvalis and Eugene to check out the campuses and took more photos.









On Oregon's campus I was approached by some wildlife activists and invited to play the salmon game (you get 3 foam cubes and try to throw them through the hole). I got close but didn't make any, yet they still gave me salmon-shaped candy, which was nice.



Then we headed towards the coast and checked out some Dunes. On the way there we passed by a lot of moss. So much moss. Mas moss than I've seen before.



Walking through this was quite the workout.







Spent the night in Coos Bay and ate a German restaurant where the waitress would pour you water, then say "thank you" which was somewhat confusing. And...get this...if you paid in cash, you'd get a slice of carrot cake! I wonder if the cost of that slice is really less than the 3% credit card fee. Asking the important questions.

Now it's Tuesday and we're heading down the coast again. Decided to practice my action shots in a empty section of the road.



Then made a stop at the Coquille River Lighthouse.









The roads were pretty slippery at some points and we passed this upside down Beetle (emergency crews were there soon after).



Came across this interesting sign. What, pray tell, can be so awesome that requires such a sign?



Oh...



Next stop was seeing the Redwoods but unfortunately the main road was closed due to a fallen tree. Still a scenic route getting there while obeying posted speed limits at all times. :wink







Got to see Elk; they were chill. I named this one Charlie.







Kinda feel bad for the snake as I think he was about to eat that snail, but slid away after I took the shot.



Wednesday was the last fun day of the trip as we drove through Avenue of the Giants again. I absolutely love this road. 2 years ago I drove through it with the C63 which had superior handling and steering, but despite a sloppy, long-throw shifter (for now), just having the option to row my own gears more than made up for it. Looking forward to doing it with the Cayman at some point.



Made it back to SF without any issues and did some more photography. Well, almost without any issues...











So anyway, remember how the mirrors were broken? Yeah...well they were glued back on in Seattle, but the swivel plate on the passenger side finally gave way in SF. :(



Didn't want it dangling on the way home. Initiate mirror removal.



Seems legit.



Once I got back home, I bought an aftermarket replacement housing and decided to swap the internals so I wouldn't have to paint it. But as I'm sure some of you know, the connector doesn't go through the hole!



Ended up having to the cut and re-splice the wires.



The center dash vents were broken so I got new ones too. 2 of the screws holding the radio were stripped, so that required drilling them out.



So far I've also replaced the oil (where I discovered stripped threads in the oil pan), transmission fluid, and the rear diff oil which required the cutoff 14mm allen wrench trick to remove the plugs (so many great DIY threads on here).





This weekend I plan on doing a brake fluid flush, installing new pads (Porterfields), tightening the parking brake, and installing the E60 short shifter, ZHP knob, and replacing all shifter bushings. I'm also leaning towards doing a full cooling system replacement at some point but I need to spend more time on understanding the current state of things. The valve cover gasket replacement will also include replacing the coils, plugs, and from what I've read, as many vacuum lines as I can find!

Thanks for reading.

 
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53
#39 ·
Thanks for the link. Looks like one of the local junkyards has a gray trunk lid from a '98 528i. It's showing the price as $325 which is way more than I'd expect, so I'll have to call them to see what's up. Another place listed trunk lids for $20-$40.
 
#47 · (Edited)
Some more updates:

2 weekends ago I flushed the brake fluid and replaced all the pads to Porterfields and bed them in. Definitely an improvement in pedal feel and stopping power. I didn't realize the calipers were single piston but I don't have any plans on going big. It's just a really big difference when I swap cars but that's not a fair comparison.



~~~~~

I had the MK III nav computer but wanted to upgrade to the MK IV. Last Tuesday it was my co-worker's birthday and since it was his birthday, I asked him for a favor after we finished masticating on taco Tuesdays at Cafe Rio: mind stopping by this place that has used BMW parts on your way home? It was pretty close to his house which is 30 miles away and he obliged. There just happened to be a standalone bank kiosk nearby so I withdrew 15 Jacksons to cover the $260 + tax cost.

When he walked in, he explained what he was looking for when the owner said, "oh yeah, we've been talking online about this...did I tell you $200?"

"Well...it's for my friend but uhhh...yeah, I think he said $200." :)

10 Jacksons were exchanged for a MK IV unit from a 2002 330i. The merchandise was delivered at the rendezvous point, along with a $100 back in my pocket. I later used some of that cold hard cash to buy him lunch at Pizza Rev the next day. Crispy thin crusts are fantastic.

Plugged in the computing machine and updated the software to the modified V32 version giving me that sweep ///M splash screen.





After rebooting, the location was off and I found out there was a receiver error. Rats. Upon further investigation, turns out the GPS antenna cable was damaged. I noticed electrical tape was wrapped around it and seeing how it's a coax cable, that's never a good sign, as seen below.



Didn't feel like paying $50 for an OEM cable so I scoured the interwebz and found another local vendor who custom makes such cables with SMB connectors. For $12, I had a new cable in 24 hours that fixed my problem. Supporting the local economy; it's what I do.

Getting to it wasn't too bad until it came time to pull up the actual deck lid. I cracked 2 of the plastic covers for the child seat harness.







Great success! As another member pointed out, I have to get to the adjustment screws on the circuit board to re-center the image on the monitor.



~~~~~

I don't have any pics but the previous tint job wasn't that great. It was starting to bubble on the back window, there was a footlong scratch on the right rear window, and well, I just didn't like it. So I took it to the guy whose uncle was apparently on the design team for the E39.

Went with 20% 3M Color Stable all around and 70% 3M Crystalline on the front. Massive improvements. The previous tint was 30% which I actually think is dark enough, but Color Stable doesn't come in that shade.

It'll show itself much better when I take the 2nd round of DSLR pics.



~~~~~

I realize this doesn't make it period-correct but I really like bright interiors so did a complete swap to 6000K LEDs. I didn't do the license plate lights yet since I'll be swapping out the trunk lid, and I'll install the new fog light LEDs after I get the bumper cover painted.









Also got my floormats today. No more sliding!

 
#50 ·
I also just picked up new oem floor mats, makes a world of a difference in the looks department.
 
#57 · (Edited)
Made some more progress with the car. I replaced the shifter with the E60 one for a dramatically improved feel. I actually bought the complete bushing replacement kit a while ago but didn't realize at the time I'd have to drop the exhaust & driveshaft to get access to all of them. I'll keep 'em for now and will install if that time ever comes. The improvement is already pretty great.

Has anyone done the other transmission fork bushings after doing just the shifter replacement?

Went with good ol' Redline Goods shifter and e-brake boot replacements in the proper M-stitching pattern. Quality Polish work.





Letting the contact cement cure as I had to stretch the leather for one corner.



I tried really hard to get the stock knob off but just couldn't do it. I didn't feel like recreating an Excaliber mini-series so I just took the easy way out; wasn't planning on keeping it anyway.



Much nicer.



I finally made my way to the local pick-your-part in pursuit of a trunk lid. I was prepared for a long day of walking in the blistering sun, needing to hit up multiple places to find what I was looking for. I walk in, look to my right, see an aisle of what appeared to be German cars, and wouldn't you know it, the 4th car I see happens to yield this magnificent piece of steel. I didn't even need a cart to haul it back to the front. $52.



I removed the M3 wing before taking it to the body shop (I'll try to sell it on eBay). In addition to the 4 holes, they glued this foam gasket material to really jack up the paint and make things permanent, leaving little hope of ever re-using it.



Oh...the left side used 2 hex bolts...



...while they went with 2 Phillips screws on the right. Probably to optimize weight distribution while cornering.



Wires for the brake lights. I actually never checked to see if they worked.



Also removed the trim to save time at the body shop (read: to prevent them from breaking the clips).



Dropped off the car yesterday along with the OEM lip to be paint-matched. Should have it back in a week.

My plan was to get the front bumper cover painted too, but it's cracked underneath and they won't paint it. Playing phone tag with them now but my thoughts are to get it repaired instead of buying a new one.
 
#59 ·
Thanks. It's fun when you're not in a rush but I did make a pseudo-deadline of Memorial Day for myself with all the major tasks. There's no true "end" with these cars.

Are you doing anything fancy with your M5 or just fixing odds & ends?
 
#61 ·
Does the E60 knob feel much different?
 
#63 ·
Looks like an M5 now.

Lots of progress over the past month.

The passenger side pork chop was broken and didn't feel like springing for the OEM ones so I got them from eBay for $88. 2 weeks later, this sturdy package arrived from Serbia.



Despite the shoddy packaging, no damage to these flexible parts.





Dropped off the car to get the trunk lid and front bumper cover painted. The plan was to respray the existing bumper cover but the shop wouldn't sand the paint off given the crack, fearing it would just propagate.



I also realized this wasn't an OEM part despite what the PO mentioned, and since the shop offered to buy me an OEM one at cost, figured I'd do the right thing. While it was off, I took a closer look at the Dinan CAI setup with the the heat shield and water baffles.



Not sure what I was expecting and I guess it doesn't need to be fancy, but the whole riveted steel metal looked wonky, especially for $1,132. I actually thought about selling the CAI and going back to a stock airbox setup for a cleaner look, plus anytime I need to remove one of the carbon fiber tubes, the bumper cover needs to come off.

Ultimately decided to keep it but without the sheet metal, especially since the IATS relocation has already been done with wires tapped into the DME.

Added the brake ducts.





The rubber on the air filters was crumbling so installed new filters.



Installed a new timing chain tensioner. The old one felt alright but well worth the peace of mind. I heard a few seconds of chain slap when I first turned it on but I was expected this based on what I've read on here.



New wipers.



New gas cap since the rubber cord was falling apart, and a new M3 oil filler cap. I also need to get better at wiping down the flats near the filler neck when topping off the oil.



The windshield trim had cracks in it so took care of that.







Treated all door seals with silicone.



Since this sticker did me a solid and peeled off easily...



...and since I had an extra roundel after replacing the one from the trunk lid, I used a piece of foam that I'm pretty sure came with a helmet I bought in high school...



I thought about drilling 2 holes but didn't wanna permanently mess up the tool kit so...yeah?



We got new fender liners!



We got new underbody plastic covers!



Also replaced some of the screws and circlips for an additional 2 hp.



While down there, cleaned the fuel lines for an extra 3 ft-lb.



Replaced the rear diffuser with an aftermarket finned model. It was a pain to install since all the tabs that clip into the bumper needed to be shaved down and it's slightly lower on the passenger side, but overall I think it looks good (I painted it matte black too).



Here's how the front bumper cover looked:



Much nicer now. The headlights were also polished but now the rock chips on the hood really stand out. Need my checking account to rebound a bit but I plan on painting the hood later this summer. I have new black kidney grills and a new roundel, but don't feel like installing them till the hood has been painted. Is that weird? Also leaning towards Euro-spec headlights.

**Hood was unlatched prior to taking the pic**



Added LED fog lights.



Painted trunk lid. It's slightly darker than the rest but overall the paint match is pretty good.



But it wasn't really until I put the lip on that it looked like a genuine M5. Ordered the OEM tape for it and clayed the surface prior to putting it on.









Thinking about keeping it debadged for now too.

 
#66 ·
Took care of a few more PM items thanks to info on this forum.

When I was under the car a couple weeks ago, I noticed there was a power steering fluid leak at the connection to the pump. All the PS hoses have worm gear hose clamps on which means they've been changed at least once.



Since the hoses looked good, I decided to just cut off a little bit of the hose to get fresh rubber under the clamp, but went ahead and changed it to the more uniform spring-type clamp.



Also decided to replace the reservoir (no idea if it's ever been replaced). My original cap had "ATF Only" on it but this new one I got from Pelican shows CHF-11S. Are they just getting rid of old stock? In any case, I stuck with ATF and since I was doing a flush, I went with basic Pennzoil ATF Dexron III. Have people noticed a difference between standard vs. synthetic ATF?



With the fluid looking like coffee, decided to do a flush.



Got some brass barbs and vinyl tubing to extend the lines.





Fresh vs. old.



Good times. Then it was onto the fuel pump & filter.

I was down to essentially just my reserve level of fuel so I didn't have to bother with siphoning any out.





I reused the floater as it didn't really need replacing.



New one assembled. I like how the black tubing was already marked with white lines to indicate where to use the provided zip ties.



Getting it back in was the tricky part and having an extra set of hands helped. After reassembly I added a couple gallons just to verify the float was working, then filled it all the way up and did some "slaloms" to test for leaks through the cap. All good. :)

Pretty sure the filter had never been replaced by the looks of it, but don't know for sure.



After releasing the pressure in the system, I disconnected the back end with the help of an open ended wrench and let it drain out.



Detaching it from the regulator was the hardest part. Needed a 15/16" open ended on the square regulator and a 3/4" on the filter nut to get it loose.



Installed a new copper crush washer and hooked it all back up.



Getting the aft bolt to engage in the threads was a pain since one of the hoses was in the way, plus you had to squeeze the bracket to get all 3 holes to line up.



I know what you're thinking: "this guy was clever and used zip ties to get everything out of the way and squeeze the bracket to really make things easy on himself. He probably did this right away and didn't struggle with this step at all."

You are sorely mistaken. :grin
 
#67 · (Edited)
New '03 Owner | Roadtrip Story & Pics Inside

Perfect timing on the fuel filter as I will be doing mine in a few weeks. You can count on this guy being very clever from the get-go.

Oh, and I am even more clever since I added the new crush washer that I hadn't bothered ordering - being placed in my order that hadn't yet shipped.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#68 ·
Perfect timing on the fuel filter as I will be doing mine in a few weeks. You can count on this guy being very clever from the get-go.

Oh, and I am even more clever since I added the new crush washer that I hadn't bothered ordering - being placed in my order that hadn't yet shipped.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Sweet.

I'm almost at 108k miles and wanted to not worry about it. I also forgot to buy the washer but my friend had a little drawer full of them and found one with the right size.
 
#70 ·
Radiator, pulleys, tensioners galore

There's no written record but apparently the water pump and thermostat were changed at 80k miles so I decided to leave them and attacked the rest of the cooling system as more preventative maintenance.

I replaced the following:
  • Radiator
  • Fan
  • Fan Clutch
  • Water Pump Pulley
  • All 3 Radiator Hoses
  • Expansion Tank & Cap
  • Coolant Temp Sensor (I actually had a leak from the O-ring on the sensor)
  • Coolant Level Sensor
  • A/C Belt Drive Tensioner and Idler Pulley
  • Alternator/PS/Water Pump Belt Drive Tensioner and Pulley Assembly

Some of the new parts.



Radiator, shroud, fan, and all belts removed.



Interesting to think this radiator has collected bugs from Florida, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and California.





I didn't have access to a garden hose but blew out as much debris as I could.



Getting the water pump pulley off took some persuasion.





Installation complete.





Shiny.



Definitely the most satisfying part to replace.



I had read that draining the block was somewhat of a pain, especially the plug on the driver's side. I got over 2 gallons to come out of the radiator, expansion tank, and hoses but decided to see if I can drain the block too. Knowing the angle was going to be awkward (because it always is), I got myself a flexible ratchet which made it manageable.



The crush washer was stuck to the block but easily popped off (top hole). Anyone know the purpose for the other tapped hole?



Then it was onto the passenger side which was also fun. I should've gotten one of those funnels with an attached hose to prevent being showered by coolant. This is my best Jacques Cousteau impersonation.



50/50 mix.



I got the aux water pump working by following the recommended procedure (max heat, fan on lowest setting) and added coolant till it was slightly above the full mark. Then brought the car up to temp and this was the level at the end of the day.



Waited a few hours then topped it off and took it out for a test drive where I was able to get more air to come out, resulting in this level.



I've since topped it off and everything looks good. :)



I even got the proper Oetiker clamps for that sweet OEM look.

 
#73 ·
Few things are more satisfying than silencing annoying clunking noises. Also, incompressibility is a wonderful thing.

Ordered the OEM Lemforder arms for both sides.



Took off the belly pan and started working on the sway bar brackets when I discovered one of the nuts was loose on both sides.



This nut that I removed was also pretty loose. Hans must've been drinking at the factory that day.



Accessing and tightening the other one wasn't going to happen without lowering the hub assembly due to clearance issues.



Just needed to loosen this bracket, apply a little WD-40, and it wasn't too bad.



Marked it to ensure we got it back to the same height.



Nut removed but the knuckle was too big for the ball joint separator to fit, so we did things the ol' fashioned way...



Get outta here.



Harbor freight to the rescue. Quite the pop when it came out.





Kinda surprised when we compared the rear control arms and I questioned whether I got the right part, but the numbers matched. Then I remembered the part looked like what everyone else has recently been getting. I guess I was more surprised at the bushing that was already in there.

When did they change the design?





We struggled getting it back into the slot seen below and decided to measure it. It was surprisingly around 0.050" wider. Seems odd...is it due to the new bump stops?



One option was just to hammer it in there, but that didn't seem right. Cue incompressible fluids and this fancy hydraulic pump. We pushed against the side that could pivot along its weld just a bit to get the new bushing in there with a little bit of effort. Tightening the nut would bring it all back together, not that it moved all that much.



And they're in!



Steering feel has definitely improved and no more annoying clunking and popping noises. However I did hear one right before I got home and I'm pretty sure it came from the rear suspension. I know the front sway bar end links can be another cause but those looked good.
 
#74 ·
If you hear any more clunking and popping from the front end it might also be the strut mounts. The ones in my 540it were bad and made lots of noises when steering at parking lot speeds. It drove me crazy because I had all new control arms, new sway bar bushings, and new sway bar end links.
 
#75 ·
Good to know, thanks.

I looked into the costs of replacing the control arms in the rear suspension and surprised they were $300 each. Might those off for a while, but I'm sure the handling would improve if I replaced those too.
 
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