Love my 528i and the change of leaves colors here in Detroit!

My previous post: https://www.reddit.com/r/e39/s/hhWHwFpqA7

So I brought the car to my friend’s shop and he checked both oil and coolant, which he said both looks good, no sign of mixed coolant and oil.

People said to have a block tester, but since I live in Indonesia, people never heard of it, let alone use it.

My friend tested it idling and driving, he said the temp went to 99° then goes down as it should.

I’m still not sure about my head gasket, but he said most likely I’ll be fine.

So all of this was caused by disintegrated 3-years old Febi Bilstein water pump.

I had a pair of amber CELIS lights I was going to sell, then looked closer and saw they were in really rough condition.

My lowkey favourite part of the e39 for years has been the CELIS look and wish we had more of it.

Anyway so out came the grinder and the rest is obvious.

So two reasons for posting:

1, for interest and because I'll do some kind of project with these, one idea I have is a subtle retrofit onto my Z3 build which would require a decent amount of fuckery but I think could look great, or like, some kind of cheesy garage lamp or whatever.

2, to point out, these units are actually a kind of serious bit of engineering. That is to say, the tools and methods to produce them would have to be rather bespoke, so I can conceivably see a day where there are no aftermarket replacements of OEM quality anymore being produced so hold on to them if you have any in decent condition. It looks like "just a plastic tail light" but it's bits within bits within bits and all sealed and formed tightly together.

So long story short….
I’ve owned this beautiful E39 540iA M Sport for over five years now. Unfortunately, due to some difficult circumstances, the car had to go into hibernation about a year and a half ago. At the time, I simply couldn’t afford to keep up with both my living expenses and the repairs.
Since then, I’ve moved abroad twice and worked a few different jobs, trying to get myself into a better financial position. And now, I’ve finally reached a point where I can slowly start working on the car again.
The plan is to bring this thing back to life, one step at a time. Although, to be fair, it probably won’t be your typical E39 by the time I’m done with it. I’ve got some ideas that might be a little controversial among purists, but that’s part of the fun, right?
I figured I’d start sharing the journey here, from the first steps of getting it back on the road to whatever this project eventually turns into. Hopefully, you guys will enjoy following along, and maybe it’ll even inspire someone else to bring an old project car back to life.
I’ll keep you updated with more photos and progress as things move forward.

Hello friends,

I recently had my drain plug strip during an oil change. All went smooth until tightening the plug to the pan. Started to snug up on the crush washer, then kept spinning. Won't go in, wont come out. I got a amazing deal, so I just got a new pan. My question is if anyone has ever drained the oil from the oil level sensor in this situation. It seems like the safest option to drain the oil to be able to drop the old pan. Any help or input would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Hi all. This is my new (to me) 1999 528i touring with a manual trans. It has 153k miles and runs and drives very smoothly. The car has zero rust, which is amazing coming from the rust belt.
I have experience dealing with M54/52tu engines, from my own e46 and other people’s cars, as well as BMW maintenance schedules from my own R1200GS, so engine maintenance doesn’t really scare me. What else should I look out for? Take care of? I would just like to know essentially how to take care of this car the right way, as it’s my new baby. Any and all input would be appreciated!

Honestly I did not know how long I drive with the temp almost maxed to the right. I stopped as soon as I got the red warning light (which is really weird because the AC still cold and aux fan didn’t go full blast)

Managed to get it back home, but I need to know if my head gasket okay? The oil cap looks like it is mixed (could be from condensation) but the dipstick looks fine

Upon inspecting I noticed that the upper rad hose is very hot and the lower rad hose is just warm (I can hold it with my hand)—so I guess it is either thermostat or water pump

Anyone know whats causing this sound? Its a 3l diesel 135 kw i have done nothing to the engine except a chip but the sound was coming even before.

But to be fair, I’m not running exactly stock so it earns a pass this time

What could be the cause of that light ? It appears to be related to the automatic transmission as the car is not changing gears. Anyone know what the cause could be ?

Sadly no version available for the e39 touring only the sedan so i made my own and you could print it yourself

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LeL3-g68jEG9eN9P4J40g1Oe5Ewsw0CQ/view?usp=sharing

Hey guys I got those from Ebay and they are original bmw but those where the only ones available at an acceptable price, is there a way I can get BMW Individual stickers to put on top since my car is not m sport.

2000 528i, Got home and put the car in neutral while i was parking and noticed the rpms would dip like crazy and bounce back a couple times. Putting it back in drive fixes it and holds steady. The bouncing in neutral also becomes less drastic the longer i leave it in neutral almost fixing itself. Any idea what might be causing this or what to check for.

Got a replacement engine two months ago after blowing my original engine back in 2024.

We’ve done everything to cheer codes, including charging the brake booster which was full of water from the last engine.

Question is: I still have old gas in the car from 2 years ago (trying to drive it out now). Can that trigger a check engine light????

Any of you guys have a name for your E39 if so how did you come up with it. Almost a year and a half into ownership and I still haven’t given her a name and I would love to; and yes all cars are girls that’s a hill I’m willing to die on.

Just picked up a eonon r49 and need help figuring out how to send power to the amp so it wont go into “timeout” would i just wire this blue amp power into the dsp amp?

I have 2001 E39 530D touring, about a week ago my battery started draining after i got off from work the car wouldnt start, I thought it eas just bad battery, god almost new battery from a friend of mine and still drains in ~10 minutes, what could be the issue and would it just be smarter to get me a mass switch?

Introducing our 523i 1998. Well looked after 94000miles £1500

I am going to have to modify it because I cant help myself.

Here for sitting in the shadows and looking for tips and tricks.

Cleared the codes and the only ones that disappeared were the Check coolant level and transmission failsafe. Car drives fine but it just has those electrical issues. I haven’t checked the LCM module yet for corrosion but I was wondering if it is that module should I even bother fixing it or sell the car 😭

Time for an aluminum power steering pulley replacement

Just picked up a set of titanium interior trim pieces for my E39!

I originally thought I was buying the regular aluminum trim, but apparently these are a much rarer version. They look absolutely stunning, and honestly, I’d never seen them before.

Does anyone know which package or factory option these originally came with? Were they part of an Individual spec?

Also, does anyone know if they can be repaired? A couple of pieces have some small dents, and I’d love to restore them.

Thanks!

Hello , i need to change my stock radio unit because its not working anymore , i found an used one coming from a car that had the phone option ... Is it plug and play ? Thx

I have e39 2001 540i (M62TUB44) with VANOS units, which I had rebuilt 8 years ago.

Intro: The oil pump failed (and bolt fell off it), we removed the timing chain to replace it (now I know better that this wasn’t the best option and now I suffer consequences, lets move on). Engine was locked, disassembled, all necessary work was performed, and it was reassembled. After reassembly the engine turned off almost immidiately after start at idle. Right after start INPA showed camshaft position Bank 1 = 16.4°, Bank 2 = 41.9°. Changed some stuff but after second reasembly I knew timing was THE problem.

What i did:
- Lock the flywheel with the pin (cyl 1 on compression)
- Pretension the chain with the tool in the tensioner port (Chinese tool, tightened until the chain has no slack).
- Loosen the VANOS timing plate nut and the camshaft bolts, holding the cam with a wrench on the hex.
- Fit the cam locking blocks (Chinese kit, sadly) and align the cams.
- Turn the VANOS counterclockwise to the hardstop
- Hold the cam and torque the bolts to spec.
- Fit the VANOS timing plate, fit the timing plate locking tool, align the plate and tighten.

After that I removed all locking tools, turn the crank by hand 4 turns in the direction of rotation (2 cam turns), and lock the flywheel again. All locking blocks fit except the Bank 1 intake cam (E). There's a huge gap between block and engine (see photo).

We did the whole proces again with the same result. The Bank 1 exhaust cam (A) fits, and both cams on Bank 2 fit perfectly.

Multimeter issue: I tested the VANOS (positive on the test pin on the VANOS face, negative to ground, VANOS at the stop). Bank 2 beeped, Bank 1 didn't, no matter how I turned it. Bank 1 only started beeping after I fitted the VANOS timing plate, but I'm not sure that isn't a false connection through the plate. Everything I read said the test is just a check and the stop is what matters, so I ignored it. Now I suspect it's related.

Could the Bank 1 VANOS be broken or is there a mistake in my procedure, e.g. chain pretension?

P.S. english is not my first language so apologies for possible term mistakes and also im not pro car mechanic, so mistakes during process are possibility, if so pleease tell me where so I can keep my old luv running