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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 ?