My BMW 540i makeover thread

[freerider]

as much as that would be a great idea..... it would cost a friggin fortune

[freerider]

ITS ALIVE!!!!!!!

[springbok]

DETAILS??

[freerider]

DETAILS??

Sorry, Tuesday they fitted a new battery and the car started, but there was no oil pressure.

Wednesday - Sump came off and they found that the oil had turned into mud. oil system was flushed and pickups etc cleaned out, they then started again and there was no coolant circulation.
They found the blockage was in the block itself and flushed the coolant system.

While the sump was off they video scoped the cylinder walls from the bottom and found no scoring, cylinder 2 was slightly blue'd from the heat.

I collected the car yesterday, but it was extremely lumpy on idle and did not accelerate properly at all. I got home and replaced all 8 sparkplugs (what a job!).

Now the motor is running beautifully, but still has a bit of a lumpy idle, I suspect that the Idle control valve is a bit jammed up, so I'll grab some carb cleaner and clean it out.

Otherwise the only thing that is bugging my now is what sounds to be a noisy lifter, although there is thinner than usual oil in the car right now, which may be causing that

I will be running an engine flush again on Monday, and oil and filter will be replaced on Tuesday, this time with thicker oil for the older engine.

[springbok]

Hope your radiator is ok. (what with having to flush out the coolant system etc.)

[freerider]

Hope your radiator is ok. (what with having to flush out the coolant system etc.)

The car has a new radiator, hopefully its a ok Temp is staying perfect and not budging above the half way mark.

[MeTsU]

good to hear there wasn't any scoring on the cylinders...

[freerider]

Seems, I will have to replace the sump gasket as well, seems to be some blow by of oil there.

They didnt want to sort all the little things like this until I had driven the car for a while and we have established that the bearings are not going to collapse etc.

So far 116kms and still going good.

[whattingh]

It is nerving to drive it with the idea that th bearings might be a problem.....

[freerider]

It is nerving to drive it with the idea that th bearings might be a problem.....

Slightly

It makes me hyper aware of every little noise that I hear from the engine, and I dont even drive with the radio on.

Last night I gave her a little juice, wow! if the pull was anything to go by, she is going to pull like an ox when on top form! I only pulled up to about 4.5k RPM and she pulled HARD and FAST!

[whattingh]

I went for a ride in Don's 540 today and she goes. No question ask just kick down a gear and go. There is no replacement for cubics. Give it some time and it is going to be a stunning car again.

Great buy Don

[calypso]

Come swing by my place to test the endurance.

[freerider]

I did a little more work on her today, at the prospect of taking a nice 200km run out to Langebaan and back this morning with whatting, I popped into Conti partner this morning for some wheel balancing. It made a nice difference, and the car was still smooth past 200
Getting the wheels balanced


When I got home I decided to sort the back of the car out a little, started by de-badging the car, I prefer the clean symmetrical look


I also took out the lights so I could clean around that area properly. Then I decided to tackle some panel beating and tried my hand at the dent in the back corner just above the bumper
before

after


I also removed the black rubber thing that used to be around the number plate


The "c" shapes you see is silicone that I cant get off, will pop into builders warehouse tomorrow and see if I can get some silicone remover

[whattingh]

So the silicon won for the moment.

[freerider]

I razored it off as much as possible, with the intention of cleaning the little bit left over off with benzine, well.... the benzine just cleans the silicone

[springbok]

Is it my imagination or is already shining a bit more?

[freerider]

Is it my imagination or is already shining a bit more?

maybe

She just got a wash, no polish yet, just the back of the bootlid got polished by hand today.

[Carn]

Looking good Don, will see tomorrow if I remember what that silicone remover stuff is and if it mentions anything about being used near paint

[freerider]

Thanks Carn.

Well so far I have put 450kms on her, and she seems to be running better and better. Inspection service on Tuesday, hopefully with a full change of all the filters, she will go even better.

[megesh]

looking good dude!! very very nice!

love the work on the dent!!! so we moving into panel beating?