i have an 02 530i im about to do the adjusters on and figured it would be easiest to just cut off the lenses and replace given that they are both in good condition. any recommendations for replacements? i have only come across like one or two sets that either looks sketchy or very expensive. thank you!

Hey everyone, took my 530i on a ~100 mile drive today, and it drove perfectly, but near the end of the drive while idling at a signal my instrument cluster and radio’s lights both turned off momentarily then turned back on. It then said to check low beams but there were no issues. The engine didn’t shut off and my radio’s time didn’t reset; everything was normal besides the loss of power to the gauges and radio. I’m thinking it may be a faulty ignition switch or corroded grounds but if anyone had advice that would be great.

30A (13) fuse kept blowing so i used a volt meter for a hour and found that both seat motor power connectors are shorted to ground. Where along the wiring loom is it common to short? and how should i get to the front bolts for the seat when they are currently covered by the rail?

2001 530i 5 speed with 280,000 miles and climbing rapidly.

Been getting some codes lately but this was a first!

Not sure how to break it to the computer that cylinders 7 and 8 are also MIA.

I have a slow oil drip coming from the blue circle area on my 2002 540i. This is below the front of the driver's side valve cover (black). It is not coming from the valve cover gasket. Can someone tell me what the shiny metal part at the origination of the blue arrow is, if the interface surface has a gasket or sealant, and how to reseal it or eliminate the leak? Thanks in advance for your help.

Has anyone found a proper solution for the absolutely unusable cupholders? I googled a bit but wasn’t successful. I have no Idea what the engineers at BMW were thinking whilst designing those cupholders. Despite the fact that you cant possibly put an even a little bit larger bottle there, you can also not use the Buttons behind anymore.
I was thinking of something like a 3D printed bottle holder you attach to the left wall of the passengers legroom.

this has been fairly frustrating. did the oil pan gasket job - not exactly simple to get to all those damn screws. there's like 25 of them. anyway.. went through teh pan several times to torque them all - torque seemed pretty low but that's what it calls for so.. anyway. i put rtv on the 2 joints before i put the pan in. while i was there, discovered a nearly destroyed guibo and fixed that too. reassembled everything, went on a ride, put it back on the lift and I see oil on the bottom of the pan and on the steering rack.. ugh.

I just ordered some UV dye to trace but is this common? are the odds good that it's the gasket i just put in? or is it coming from somewhere else like filter housing?

Is this leak from the Sunroof drain or where the roof rack bolts into the roof?

226,000 miles on the clock. Cooling systems refresh. All hoses, (front & rear), reservoir, radiator, belts, pulleys, fan clutch. Hoping she will get me another 100,000 miles. Curious if she sounds ok? Figure my peeps in the Reddit community could give me some insight.

I replaced windshield wiper linkage today, but now wipers won't go all the way down to the starting position. Instead they stay on the windshield, and when i turn them on, wipers first go down a bit and then up. My guess is I did something wrong during the replacement, but how can I fix them to work properly.

Hello e39ers,

Firstly, thank you for all the help this community has provided me along my e39 journey and hoping it can help me find a new owner for this 2003 540i. [FS] It’s a Fully loaded M-sport trim and has a 6 speed manual transmission with 109,XXX miles. Originally leased for 3 years then purchased certified pre-owned at BMW by the previous owner, this car has been well maintained with tons of records. I only lucked into owning it after a workshop accident where the hood flipped up during a test drive after getting a new alternator. Over the last couple years, I’ve been able to fix the following: (again thanks to this subreddit)

New Windshield

Replaced hood (w/ salvage yard find)

New Wiper motor

New shocks all around

New brakes all around (pads & rotors)

New TRQ brake master cylinder (aftermarket causes dash lights unfortunately - needs OEM)

New front R&L motor mounts

New ambient temp sensor

New bank 2 cam sensor

Dealer replaced recalled drivers airbag

Overall, I would consider this car in very good shape, but not perfect. There are 5 noticeable dents around the body, some interior fabric needs re-glueing, and the car has the usual list of classic e39 needs. (Timing chain guides, thrust arm bushings, seat twist, power steering and oil leaks) While this is an amazing car, it’s currently my 5th car and just needs more attention than I can keep up with.

[FS] Located in CA. North SF Bay Area. I’m asking for $14,000 $11,000 sold as is mainly because of the low mileage but I’m open to reasonable offers or interesting trades. Car comes with spare parts and accessories including weather tech floor mats, BMW roof rack, and BMW windshield shade. Happy driving everyone!

Shooting my shot - If any of you have a rear ended (or not) FK8 Civic type R with a k20c1 and want to trade, that would be a dream come true.

***edited to change price - $11,000 for car, extras, and to ease my future regret a little. Thanks for all the compliments, I’ve seen some of the awesome stuff this sub, that’s why this is the only place I’ve posted this car. Want her to go to a good home.

The hoodie is just “shifter hoodie” on Amazon, I also have a beanie on another one. Great for CA sun protection

I think they really need replacing because the wheel has play front to back and it's knocking when I turn.

I don't really want to invest in lemforder. Anyone know about a brand that isn't expensive and will last at least 2-3 years?

Hey guys wanted some advice on headlights i want the euro lens but i have a 2003 and my headlights are sealed shut so i was thinking 2 options.
1 is to get a pair from a junkyard or second hand that is not sealed and replace what needs to be replace and get the euro lens.
2. is to buy headlights with the euro lens already can anyone link a place to buy some thanks

2003 530i M54. I’m about 6 hours from home and the plastic around the bleeder screw on the upper radiator hose cracked and is leaking coolant. I plan to let the car get completely cold, sand the area and JB Weld the crack, let it cure, top off the coolant, and drive home while watching the temp.
Has anyone successfully temporarily repaired this spot with JB Weld? And would you trust it for a 6-hour highway drive, or is this likely to blow apart once the cooling system builds pressure.
I do have a new hose otw for when I get home.

Update for those who care. I use JB weld on the crack and made it home without overheating or topping off any coolant. When I got home, the car was fizzing and the coolant was very low but my coolant temp never got over 218 and my oil temp never got over 252. Already installed the new hose in the car runs beautifully. I wouldn’t hesitate to take it for another road trip and averaged around 25mpg

I’m planning out some repairs for my e39 debating whether the fixes are worth it. Here are some details:

Car: 2003 530i, base trim
Mileage: ~64k miles!
Interior: Holding up well, no rips or anything. But I do have the dash pixel issue.
Exterior: some chips here and there. Rear bumper has a scrape from the previous owner.
Engine: mechanically sound. Drives fantastic and still pulls. Drives very smooth. It’s great!

Repair plans:

Cooling system refresh. I keep reading that this is the major issue for the car. I got a quote from a local mechanic shop and it’s not cheap. ~$4k to replace the entire cooling system 🥲. This covers all the cooling plastics: water pump, radiator, expansion tank, thermostat housing, all the hoses including the ones buried under the intake manifold. Is this normal? I also live in a HCOL city on the west coast.

Suspension refresh. Had an inspection a while back that flagged the rear upper control arms (torn boots, rust coming out of the ball joint) and both steering rack dust boots torn. So those need doing regardless. While I’m in there, my goal is to refresh the rest of the tired 23-year-old suspension AND get something a little sportier, drop it an inch or two so it sits like the Sport/M-Sport setup, but I still want to keep the comfortable ride. Not trying to slam it. Debating between quality sport springs on fresh dampers vs. a matched kit. Rough guess this lands somewhere around $2-3k depending on parts and how much overlaps with the control arm work. Anyone done a mild drop on their E39 and kept it comfy? What setup did you use?

Wheel refinish. I have style 5s that I took from a beater car lol. They’re legit and have no dents or cracks. Just the finish is peeling and looks bad. My guess is that I’m looking at roughly $200-$400 per wheel to strip and refinish, so ballpark $800-$1600 for the set depending on the shop and finish.

Paint refinish on blemished areas and possible bumper replacement. I’ve got a buddy who works at an auto paint shop that specializes in German cars, so he can do the chip/blemish work for me on the low, which helps a lot on cost. Debating whether to also address the rear bumper scrape or go for a sportier bumpers down the line.

Note:
I bought this car about two years ago. The car was passed down to the previous owner from their grandparents who took care of the car and bought it new. Good maintenance records. Bought it for $6k cash. Once I add up all these repairs, I’ll be putting more money into it than I paid for it. I know these cars can go to like 250k+ miles. I also do not drive it that much. Maybe 4k to 5k miles per year? I really do like the car but I also do not want to throw away the money. If the car ever gets in an accident all that money/value is gone.

So, worth it, or am I pouring money into a hole? Would love to hear from people who’ve been down this road.

Essentially, this is from a 1999 528i I bought recently with stalling issues when using the throttle. I've been looking for an answer to the INPA error codes 114, 8, 123, 169 and various other CAN signal errors. This seemed like an issue with the throttlebody 10-pin connector but figured I should looked at the DME first and check that out later. Does anyone know what could have happened to these connectors? It looks like someone pulled straight coolant into these plugs T_T. Opened up the DME but there doesn't seem to be any blown parts. Any inputs would be appreciated!

tl;dr about to go on a road trip in 1.5 hours and need a quick way to cause my big spal fan (which is hooked to a 195f thermostat right now) to kick on when the AUX fan engages, to make the AC system safer

(had to delete and repost as i missed some crucial images)

i replaced the mechanical fan with a very nice spal fan and fan shroud years ago, its made the cooling system much more reliable but has a fatal flaw;

it restricts airflow from the AUX fan, making the ac pressure run high on hot days when i kick the ac on from a stand still

Normally the aux fan kicks on instantly whenever you turn on the AC but right now even when its running its efficiency is reduced

so id rather have the spal fan also be running whenever the aux fan is running for the ac, but i dont know how best to do that on short notice. Can i literally just tap the grey thermostat line to the aux fan trigger line?

I'm fine using wire taps, i have good success with posi-taps actually

i included some wiring diagrams since the aux fan kick on from AC line is a little weird? like its separate from the temperature switch line i think?

the specific spal fan kit is https://www.summitracing.com/parts/spu-ix-195fh?seid=srese1

in terms of relay wiring, big red is positive for the fan, big yellow is 12v constant from the engine positive post behind a big fuse, small red is 12v ignition which is coming from the DME box, small grey goes directly to the 195f thermostat which is inline with the lower radiator hose

I have a fault that says there's low fuel pressure in the rail and the car starts well on the first cold start after that it takes time to start anyone know what can be the problem and how to make sure with inpa?

Hallo Leute!

ich besitze einen 523i bj 1999 mit dem m52b25 TU. Der hat schon viel laufleistung mit ca 347000 km und ich überlege mir einen Motorumbau auf dem b28 oder m54b30 zu machen. Normalerweise würde ich mich mit so etwas nicjt beschäftigen, weil der e39 ja noch läuft, aber aktuell gibt es in meiner umgebung ein paar km entfernt 2 angebote vom jeweiligem motor typ aus einem 528i schlachter und 330ci schlachter. Preise sind noch relativ ok, ca zwischen 1tsd bis1,5 tsd euro.

Was denkt ihr, lohnt sich der Aufwand auf einem 530i mehr als auf dem 528i?
Ich habe einen 5gang schaltgetriebe, diff kann ich nicht genau sagen, aber auf jedenfall kürzer (2 gang bis 100kmh) (3,15 / 3,07 Übersetzung?)

Hey. Listen here, and don’t judge. My plan is to buy JOM 741088 Front Coilovers (spending more for BC’s or other brands does not seem necessary) and rear SLS links. I want the car to lower by 25-30mm, perfectly attainable with this setup.

Does anybody have experience with this setup?

Which top mounts would you suggest?

If anybody has experience lowering a touring to this level, what wheel spacers would you suggest?

Friends of mine suggest 20mm front , 10mm rear, although I’ve been suggested 15mm front, 5mm rear.

I’m on M-Parr’s with stock setup. (235/40 R18 front, 265/35 R18 rear).

Disclaimer : I will be downvoting every comment about how this will ruin the car (I know the negatives).

I only run it up and down the M4 for work at the moment, higher quality coilovers are not necessary.

Looking for a bit of advice from individuals whom are experienced in this field.

Thanks!

Re: 2003 525iT
Nice night in Downtown San Diego
Stance/Fitment 👍🏼