Project Big Six-y: 1991 BMW 535i/5

[Jake]

Okay, another small update. I was sick and tired of the front grills looking good, and the trim surrounding them looking absolutely terrible. Twenty years of rock chips had it like this:



So I ran to Home Depot, bought some Rustoleum (I feel like we've heard this story before...) black automotive enamel and got to work. I had some self-etching primer left over from my Kosei wheel paintjob.



Gave it three-ish coats of paint and here is the result:



It's not quite as glossy as the rest of the car, but A) you don't notice it and B) wet sanding would probably make it glossier.

[V1GiLaNtE]

So I ran to Home Depot, bought some Rustoleum (I feel like we've heard this story before...)

New Show on Speed..

Jakes BMW Project Shop

Sponsored by Rustoleum..... Seriously though you should submit all your bmw paint projects to Rustoleum and be like "Yoz can I haz some free paintz"?

[Jake]

My shifter bushings were all out of sorts, which meant that finding second gear (and sometimes fourth) was met, in true Top Gear fashion, by a series of challenges.

The way to fix this is to replace all of the plastic bushings that go bad between your right hand and the Getrag box under the car. While everything is removed, it's common for people to install some sort of short-shift kit for better shifting action.

I elected to buy a different OEM BMW shifter as my "short shift" as it was far cheaper and provided a similar effect. Any BMW shifter will fit any other BMW, apparently -- although you can run into clearance issues with the bottom of the shifter hitting the driveshaft or other things. The best fit for my car is the E60 (2004-2007ish) 545i Sport shifter. The non-Sport package is a different part.

There's a little clip that holds the shifter support to the transmission. It's a pain in the ass to remove, as it's on top of everything and you're doing most of this job entirely by feel, since you're likely too lazy to remove the exhaust, heat shield and driveshaft. Anyway, I got lucky with where I randomly stabbed a small flathead screwdriver, and got the clip off on the 18th try, after like ten minutes of messing around. I also got lucky and put a nice hole in the side of my thumb, approximately the size of said flathead screwdriver. Be careful, kiddos.

Once things are out, it's easy to remove bushings and replace (relatively).

I'll have to get a pic of the new shifter. I'm using the same ZHP knob but holy hell, the throws are short. I've gone from rowing a boat to, well, not. It's almost as short as the Miata's shift throws. Still getting used to it.


Oh...and in doing this repair/upgrade, I discovered that my transmission mounts are shot and leaking everywhere, and my guibo/flex disc is well on its' way to being destroyed. Greatttt.

And the dashboard keeps yapping at me for "COOLANT LOW OWNER'S MANUAL" which I suppose I should investigate. Temps are fine though, even in stuck-in-66-traffic-where-it-takes-an-hour-to-go-a-mile last night. Stupid sensors everywhere.

[D_Eclipse9916]

And the dashboard keeps yapping at me for "COOLANT LOW OWNER'S MANUAL" which I suppose I should investigate. Temps are fine though, even in stuck-in-66-traffic-where-it-takes-an-hour-to-go-a-mile last night. Stupid sensors everywhere.

Typically the coolant sensor going bad (if its not low on coolant).

[Jake]

Yeah I know. I'm just lazy enough that I haven't bothered to you know, check the coolant level yet.

[xvxax]

Honestly, if the level is ok, and you figure it out, let me know. I've replaced my sensor twice and I still get the warning. I haven't explored it further, I just check my coolant level from time to time and ignore it otherwise but it's kind of annoying.

[SlimKlim]

Honestly, if the level is ok, and you figure it out, let me know. I've replaced my sensor twice and I still get the warning. I haven't explored it further, I just check my coolant level from time to time and ignore it otherwise but it's kind of annoying.

Same, replaced the sensor, car didn't give a shit. Still tells me every time I turn it off. Whatever.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Honestly, if the level is ok, and you figure it out, let me know. I've replaced my sensor twice and I still get the warning. I haven't explored it further, I just check my coolant level from time to time and ignore it otherwise but it's kind of annoying.

Same, replaced the sensor, car didn't give a shit. Still tells me every time I turn it off. Whatever.

How much coolant do you have in there? It basees its flotation (and accuracy) based on the coolant and water, pure water has different properties that dont allow the bulb to float as well. Thats why ive given up on mine :lol: Going euro reservoir anyway.

[SlimKlim]

Honestly, if the level is ok, and you figure it out, let me know. I've replaced my sensor twice and I still get the warning. I haven't explored it further, I just check my coolant level from time to time and ignore it otherwise but it's kind of annoying.

Same, replaced the sensor, car didn't give a shit. Still tells me every time I turn it off. Whatever.

How much coolant do you have in there? It basees its flotation (and accuracy) based on the coolant and water, pure water has different properties that dont allow the bulb to float as well. Thats why ive given up on mine :lol: Going euro reservoir anyway.

I dunno, enough to be above the sensor. Last time i checked it was at the cold line, but its been a while. I don't use the fancy ass bmw non-phosphate coolant. I have good old 'murican prestone mixed up about 50/50. Maybe thats why.

[xvxax]

I use 50/50 coolant mix with BMW brand coolant and I still get the warnings, usually when I shut the car off. I run water from time to time, but I haven't been to the track this year and I run coolant in the winter. Still get the warnings. I don't wanna mess with Jake's thread but I've heard a good run through goes as such:

1. check coolant level
2. jump the plug for the sensor
3. ground the sensor itself and see whether it trips the low coolant light
4. follow the wire back to the harness

[Jake]

Well, it says it's low on coolant because it's low on coolant. I think it's leaking some, I don't really care, and the car stays cool when I drive and idle. I'll deal with it later.

I'm waiting on the guibo and transmission mounts -- they should be here on Wednesday, but then I'll be busy the rest of the week (and at VIR all weekend) so the car won't be on the road again until next week. Oh well.

I did replace the ashtray in the dash. If you pulled it out, you'd pull it clear out of the dash and it was a pain to put back in. This one actually opens and closes - which is nice not because I smoke, but because there's a power socket/cig lighter in there. Anyway, what took me five minutes to pull from a parts car (which had the dash partially apart) took two hours. That's because you have to make things look like this:



Anyway, it's done now.

We also had some guy show up to last week's BMW meet with an E34 M5. It had almost the mileage of my car and was r-o-u-g-h. The cool part was that it was an "individual" car, so the paint and interior was specially ordered. The paint code just said "Sonderlack" which means "special paint" in German.





Those are not whitewall tires... that strip is actually part of the "turbine" wheels. So awesomely 80s/90s.

[ScottyB]

i always thought those were the nastiest wheels of all time. all time. functional or not.

the special paint thing is pretty sweet. the more you know...

[Jake]

<flame_suit>
I took Big Sixy to a shop for some work. Before you all pile the hate on me, I've already pulled a BMW driveshaft and rusty exhaust while laying on my back and the car on relatively short jackstands. I have less free time and more money than I did in college (and zero desire to do this type of work myself again), so I decided to find a good German shop and bring them my parts and the car.
</flame_suit>

She's at German Auto Group in Springfield. They let me bring the parts and are charging a very fair labor rate for what they are doing. I was getting this nasty vibration in the driveline after ~10-15 minutes of driving. It got worse or better with speed and also sounded like a rubber band was slapping the underside of the car.

GAG is replacing the center driveshaft support bearing, the guibo/flex disc (connects the trans to the driveshaft), two transmission mounts and two seals. The seals are where the selector rod hooks up to the trans, and the trans' rear output shaft. If you recall my E30 ownership experience, I did the center bearing. The E30's guibo was in good shape. Big Sixy's was not. The rubber has some sort of hair/thread looking stuff inside, and mine was sticking out from the sides... obviously toast.

As a perk for signing my life away to this shop, they gave me a free loaner car, which is boring, slow and has a sucky radio and awful transmission:



I swear this transmission has the attention span and mental capacity of a toddler. There are "C" and "S" modes (it defaults to S) which I assume mean "Comfort" and "Sport" -- they really should mean "Comatose" and "Sluggish" because C makes it almost undriveable. S still has mushy shifts and a general lack of idea as to which gear is the right one.

The radio is pretty bad when you crank it. I've already messed with the EQ and it hasn't helped much.

It's a C230, so whatever motor in there is making about 190-200 hp, so says Wikipedia. Sure doesn't feel like it.

I guess if I were an old man who wanted a Camry with a douchey badge protruding from the hood (and always in your periphery) and more fake black perforated leather (MB-Tex vinyl ftw, it's actually really comfy), I'd buy a C230.

But I miss the E34... I get it back on Friday AM.

[Jake]

Changed the oil last night. It was wayyy due for it and I replaced whatever crap I had in there before with Rotella 15W-40. Yes, it's diesel oil and yes, it's okay to have in there. It makes all the ticking stop or get a lot quieter. Some people run 20W-50 (!!) in their M30 motors in the summertime.

Anyway, the exciting part of all this is that I elected to not replace the crush washer on the drain plug. Want to guess what's happening right now?

[Jake]

Ran my options list for shiggles.

Build Date:
September 24, 1990 (it's almost a year younger than me to the frickin day)

Options
* LIMITED SLIP DIFFERENTIAL (25%)
* LEATHER STEERING WHEEL
* SEAT ADJUSTMENT, ELECTRIC
* CENTER ARMREST FRT DRIVER/PASS
* SEAT HEATING F DRIVER/FRONT PASSENGER
* PARK VENTILATION
* CAR TELEPHONE PREPARATION
* PREPARATION FOR CD CHANGER
* MAIN BATTERY SWITCH
* SHIPPING PROTECTION PACKAGE

Basically, it's got the Winter package and is *not* the "Value Package" -- VP models had no wood trim, vinyl/manual/non-heated seats, vinyl steering wheel and no pre-wiring for things.

[JustinG]

what the hell is "Park Ventilation"

[Jake]

what the hell is "Park Ventilation"

You use the ghetto-fab-awesomely-90s On Board Computer:



And hit the "Timer" button to enter a time about 10-15 minutes before you will be returning to your car. At that time, the car will turn on the fans (no heat/AC, just moving air) to get fresh air into the vehicle before you get back. It helps cool it off on a summer day, and the OBC will run the fans for (I believe) up to 30 minutes after the time you set. It gets canceled when you start the car.

Also, more fun things the OBC will do:

ARR lets you put in how many miles your trip is, and it will calculate your arrival time based on miles traveled and speed.
DIST uses the same input and tells you how many miles are remaining to your destination.
LIMIT lets you set a speed that you don't want to exceed, and the dashboard chimes and reads "LIMIT xx MPH" when you go over the set speed.
CODE allows you to input a four-digit code (using the 1, 10, 100, 1000 buttons) that must be entered before the car will start. The car cuts power to the fuel pump and - I think - starter motor in this mode.

[JustinG]

shit looks more complicated then iDrive, which will make you rhead explode.

[Jake]

It's actually not that bad once you learn the cryptic ways of the OBC. The dashboard (under the gauges) reads things out to you in greater detail.

[Sully]

Mine does the ARR under the distance button and mode and it is damn accurate. I was like how does it know these things. I think its cool becasue my 99 has more crazy technology based systems than some newer cars have.