BMW E39 540 Touring

great to see it getting some love. my v8 e38 had 287k on it and still ran fine, so there's years of life left in this if you keep the rust at bay. Looks like my front jacking points have also turned to weetabix, so more fun with the grinder ahead

Is it really 6 months since my last update where I wrote there are more jobs to do? My levels of prevarication are getting worse. The truth is I had a number of areas I wanted to address, but I kept putting them off. What was getting annoying was the obvious leak in the rear suspension.



Whilst I admire people who run very low cars, it isn't my thing. The leaking suspension wasn't really an immediate problem, as it inflated immediately when I started the car up. What was becoming more of a concern was the flickering of the alternator light. It would come on at random times, infrequently at first, but then more regularly. When I last changed the alternator drive belt, I found the tensioner was worn, so I started by changing that. The occasional belt squeal disappeared, but I was getting a charging light more regularly. I was due in German a couple of days after changing that, so drove from the midlands to Stansted Airport, and promised I would carry out further investigation when I got home. On my return journey from Stansted, the alternator decided to stop charging. As it was late at night and I had no tools, I booked myself into a hotel, abandoned the car there, and got the train home the next day, with a friend recovering the car a day later.



So the sensible thing would be to buy and alternator, throw it back into the car and get going? As I said six months ago, there are other jobs to do. So, the car now looks like this



Some people call it mission creep. I look at it as if one of my cars needs work, try and do an much as I can in one hit.

The to do list was getting pretty long. Rear wheel bearings are rumbling. I changed some of the front suspension joints a couple of years ago and recall the dampers were limp. Last year's MOT highlighted some play in the rear suspension. The CCV on the rear of the engine is leaking. So I wrote a list and ordered lots of parts.







Rather than replace the alternator, I have ordered a new regulator and bearings. A replacement alternator is the thick end of £500 (this engine has a water cooled version). The know weak point on these alternators is a plastic sleeve the base of the alternator. Mine had definitely seen better days



Thankfully I managed to source a replacement. The parts total for the alternator is £55. Hopefully this will be successful.

I will also be replacing the following

front and rear dampers (Bilstein B4)
Front springs (Eibach)
Rear airbags (Genuine BMW) a tad more expensive but they were kind enough to give me a trade discount
rear arms and ball joints
rear wheel bearings and hub carriers
CCV valve
I will also do a full service, gearbox oil change, fresh antifreeze and anything else that needs addressing

To date, I have sorted the front damper and spring replacement



I have also stripped the rear suspension. separating the driveshaft from the wheel bearings needs a very good puller



This bearing is the better of the two, but has definitely earned its retirement



The rear suspension components didn't look too terrible in position, but are clearly knackered when inspected more closely



Hopefully another weekend will see this back on the road, unless I find other items to replace

The best kind of scope creep! Will be in great shape once that lot's finished. What's with the silver front bumper BTW?

I came back to the car one evening, and someone had hit the car, cracking the original bumper.  It is sat in the corner waiting patiently to be repaired.  Another job to add to the list.

So, another weekend passed and progress has been made. Whilst it wasn't actually necessary to remove the driveshaft from the car, as I was this far in, I figured I might as well so that I could inspect the driveshaft boots. This was a relatively easy job, until one of the bolt heads sheared off.



To protect the shaft I masked it off, then got busy with a cutting disk and die grinder, which got me to this



A stud extractor finished the task



Reassembly is ongoing



I find it amazing how many tools are required. This photo was taken after a tidy up......





For a change of scene, by which I mean I was fed up of lying on the floor, I tackled the CCV valve

The inside wasn't as bad as I expected. It is a simple, albeit fiddly job, but went back together fairly easily. I used a new gasket too, hopefully making this repair last a long time





Final job of the weekend was to address the surface rust I found when removing the cover from the shock absorber cover.



They cleaned up nicely



rust converter, etch primer and metal paint to follow.

Of course, at this point the obvious thing was to open the workshop door and go for a spin. I was keen to get the car back on the road as this is my daily drive, and I knew the MOT was coming up. I did a check on MOT status, and it had expired. So the much anticipated test drive was deferred until I could get the car booked in. Yesterday, the car passed the MOT without drama.

I'm very pleased to confirm the alternator rebuild has been successful. The new suspension components make the car feel more solid, but I think a 4 wheel alignment is now needed. The CCV valve replacement has made the most obvious impact. Tickover is now stable, throttle response is definitely improved, and emissions have improved too. I am really looking forward to getting some more miles on this, and hopefully it won't need spanners laying on it for a while