Do you put it on a battery tender if sitting for more than a couple weeks? The V12s have 2 batteries IIRC, should be plenty of juice. I'm going to order new injector seals, pretty cheap and easy to do. Here's the car in the air for the PS line job. Nice to see the cardboard I still park over nice and clean now Image Unavailable, Please Login
No, honestly I am a little afraid to touch anything to do with the electrical. I haven't had battery issues since replacing the upper battery right after I got it. I hope it won't be an issue. It's nice not to have any drips! I've had a few, but I don't (cross my fingers) think I have any at the moment.
Welp, out of curiousity I tried to drive the 750 the other day. Yep, it should have been on a trickle charger. The most amusing (not really) of the myriad of low-battery faults this time around was the alarm went off and could not be shut off. After driving a while it did mercifully stop - I guess the car just resigned itself to being stolen. You know that saying about for every hot woman, there's a man somewhere who's tired of her drama?
That looks like quite a job on the PS hoses! Only time I smelled gas on mine was after changing the fuel filter..had a hard time getting the hose clamps tight enough...had some fuel/air issues that a new MAF solved...Wifie's e46 died this summer..exhaust valve I would guess...limped it over to the Lexus dealer where she traded up for a GS F sport...its been a good driver... My boy got his first car this summer an e31/M62 no vanos...lots of wrenching so far! Image Unavailable, Please Login My e38 sport met an untimely death last Sunday...a neighbor plowed into it with his mini van totaling both! I didn't have the heart to sell it...now that is not an option! I still enjoyed accelerating hard on freeway on-ramps and freeway cruising... Tow truck picked it up today...Insurance sent a check for just under $10k...so probably as good as it gets! Not sure what to get now...told my wife a 355 seems to make a lot of sense...she said no! Lane Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Bummer, Julia... You HAVE to have fixed just about everything that's likely to go wrong by now, right?! Lane - ouch!!!! that really sucks, but $10k from insurance isn't bad. Assuming it wasn't a super low mileage car. Did you have an agreed-value policy? Just a bit more recently won a sharp non-sport 740iL with only 56k miles on BaT: https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2001-bmw-740il-14/ Maybe it's time to move up to one of these? https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2007-alpina-b7-2/ You son's first car is an 840????? That's too freaking cool. Funny you mention the MAF. Just last weekend I put on a $25 Chinese one from Ebay. Does seem to run a bit smoother, but I'll still be doing the injector O-Rings when it warms up a little. Haven't smelled gas since the sub-freezing temps of a few weeks ago though. I did change out the fuel filter shortly after buying it 2.5 years ago. cheers, let us know what you get to replace the E38.
Appreciate the links...both are beauties! My e38 had 162k miles on it- so a fair price offered by the other parties insurance, no agreed value on this one. My professional Mechanic friends that I spend time with at the track in Monterey suggest avoiding the N62 family of motors...I prefer a naturally aspirated vehicle as well for family road trips. I do like the BMW styling however...newer 6 series especially. My son has been camping with me at the corkscrew- Laguna Seca/Historics since he was 5- we were at the BMW corral for the 100 year anniversary..he especially liked a red M1 which was lined up with a number of 8's....After letting him know that the M1 was a half million dollar car I suggested he get an 8 which has the "same" grill but can be had for $10k! ( I had been looking for one for myself for awhile ) Kids at school have Camaros (my first choice for him- I have a '67- my 1st car from high school) & Mustangs which he wanted to avoid. Any way thats a bit of the history...we were able to take two parade laps on the track in the e38..which was a lot of fun...we nailed it down the corkscrew and saw mid 70's at turn nine...that was just before the pace car came out and put an end to the fun! Image Unavailable, Please Login
I'd like to think I've fixed everything! Come spring, we shall see. I will go ahead and charge the battery and put a trickle charger on until then. An 8-series as a first car - that's way cool! Sorry about your E38, JLL.
Sad post... my E38 has suffered the dreaded timing chain guide failure Last week I heard a ticking noise from under the hood, and she threw a "Service Engine Soon" light (with codes for random misfire on the passenger side bank, cam pos sensor, MAF, etc). Felt vibrations in the passenger cyl head. Had AAA tow her to a local BMW specialist, who confirmed with a boroscope that the upper guide had broken. The chain may have jumped a tooth, but not enough to crash valves into pistons. Over $1500 in parts, and the shop wanted 29 hours to do the fix. I've got too much going on to tackle it myself right now, and don't want to pay the shop $6k+ so it's sitting in the driveway while I decide what to do. The M-Par wheels and good tires should be worth about $1k alone, but the rest of the car is in such nice condition it would be a real shame to junk it. Image Unavailable, Please Login Since I need a DD to take it's place, picked up a 2012 328iT yesterday. Always wanted a wagon and this one popped up 2 hrs away in a spec I liked: RWD, auto-trans, not black inside or out, good options (hot and cold weather packs, leather, pano roof, nav) and 41k miles. Quite a bit different to drive than the 7er, but other than missing adjustable thigh-support on the seats I'm really liking it. Brings back good memories of flogging a rental one around the 'ring in 2007. Titan Silber paint matches my previous E39 and E38, but at least this time the interior is a little different being tan and black instead of grey. Image Unavailable, Please Login
That sounds like an amazing reason to drop in a rebuilt S62 motor and 6 speed manual! Make it M Powered! Definitely don't waste money on that M62 and that shop...The glass is half full. An '01 sport doesn't deserve to be parted out imo...
That might be the best route, financially at least. I've been in contact with a guy that's done a number of S62 swaps, and now talking with another guy that parts out E39 M5s. If it's worth $15K after the swap (reasonable goal, this "M7" with significantly more chassis-miles but also a supercharger and fancy stereo brought $23k on BaT) then I'd get my money back plus a little, but the finished product would not be a car I would get much enjoyment driving. My commute is not manual-transmission friendly Thanks! The E91 is a really neat car. Doesn't have the E38's torque of course but it's not slow, and everything just works so well together. Test drove a couple 2013/2014 E350s and an E500, and even a 2011 XLJ Jag (awesome interior and very nice to drive, but in the ~$20k price range I was shopping they have a lot of miles and maintenance scared me off). Decided that BMWs handling, steering, throttle response, transmission and overall style suit me better than Benz's. The 328 will also be getting a power boost soon... already ordered a 3-stage intake from a wrecked 330 (kind of like the intake on my old Taurus SHO, effectively changing the intake runner length depending on rpms) which along with a tune will bump up the hp&torque.
Man I'd love to have an '01 sport with an S62...I do want an E39 M5 too so that is kind of redundant lol.
I'll keep you in mind if/when it gets swapped and if/when I sell it E38 is actually only a hundred pounds or two heavier than E39 M5 so there's not much between the two power/weight. E39 is phsically a little smaller and more chuckable but E39s interior space and comfort is a plus imo. Plus I think they look a little cooler, ymmv.
I did the guide job and a manual conversion on an E39 540, and am doing an S62 swap on an E34 540 now. I'm doing it pretty much from scratch (keeping pedals and driveshaft, everything else is being replaced), and I'm into it for about 6k so far (including a set of WPC bearings, full reseal, new flywheel and a timing guide job on the S62). I expect to be under 7k when all is said and done, and about 30 hours max. The guide job on the M62 took me about 15 hours from start to finish. The hardest part is removing all the accessories, fuel rail, etc.
Do you have a build of the S62/E34 somewhere? I am very interested in doing this at a later date to my '95 540i/6!
I've started a thread on bf.c under this username in the E34 section. I'm still putting together the engine, aiming to be done in May--all the parts are here, it's just too damn cold to do much work.
Was there any trick or tip for locking the cams in place? I've heard that many S62s end up needing new heads after timing chain/guide/VANOS work, even by experienced shops, due to cams not being set correctly. Haven't heard that so much on M62s, but I believe there is a tool to lock the cams in place and I assume marks on the crank pulley? I'm going back and forth whether to replace the guides on mine and try to get $5k for it, or say **** it and get the S62 swap done. It's been a while since I tackled a decent job on any car so part of me is itching to tear into it. Know I need the $80 tool to hold the crank pulley, 3/4" breaker bar and ~4' pipe to get the bolt out, and ~$1k in parts. Now's the time to do it, before it become ungodly hot down here...
It's probably easier to deactivate VANOS on the S62 like the Dinan race engines. https://www.dinancars.com/s62-dp-race-engines-for-sale/
Wow that's literally my favorite E38 outside of the Alpinas. Black on black 750, 2001, sport package, and 16:9 screen. It'll go for good money.
Mine looks just like it! I drove it a couple times last week and it behaved. Keeping it on the battery tender makes it a much happier camper.
As long as you rent or buy the proper tools for the M62, you're fine. I knew very little about cars when I did it, and I managed to do it without mucking anything up. S62s are easier, you just need to pin the cams. A couple of metal drifts work fine. Honestly, I'd say bite the bullet and do at least the guide job. You'll save your car, do the biggest possible job on it, and learn a ton as well. S62 is definitely awesome, but even though the mechanical parts are all bolt-in, the programming needed is not for beginners. It's far, far more involved. For the M62 job, I made a crank holder from a piece of 1/4" steel and a bunch of holes. Cost about $40. I think I paid 750 for the parts at FCP euro in 2013. Chains (3), guides, oil separator valve, tensioners (all 3), gaskets for the timing and valve covers, water pump (not required) and some o-rings and little stuff.
