Vard66

Where is it? My 525i is registering -40°C, which I'm presuming means it's broken or not present, rather than England has actually been hit by the super mammoth never ending months of Arctic snow the Express promises us every year in big bolt letters. I'm assuming it might well be somewhere around the undertray on the O/S, as mine has had that broken off at some point in the past. TIA

Ok, so since nobody decided to reply to this, I will. Vard has stopped looking for an e39, because today he went halfway across the country to see, and subsequently buy this; Just a touch under 200 miles on the return journey, and no hiccups. A few minor niggles to sort, paintwork and tiny little broken bits here and there, plates, wiper blades, fix the rattle in the gear knob or replace it, nothing too hideous. So, expect to see more of me.

Ehh. That worked better in my head. Anyway, I'm back, and I'm on the hunt for an e39, so what better place to keep an eye on? Well, y'know, besides eBay and Autotrader I mean. I'm hunting for a manual, touring, e39, M Sport - those are the non negotiables. The points I'm willing to be swayed one way or another are 530i vs 530d, and facelift vs pre. Though frankly facelift is the preference. Anyone who can point me in the direction of something fitting that description, greatly appreciated! If you were going for an e39 wagon, would you be going petrol, or diesel and why? Oh yeah, Volvo's gone and I'm still driving this heap which, despite all the miles, all the countries, all the road surfaces and dirt tracks, and general abuse it has been subjected to, stubbornly refuses to crap out on me, even though I have bent the driver's door to the point where it needs to be kicked open every time I get out of the car.

Oop. Hold the phone, found something. This looks like what I'm thinking of, but I haven't tracked down any sellers in the UK yet. http://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-2369-aluminum-thermostat-housing-cover-e32-e34-e38-e31-with-m60-v8-engine.aspx

Hey guys. Back for a little research. I vaguely recall digging up somewhere that sold aluminium versions of the potentially brittle ABS plate on the front of the water pump on the M60 back when I was doing the e34 540i conversion, but I can't track owt down this time around. I've done the cursory search of the forums, and google, but again nothing. I'm looking to pick one up as part of preemptive preparation package, as it's possible I may be picking up an M60B40 converted e39 528i SE saloon in the next few weeks. Anybody shine any light on that and help me out?

:D

Electrical Engineer, working on advertising LCD/LED screens, and hopefully, shortly one of the many motorway wombles causing hell by closing the outside lanes of most of the UK motorway network to fit the LED streetlights, in the name of a multi-billion pound contract. Previously? Bar Lackey. Bugger that for a lark ever again if I can help it.

:D They look pretty bling when you park under a street light as I discovered the other day; streetlights don't flatter dark coloured cars as we know, but they really bring up the gold. But otherwise, they look pretty good in all kinds of light IMO. I'm loving 'em.

Just realised I never did put up some 'after' pictures. Here they are, on the car with new wheel bolts and H&R 15mm hubcentric spacers fitted to the rear.

Mmmmmm. Stars would've been on my shortlist if they were 5x108. Another shortlisted wheel is the Volvo V70R 'Comet' alloys.

I kinda dig 'em, but my preference as far as 'vette wheels goes has to be the C4 sawblades. I'm on the quiet hunt for a set for my 850 after being shown this by one of the guys on Volvospeed. Sorry for the epic size picture... Problem I've got is the sawblades are 8.5j front, 9.5j rear. No point trying to put a pair of 245 wheels on the 850, they'll rub like hell everywhere, so I need a set of four front wheels. Makes it awkward.

Oh, great. So now MY post is the one that looks random. Thanks. :P

Flat grey primer, Corvette (c2 I think) turbine alloys, bosozoku oil cooler, purple tinted fog/strobe lights... There really is something about it isn't there. Some people won't like it but it does something for me. Needs bigger wheels tbh though.

Erm. You sure you meant to put that in here, Daz?

Just updated the thread actually, Daz. http://www.bmwownersclub.com/forums/topic/6958-alex-and-vards-1993-manual-530i-m60b40-conversion/?p=49646 She still lives, sold to one of the guys who helped us do the conversion, and she's gone a little bit Bozo...

Thanks Daz. I may be back more frequently if my mind swings back towards an e34 535i as a drift hack next year, rather than the Volvo 740 Turbo wagon I'm currently picturing... :P I'll put some pictures of the wheels up once they've been refurbished. The plan is, Ontario Gold Metallic as the base, with a dropcoat of a brighter, richer gold dusted on the top of it. I think it'll go pretty well against the dark green of the 850, some people aren't as optimistic lol.

Just to update this... Alex sold the 540i to Joe probably nearly a year ago. It has undergone a bit of a transformation... From this; Through several stages like this; And this; To this; :P

I did, Dabs! Many times!

Two things. Firstly, thanks. Secondly, if you have come back with the correct colour code after a quick look on google after I have spent two days on it, I hate you. *Edit* Though it really would point towards my being a bit of a 'tard.

Hey guys, long time no speak. I'm on the hunt for a code for a BMW colour, namely Ontario Gold Metallic so I can get hold of some to get my wheels refurbished in it. I've spent two days googling now and all I keep coming back to is the photos of the M6 painted in it which is what I first found. Maybe it's just me being a tard, but I can't find the colour code. Can anyone help me out? Cheers, Vard.

Scratch that last, Ian's M Sport is no more, and Ian is in hospital with broken tibulas, broken fibulas and one broken femur. He was in theater when I rang, and they don't know how long they expect to have him under. This will be his second Christmas in a row in hospital, as this time last year he was in with accute appendicitis that all but killed him. http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/local/10116260.Crash_shuts_Marlborough_to_Swindon_road/ God knows why whoever wrote that article felt the need to tell people that the Chickens are ok. Who gives a sh*t?

Aye, welcome Darren. I do still browse time to time, but it'd been a while since I'd logged in, so hadn't seen Grahame's post. As another curiosity, the other fella who helped with the conversion, Ian, is now driving an E34 525i M Sport saloon, which I'm ALSO in love with. Myself, I was considering an e34 wagon until a friend offered me an Olive Green Metallic Manual '97 Volvo 855R, which I snapped up, and which goes for re-test this week. Always wanted a T5, couldn't pass it up at the price.

As of late Oct, this has in fact been sold; to none other than Munky (Joe) who came up and helped with part of the conversion/build. As I speak it's undergoing some changes; namely some matte blacking of various chrome to fit with the shadowline trim, I believe he's painted the faded wood inside a dark grey, and she is having the SLS deleted and suspension replaced with coilovers in the new year. I believe Joe is also hunting for some Style 32s for her in the new year. Still healthy as can be though, and in good hands.

100 mile motorway/fast road/rush hour traffic road test today revealed a minor issue - the PCV appears to be fecked. Other than the idle issues and smoking caused by that however, she's running a !Removed! treat, and pulling like an absolute rocket. I was fully expecting to be underwhelmed by the power delivery after driving something with a T16 in it for so long - going from aggressive, lag-then-boost format power delivery to smooth V power curvature, but I am hella damn impressed. It's progressive so it's not instant and neck-snapping, but I am damn impressed, and if I'm honest, rather enamoured at how it simply keeps piling the power on and on the more you keep your foot in it. Tomorrow we are going to remove the PCV from the B40 inlet manifold, and see if the B30's PCV is intact. If it is, that's £60 saved, and it's not going to cost us anything to try it out.

Little update; the BMW is pretty much finished! She was off the ramps on Saturday... only to go back up on the ramps for us to investigate why the gear linkage was making contact with the prop-shaft - something I suspected quietly when I reassembled it, because I couldn't remember, but I was fairly sure it shouldn't have been just clearing the prop by about 2mm... Also because the new hydraulic clutch arrangement was somewhat... bodgetastic, the union in the slave cylinder having been slathered in Wurths chemical metal in an effort to seal it for good. So now, one fresh piece of copper pipe flanged and fitted, and after some doubts and irritation, finally !Removed! sealed. No. More. Brake fluid. I cannot state those words clearly enough - if I never feel brake fluid on the back of my hands again, I will be a happy, happy man. So now, she is off the ramps, WITH a clutch, WITH the gear linkage fixed, and going like an absolute train. Also, by complete coincidence, we have managed to remove the odd, transverse roof bars. It turns out I could have had them off months ago, if I had been a fidgety, fiddling redneck type. Like Ian. While idly standing around waiting while I had a !Removed!, before I moved the BMW out of the way so he could move Alex's Vitesse Coupé to where the BMW was standing, Ian decided he had a key in his hand, he should find something to poke it into, so he tried one of the locks on the roof bars, because one of the rubber covers wasn't on it properly. And it worked. Turns out you can use a Rover 800 key to unlock the locks on a 5er's roof bars. No, I wouldn't have tried it myself either, and I was equally gobsmacked when he showed me. Yer man Vard is a happy fella.