PranK

SAU is G rated!

That's not a bushing!

Oh and I got myself a grandpa spec dash mat.

Ok, so first round of maintenance done. I didn't get much history with the car but I know it was well looked after. That isn't enough for me though, so ... I had to do the oil filter housing gasket. It was leaking a lot, and also as part of that I did the anti-return valve and the VANOS oil line (from HEL). But, then I got hit with the while-ya-in-there's. Did both accessory and A/C belts, tensioners and pulley. The accessory belt that came off had a huge hole in it, like somebody hung it up with a nail. The pulley and tensioners seem ok, so I'll keep those just in case. I did water pump and pump pulley. The water pump had a small bit of play so timing was good. I also did fan clutch. I don't know how to test the old one but between the water pump and the fan clutch the car is running a little bit cooler (not much ~2 - 3 degrees maybe) so good result. Unfortunately the thermostat and housing didn't turn up in time so I'll shelve those. I have no concerns at all on the current ones. Then I spent what seemed like 40 days and 40 nights bleeding the air from the cooling system. She also got new air filter, fuel filter and did a Mobil 1 change with oil filter. Hilariously, not an hour after telling my wife how proud I was of myself to be going slowly and meticulously and making sure everything was torqued and nothing missing I went and started it without the oil filter in. The car complained immediately of no pressure and after only a few seconds I turned it off and discovered a shit tonne of oil on the driveway. Sigh. I've driven it since and thankfully doesn't seem to be any problems. AND THEN during the test drive a ratchet extension fell into the battery area in the boot and JAMMED right next to the positive terminal and the car body. Like, just touching it made sparks and it was jammed in there. So, almost killed the engine and then almost burned the car to a crisp. Good start. This was the rails under the splash guards. So stoked, she's straight as and super clean. No rust anywhere. There was a heap of caked dirt that I removed but otherwise looked great. All 4 jacking points are perfect. Next I want to service the gearbox. Sometimes it's a little reluctant to shift up and I'm hoping a fluid change will sort it. I also have 4 new rear subframe bushes. They're as big as a toddler. I'm renting a tool to help put them in. I can't wait for this because its a bit crashy back there at the moment.

Nice. I'm looking forward to the updates!

I've never done dial in's just straight up, whatever that's called. I'm far from a drag (racing ) expert.

Nice one! I was going to take mine down to SMSP drags one Weds night. I'd love to compare it with my GTR which did a 12.3. The bum-dyno in the 335i says its quicker. How was the traction @Lithium?

This, honestly, is entirely BMW life. There's so many little things that once you know about you are either more relaxed or more uptight! 🤣 Fwiw (and slightly in my defence) our X5 has been flawless! The biggest issue we've had was problems with the front diff which ended up with a 2k rebuild but other than regular servicing with good oil and filters we've had no out of the ordinary costs or problems. it's been amazing and we've put 90k on it over about 5 years. It's just the other two. The problem kids.

100% hear you. I won't defend them but I will defend my ability to work twice as hard to keep them running. 🤣

For the record, I hate the colour. Even if I'll never see it again, I know its in there.

This is another issue I'm fixing. This little valve stops all the oil from draining to the sump when the engine is turned off. What happens eventually is that the engine is a little noisy and has the oil pressure light on for a few seconds after turning it on. Basically it takes a few seconds to build the pressure when all the oil has drained. This valve is a non serviceable part and is attached to the oil filter housing, BMW suggests to replace the entire housing if this valve fails. As it turns out this valve can be removed and that means you can get an aftermarket replacement, which I did. The failure, for me at least is that the valve doesn't seat properly after a while, which I've demonstrated. The new one is a ball end and always seats properly.

Yeah I'm happy to talk to whoever, I don't want to take ownership or even manage it if they don't want but I can probably help with hosting on the sau setup. It's a great resource and should be protected.

So, got some bits.. New oil filter housing gasket (main problem I'm trying to fix -see leak above) While you're in there's: New belts, pulley and tensioners. Vanos oil line New oil drain valve New water pump and pulley New fumoto valve (all my cars have these). Some of this stuff seems ok now that I've pulled it out but I still have no idea how old it all is. The belts looked fine and then I noticed this. Like somebody has hooked it with a pick.

Customer states,I got an oil leak. Customer was raht.

I'm always a glass half full kinda guy. This will be a great project and the finished product will be awesome.

Hang on... All my work, down the drain!

That's my car!

It's innocent. But sometimes people cannot start their cars or change gears because they have a billion stick-on things getting in the way. Yeah, i'm not a shiny thing kind of guy but I'd definitely give this a go. Food for thought. Thanks

Bro, its a series 2. Point made. BTW, I love the line "I have been advised this car is worth $50,000". I love that. My dog just told me my E39 is worth $100k. Send your offers.

FWIW I'm not a huge fan of the grey but there'd be a lot to change if I started changing colours.

I love where you're going with this!

Yeah its a good idea, I wonder if I can find some vinyl that will match the colour.

Alcantara all the things!

These arn't them, but these are the pieces. I dont think hydrodipping would work. Also, the plastic is very old and brittle, the trims are out of the car atm getting some mounting holes jb welded.