Road trip story & Project thread: 2001 Titanium Silver e39 M5

[az3579]

WHAT THE FUCK???

God I hate people sometimes. Like the moron who keyed the crap out of my trunk to steal my M-Tech lip spoiler. Unbelievable.



And there's another difference between Germany and the U.S. They actually care enough to properly investigate a crime like this in Germany, where here all they'll do is fill out a police report and forget about it.

[ZHPizza]

That sucks but I freaking love how thorough the Polizei is. Fingerprints and DNA for some mirror glass? Wild.

I also spent like a full minute staring at your second pic trying to figure out how they got your A pillar off without breaking the window. I keep going back to it trying to decide if that is indeed the pillar airbag that I see or a light reflection.

What is even real in this world?

[Sreten]

Absolutely man. We're not planning anymore trips across the pond for a while but I'll certainly head over there if @704sw ever gets his ducks in line to make a trip to the ring.

Just plan it, fellas. Got a nice king size bed, you and Spens can get cozy.

Amazing finish on the wheels! Congrats on getting them back and sharing the results with us.

Appreciate it, Will! Thanks for following along.

Sorry to hear the news. This sucks big time.

Thanks, Fredo. Shit happens and it'll be fixed. Important now is to find a new garage as soon as possible.

WHAT THE FUCK???

God I hate people sometimes. Like the moron who keyed the crap out of my trunk to steal my M-Tech lip spoiler. Unbelievable.

And there's another difference between Germany and the U.S. They actually care enough to properly investigate a crime like this in Germany, where here all they'll do is fill out a police report and forget about it.

Humans are dicks sometimes. A good example of a moron right here, he obviously knew what he was stealing and it takes a few seconds to remove the glass without damaging the actuators, just appalling thievery.

Big props to German Polizei. They treated this as non-emergency call, which it was of course, and still showed up in less than 30 minutes. They handled it very professionally, I honestly didn't expect they'd bother with fingerprints and DNA so that was a pleasant surprise.

That sucks but I freaking love how thorough the Polizei is. Fingerprints and DNA for some mirror glass? Wild.

I also spent like a full minute staring at your second pic trying to figure out how they got your A pillar off without breaking the window. I keep going back to it trying to decide if that is indeed the pillar airbag that I see or a light reflection.

What is even real in this world?

Credit where it's due. The policeman was stunned when I told him one of them bad boys will set me back 450 euro and laughed it off saying it costs 10 euros on his car. Safe to say he won't experience such theft.

Lol, don't think German Copperfield robbed me, I removed all of the pillars (minus the right A-pillar) some time ago as I started to wrap them in Alcantara. The headliner started to sag so perfect time to step up to Alcantara.

Btw, driving without side mirrors, super sketchy!

[Sreten]

Finally received new brakes pads from D2Racing and these fit perfectly. These are their Sport pads which are carbon ceramic compound and so far I'm very happy with them. Brake pedal feel is lastly as it should be, they grab on the Autobahn superbly and inspire great confidence.







While my remarkably slow insurance gets back to me on the situation with the mirrors, I had to be able to drive the car so I went with el cheapo mirrors which I'm going to keep until I switch to the new garage.













These are surprisingly good quality for $35 I must say. Blue tint, heated and aspherical which is very useful and not usual China garbage.

Sadly, when the dumbass ripped out the mirrors he broke off and took parts of the actuators with him which meant I couldn't mount these properly. I was traveling to Cologne in the morning so I used double sided tape since they could be only partially secured in place, which didn't go that well.

Worked fine on the way there but on the way back at around 155 mph the left mirror glass started to wobble violently and just as I thought it's going to fly off it did. Clipped the window on its fateful journey, left a small mark and for good measure, chipped glossy black window trim, disappeared and presumably shattered in gazillion pieces. Made for a nice yep, I'm an idiot moment.

Mind due, 1st of May, everyone's off from work, early in the morning - all this meant the Autobahn was empty. I had the best drive of the year with the M5. I drove it like I stole it and enjoyed every bit of the drive.

Once I got home, I went on the interweb, ordered new left side mirror and searched for similar cheap and used actuators because there's no way I was going to pay out of my own pocket $242 per side for the new ones from BMW.

The search was fruitful and I found 2 cheap actuators from some Mercedes model for $55 shipped. They looked identical, only the connector was different which was fine since I only needed the front plastic.







The broken one is from the M5 on the pictures. Transferring the front plastic was easy enough and now I have fully functional actuators where the glass attaches firmly.

At the moment I'm rocking the M5 like this until I get around to finish recovering headliner with Alcantara.



In other news, my bank account was relieved of some money today and another V12 is finding its way to me.

[704sw]

At what point is the German government going to require you to register as a business for all your buying and selling of vehicles?

[Will]

...around 155 mph...

I'm envious...

...
In other news, my bank account was relieved of some money today and another V12 is finding its way to me.

oh man... e38 750i/il?

[ZHPizza]

Dude the Chinese mirror glass is my jam. I have 4 versions of them for various mirrors (E36 M3, E46 M3, E46 coupe, E46 sedan) and love each and every one. I was going to suggest that when I saw what happened, but figured you were too good for my hokey shit. Hilarious that it blew off at 150mph lol u idiot.

<3

[704sw]

Dude the Chinese mirror glass is my jam. I have 4 versions of them for various mirrors (E36 M3, E46 M3, E46 coupe, E46 sedan) and love each and every one. I was going to suggest that when I saw what happened, but figured you were too good for my hokey shit. Hilarious that it blew off at 150mph lol u idiot.

<3

I should buy some for my M3 mirrors. If I ever get off my ass and install them.

[Sreten]

At what point is the German government going to require you to register as a business for all your buying and selling of vehicles?

Don't say that, they might be reading.

My girlfriend wanted to buy a massive expensive closet and having just received a bonus at work, I found myself browsing for cheap BMWs and you know, things happen. Figured a 19-year-old BMW is a better investment. She disagrees.

I'm envious...

oh man... e38 750i/il?

The I'm a rich CEO version.

Dude the Chinese mirror glass is my jam. I have 4 versions of them for various mirrors (E36 M3, E46 M3, E46 coupe, E46 sedan) and love each and every one. I was going to suggest that when I saw what happened, but figured you were too good for my hokey shit. Hilarious that it blew off at 150mph lol u idiot.

<3

Lol, I was really surprised how good these are for the money, I can understand why you like them so much. Them flying off was entirely my and perps fault.

Well, I needed to drive the car so this looked like perfect short term solution. Even if the insurance paid for the new ones, I wouldn't install them until I switch to the new garage at the end of the month. But I want my auto dimming mirrors back, those rule for night-time driving.

[704sw]

The I'm a rich CEO version.

“or to give it its other name, the BMW Move Over, Poor Person.”

-James May