I was wating for this project thread.....good times!!
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I was wating for this project thread.....good times!!
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Cool beans. So how many cars do you own now??
E39 touring, hell yeah!!!! Great purchase Botond!!!!
For 2k it's an excellent car considering that it's running,tranny works well and cosmetically it looks good, except for those rear wheels.
It's going to be a great daily. It's spacious, comfortable, practical and with your BMW experience will be reliable as well.
I cannot believe it has both parktronics. Do they work?
Heated steering wheel is a nice bonus for NE winters.
That thing probably burns oil in the same rate as your zhp. Since you tracking all your oils top off, I am curious to see what the results are going to be. Are you planning to run this engine on Shell oil as well?
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Freakin' awesome BP! Great intro and story into the car.
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Randeaux/Rando/John/jr - '06 Cic ZHP; Southern California
"ZHP or not, I still like you"
ZHP Performance Package, Cold Weather Package, Leather, Jet Black/Black/BlackCube, NAV, Anthracite Black "my individual" interior trim
ESS Stage 1 Twin Screw Supercharger, Sprint Booster, BMW Perf Intake, Magnaflow Exhaust, Dinan TB & STEP S/W, UCC Sway Bars, Apex EC-7 18x8.5 ET38
Suspension: AST 44100 dampers, Bimmerworld front adjustable end links, Swift springs (8K front, 10K rear), Vorshlag camber plates
Dynavin D99+, Hardwire V1 (w/V1 Connection), BSW Stage 1 Speakers, Kicker Amp/Subwoofer
BMW Performance Strut Brace, Orion V2 Angel Eyes, No-holes License Plate, SMG Paddle Shift Mod, Besian VANOS, Gold DISA, Fan Delete, M3 Side Mirrors
Note: Actual car no longer resembles signature picture
I actually had a serious bite of nostalgia as well when purchasing this car. I have very fond memories of my brother's '97 Tobagoblau 540i Sport 6-speed. To this day, that car is the only car I've experienced serious power loss in............ while bouncing off the speed limiter at 155 mph.
Yeah, I was adding that one to my list the day I made contact with the seller. lol
I've read how notorious these adjusters are for breaking. Thankfully it doesn't look as bad to repair as an E46 one appears to be. I figure if I'm going to be taking the headlight lenses off, I might as well do the projectors and replace the actual lenses, as these are replaceable once they're baked. This, however, is super low on the priority list. For now, all it's gettin' are new bulbs, because these are dim!
Just 2. I'd go bankrupt if I even thought about a third car!
You know, I was a little bit nervous when I told my mom about it (after I showed up at her house for a visit in it) because I didn't want to "hear it". She's very conservative with money, and doesn't spend where she doesn't need to. For her, the concept of having a second car for a single person is lost on her. But, when I told her how much it cost me, she goes "ah, that's nothing!". I got a real kick out of that one; this Touring cost me significantly less than the 2004 Focus I bought her 2 years ago.
The M54 was definitely a good choice because I'm rather familiar with this motor. The only thing that would've made it better is if it was a M54B30 instead of a B25, but... you can't have it all!It's going to be a great daily. It's spacious, comfortable, practical and with your BMW experience will be reliable as well.
I cannot believe it has both parktronics. Do they work?
The PDC system itself is disabled because of one ultrasonic sensor in the rear left side. These sensors are dirt cheap, at less than $15 on eBay. I verified it's just one by listening to all of them, and this one sensor was the only one that didn't want to sing me a tune. I'm about to fire that mofo!
The default state of my hands in the wintertime: frigid.Heated steering wheel is a nice bonus for NE winters.
The new state of my being when I turn the wheel heating on: elated.
The oil consumption isn't even close. I haven't topped it off yet, and I've driven it over 2k miles. The statement the PO made was actually hilarious to me. It went something like this (not exact words, but you get the gist):That thing probably burns oil in the same rate as your zhp. Since you tracking all your oils top off, I am curious to see what the results are going to be. Are you planning to run this engine on Shell oil as well?
Him: "It does use quite a bit of oil though..."
Me: "How much? Surely it can't be as much as my ZHP..."
Him: "I have to top it off once every oil change"
Me:
Thanks dudes. We seem to be making a habit of buying cars together, eh Charlie?
It took me about 2 hours to get this thread set up with pictures and all that typing. That's why it took me almost a month to get my ass in gear and get this thread going!
I doubt that there is any other M54 that has the same mileage as yours and it burns oil at same rate-
In addition, you are tracking it.
I can see how conversation about oil usage turned once you said to the previous touring owner what is your story with oil and what is the mileage.
Actually, with you annual driving, you will be in 200k miles club pretty soon.
Are you planning for a fully winter hibernation for ZHP or it will be driven time to time to keep fluids moving?
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Last edited by RUS_ZHP; 11-22-2018 at 03:04 PM.
Stupid Tapatalk keeps crashing so I can't break up your quote into the areas I want to address...
Actually there are a few people I've seen comment that they have to put a quart in every 600-1000 miles, just like me. I don't think tracking has anything to do with it for that reason. It's a design fault with the engine's piston rings.
As far as winter use goes - hell no, I'm not parking the ZHP. If the ground is clear of salty slush, then it's getting driven. I don't believe in "winter hibernation"... whatever that is!
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Good to see you in a winter beater/backup car. I remember you saying over the years how hard maintenance was for you because your car is your only car... that just got a lot easier now eh? Except they are both BMWs so you still have a good chance of both of them being broken at the same time
If the air bags look iffy, just replace them. Leaking airbags will cause a whole world of wallet pain because they lead to a cascade of failures in the whole system.
We got the ones for the X5 from Arnott... Good reputation and a lot less than BMW
Dinan CAI &Throttle body, ESS Tuning TS2, Bimmerbrakes gen3 headers, UUC SSK & DSSR. Achilles oil pump, VAC oil pan baffle
M3 Motor mounts, UUC Trans mounts, Modified clutch style LSD 3.15, TMS front subframe reinforcement, Koni Yellow sports,
H&R sport springs, UUC sway bars, BMW Perf. Rotors, UUC SS brake lines, Hawk HPS pads, CSL replica wheels,
Rotora strut bar, FXR HID conversion, M3 Mirror conversion, BSW stage 1 speakers
Well I'd like to think the ZHP is in pretty tip-top shape. The only things it needs are things that are not a big deal. It needs an engine rebuild for oil consumption - otherwise the motor works fantastically. It needs the exhaust manifolds replaced because it lacks power and gets horrible gas mileage due to the clogged cat - but once again, not a "leave me stranded" item. The oil pan gasket can wait, like it has for years. Everything else has been replaced. My policy with that car is anything that can leave me stranded gets replaced preventatively. As far as the Vault goes... well, we'll have to see. I don't know if I'll be spending quite as much money on that as the E46 purely because it's supposed to be a backup car, but we'll see.
At first I was just gonna wait 'till they failed, but you mentioned Arnott so I looked it up. They're a good 50% less than the Genuine BMW ones... wow. They're actually... dare I say... affordable!If the air bags look iffy, just replace them. Leaking airbags will cause a whole world of wallet pain because they lead to a cascade of failures in the whole system.
We got the ones for the X5 from Arnott... Good reputation and a lot less than BMW
So what kind of failures are we talkin' here, if I wait 'till they start leaking? Surely the system in the E39 can't be as complicated as the X5, right? Did the X5 have bags in the front as well or just the rear? What kind of issues other than the leaking bags did you experience?