E39 Faq....

[dinan540]

If you want to give your E39 the most aggressive stance, springs and shocks won't do it, only coilovers will give you that baller look.

[dinan540]

If you don' t want the old man wood grain look, you can repaint the interior trim panels, it can work great or ac schnitzer makes a replacement set for our interiors.

The diy is on www.e38.org I think.

[dinan540]

Can M5 wheel liners fit in the 540? Yes they can and it will allow you more clearance for wider tires.

[dinan540]

If you start your car in the morning and it makes this high pitched irritating sound, after a minute it shuts off.

Guess what, it is your secondary air pump that has failed. It is part of your emissions systems.

This happens to the 740 and the E39s.

If you need to replace it, buy the pump and the valve. They are separate parts. It usually is the valve that fails, which causes the pump to eventually fail. Another diy is on www.e38.org or a search on bimmerforums too will give you info that you need.

[dinan540]

Does the M5 shifter fit in the 540i?

Yes it does and the throw is way shorter. After installing it in your car, which takes all of 5 minutes, it will feel like rowing a boat if you drive another 540 with the standard shifter.

[Dan]

Originally Posted by dinan540

Pixels die on our displays. BMWNA will pay half the cost at dealerships if you twist their arm enough.

As for the radiator, I bought the zionsville super duty cooling kit and haven't had a problem after replacing 3 radiators, two overflow tanks and a water pump, ugh.

Also, valve cover gaskets are a common leak item and the valley pan. You can find great diy on www.e38.org. That is my next items to replace.

BMWNA paid for my display. i had to pay 1 hour of WARRENTY labor hour.

some have gotten it all done for free... YMMV (your miles may vary)

[Dan]

Originally Posted by dinan540

If you want to free up some exhaust note and weight, get rid of the resonator and replace it with a straight pipe. www.supersprint.com sells them for $200 or most exhaust shops can fabricate one for you.

magnaflow also makes resonators for our cars. the 540 has actually 2 resonators/mufflers. one's the banana in the middle and it's heavy.

magnaflow resonator should be under $70 shipped... maybe less.

check with mike del toro for more info in previous post

[dinan540]

No the 540 will never be faster than an M5 unless you do FI. If you are spending the money on FI, why not just buy an M5.

[Dan]

Originally Posted by dinan540

If you want to give your E39 the most aggressive stance, springs and shocks won't do it, only coilovers will give you that baller look.

Bilstein SPort and H&R race will give you a VERY lowered drop too.

i'll take some pic of mine when it's been detailed.

[Dan]

Originally Posted by dinan540

If you want to free up more air flow, and you have a post-vanos 540 buy a 1997 540i intake manifold or a 1994-98 740i intake manifold. This works well if you have an engine modification chip. There is a rumor that the pre-vanos intake manifold is very similar in construction and engineering as the dinan intake manifold that sells for $1500 for the 540i.

96-98 intake runners would do. don't have to be 97's or Dinan's where they take the OE part and bore it out or take the 96-98 runners and stamp their name to give it the extra 2000% markup.

[dinan540]

Originally Posted by Dan

magnaflow also makes resonators for our cars. the 540 has actually 2 resonators/mufflers. one's the banana in the middle and it's heavy.

magnaflow resonator should be under $70 shipped... maybe less.

check with mike del toro for more info in previous post

Thanks Dan, I didn't realize that magnaflow made a less restrictive resonator. Do you have one on your car?

[dinan540]

Originally Posted by Dan

96-98 intake runners would do. don't have to be 97's or Dinan's where they take the OE part and bore it out or take the 96-98 runners and stamp their name to give it the extra 2000% markup.

True that.

As for the stance, I would love to see pics of yours. The most impressive 540s that I have seen on the net had some type of coilovers.

Thanks for the corrections, I appreciate the help and welcome to the board. You have contributed a ton to this section. I haven't said much because there aren't many E39s on our board yet .

What year 540 do you have? I just picked up a used pre-vanos intake manifold. I am planning to install it his summer, along with a new valley pan, valve cover gaskets and every fucking rubber piece that I remove when I finally do it.

Paul

[Dan]

Originally Posted by dinan540

Thanks Dan, I didn't realize that magnaflow made a less restrictive resonator. Do you have one on your car?

magnaflow's resonator is quite interesting. it's just a pipe with a little sound denting around it. it might as well be a straight pipe. i have a magnaflow exhaust and resonaotor. i love it!!!!

[Dan]

Originally Posted by dinan540

True that.

As for the stance, I would love to see pics of yours. The most impressive 540s that I have seen on the net had some type of coilovers.

Thanks for the corrections, I appreciate the help and welcome to the board. You have contributed a ton to this section. I haven't said much because there aren't many E39s on our board yet .

What year 540 do you have? I just picked up a used pre-vanos intake manifold. I am planning to install it his summer, along with a new valley pan, valve cover gaskets and every fucking rubber piece that I remove when I finally do it.

Paul

i'm bringing as many people who knows their stuff minus the bad attitudes over to throw their brains here.

i have a 98 540/6. done quite a few things to it... m5 diff, mtech bumpers, magnaflow exhaust and resonator, etc etc...

should be getting my car detailed tomorrow so i'll take some pics of it afterwards.

thanks for all your help Paul! hope to see more e39'ers here.

[dinan540]

One thing I love about this board are the incredible people and great attitudes.

The more the merrier.