08-06-2015, 12:29 PM
It's great! 
Hmm let’s see. I've taken it up to DC a few times…twice in 100+ degree traffic with A/C on, the coolant temp needle started to creep a little, and a third time it went just a pinch above the 2nd dot. I cut the A/C off and it dropped almost immediately. The aux fan seems fine (sucker spins like a jet engine, and it’s loud and probably overworked), so the obvious next culprit is the fan clutch. I’ve always thought the “newspaper test" was too subjective, ever since my e30 days. I compared the M5 to the M3 side by side, both hot and cold…and there was a difference, but it was slight. The one it has isn't that old at 4 years/30k miles, but a new one is on the way.
Other than that, I’ve just been chasing rattles/creaks.
Took awhile to figure out that it was the brake pads that were chirping embarrassingly loudly on sharp bumps. Some goop stuff on the back of the pads fixed that, though I’m not sure how long that’ll last.
The leather on the fold down rear seats creaks a lot. I tried cleaning it but if anything it just got louder. Apparently there are products out there that help with this, which I guess I’ll look into.
Random window/door seals seem to creak. I’ll try replacing pieces one by one.
Oh yeah, and I replaced all of the rubberized plastic stuff in the center console and gauge cluster surround. Looks much better. The big piece in the middle (which is NLA for wood trim cars, conveniently) has 6 mounting tabs that were all broken - somebody went to town on that bad boy (maybe when running the wiring for the V1?). Got a used one locally that doesn’t look quite as good as the new bits and required a lot of dremelling and cussing to get to fit, but at least it had all 6 mounts intact.
![[Image: IMG_9717_zpsx8fiovn8.jpg]](http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f354/huntwc/e39/IMG_9717_zpsx8fiovn8.jpg)
Gotta figure something out for wheels, though it’s not urgent. I’ve spun two of the LM replicas on a hub, and one is bent. I wanted to use those while I get the OEM reps refinished in shadow chrome (apparently not many places can do that?), but I guess I’ll have to get the LM replicas fixed first. One of the OEM reps might have a little bend too, which may be causing the really slight vibration that I might be imagining.
The car is a little raked towards the front, so I may try to lower the rear a little if the rear Konis have one more spring mount I can shift down to. But it doesn't look like there'd be a ton of shock travel if it were much lower and you have to remove rear parcel shelf to get them out, so...maybe later.
Found a few surprises when going through paperwork and the car - looks like it has BSW speakers (sound is good I guess, I wouldn't say it's amazing), solid brake caliper guides (which I don't think were ever factory on any BMW?), and a TEC cupholder that is a million times better than the OEM ones and neatly folds out of sight.
Hmm let’s see. I've taken it up to DC a few times…twice in 100+ degree traffic with A/C on, the coolant temp needle started to creep a little, and a third time it went just a pinch above the 2nd dot. I cut the A/C off and it dropped almost immediately. The aux fan seems fine (sucker spins like a jet engine, and it’s loud and probably overworked), so the obvious next culprit is the fan clutch. I’ve always thought the “newspaper test" was too subjective, ever since my e30 days. I compared the M5 to the M3 side by side, both hot and cold…and there was a difference, but it was slight. The one it has isn't that old at 4 years/30k miles, but a new one is on the way.
Other than that, I’ve just been chasing rattles/creaks.
Took awhile to figure out that it was the brake pads that were chirping embarrassingly loudly on sharp bumps. Some goop stuff on the back of the pads fixed that, though I’m not sure how long that’ll last.
The leather on the fold down rear seats creaks a lot. I tried cleaning it but if anything it just got louder. Apparently there are products out there that help with this, which I guess I’ll look into.
Random window/door seals seem to creak. I’ll try replacing pieces one by one.
Oh yeah, and I replaced all of the rubberized plastic stuff in the center console and gauge cluster surround. Looks much better. The big piece in the middle (which is NLA for wood trim cars, conveniently) has 6 mounting tabs that were all broken - somebody went to town on that bad boy (maybe when running the wiring for the V1?). Got a used one locally that doesn’t look quite as good as the new bits and required a lot of dremelling and cussing to get to fit, but at least it had all 6 mounts intact.
Gotta figure something out for wheels, though it’s not urgent. I’ve spun two of the LM replicas on a hub, and one is bent. I wanted to use those while I get the OEM reps refinished in shadow chrome (apparently not many places can do that?), but I guess I’ll have to get the LM replicas fixed first. One of the OEM reps might have a little bend too, which may be causing the really slight vibration that I might be imagining.
The car is a little raked towards the front, so I may try to lower the rear a little if the rear Konis have one more spring mount I can shift down to. But it doesn't look like there'd be a ton of shock travel if it were much lower and you have to remove rear parcel shelf to get them out, so...maybe later.
Found a few surprises when going through paperwork and the car - looks like it has BSW speakers (sound is good I guess, I wouldn't say it's amazing), solid brake caliper guides (which I don't think were ever factory on any BMW?), and a TEC cupholder that is a million times better than the OEM ones and neatly folds out of sight.
2001 M5
2016 M3
2014 Grand Cherokee
Been had: 1984 318i | 2003 S2000 | 1990 330is | 2005 STi | 2005 M3
2016 M3
2014 Grand Cherokee
Been had: 1984 318i | 2003 S2000 | 1990 330is | 2005 STi | 2005 M3