Most of the work below was done last week from Sat night to Sat night (full week to complete).
1. Found some ignition coil covers on ebay for $80, cleaned 'em up and installed them. Before I owned it, somewhere along the way, previous work was one and they were never put back on for whatever reason. It's the little details that make a difference. Drivers side runs ~$400 brand new.
2. Replaced the last original windshield washer pump, looks like I finally fixed
that leak.
3. Was having voltage issues and everything pointed to the alternator or voltage regulator, so decided it would be easiest to just replace the whole thing. Picked up a new Valeo unit from FCP, installed it.
4. Figured since I was already going to be there
and I was going to remove the headlights (see below), figured I might as well take care of the oil cooler thermostat. I couldn't actually tell if it was leaking, but based on the maintenance the previous owner did, I suspected it was original. New thermostat, BMW gasket (based on everyone's recommendations) and oil line seals.
5. Tons 'O Cleaning ... lots of old oil and grime in those not so easy to reach places from previous leaks. Cheap labor!
6. New water pump, thermostat (didn't go with 90/low temp version, still wondering/debating), temp sensors, expansion tank (finally started leaking) and a couple hoses I hadn't already replaced
7. Finally got around to replacing the stock tail lights with Depo facelift style - did this about a month or so ago.
8. Was having increasingly intermittent Adaptive headlight issues, code/s pointed to the left stepper motor, but the lights moved properly on start-up (every time) and using INPA (90% of the time). The light output was also extremely terrible due to issues with the lens covers on the inside. No visible moisture, just lots of 'scratches'. Of course, you can't polish the inside, so replacement was the only way to go.
And the passenger side shutter wasn't working, so no full beam on that side. using a pick I carefully moved it around, very easily - codes pointed to a voltage/wiring problem. Pulled the lights out, two-fer one on removing wheel liners for washer pump (passenger side, kinda I guess), oil cooler thermostat (driver side)!
Turns out after some testing/part swapping the ALS controller appeared to be bad on the drivers side and one of the shutter wires was completely snapped in two on the passenger side.
I pulled everything out of both lights, heat shrink wrapped most of the wiring, fixed that shutter wire, replaced both ALS controllers (kept the original for a 'spare'), added new lens covers and decided while I was in there might as well replace the angle eyes with something a little different.
Retested it all after new parts/fixed wiring was done, but
before sealing them back up to make sure everything worked and the difference is literately night and day. Before, I had to 'verify' the headlights were actually on by checking for a reflection in other cars or buildings.
One other item I planned on changing but didn't was the projector lens. Picked up two new 3" : ZKW-R from The Retrofit Source. They were definitely sharper than the originals, but didn't fit 100% and I wanted to avoid modifying the housing to 'make' them fit. So... just cleaned the originals really well as they had some sort of dust layer or hazing or something.
Led light strips make working inside or outside the engine bay 1000 times better.
Most of the wiring insulation that was anywhere near the bulb was so brittle it fell off if you looked at it intensely enough.
Little soldering and heat shrink tubing galore...
That weird dust layer, or...?
Freshly baked light, straight out of the oven...
BONUS: I know it's not an E70, but can you spot the problem with this Bimmer?
